John Patterson:  

After living in Ecuador for more than a year and attaining permanent resident status, I am enjoying my life here immensely. I've been able to venture out of Cuenca to some of the nearby towns and points of interest. The Andes are breathtakingly beautiful. Around every twist in the road (of which there are many) is a new vista more spectacular than the one before. The area in which I live has been inhabited for four thousand years and is rich in history and culture. I'm learning that much of perception that North Americans have of Ecuador is inaccurate based upon out-dated information. While Ecuador is a definitely a developing nation, it is not the third-world country in the sense that many people think of. In the past few years, Ecuador has invested heavily in infrastructure development health care...Expand for more