Is it safe to drink the water in San Miguel de Allende?
Dr Cedric - The McMillan Dental Clinic .... We Exceed Expectations!
NO! and this is a resounding NO.
The water (tap water) in San Miguel de Allende contains high concentrations of arsenic, fluoride, mercury and other toxic elements. Teeth and bone become fragile and brittle due to the lack of calcium.
Last year in two of the schools, in the Agustin Gonzalez Community, I checked 317 children from age 6 to 17 and found that 297 of the children had fluorosis (also called "mottled enamel") is...
NO! and this is a resounding NO.
The water (tap water) in San Miguel de Allende contains high concentrations of arsenic, fluoride, mercury and other toxic elements. Teeth and bone become fragile and brittle due to the lack of calcium.
Last year in two of the schools, in the Agustin Gonzalez Community, I checked 317 children from age 6 to 17 and found that 297 of the children had fluorosis (also called "mottled enamel") is characterized by hypo-mineralization of tooth enamel caused by too much fluoride during formation). I also took a sample of the drinking water in one of the schools which was certified safe to drink by the government, and sent to the University of UNAM in Mexico City. When they returned their analysis it was noted that the water that these children were drinking had 1,000 times the amount of fluoride required.
The tap water is certainly not safe because the water company SAPASMA has dug so deep that they have hit rock bottom and all types of elements . Also agriculture plays havoc on the eco-system as well.
One very good reason to retire overseas, based on my experience working with retirees moving to Nicaragua for the past 9 years, is to have a lower cost of living and a great quality of life "south of the border".
One very good reason to retire overseas, based on my experience working with retirees moving to Nicaragua for the past 9 years, is to have a lower cost of living and a great quality of life "south of the border".
What's the language most often spoken in Ambergris Caye? Can I get by if I just speak English?
Kate Corrigan - Caye International Bank
The first language of Belize is English. I am Brit and I actually find the language here more American English than British English. So if you are an expat from the US, you will fit right in.
An English-speaking expat from any jurisdiction will not have a hard time with the language because English is Belize’s first language. If you want to open a bank account here, open a business, or buy a property, all the documents will be provided to you in English that you can...
The first language of Belize is English. I am Brit and I actually find the language here more American English than British English. So if you are an expat from the US, you will fit right in.
An English-speaking expat from any jurisdiction will not have a hard time with the language because English is Belize’s first language. If you want to open a bank account here, open a business, or buy a property, all the documents will be provided to you in English that you can understand.
There are other languages spoken here in Belize like Spanish or Spanglish (as we hear on Ambergris Caye). There are Guatemalans who come here, so they also have some influence here. There are Mestizos and Mayans, too, and they all have influences on the language here.
My daughter is thirteen. She’s going to the local high school and she comes home speaking Creole. Creole is a language that came here to Belize when the English settlers came and they had African workers harvesting their land, farming, and serving them. So these African workers derived this language from African and English, which for me, being a Brit, is very easy to understand, but the Africans created this language so that their bosses couldn’t understand what they are saying when they spoke to each other. My daughter has picked it up very well and I have to remind her that she is a Brit and one of our qualities is that we speak proper English.
So the main languages here in Belize are Mestizo, Spanish, Mayan, and Creole, but the first language is English. English-speaking expats find the language here very easy.
What's the dress code in Nicaragua? What clothes do they wear in Nicaragua?
Miguel Moran
The dress code in Granada, Nicaragua is pretty open. Nicaragua is a tropical country so you expect people to be wearing a lot of shorts and t-shirts or short-sleeved shirts. The basic dress code is either jeans with a t-shirt or a short-sleeved shirt with a pair of shorts.
The dress code of women in Granada is the same as what you see women wearing in the States during summer. Women wear short dresses or shorts. The younger ones adore wearing shorter shorts....
The dress code in Granada, Nicaragua is pretty open. Nicaragua is a tropical country so you expect people to be wearing a lot of shorts and t-shirts or short-sleeved shirts. The basic dress code is either jeans with a t-shirt or a short-sleeved shirt with a pair of shorts.
The dress code of women in Granada is the same as what you see women wearing in the States during summer. Women wear short dresses or shorts. The younger ones adore wearing shorter shorts. Nicaragua is an all-year summer country.
Expats would be wearing more colorful shirts, which is one of the differences I've noticed between how the expats and local Nicas (“Nica” is the local word for “Nicaraguan) dress. Expats wear more short-sleeved shirts, whereas the Nicas would be wearing more t-shirts.
Is it safe to drink the water in the Panama City, Panama suburb of Fort Clayton / Clayton?
Anne Gordon de Barrigón - Whale Watching Panama/Emberá Village Tours
Most of the water in the mainland of Panama is very very safe to drink. You can drink the water straight from the tap in Clayton. We have the same water as any other part of Panama City.
Most of the water in the mainland of Panama is very very safe to drink. You can drink the water straight from the tap in Clayton. We have the same water as any other part of Panama City.
Generally, it is heavily legislated that if you are going to build something, you have to build to a certain standard and that standard tends to be good. There are no modern methods of building here. In other words, there is no steel frame, no wooden frame, or that kind of thing. We build using bricks and mortar. The structure is still reinforced with concrete on the structural load bearing parts of the building, villa, or apartment. You would also have a slab on each layer. If it is...
Generally, it is heavily legislated that if you are going to build something, you have to build to a certain standard and that standard tends to be good. There are no modern methods of building here. In other words, there is no steel frame, no wooden frame, or that kind of thing. We build using bricks and mortar. The structure is still reinforced with concrete on the structural load bearing parts of the building, villa, or apartment. You would also have a slab on each layer. If it is a two-story house, you would layer a concrete slab across and then you would in fill with brick. You would lay and run the services and utilities by literally breaking the brick and creating a little tunnel for the electric, the sewerage, and all the plumbing.
Generally, construction here in Algarve is very solid. This is not California in terms of earthquake risk but Portugal is not far away from a meeting of two of the tectonic plates in the Atlantic. The last major earthquake was quite some time ago, in 1755, it was very destructive so most of the modern buildings here are built to earthquake standards or close to it. From a physical construction perspective, you would find very solidly built properties. You will not be knocking on drywall and wooden structures here.
In terms of the quality and finishing perspective, the structures here in Algarve are very good, especially the modern builds. There is a proliferation of marble in Portugal so you will see a lot of buildings or homes that were finished with marble and with big tiles, which are very modern and clean. There is a very modern look to the inside of the house. The bathrooms are modern as well, with suspended sinks and a lot of glass.
An average-sized property is 1/3 bigger in Portugal than it is in Spain. Sometimes the size is reflected on the price and sometimes it is not. The pricing depends on the area. We find that people remark that the residential construction here has more space than they would have expected. A typical two-bedroom apartment, for example, would be in the region of 80 to 100 square meters (860 square feet to 1,077 square feet), whereas in Spain, the average is about 60 to 80 square meters (646 square feet to 860 square feet).
The old Spanish Fort San Juan de Ulúa still stands watch over the bustling port of Veracruz, Mexico, but it is no longer filled with many tons of silver and gold.
This fort was built in 1565 on the island where the Spanish first landed in their conquest of Mexico in 1518. And it was the last place held by Spain in Mexico. Although independence was granted in 1821. Spanish troops remained until 1825. For most of the 300 year period of Spanish rule, it was the main center...
I first came to Panama City in the fall of 1997. Even then the city was vibrant, bustling and full of life. The towering skyscrapers that now dominate Avenida Balboa were a distant vision and the high end residential districts of Punta Pacifica and Costa del Este had yet to be built. Just getting into the city from Tocumen International Airport could be a nightmare. The toll road leading from the airport wasn’t complete and the notorious city traffic jams were...
Every time that you research buying something, traveling or doing something out of the ordinary, you take the necessary steps to get the most out of it, and make the best possible decision. Usually, if it´s a purchase online, you read the comments, and base a good percentage of your decision on the opinions of other people who have tried the product or service before you.