How much does it cost to get landline phone service in Mexico?
Mary Ann Greenawalt
In Mexico, you don't have to buy a traditional landline. You can purchase a Magic Jack for about $30/year. It's free to call anywhere and runs off your Internet.
(magicJack, pictured.)
In Mexico, you don't have to buy a traditional landline. You can purchase a Magic Jack for about $30/year. It's free to call anywhere and runs off your Internet.
Do I need to renounce or relinquish my US citizenship or get a dual citizenship to move or live abroad?
Lucia Haines - Panama Realtor Inc.
You absolutely do not have to renounce your US citizenship if you move or live abroad... but you do have to go through an immigration process, so that you can obtain a Residency Visa. There are lots of different types of Residency Visas in Panama available to choose from, and many of them, most notably the Pensioners Visa (Pensonado) include benefits such as discounts on:
restaurants (25% and 15% on fast food)
Hospital ( 15% including private...
You absolutely do not have to renounce your US citizenship if you move or live abroad... but you do have to go through an immigration process, so that you can obtain a Residency Visa. There are lots of different types of Residency Visas in Panama available to choose from, and many of them, most notably the Pensioners Visa (Pensonado) include benefits such as discounts on:
restaurants (25% and 15% on fast food)
Hospital ( 15% including private clinic)
medication (20% including prosthetics, wheelchairs and canes)
utilities (25% on telephone, water, and electricity)
recreation (50% this includes movies, sporting events, concerts and Museums)
British Common Law is practiced in Belize, which is favored by many who are looking for asset safety and protection. When Belize gained its independence in 1981 from Britain, it established a government that was based on other working, strong governments favoring the people’s privacy and other rights.
With this being said, you’ll find that many of the Belizean structures are very similar, if not identical, to what you’ll find in other...
British Common Law is practiced in Belize, which is favored by many who are looking for asset safety and protection. When Belize gained its independence in 1981 from Britain, it established a government that was based on other working, strong governments favoring the people’s privacy and other rights.
With this being said, you’ll find that many of the Belizean structures are very similar, if not identical, to what you’ll find in other financial safe havens. In short, your assets are very safe in Belize. As always, do your due diligence and know who you are working with prior to bringing your assets anywhere.
The construction standards in Portugal have been very, very high for the past 500 years. We’re a country with a lot of history, so there’s a lot of palaces and castles around Portugal that have been at the same place without any refurbishment for the past 400 to 500 years. The Portuguese have a history of being very dedicated to quality when it comes to building and to the construction of buildings.
We do not use a lot of wood. Instead, we use...
The construction standards in Portugal have been very, very high for the past 500 years. We’re a country with a lot of history, so there’s a lot of palaces and castles around Portugal that have been at the same place without any refurbishment for the past 400 to 500 years. The Portuguese have a history of being very dedicated to quality when it comes to building and to the construction of buildings.
We do not use a lot of wood. Instead, we use a lot of stones and we use a lot of bricks, so the construction in Portugal is very, very solid.
In Portugal, we have a very traditional culture; we tend to stick to the past. The things that worked in the past, we still use them today. So therefore, houses built out of wood or pre-fabricated houses do not have success in Portugal, even though they are very good and very warm.
When Portuguese look for a house and they knock on the wall and if the house is made of wood, they will not buy it. The Portuguese are really used to the thick walls that keep the heat within the house in winter and outside the house in the summer. For that reason we are really, really stuck with the old traditional ways of constructing houses.
The foundation of the house is the most important element of the building, and it’s the most expensive part of the building. We had an earthquake in 1755 in Portugal and just the coastal area was affected. The rest of the country didn’t have any other problems. So yes, for many years, we are very proud of the way we construct and build properties in our land.
(Thick walled construction of centuries old Portuguese buildings, pictured.)
When I first moved to Granada, Nicaragua, there were about five of us ex-pats here. I opened a small restaurant which became the place to hang out and meet everyone. At that time, I did know everyone and just about everything going on (which was not much). Now, there are so many Americans, Canadians and Europeans living here that it is mind boggling.
The ex-pat community is great and there are many things to keep us occupied like the Book Club, Dinner and a...
When I first moved to Granada, Nicaragua, there were about five of us ex-pats here. I opened a small restaurant which became the place to hang out and meet everyone. At that time, I did know everyone and just about everything going on (which was not much). Now, there are so many Americans, Canadians and Europeans living here that it is mind boggling.
The ex-pat community is great and there are many things to keep us occupied like the Book Club, Dinner and a Movie Night, Friday night Mojitos on Calle La Calzada and more. Most ex-pats are very community minded and volunteer at community organizations. We help each other with problems and laugh at our silly mishaps.
One of the most significant things taking place in Granada is the number of young families moving into our community. Now that we have a bilingual international school, they are bringing their families, starting businesses and enjoying life in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
What are the best things to do in and around the Panama City, Panama area of Casco Viejo?
Rey Bazán
The best thing to do in Casco Viejo is to eat out and experience the restaurants. There is a great variety of food here and the settings are perfect. It is not like in the States where the waiters are on top of you asking if you are going to have anything else from time to time, because for them it is important to turn the table as often as you can. In contrast, here in Panama, you will first have drinks, some wine, and then you order and you talk. Then you have a lot of after dinner...
The best thing to do in Casco Viejo is to eat out and experience the restaurants. There is a great variety of food here and the settings are perfect. It is not like in the States where the waiters are on top of you asking if you are going to have anything else from time to time, because for them it is important to turn the table as often as you can. In contrast, here in Panama, you will first have drinks, some wine, and then you order and you talk. Then you have a lot of after dinner drinks and before you know it, it has already been 3 or 4 hours. The restaurant owners or the waiters do not pressure you and that makes it for a nice moment.
On the other side of the cost spectrum, in Casco Viejo we also have outdoor stands where you can enjoy food that is very inexpensive. I personally enjoy that, too. You can also go to a bar on the rooftops and have good view of the bay. There are a lot of activities here in Casco Viejo, whether they are free or not.
Editor’s note: We had the privilege in early March, 2017 to talk with Michael Eager. The Eager family is a bit of an institution in the Ajijic area, where Michael’s brother Mark owns a real estate sales company and Michael runs the business that started it all in the 1970s, formerly the Posada, and now the Nueva Posada. In this interview, Michael tells us the unlikely set of events that started it all when Ajijic was just a small, out of the way village and well...
If you’re like me, you’ve got a song in your head pretty much all the time. Sometimes, you know why it’s there, and sometimes, you don’t. Sometimes, you don’t even know where you heard the song.
That’s exactly what happened to me towards the end of our stay in the Ajijic area, as I was walking back from the corner store with some pastries. If you’ve read my first two stories on Ajijic and the Lake Chapala area, you know...
Just a short drive from the traffic and hectic city life of Panama City is the beautiful oasis called El Valle de Anton. This charming and picturesque community is a growing retirement community for many ex-pats and Panamanians as well.
A paved road winds its way off the Pan-American Highway towards the mountains. One can feel the air grow cooler as the road climes ever...
In Mexico, you don't have to buy a traditional landline. You can purchase a Magic Jack for about $30/year. It's free to call anywhere and runs off your Internet. 
The construction standards in Portugal have been very, very high for the past 500 years. We’re a country with a lot of history, so there’s a lot of palaces and castles around Portugal that have been at the same place without any refurbishment for the past 400 to 500 years. The Portuguese have a history of being very dedicated to quality when it comes to building and to the construction of buildings. 
Editor’s note: We had the privilege in early March, 2017 to talk with Michael Eager. The Eager family is a bit of an institution in the Ajijic area, where Michael’s brother Mark owns a real estate sales company and Michael runs the business that started it all in the 1970s, formerly the Posada, and now the Nueva Posada. In this interview, Michael tells us the unlikely set of events that started it all when Ajijic was just a small, out of the way village and well...
If you’re like me, you’ve got a song in your head pretty much all the time. Sometimes, you know why it’s there, and sometimes, you don’t. Sometimes, you don’t even know where you heard the song. 
Such beauty and wonder everywhere!