What is Mexico's gun ownership policy and gun laws?
Denis Larsen - Casa Hamaca Guesthouse
Once you leave the cities and/or the tourist areas of Yucatan, Q. Roo and Campeche and you start traveling on secondary roads, especially on the weekends, you will see numerous men on bicycles with 16 or 20 gauge shotguns over their shoulders. All of the shotguns are single shot.
The hunters often work in groups with the objective being a deer. They often have their dogs with them. When they hunt in groups, the make a very large circle and work their...
Once you leave the cities and/or the tourist areas of Yucatan, Q. Roo and Campeche and you start traveling on secondary roads, especially on the weekends, you will see numerous men on bicycles with 16 or 20 gauge shotguns over their shoulders. All of the shotguns are single shot.
The hunters often work in groups with the objective being a deer. They often have their dogs with them. When they hunt in groups, the make a very large circle and work their way to the center, driving any game ahead of them. A deer is the best with a javalin coming in second and just about any bird or iguana bringing up the rear. These guys are not sport hunters, they are hunting for meat.
I had the opportunity to examine one of the shotguns up close and found that was handmade in a small village. The receiver still had file marks on it and the stock was equally crude. In some villages I have seen both single shot .22s and semiautomatic .22s.
Some people are only happy when they are unhappy. Moving overseas to fix a happiness problem isn't going to work because "no matter where you go, there you are."
Some people are only happy when they are unhappy. Moving overseas to fix a happiness problem isn't going to work because "no matter where you go, there you are."
Do I need to own a car in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua?
David Smith - Nicaragua Sotheby's International Realty
As an expat in San Juan Del Sur, you do not need to own a car here. If you live in town, everything is just within walking distance and there are shuttles to the beaches everyday, so you absolutely do not need to own a car. But having a car affords you much greater versatility and independence.
There is a car rental right in San Juan Del Sur, so you could rent a car for day trips, if you wanted to, and there are plenty of shuttles and taxis to take you...
As an expat in San Juan Del Sur, you do not need to own a car here. If you live in town, everything is just within walking distance and there are shuttles to the beaches everyday, so you absolutely do not need to own a car. But having a car affords you much greater versatility and independence.
There is a car rental right in San Juan Del Sur, so you could rent a car for day trips, if you wanted to, and there are plenty of shuttles and taxis to take you wherever you want to very affordably. You absolutely do not need a car if you are retired, but if you are working you probably would need a car.
Is there religious freedom and religious tolerance in Panama?
David Btesh - Pacific Realty / Pacific Developers
There is 100% religious freedom in Panama. There are religious buildings of every sect and every religion here in Panama. There is a mosque, there is a synagogue, there are churches, there’s a Hindu temple, there’s a Chinese temple. They are all here and people walk in the street dressed in the traditional clothes of their religion. There are women who cover their face, there are Hindus in white robes, etc. Nobody says anything. There are Jews with their yarmulkes.
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There is 100% religious freedom in Panama. There are religious buildings of every sect and every religion here in Panama. There is a mosque, there is a synagogue, there are churches, there’s a Hindu temple, there’s a Chinese temple. They are all here and people walk in the street dressed in the traditional clothes of their religion. There are women who cover their face, there are Hindus in white robes, etc. Nobody says anything. There are Jews with their yarmulkes.
Like everywhere in the world, people of the same religion or ethnic community tend to live next to each other. So the Chinese community lives around their temple and around each other. I have partners and I have friends in every community. I grew up with everybody and I have a lot of partners who are of a different religion. You name a religion; I have a partner of that religion. So like any normal country, in Panama you tend to live amongst those persons with whom you have the most in common, but you mix with everybody. After work you go home to your community, and you pray in familiar surroundings where everybody who lives around you prays. Then at work and at other times, you mix with everyone.
(Class reunion for Instituto Alberto Einstein, a bilingual, non-profit, Jewish day school in Panama City, Panama, pictured.)
What does it cost for a vacation rental in Portugal?
Ana Ferraz
The cost for a vacation rental in Portugal varies on the size of the property. A villa with three or four bedrooms and with a pool would cost €1,600 (US $1,750 or £1,100) a week in the high season; self-catering. If it’s without a pool it costs about €1,200 (US $1,300 or £865) a week. This is in Cascais, which is the most expensive places in Portugal.
The high season in Portugal is from June to August. If you get the same villa without a pool on the...
The cost for a vacation rental in Portugal varies on the size of the property. A villa with three or four bedrooms and with a pool would cost €1,600 (US $1,750 or £1,100) a week in the high season; self-catering. If it’s without a pool it costs about €1,200 (US $1,300 or £865) a week. This is in Cascais, which is the most expensive places in Portugal.
The high season in Portugal is from June to August. If you get the same villa without a pool on the low season, it would cost around €1,200 a week. The closer you are to the coast, the more expensive vacation rentals become. If you go to the interior, where it would take about an hour to go to the beach, you would pay for the same type of place around €500 to €600 (US $540 or £360 to $650 or £430) a week.
Las Posadas is the name for the popular celebrations in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, the United States and Panama during the nine days before Christmas (December 16-24). Las Posadas (which is Spanish for the “inns” or “lodging”) relates to the search by Joseph and Mary for a place to stay in Bethlehem.
This tradition began in Mexico in 1586 when Catholic...
In Granada, Nicaragua, funerals are a whole different event.
As you can see in the first picture, behind a wood and glass carriage led by two horses, there is a driver dressed in black or white with a pale and sad face, many flowers around the carriage and a sea of people behind ... the grieving family, and friends accompanying them in their pain.
It is a tradition at funerals to be with the grieving family from their home or a church to the final resting place at...
Robert and Isabelle Shahverdians found the place that eventually became La Rosa de Los Vientos in Pedasi, Panama after they had traveled Costa Rica and found it wanting. They then moved around Panama, to see if there was something better.
In the environs of Pedasi, they found a place where the road had few inhabitants and came to a bit of land that faced the Pacific, around a small bay lapped by quiet waves. It was there that they made their spot at the end of...