Yes, you can buy furniture in Chapala and Ajijic. You can find rustic furniture here but if you are not into rustic Mexican or colonial Mexican furniture, there are furniture stores all over the village. If you go west, you will see a big new furniture store. They offer modern furniture, which is what most North Americans are more accustomed to. They have leather covered furniture. They also have metal and glass furniture if you are more into minimalistic or modern designs. There is a decoration store in Riberas del Pilar, which is a suburb neighborhood in between Chapala and Ajijic, that has good quality furniture and many people buy from them.
Or you can go to Guadalajara, which is the second largest city in Mexico and is only about an hour away from Ajijic. You can buy the furniture in Guadalajara and have it delivered to you in Chapala or Ajijic. There are garage sales here where you can buy furniture from people who are leaving Ajijic. Many times it is still good furniture.
With regard to prices, if you go to the rustic furniture factory, you could probably get a full living room set for only about 6,000 pesos ($330). That would include one love seat, one sofa, one chair, and probably an ottoman or a coffee table. If you go to Liverpool, which is a big, US-style department store in Guadalajara, you can get a full living room for 55,000 pesos ($3,000). Liverpool and Palacio de Hierro are the most high end stores in Guadalajara where you can buy furniture.
In comparison with the quality of furniture in the US, that depends on where you buy your furniture. I also had the experience of buying horrible furniture in the US. You sit on the chair and it cracks, especially the ones that ones that you assemble yourself. Prices in Mexico are very reasonable. What you pay is what you get in proportion. There are things that are very cheap but that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. It’s cheap compared to what? If you pay 2,000 pesos ($110) for a full living room set, it probably won’t last that long. It is pretty much “what you see is what you get.” You will see the quality yourself and there is a whole spectrum of different kinds of furniture that will be within your budget and will fulfill your needs as long as you know what you want. The price would be much less than how much it costs in the US.
If you want to buy furniture that was imported from the US, you can expect that it would cost even more than it costs in the US, but we have that. But if you buy something that is from Mexico but with the same quality as the ones you see in the US, they would cost much less. Handmade furniture are generally inexpensive except for the ones that have wood carvings because wood carving here in Mexico is very detailed and it takes a lot of work. If you are willing to pay 25,000 pesos ($1,400) for a headboard that is, for example, Rococo, you can get it and it would be top notch quality. If you buy the same in the US, it would cost about $4,000.
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.
Like in any tropical area, the number of bugs and insects in Granada, Nicaragua, vary depending on the season. Sometimes the transition between the heat and the rain produces a lot of flies and mosquitoes. If you live in a country where there is a lot of vegetation, you might have some mosquito trouble depending on the season. If you live in Granada, yes, there are mosquitoes but if you don’t live close to the lake then it’s much better. If you live too close to the lake...
My perspective on the economy of Placencia is that it is quite healthy in terms of being a safe economy. Granted the cost of living in Placencia is pretty high considering the income of the local Belize residents, but at the same time it is an economy that seems to be very stable at this stage. I certainly have had that experience while working with the banks here. The economy in Placencia seems very good and very healthy. The tourism industry in Placencia is very healthy and driving the...
s sudden, unexpected illnesses, accidents, and injuries. It doesn´t cover any medical conditions for which individuals are taking medication or any pre-existing diagnosis (prior illnesses, accidents, or surgeries). For example, an individual diagnosed with hypertension and on heart medication would not be covered by Traveler´s Insurance for a heart attack. It is always better to have full health insurance coverage. Individuals who are outside of their country of origin 6 months or more a year qualify for Expat Health Insurance. Several affordable plans are available. 
Volcán itself is commercial and they only have a single street. In that street you have a couple of restaurants, a supermarket, and a highway store where you can buy your daily needs. The rest of Volcán is just homes and land for cattle, horses, etc. 
The expat story "Things are a changing here…” about the situation in Coronado, Panama, does not present a knowledgeable picture of the area. It was written with no updated information and worse, distorted facts. 
On September 7, the Panama men’s and women’s flag football national teams will be flying to Grosseto, Italy, for the International Federation of American Football Flag Football World Championship. Originally scheduled for August 13-15, in Jerusalem, the tournament had to be moved because of the violence in that region.