We’ve written on this subject before, but we have to say it again because we think it is important. Are you prepared for a move to South America? This blog post is not going to be talking just about moving to Cuenca but South America / Latin America in general. Why? Because all Latin America culture is going to be pretty much the same cultural mind-set, such as how they do things, how they live and how they prevent crime.
Manana Land is Latin America
Any Latin American culture is going to be manana land. Frank said even Italy is manana land. This means that things are not going to get done on your time frame or schedule. Being here for five months now, we’re getting used to this “way of life” and really try and go with the flow of things—we put it behind us rather than complain about it. It can be a little frustrating when you’re waiting for paper work to get processed but it’s not about your paperwork but about when they get around to processing it.
You can’t get angry about it because it’s not in your control to control—you’re in their country now and that means getting used to the way they do things. If this kind of laid back lifestyle bothers you then no Latin America country is going to be compatible with your personality. If you don’t want to put up with manana land, probably the best countries to live are North America, UK, or Asia. But there goes your great cost of living.
Internet
When waiting to get your Internet connected, you may wait up to two to four weeks. They may say that they’ll be out on a certain day, but never show up, or never call to say they can’t make it. HINT: Although if you know someone here who can go down to the Internet Company with you it may get them to get on the ball and connect your Internet sooner, like within a few days. This is what happened with us, we had a representative from Cuenca Condos (who we rent our house from) come with us to talk with the people at Etapa. Etapa connected us within two days!
Deliveries
If you’re waiting to have anything delivered like furniture or appliances, you may not get it delivered on your time schedule. If you’re having furniture custom built, here again, you may wait for weeks or months for them to finish your furniture. These things are all just a part of the Latin American way of life. No worries though, manana does come, even if it’s later than sooner.
Locals Don’t want to Tell You No
This has happened to us on several occasions. When we have asked for directions to something we are looking for, even if they don’t know where it is, they will act like they know where it is and give you directions somewhere, but not to where you are going. This can be exhausting if you’re walking on foot, which both times we were walking downtown and led to not the place we were actually looking for. But at least it is good for your health. Be prepared to be taken on a wild goose chase at least once while living here.
Taxi cab drivers usually know where most hotels, hostels, major stores restaurants, and government offices are, but some don’t. Just the other day an expat friend of ours told us that when she was taking a taxi, the driver all of a sudden stopped the cab and told her to get out of the cab. She thought it was really strange and later she was told that when the taxi driver does not know where a certain place or address is, he’ll just tell you to get out of the cab, rather than admit he doesn’t know where the address is.
Crime Prevention in Latin America
The other day while we were out shopping, we briefly met up with some retired gringos visiting Cuenca. We talked with him and his wife for a brief period of time and they seemed like nice people, until we asked him how they liked Cuenca. He adamantly shot back with “I hate it!”
We were mildly shocked at such a response. Usually when you ask someone how they like it here they might have a few complaints or they absolutely love it here. But in this case it was an adamant, “I hate it”!
We asked him why he hates it here and he said “the security”. At first we all just looked at him with blank stares, not really understanding what he meant. And then he blurted it all out. He said he hated the tall walls around the homes and the tall locked gates, and the security guards all over town with shot off machine guns, and broken glass for some of the roofs, and always having to be on guard to protect your things, and lada, lada, lada. At the end of his rant about how he hates the feeling of having to always be fearful living here, we noticed he was pretty agitated.
We cordially said our goodbye’s and went back to our shopping. After listening to this man’s frustrations we realized that he and his wife did NOT do their homework. It was a good thing they were just here on a 3-month visit (typical tourist visa) because he clearly was not a happy camper.
This type of visitor or mover to Ecuador, who does not do their homework is probably quite typical. What the problem is they simply read a few articles from a popular magazine, such as International Living spouting on and on about how “wonderful” Cuenca, or Quito, or Salinas is and they jump on the band wagon and come here with blinders on. Basically this retired couple was going through the process of culture shock because they didn’t know what to expect when coming here—they weren’t prepared!
Anyone who does their due diligent research will know that any Latin American culture is going to be like this as far as crime prevention goes, whether it's Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Panama, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, or Costa Rica. They all have bars, gates, tall walls surrounding your home, broken glass roofs, and security guards with scary looking loaded weapons.
Funny thing is there is more violent crime in many smaller cities in the states than there is violent crime in Cuenca! There was more violent crime in the small town of Anderson, SC (150,000 people) that we once lived in than here! You have to be aware and security conscious anywhere you live, just about. Here you do have to worry about petty theft; there you have to worry about petty theft and violent crime. Not to say that violent crime does not happen here, because it does, it just means there is less of it.
Crime prevention techniques seem and look dramatic here because it is dramatic, but it is what works for Latin America. For an example, the house on the street that does not have a tall gate, tall walls, and a whole house alarm system will get broken into while you are away and your valuables will get taken. This is because that house is a target—it’s the most vulnerable house on the block!
No, you won’t see guards with shot off shotguns in North America, and no, there are no bars on the windows or tall walls surrounding homes, or cut-glassed roofs in North America but this does not mean that an armed robber will not break into your home while you are sleeping and rob you blind, or if you’re a woman alone, rape and beat you. This kind of violent crime happens in the states everywhere. Both rape and armed robbery is almost nonexistent in Cuenca.
The point is, if you don’t like dramatic security prevention, or if it makes you “feel” more fearful, then perhaps Latin America is not for you. You may be better off finding a nice small secluded town in Kansas somewhere where you won’t have to worry about personal security, maybe a sleepy little town like Hutchinson, Kansas.
Do Your Research
It’s funny how people watch a few International Living videos, and read a few articles that hype up Ecuador and then think that Cuenca or some other city in Ecuador is “thee place” to live. It may very well be “thee place” to live for certain types of people, but are you that type of people? Maybe you are and maybe you aren’t.
Only you can figure out if you and your family are that type of people, and you do that by being diligent in how you decide on the best place to live is. The most important thing to remember when trying to figure out the best place to live is: understand that the best place to live will never be the best place to live if you are not a happy and content person to begin with. On the opposite end of that spectrum: if you are content person within yourself then you can pretty much bet that you’ll be happy living just about anywhere.
