Best Places In The World To Retire

The cost to get a gardener in Chapala and Ajijic depends on where you live and what you will have them do in your garden. In general, a gardener costs more or less 100 pesos (around US $5.50) per hour so if they stay at your house for 2 hours, you pay 200 pesos ($11). The gardener comes and works at your house for 100 pesos (around $5.50) per hour but they don’t come every day so it is actually inexpensive to get a gardener here.

 

The house where I...

The cost to get a gardener in Chapala and Ajijic depends on where you live and what you will have them do in your garden. In general, a gardener costs more or less 100 pesos (around US $5.50) per hour so if they stay at your house for 2 hours, you pay 200 pesos ($11). The gardener comes and works at your house for 100 pesos (around $5.50) per hour but they don’t come every day so it is actually inexpensive to get a gardener here.

 

The house where I used to live was 8 meters by 4 of grass, but I have some very nice flowers like bougainvillea that needed to be cut. It usually takes two hours for the gardeners to work and clean and take everything away. They bring their own tools and they are self-employed. You don’t pay social security for them but you pay severance if you don’t have them working for you anymore. I only have my gardener for every 2 weeks, so spending 200 pesos ($11) every 2 weeks is not expensive.

 

(Garden and pool. Ajijic, Mexico, pictured.)

Granada

 

Granada is a colonial city in Nicaragua on Lake Nicaragua. It has wonderful, modern houses that have been amazingly remodeled by their new owners. Although they have been remodeled, you can still see some facades that are consistent with the architecture of the whole city. Granada is very close to Managua and is just 30 minutes away from the Hospital Metropolitano Vivian Pellas. Also, there’s a school for children in Granada that was founded...

Granada

 

Granada is a colonial city in Nicaragua on Lake Nicaragua. It has wonderful, modern houses that have been amazingly remodeled by their new owners. Although they have been remodeled, you can still see some facades that are consistent with the architecture of the whole city. Granada is very close to Managua and is just 30 minutes away from the Hospital Metropolitano Vivian Pellas. Also, there’s a school for children in Granada that was founded by an American teacher, so you can find a bunch of young people and young families there.

 

I find the city of Granada to be more international compared to Managua. Nature-wise, Granada is a beautiful town. You can go up the extinct Mombacho volcano, which is just 20 minutes away. There are also a lot of nature trails and animals that you can observe. Another place you can also visit are the islands of Granada (Las Isletas), which are over 300 little islands located in Lake Nicaragua. Interestingly, there are few small houses on some of those islands, too.

 

Recently, the government renovated the lakefront area. Boating and other types of water sports are available on the lake.

For me personally, I was surprised by how friendly people are and how much help and suggestions they give. I constantly encountered someone who would say, “Oh, try this,” or to go to a particular store if I’m looking for a particular item. I was surprised at how friendly they were because I think they have also experienced or at least they have an idea of how relocating is, and they just want you to feel comfortable.

 

I was also surprised...

For me personally, I was surprised by how friendly people are and how much help and suggestions they give. I constantly encountered someone who would say, “Oh, try this,” or to go to a particular store if I’m looking for a particular item. I was surprised at how friendly they were because I think they have also experienced or at least they have an idea of how relocating is, and they just want you to feel comfortable.

 

I was also surprised at the different pace of life. What is important changes sometimes when you move abroad. Having the latest in fashion is no longer the most important thing for me anymore, whereas before I left London, that was the most important thing. I love being able to go to the beach at the drop of a hat and being able to organize a barbecue next weekend because it is going to be sunny without having to worry about these other things.

 

It is nice to live in a country where family is the first priority. It is very easy to make friends and spend time with them. You might go out once or twice a week maybe in the UK, but here in Panama, there is something going on every night and you can always attend it if you want to. All these things and many others made me happy when I moved here to Panama.

Yes, in Corozal you can get by if you just speak English because most people will speak English to you. Corozal, unlike Belize City, is a predominantly Spanish-speaking place. The mother tongue here is Spanish, the second one is Creole, and then they have English. There are people who have lived here for many years that do not know Creole and don’t know Spanish but they got by just fine. There are no issues.

 

As for myself, my girlfriend is Belizean...

Yes, in Corozal you can get by if you just speak English because most people will speak English to you. Corozal, unlike Belize City, is a predominantly Spanish-speaking place. The mother tongue here is Spanish, the second one is Creole, and then they have English. There are people who have lived here for many years that do not know Creole and don’t know Spanish but they got by just fine. There are no issues.

 

As for myself, my girlfriend is Belizean so she speaks English, Spanish, and Creole, and she knows sign language, so she is very educated in those languages. I have put it on myself to learn Spanish and over the years, I have picked up quite a bit and can converse because I like to do it. For me, it is just part of assimilating. I want to learn their mother tongue but I don’t have to. I could just continue speaking in English and I would be perfectly fine to do all my commerce and business that I need to do without a problem, at all as English is spoken broadly here.

 

I love Creole. It is so interesting to listen to. I can understand it in part. It is not New Orleans / Louisiana Creole, it is not Haitian-French Creole; it is unique to Belize. In Belizean Creole, words are abbreviated. It is very “slangy.” It is a bit of a lazy language in that they do not us the “th” consonant blend. So instead of saying “thing”, they say, “ting”. It is a very succinct language. They can say in three words what it would take an English-speaking person ten words to say because Creole is so abbreviated and slangy. But overall, Belizean Creole is a beautiful and delightful language. 

 

(Street stall in Belize, pictured,)

I think a woman would be better placed to respond to how women and girls are treated in Portugal, but I suppose I can provide a perspective. Women are generally respected in Portugal and having lived abroad for so many years and observing Portugal, I see a fondness for matriarchs that is perhaps not present in many Western countries. A particular concern for those visiting the country is whether women are safe – in a sense related to a sense of how women may be perceived –...

I think a woman would be better placed to respond to how women and girls are treated in Portugal, but I suppose I can provide a perspective. Women are generally respected in Portugal and having lived abroad for so many years and observing Portugal, I see a fondness for matriarchs that is perhaps not present in many Western countries. A particular concern for those visiting the country is whether women are safe – in a sense related to a sense of how women may be perceived – when visiting Portugal. I would have to say that it is one of the safest countries with which I have been associated, and in particular women can freely walk at night without substantially greater fear than men.

 

Women have historically had very traditional roles in Portuguese culture, namely those associated with providing a core stability of the family unit. This has unfortunately meant that tasks such as cooking, raising children, and matters relating to managing a household, are automatically associated with the mother and therefore changing this has been difficult. However, my perception is that the biggest catalyst for change is the workplace. Despite the balance still being far in favour of males in senior positions, there are many talented women who have proved their worth by choosing careers where the glass ceiling is less in evidence. Medical careers, including nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and medicine, pharmacy, life sciences and to a certain extent teaching, have propelled women into more senior roles in business, R&D and education, for example. This has not happened in engineering, politics or construction, which continue to be male-dominated. I would say however, that women are no more likely to be treated poorly in the workplace than are men, and ironically my perception is that supervision by the opposite sex often results in better people management in Portugal than being managed by someone of one’s own sex.

 

Of course, I am happy to admit that I may have it all wrong as regards how women are truly perceived in the workplace… what I can say is that most traditional corporate environments in Portugal still expect men to work long hours whenever necessary and place much less emphasis on the importance of a male family role than, for example, many Anglo-Saxonic countries.

 

(Women of two generations, Portugal, pictured.)