Wrecking Havoc? Now that’s dramatic.
When we read and study these bits of prose it becomes increasingly apparent that this article and video are just overblown media hype to garner reactions from the expat community. Don’t tell anyone but I think it is working. The article has over 1,500 comments at the bottom of it, mostly from expats and potential expats becoming defensive and blaming one another.
It all seems like very well-planned agendas to keep people out or to keep a certain type of people out; maybe the lower pension retirees?
In her article the city of Cuenca was quoted as saying “We didn’t mean for Cuenca to become a retirement destination”.
Oh really? We’ve all been fooled then.
Let’s take a look at the article.
Source: http://www.breitbart.com/
TITLE: US Baby Boomers Gentrifying Socialist Ecuador and Threatening the Stability of its Welfare State
The title implies expats are selfish and snotty.
Excuse me, but I had to look up the word “gentrify” I’ve never heard of it before and I read a lot. My Microsoft Word didn’t even have the word in its vocabulary either. C’mon Bill Gates, what’s the matter with you?
New writers often use difficult wording in their prose because they think it makes them look like better writers. But actually, it makes them look like newbie writers.
WE looked up the definition just in case you were wondering too.
GENTRIFY – renovate and improve (especially a house or district) so that it conforms to middle-class taste.
We could dissect this silly article and video to death but that’s not really what this blog post is about. We just want to know the reasons for publishing hearsay, and not to mention that it is “old news” and that they were published in the span of just a few days apart from each other.
You and I both know the information reported is overblown and not entirely accurate. And that is why we call it hearsay because after something has been mentioned over and over and over again, the wording evolves and transforms the content in such a manner it is not what it was or how it actually happened to begin with.
Have you ever wondered how a complete stranger that does not even live here (Ecuador) has the credence to be an authority over the behaviors of expats in a certain retirement city?
Who is the writer? Where is the credibility? We do not see any. However, expats are reposting these silly reports all over the Internet like she has some kind of influence over the behaviors of some expats in Cuenca Ecuador…and people are eating it up…gobble…gobble!
What’s truly strange about the article and the video (we got a good laugh) is the subject matter of what they are reporting on is NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN. In fact we’ve been talking about this very same stuff going on almost since the beginning of our Discover Cuenca Ecuador blog years ago...and we live here.
Here’s what’s weird: The article above is from a journalist who, after looking over her dossier only reports about political upheaval, political destruction and terror in countries like Turkey, Pakistan, Philippines and the UK…and now...and now…are you ready for this folks?
Here goes…and now among all of her politically violent articles there is one amongst all of this terror where her focus is on a small expat community and the expats that live there not learning the language.
Woopdeedoo!
We really are laughing out loud and you should be too.
How in the world can this petty news piece of some expat retirees in Cuenca Ecuador compare to her other stuff about innocent people and children getting bombed and political content with violent terror attacks across parts of the world thousands of miles away? I am at a loss for words; it’s so shamefully disgraceful.
What she reported is nothing new to any of us; its old news reported years prior on several expat blogs, including ours. Why dredge up old news and then gossip about it?
Seriously guys, where are they getting their information from? If not copying from the bloggers, who actually live here? Just change the wording around and hype it up a bit and "walah", just like that, you got an article and a video. Wow.
But we say, expats care, tourist don't.
And then there is the video. The video is an assortment of clips from old media reports and expat videos dated as far back as 2012. There is absolutely nothing in the video that we didn’t already know; the video is also confusing, misleading, and inaccurate and slanted just to name a few.
Video Title and Source: Gringolandia: Cuenca, Ecuador -Locals Complain Over Influx of White English Speaking People
The title is not only silly but sounds racist. The title is making us laugh our heads off. hahahahaha Locals complain over the influx of White English Speaking People. Why does it matter if the people are red, yellow, brown grey, black, white or blue?
Really, some locals are complaining? Why is that even news? This sediment has been written about 5 years ago. It happens in all the paradise cities that the Retire Abroad Magazines (RAM) promote.
If you think Cuenca Ecuador is the only retirement destination feeling the tourist crunch because of being labeled the “BEST PLACE to LIVE” in the world then please do some more research. It’s happening everywhere, Costa Rica, Panama, D.R, and now Colombia…There’s consequences to notoriety and now they have to deal with the consequences, including Cuenca Ecuador.
BACK to the VIDEO: Who is this person? Take a look at the videos he usually makes. Very political and opinionated videos trying to sway people and then out of the blue like the journalist above he makes a video that is so unlike all the rest of his videos about a small expat community in Cuenca Ecuador.
Are you confused like we are?
On another note, is the city of Cuenca behaving hospitable as they are quoted as saying “We didn’t mean for Cuenca to become a retirement destination”. Do you feel warm and fuzzy when you read that?
You did not intend on Cuenca being a retirement haven? Oh really, you had us fooled and probably thousands of others fooled too.
The International Relations Director for Ecuador is quoted as telling the Herald, “Cuencanos are feeling like strangers in their own city”.
Feeling like a stranger in a city of 350,000 population and maybe 10,000 permanent gringos. (and our guess for permanent expats is high).
How can Cuencanos tell the difference between a tourist and permanent expat anyway?
Well, THEY CAN”T.
What is more believable is all the tourists that come in every day, week, month, year to Cuenca behaving selfishly, and local and expat real estate agents driving up rents, and these tourists becoming agitated and upset because they do not speak a lick of Spanish because they're on vacation and all they care about is having a good time for themselves and then they leave, and a new set of “without a care” tourists arrive right behind them and the cycle starts all over again.
Expats care, tourists don’t.
Think about it. It is much more believable that hundreds of thousands of different tourists arriving daily, monthly, yearly to Cuenca Ecuador is going to be more of an impairment on the city and how the locals feel than a few thousand permanent residents that live here.
Expats care, tourists don’t.
So, aside from the in-hospitality of Ecuador changing VISA requirements recently and compelling foreign residents to have health insurance, and saying they didn’t intend on Cuenca being a retirement city, the only thing that makes these two reports stand out from all the rest is that they come from “off the cuff”, oddball copycat media sources and right on the heels of one another, while (sadly) some expats are reposting these hearsay reports all over the Internet because they think it’s NEW news.
But it’s not NEW news, its old, transformed news made to look like NEW news.
This does give us time to reflect on what being a respectful expat means. We all makes mistakes and to err is to be human, however to make the same mistakes over and over again or to try and change something or someone that we have no right to change is erring over and over again.
Uprooting ones life and moving to a totally different culture is difficult and can be challenge for most people...patience and kindness are virtues that are much needed from all of us, no matter where we live in the world....we still believe that most Ecuadorians welcome us to their country so don't get too serious over it.
Thanks guys, see ya next article or VLOG. If this article interests you, then you'll like these too. The first one is a must read if anyone is still confused, angry or blaming others because of these silly copycat reports..
PS...
We just want
to say that because gossip grows in steps with each new report, it turns it
into misinformation and can ruin the reputation of a person or a group of people which
is what is now happening with the expats that live in Cuenca. The reports that are coming out are totally warped and misleading thousands of people. Thanks to copycats.
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