How are the restaurants in Chapala and Ajijic, Mexico?
Chuck Bolotin - Best Mexico Movers
The restaurants in the Ajijic and overall Lake Chapala area are extremely good and extremely reasonably priced (perhaps 60% less than in the US). And yes, you can get quite a bit more variety than Mexican food. You can get several styles of American, Thai, Sushi, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Indian, Middle-Eastern, French, etc., etc., etc.
What you won’t find locally is very good steak.
I should note that the Mexican food here may be quite a bit...
The restaurants in the Ajijic and overall Lake Chapala area are extremely good and extremely reasonably priced (perhaps 60% less than in the US). And yes, you can get quite a bit more variety than Mexican food. You can get several styles of American, Thai, Sushi, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Indian, Middle-Eastern, French, etc., etc., etc.
What you won’t find locally is very good steak.
I should note that the Mexican food here may be quite a bit different than the Mexican food you’re thinking of, if by “Mexican food” you think “Tex-Mex,”; a combination plate of beans, rice, hard-shelled taco and maybe a burrito. And even for that, there is now a few restaurants offering this.
You will find ice cream shops everywhere, but the ice cream is less than great.
You can also eat “street food,” which is so named because you buy it from vendors on the street. Usually, street food will consist of tacos, normally about 50 cents each. (Three is usually enough for a complete meal.) Many times, this food is quite, quite good. And don’t worry; you won’t get sick. One of my favorite type of street food is not a taco, but rather, “plato de verduras,” which is steamed vegetables, usually consisting of cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, a hard-boiled egg, a vegetable called chayote, and corn, if you want it. I eat it “as is” with just a little salt and lime (what they call “lemon”), but most people pile on cream and cheese. However you order it, it will cost you less than $1.50.
One of the more fun things to do here at Lake Chapala is to go out for Mexican buffet brunch on the lake. White table clothes, waiters, on the lake, omelets bar, all the fresh-squeezed juices you can drink, deserts, probably 40 entrees, all for the equivalent of about $6.50 per person, tax included. The picture above is for brunch at Mel's, which is awesome, complete with its own French chef.
Many of the doctors in David, which is the closest large city to Boquete, have received training in the U.S. At Hospital Mae Lewis (where I work), the doctors are experienced, many speak excellent English and have received training at U.S. universities or U.S. hospitals.
Many of the doctors in David, which is the closest large city to Boquete, have received training in the U.S. At Hospital Mae Lewis (where I work), the doctors are experienced, many speak excellent English and have received training at U.S. universities or U.S. hospitals.
What is Portugal’s economic system? More free market, capitalistic, socialist, etc.?
Luis Teixeira da Silva - Algarve Senior Living
Generally speaking, Portugal has a free market and fairly capitalistic system but still with a very strong role of the state in terms of its social responsibility. As a result, you will still see a government that attempts to protect within the financial limits imposed by budgets and other things. You will still see a government attempting to protect the poorest relative to their salaries, the elderly, etc., and although those protected mechanisms have drastically reduced and...
Generally speaking, Portugal has a free market and fairly capitalistic system but still with a very strong role of the state in terms of its social responsibility. As a result, you will still see a government that attempts to protect within the financial limits imposed by budgets and other things. You will still see a government attempting to protect the poorest relative to their salaries, the elderly, etc., and although those protected mechanisms have drastically reduced and fallen away over the years because of certain measures. Nonetheless, compared to the US, for example, the state here in Portugal intervenes a lot.
A good example is that before the change of government, which happened just recently, the national airline, TAP was privatized and 51% of it was sold to a consortium headed by an American investor, but at the moment, the socialist government is trying to reverse that situation by renegotiating the shareholding of the external investor from the majority to the minority position. I think this is something that in the US would be unheard of or the state would not be looking to buy the shares back from any of the airlines because there isn’t really a national airline in the US. If there were one, it would be difficult to imagine the US government buying back shares in an airline to ensure some kind of say in its management or protection of the nation as a whole.
(1968 TAP airline commercial in lights behind the fountain in Rossio Square, Lisbon, Portugal, pictured.)
The crime level in Nicaragua comes down to where you are and your security measures. For example, if you have a very nice car and you park it in a good area with no one to look after it, it could get vandalized. But you could also have the same nice car and park it in a bad area, but with someone to look after it, and nothing will happen.
Compared with Seattle (where I used to live), the crime in Nicaragua is about the same, but Seattle and...
The crime level in Nicaragua comes down to where you are and your security measures. For example, if you have a very nice car and you park it in a good area with no one to look after it, it could get vandalized. But you could also have the same nice car and park it in a bad area, but with someone to look after it, and nothing will happen.
Compared with Seattle (where I used to live), the crime in Nicaragua is about the same, but Seattle and Nicaragua have different issues. For example, in Seattle, lots of people have guns, while in Nicaragua, you don’t see it that much. I have never heard of an issue of guns in a school in Nicaragua. People in Nicaragua would faint if they heard that. You also don’t hear about a mall or bank shooting in Nicaragua. In Seattle, you will see lots of drugs, while in Nicaragua, you won’t. I keep reading how bad the crime is in Central America, that people are having guns held to their heads, etc. I have never, never been mugged, and I’m "a girl in an SUV," living here from the age of 18 to 30. I have, however, been pick pocketed in the public market, but that could happen in Seattle.
One of the differences about living in Nicaragua is that, in Nicaragua, depending on where you go, it can be a good idea to pay someone to look after your car. If you don’t have someone with you, you just pay a person in the street whose “job” it is to watch the car in that area. The most you would pay is a dollar. If they look at you as a foreigner, they may ask for two dollars, but that’s about it. In Granada and the better area of Managua called Carretera Masaya, I don’t pay to have someone watch my car.
You should always be aware in Nicaragua and avoid going by yourself to isolated places while carrying items like expensive cameras.
The safer areas are the cities, as opposed to the outskirts and the mountainous areas.
What should I be most concerned about regarding retiring abroad?
Lola Braxton - Services Toby
One of the contributors on this page wrote "YOU" as being one of the concerns. And he is so correct. When I moved here 25 years ago, my concern was adjusting to their customs, language and food. Oh, and most definitely being very patient. Things don´t happen as fast as we would like,as if we were in the USA,but then things changed. Especially when I became ill thinking I didn´t speak enough of the language to get me through this at one time. But, I found in...
One of the contributors on this page wrote "YOU" as being one of the concerns. And he is so correct. When I moved here 25 years ago, my concern was adjusting to their customs, language and food. Oh, and most definitely being very patient. Things don´t happen as fast as we would like,as if we were in the USA,but then things changed. Especially when I became ill thinking I didn´t speak enough of the language to get me through this at one time. But, I found in many places the doctors do speak English and the healthcare was just great. Although, I always knew if I moved to another country I needed to try to accustom myself to their customs and live life the fullest. Just loving everything....
Like every Central American country, Belize does not have the best school system, but they are definitely working on it.
We have the public school system and several private schools in Belize as well. The students in the public schools wear uniforms; I think that is the old British tradition.
Down in Placencia, we have two local public schools that go up to 8th grade. We have a high school in another town on the other side,...
Like every Central American country, Belize does not have the best school system, but they are definitely working on it.
We have the public school system and several private schools in Belize as well. The students in the public schools wear uniforms; I think that is the old British tradition.
Down in Placencia, we have two local public schools that go up to 8th grade. We have a high school in another town on the other side, which we call Independence. However, about a year ago, a colleague of mine from Belgium helped set up a private school, so we now have a private school in Placencia that goes from first to eighth grade. It is a really nice school. There are four or five teachers and they are highly educated. They keep the class in three different languages: Spanish, French and English. So that’s great news for the whole peninsula of Belize, to have such a great school here,
Most people think that the most important Spanish phrase you could learn is “Dónde está el baño?” (Where’s the bathroom?), “Cuánto cuesta este?” (How much is this?) or even, “Camarero, dos margaritas más, por favor (Bartender, two more margaritas, please). While all these are very good to know in appropriate circumstances, my view is that the most important phrase to learn while driving south from San Felipe through Baja on Highway 5 (pretty much the only road you...
So there we were, in our van, after taking the Baja Ferry from La Paz and disembarking at the port at Mazatlán.
Given that we had just spent more than six weeks in the Baja California desert, even in the parking lot of the harbor in Mazatlán, we were struck by the profusion of plant life. Palm trees, vines, and other types of jungle shrubbery seemed to be growing everywhere, sometimes on top of each other, successfully utilizing any amount of even the...
I purchased my first rental property in the ski resort village of Whistler, BC, Canada, when I was 23-years-old with a very small down payment.
At the time, I was working as reservations manager for a property management company so I had first-hand knowledge of the strong returns that could be achieved through rentals. Over the following eight years, I proceeded to buy, renovate, rent short-term and ultimately sell nine Whistler properties.
The restaurants in the Ajijic and overall Lake Chapala area are extremely good and extremely reasonably priced (perhaps 60% less than in the US). And yes, you can get quite a bit more variety than Mexican food. You can get several styles of American, Thai, Sushi, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Indian, Middle-Eastern, French, etc., etc., etc. .png)
Generally speaking, Portugal has a free market and fairly capitalistic system but still with a very strong role of the state in terms of its social responsibility. As a result, you will still see a government that attempts to protect within the financial limits imposed by budgets and other things. You will still see a government attempting to protect the poorest relative to their salaries, the elderly, etc., and although those protected mechanisms have drastically reduced and...
Like every Central American country, Belize does not have the best school system, but they are definitely working on it. 
Most people think that the most important Spanish phrase you could learn is “Dónde está el baño?” (Where’s the bathroom?), “Cuánto cuesta este?” (How much is this?) or even, “Camarero, dos margaritas más, por favor (Bartender, two more margaritas, please). While all these are very good to know in appropriate circumstances, my view is that the most important phrase to learn while driving south from San Felipe through Baja on Highway 5 (pretty much the only road you...
So there we were, in our van, after taking the Baja Ferry from La Paz and disembarking at the port at Mazatlán.