The strike is over! After 18 days, the Ecuadorian government and the protest leaders reached a peace agreement. In the end, they negotiated lower gas prices, more money for education, some debt forgiveness, subsidies for farmers, healthcare improvements, amongst other things. Unfortunately, Sis and Terry still had to cancel their trip (they should have arrivedContinue reading “BFF Ecuadorian Adventures, Part 2: Quilotoa Lake”
Tag Archives: Expat
Getting a Professional Visa in Ecuador: A Cautionary Tale
Do you know what I hate? Not rules. I actually don’t mind rules. I may not always agree with them, but I know what to expect from the situation. What I hate is ambiguousness. When it comes to bureaucratic nonsense, I get it. There are going to be hoops to jump through. But, I wantContinue reading “Getting a Professional Visa in Ecuador: A Cautionary Tale”
Tena, Ecuador: Arahuana Jungle Resort & Spa
Sometimes I forget that Tena is actually a city surrounded by nature…rainforest nature. A mere 2.6 km outside Tena is this beautiful resort tucked away in the forest. We first heard about Arahuana from Shane’s work colleague, who described this magical Resort del Dia (resort for the day) package. So, a few weeks ago, whenContinue reading “Tena, Ecuador: Arahuana Jungle Resort & Spa”
Tena, Ecuador: Six-month Impressions
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been in Ecuador for six months! Talking about how time flies feels cliche; it’s simultaneously so overused but so true. On the one hand, it feels like we’ve been here for a while. We’ve settled into our apartment and gotten into a daily routine. On the other hand, whereContinue reading “Tena, Ecuador: Six-month Impressions”
Hello, 2022!
Belated Feliz Navidad and Feliz año nuevo! A little belated, of course. A brief life update. We DO have visas now, but the process is still ongoing. So, more on that later. For now… Christmas in Tena! Since we went home to the US twice this year (🙌), we knew we were going to stayContinue reading “Hello, 2022!”
Greetings from Tena, Ecuador!
I’ve been slacking on the blog front. We’ve been here for two weeks, and I’m not quite sure how that happened so quickly. It feels like we’ve been going non-stop since we arrived. The trip from Germany was surprisingly uneventful. We left Munich at ~6:30 am, had a short layover in Amsterdam, then it wasContinue reading “Greetings from Tena, Ecuador!”
America Trip Part 2: Chicago
The first and only ever time I was in Chicago was with Shane back in 2014, just before we moved to the Netherlands. We were there for our friend Brian’s 30th birthday, and the only thing I really remember is that the famous Bean was right next to our hotel. That, and we all wentContinue reading “America Trip Part 2: Chicago”
America Trip Part 1: Family & Friends
We made it through the wilderness, yeah we made it throuuuughhh! Obviously, the wilderness is 7 months of basement lockdown and 2.5 years away from home. Honestly, traveling during the pandemic wasn’t as bad as I expected. We needed a negative covid test, which is a requirement to enter the United States. Plus, when weContinue reading “America Trip Part 1: Family & Friends”
The Shwits 