Job Discussion Forums

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

How is this school?

Centro Cultural Ecuatoriano Norteamericano. "Abraham Lincoln"

It's in Cuenca, I've heard great things about the town, but haven't heard anything about the school, what's it like?

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

I've seen the name mentioned a few times in the Ecuador journals - it's supposedly a reputable school....

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobinfo/latinamerica/sefer.cgi?display:1071764644-96851.txt

seaskyclay · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 32 Location: Vietnam

Yeah, Cuenca is where I'd like to end up in September. I applied for the recently posted job at Abraham Lincoln, even though I don't have any experience yet. We'll see how that goes. Cuenca just sounds like a wonderful place to live.

moonraven · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094

I spent several days in Cuenca while living in Ecuador. It's a nice place--COLD, though. Salaries very low. And expenses fairly high.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Amycita · Joined: 02 Apr 2004 Posts: 1

Cuenca is a great place in my opinion. I lived there for almost a year and taught at a great school called Nexus. In addition to Nexus and Abraham Lincoln there is one called CEDEI. I think a few more have popped up since I have left. The weather is not cold in my opinion either- I come from Minnesota! There is no snow-unless you go climb Cotopaxi! The difference is that when the temperature goes down a bit like 45 degrees F, there are no heating systems. So, yes, it gets chilly. But, if you are looking for a small town latin american experience, I don't think you can get much more pleseant than Cuenca. Things will annoy you just like most places, but it's beautiful there. Also, the Spanish dialect is easy to understand. Another benefit of Ecuador is the ecological diversity that exists within a very small area. There is so much to explore, so much to see.

eevanvleet · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Reno, NV, USA

I'm trying to get the contact info for Abraham Lincoln. Anyone know it? Cuenca is a beautiful city and I have lived there a year and a half. Almost all the teachers who live nicely are using money saved from back home. Unless you really get lucky on an apartment the salaries from Wall Street, CEDEI and all the others will see you scraping by. Still, it's a good place to learn Spanish and close to Cajas National Park. The downside is it has received countless write-ups as the greatest place to retire in the world. Money is coming in and it's a boomtown. Just wait for the prices to skyrocket. It's barely livable there on an English teacher's salary now (unless you get lucky enough to get a job at the University of Cuenca). Soon it will be out of range. Still if you're extremely thrifty or have a good chunk of savings, it's a very pleasant place to live. You will be joined by thousands of retired folks for an less than need "ex-pat" community.

Eric

jg · Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 2:34 am Post subject:

Cuenca is worth it only if you are willing to dip into your savings and as others say, "scrape by". Cooking for yourself is a good way to save money, but I would prefer to be someplace where I could eat out more than once in awhile. Cuenca is a strange place, with amazingly high real estate prices, yet most people have very low salaries. I'd lived in Quito for nearly half a year before I headed to Cuenca, and in my opinion Quito is much more affordable - it was in Cuenca that the income disparities in Latin America were really driven home for me.

Beautiful city though. I have to wonder why other colonial cities of Ecuador don't take Cuenca's lead and work on sprucing themselves up a bit... there are some places that could be kind of Cuenca-lite if they just worked on it a bit.

Cuenca's holiday festivals - with the candle-lit balloons - in Parque Central are truly amazing.

The weather's not cold, but the people can be. I'd call Cuenca's weather... brisk!

eevanvleet · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Reno, NV, USA

The almuerzo is a must have for anyone, but you'll be cooking it at home except for maybe once a week unless you're using your savings. If other cities are more affordable as I have heard Quito and Guayaquil are, then they are better options. An overnight bus will get you to Cuenca from either of those places. Also, there is absolutely nothing to do during the week and not really that many concerts, though good museums. Really bountiful vegetarian options and great food markets all over that makes living on a budget better. Loja is and could be even more Cuenca-lite as far as the churches go. Even more laid back, laid back too far for most, in fact. Lo siento a los lojanos.