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I can think of a few examples of how much medical services cost in Mexico. A hernia can cost you from 60,000 pesos -120,000 pesos (about US $3,200 to $6,400). Cataracts normally cost anywhere between 60,000 pesos ... Read more
The currency being used by Portugal is the euro. If you have dollars and you are coming for a vacation from the US into Portugal, or if you have pounds from the UK or Swedish krona from Sweden, you could buy euros... Read more
The economy in Bocas Del Toro this year is great. In fact, the economy in all of Panama is great. The last update on the economy that I read recorded a 6.5% growth. Tourism is up; everybody's businesses are do... Read more
Yes you can buy furniture in Granada, Nicaragua. In fact, Granada is very famous for the mimbrea rocking chair, which is a classic rocking chair that is usually white in color. We have two or three famous shops wh... Read more
The majority of Coronado residents are not expats. Panamanians, from the city, have long been the residents of Coronado, the first beach community with the Coronado Resort, Golf and Beach Club, in existence... Read more
If you are in the historic central zone there are very strict requirements about what you can and cannot do. For example, if you want to paint the front of your building, you have a selection of pastel colors to choos... Read more
I would recommend looking around for local furniture makers. In my town there are two men who make different styles of traditional straight chairs. I also love Equipali chairs which are possibly made ... Read more
The cost to rent a home in the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area has been moving upwards over the last few years, as demand has increased and supply has not kept up. As with prices to buy, your price t... Read more
Most people will tell you that “High Season” in the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area is from October or November through about April, with “Low Season” encompassing the “Rainy Season”, whi... Read more
One of the biggest advantages of living at the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area is the existence of Guadalajara less than an hour away. Like many things in the Lake Chapala area, the existence of a 5 million inhabitant... Read more
The restaurants in the Ajijic and overall Lake Chapala area are extremely good and extremely reasonably priced (perhaps 60% less than in the US). And yes, you can get quite a bit more variety than Mexican food.&n... Read more
The answer to can you buy good clothes in the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area depends on what kinds of clothes you purchase. First, the good news. If you buy your clothes at Walmart, we have on... Read more
Below is the second article I wrote for Next Avenue, a website whose media partners include PBS, Huffington Post, etc., and run by very talented and accomplished public television people and journalists. ... Read more
To paraphrase, add to, modernize (and a little bit botch) Robert Burns: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry… so it is great to have the Internet for quick research and decision-making.” And t... Read more
We had dinner with a couple that is doing their recon mission to see if living in Boquete (or Panama) is right for them. Everyone who lives here has done the same. And maybe everyone has asked themselves, "Does Bo... Read more
It is really difficult to get to know the people around you when you don’t speak the same language. You can be speaking the same native language and not understanding each other. Words have meaning, but ... Read more
Like an aspiring knight in a medieval fairytale who had been told to bring back the egg of a fire-breathing dragon or a nascent American Indian brave who had been given the task of producing a specific feather from a ... Read more
Zaqueo hired a third friend of his from his home area named Chicalo. He was to be an “ayudante,” or assistant as they are called when they don’t have a specific trade. Chicalo ha... Read more
"Why would anybody want to build a house in a foreign country?" That’s what I asked my friend who was buying land here in Guatemala. She was looking for a partner, and I thought she was a bit cr... Read more
"What is Hobbitenango?" Many of my stories involve a place up the hill near us called Hobbitenango, and before I write about building my house here, I must explain what Hobbitenango is. “Tenango... Read more
Here in Guatemala they call themselves Guatemaltecos (Guatemalteca for women) and not Guatemalans. But both are understood. When I came to live here it was a plan for two years, to put this young indigenous woman thro... Read more
I DO feel proud of building a house in Guatemala. I'm not going to get into the doing here, but lay the groundwork for WHY I did it. This is one of our views of the house and one of what we see... Read more
I grew up in the United States, most recently from Northern California, but now in my 70’s I live in a village in Guatemala, five miles away from Antigua, a popular tourist destination and NOT typical of Guatemala... Read more
For retirees/expats considering a cruise, here are a few tips I garnered from a recent Caribbean island-hopping adventure my wife and I enjoyed. It was ap... Read more
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