I do not know the cost of clothing in Mexico because I do not buy clothes here.
For one thing, it is hard to get my size because the stores here basically cater to the locals. The locals are shorter and smaller. I’m 6’2 and 240 pounds. I do notice that when I get tennis shoes here, they do not even have close to what I want and the prices are too high, so I do my shopping for clothes and tennis shoes in the US. I think certain items are priced...
I do not know the cost of clothing in Mexico because I do not buy clothes here.
For one thing, it is hard to get my size because the stores here basically cater to the locals. The locals are shorter and smaller. I’m 6’2 and 240 pounds. I do notice that when I get tennis shoes here, they do not even have close to what I want and the prices are too high, so I do my shopping for clothes and tennis shoes in the US. I think certain items are priced higher in Mexico than in the US. They don’t take US dollars here. It’s strictly pesos.
I live in Ajijic. People generally know this as the Lake Chapala area. It is a well-known expat area. The prices may be higher in the well-known expat areas and the resort areas as compared to the other parts of Mexico. There are Canadians who come seasonally to Ajijic, so they don’t stay all year. They go back to Canada for 3 or 4 months. There are lots of foreigners here. Because of the number of foreigners in resort areas, the prices are higher there than in other places in Mexico.
(Clothes sold in open air market Lake Chapala, Mexico, pictured. )
If I rent a house or apartment in Nicaragua, do I need to hire an attorney?
John-Marc Gallagher - GPS Real Estate
If you are going to rent for a long time in Nicaragua, you have to have a contract. An attorney will draw up the contract. The contract will outline all the responsibilities, the amount of the security deposit, the date when the rent is due, the date when you are supposed to move in and when you are supposed to move out. The security deposit may be first month, last month or whatever you have negotiated with the owner. Those kinds of contracts are extremely easy to enforce, negotiate, and...
If you are going to rent for a long time in Nicaragua, you have to have a contract. An attorney will draw up the contract. The contract will outline all the responsibilities, the amount of the security deposit, the date when the rent is due, the date when you are supposed to move in and when you are supposed to move out. The security deposit may be first month, last month or whatever you have negotiated with the owner. Those kinds of contracts are extremely easy to enforce, negotiate, and create. It is not a standard agreement; it is not a standard form that you can pick up at a bookstore. They are all individually done and are always done by an attorney or a notary and all these contracts are notarized.
Therefore, do you need an attorney to get this done? Well, it is like Brandy and Cognac. All Cognacs are Brandies but not all Brandies are Cognacs. In order to be a Cognac, you have to come from Cognac, (a town in France) but it is a Brandy. In Nicaragua, all notaries are attorneys but not all attorneys are notaries. There is no such thing as Notary Public in a bank or in an office. In Latin America, you have to be an attorney for so many years in order to be a notary. So going back to contracts, yes, you will need an attorney, who is also a notary. In order to buy a house or a car, you have to have a notary. If you are going to rent a house, you have to have a contract that is notarized. Hence, everything has to go through an attorney.
If you are renting a house, the owner will let you know the terms of the rent and if you agree, then you can both go to his/her attorney to write the contract and notarize it at the same time. If you do not read Spanish, the law is that you need someone who will translate it for you. If that is the case, then you will need your own attorney.
If you are just walking through the door of a real estate company and you tell them that you are looking for a house to rent, chances are you should also have found an attorney-notary. It that is not the case, you can have the real estate agent supply you one to make sure that you have read and understood the contract that you are going to sign, before you sign it.
What are the main cities, towns, communities and developments of the Boquete area and what is each one like?
Linda Jensen
Coming into Boquete, you’ll see Los Molinas at the left side. Los Molinas has a beautiful hotel and people there are building beautiful homes and condos. This upscale community is a bit warmer compared to Boquete.
There’s also a little housing development going in on the right side. As you come near the Information Center, you’ll see Volcancito. Most of the properties in Volcancito are worth around US $100,000 plus. There’s also...
Coming into Boquete, you’ll see Los Molinas at the left side. Los Molinas has a beautiful hotel and people there are building beautiful homes and condos. This upscale community is a bit warmer compared to Boquete.
There’s also a little housing development going in on the right side. As you come near the Information Center, you’ll see Volcancito. Most of the properties in Volcancito are worth around US $100,000 plus. There’s also Santa Lucia where the wealthiest man in town lives. Some of my friends live there as well. It is a very attractive place with a community pool, tennis court and very large homes.
In town, there’s Valle Escondido, a very high-end address with several upscale condos and a small golf course. If you look at the place, it really has a country club atmosphere. Up in the mountains, about 3 ½ kilometers from the town (a little over 2 miles), there’s a beautiful development called Las Montanas, which is very high end real estate and the views there are breathtaking. Where we live, it’s a gated community and it has fence all around. It’s called the Boquete Valley of Flowers and it’s in the Alto Boquete area.
From Alto Boquete towards the city of David, you’ll see a lot of developments up and down the streets.
Raising children in Portugal is wonderful. There is no violence here. It’s very secure so the children have lots of freedom and they can have lots of activities after school.
Here in Portugal, you will see children the age of 12 going to school by themselves by getting on to public transports. By the age of 15, they go to the cafes or the cinemas without adult supervision. Most cafes in Portugal don’t close until 1 AM. They go on their own. Parents don’t need...
Raising children in Portugal is wonderful. There is no violence here. It’s very secure so the children have lots of freedom and they can have lots of activities after school.
Here in Portugal, you will see children the age of 12 going to school by themselves by getting on to public transports. By the age of 15, they go to the cafes or the cinemas without adult supervision. Most cafes in Portugal don’t close until 1 AM. They go on their own. Parents don’t need to always guard their children here.
Raising children in Portugal is totally different from raising children in England. I raised my daughter in England and at age 6, she couldn’t go to the sweets shop by herself. Here in Portugal, you would see children ages 5 to 7 who go to the sweets shop on their own or they go to the small stores to buy bread, etc. You will see 12 to 15 year olds at the beach without their parents. You can let your children go on their own here in Portugal but you can’t do the same in England because England has more crimes; it’s unbelievable. In England, you’ll hear of children who got raped at the age of 6 or 7. You never hear of that in Portugal. Children get abducted in England and here in Portugal, that doesn’t happen. It’s safe here in Portugal.
It’s a little hard to track the history of Ambergris Caye by itself. We take the history of the country because Belize is a small country.
Belize was initially founded by British pirates around the 1760s when the British Navy was hanging all the pirates in the Caribbean. Some who gave up pirating settled at the mouth of the Belize River and created a city, which is now a city in Belize. They changed from pirating into being hardwood harvesters. They...
It’s a little hard to track the history of Ambergris Caye by itself. We take the history of the country because Belize is a small country.
Belize was initially founded by British pirates around the 1760s when the British Navy was hanging all the pirates in the Caribbean. Some who gave up pirating settled at the mouth of the Belize River and created a city, which is now a city in Belize. They changed from pirating into being hardwood harvesters. They were mahogany harvesters.
When the Garifunas or the slaves from the Caribbean were freed, they sailed into Belize and they became citizens of Belize or what would become Belize.
We also have the Maya culture here, so for the last 150 years or more, we have a mix of Maya, Garifuna, and people from the Caste Wars in Mexico, who came here around the late 1790s. A lot of Mexicans fled from the Caste Wars just before the 1800s and came down into Belize. That is where we got the Spanish-speaking people. All of Belize has been a mix of people from someplace else except for the Maya, who were here first.
We have beautiful Mayan ruins here. We have Mayan cities here that pre-date the Roman Empire, and they were massive. Belize became a country officially in 1981 so it is still fairly new.
(Pirates, an eatery on Caye Caulker, Belize, pictured.)
Do I need a second passport if I retire, work, or live abroad?
Gabriela Estrada
You do not need a second passport if you retire and choose to work or live abroad. It is, though, highly recommended to get a residency, which, for example, in Nicaragua is a very easy thing to do. All you would need to do is pay $2 for the application, fill it out, get a couple of medical tests and then you are all set.
With this residency you wouldn't have to worry about migration problems, you will be able to come and go from the country and you are...
You do not need a second passport if you retire and choose to work or live abroad. It is, though, highly recommended to get a residency, which, for example, in Nicaragua is a very easy thing to do. All you would need to do is pay $2 for the application, fill it out, get a couple of medical tests and then you are all set.
With this residency you wouldn't have to worry about migration problems, you will be able to come and go from the country and you are free to work in whatever way you may want. You will receive your retirement money as you would back in your home country.
They were big, open questions— the “elephant in the room,” the large, unavoidable thing I was a bit afraid to confront honestly and directly.
The background is that I was born and raised in the US, where I spent almost all of my 59 years before, two years ago, moving to Mexico. The elephant was these series of questions: After these two years, how would I respond upon returning to the US to visit and retrieve our household goods to...
I have met and spoken with many North American ex-pats while in Panama. I'm a curious guy, and one of the questions I often asked was why they were there. The answers weren't all that surprising to me.
A guy waiting to get at his safety deposit box, in my Panamanian bank, told me he retired to Panama at age 58 because he could. He could never, he said, do that in the United States. Was he happy with his decision? Yes.
I have lived in Panama for nearly seven years with my wife Any. We have a beautiful home on the Caribbean side (known as the Gold Coast), near the town of Portobello, Colon.
I spent three years researching Panama before my first visit and I brought six people to Panama on my first visit. I thought the people who came here with me were interested in moving to Panama, but they were much more interested in golfing than discovering the country.
I do not know the cost of clothing in Mexico because I do not buy clothes here. 
Coming into Boquete, you’ll see Los Molinas at the left side. Los Molinas has a beautiful hotel and people there are building beautiful homes and condos. This upscale community is a bit warmer compared to Boquete. 
Raising children in Portugal is wonderful. There is no violence here. It’s very secure so the children have lots of freedom and they can have lots of activities after school.
It’s a little hard to track the history of Ambergris Caye by itself. We take the history of the country because Belize is a small country. 
They were big, open questions— the “elephant in the room,” the large, unavoidable thing I was a bit afraid to confront honestly and directly. 
I have met and spoken with many North American ex-pats while in Panama. I'm a curious guy, and one of the questions I often asked was why they were there. The answers weren't all that surprising to me.