not my post but you should know this…

I swas sent an email from a friend, forget the incorrectness of grammar, just read and understand more of Nicaragua.”Febuary 2 2008 Our placxe on te e on the coast was awsome we had a room wih a view and a pool that was just big enough to satisfy our fresh water craving. Our first night we ate day we ate on the bech and soon found out that the food in the town was not only bland but uneatable, a burnt ham,berger patty on a stail burnt bun…mmmm! we wondered town and soon found a canadain couple who had opened a hotel in and restuarant, Gorden and Pita. Longing for some good food we quickley became regulars, eating dinner with then and ´ visiting. They were an odd couple with gorden being the more level headed of the two and Pita telling everythine and everyone to ´fuck off and die” ” , either way we were happy to be fed! THis morning we got up bright and early and boarded a looney tunes decorated scool us back to leon and Manogua. Apon arrival we were quickly reminded membered why we avoided the cities. Hords of taxi drivers swarmed us as the exited the bushb all yeling and pushing and grabbing us, it was too early in te morning for mel and i to handle it all and so similtaniousley yelled right back at them t”STOP!” and ran away. We We thought our we were i the clar untill we got to our second bus station and two guys took off with oiur lougage and headed twards a bus, pissed right off i we ran after thwm and boarde the bus, d the bus. when we were seated four guys who had herdewd us to the bus began demanding tips and shouting that they “need American dollars!”. WE tryed to explain they WE needed American dollars but it didn´t bet through and instead the ytried taking our sunglasses and drinks form us. soon the caos ended and the bus started south toward San Juan del Sur. We are now once again on the beach in a ue little town and are ost excited that we have a varriety of food to choose from (including coffee!). we´re staying at a sweet little hostel and hope to be here for the next couple days.”.  Kind of gets the message across about travel to  here.

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gotta be some rules, gringoes

I was born in Canada, live in the USA and other countries. I’m a gringo from the skin on in and proud. What I am not proud of is those that forget where they are and this is a friendly, “tranquillo” country. Allow some regression. Yesterday while heading out to Rivas, I took the bus because of the affordable 15 cords hit to my wallet. hey. love the price hate the chicken bus ride. Before we took of to the big city of Rivas, two strange looking “dudes” sat near my front row seat.One was covered in “tats” and the other had dreadlocks. But both had no shirts  and had a large wine bottle, and were concerned that locals are judging us everyday in Nicaragua.Kids and their mothers were commenting in Spanish, I’m bi-lingual, about the weird looking inconsiderate “touristas”. Then the roof fell in upon me, they spoke English with no accent. Damn, these guys were North Americans , Uncle Sam’s boys and heading to town with no shirts and booze. Twenty persons on this bus, and what do you think the conversation was about in our 45 minute journey. Gotta be some rules, guy. In SJdS no shirt in the daytime is cool, not at night. Walking around SJdS with an open container is “OK”  but not my style. But when you leave the beach, SJdS an enter the real Nicaragua, remember you are representing the USA not yourselves. Bad form, guys hope you can read this blog and start to “get  it” about living in Nicaragua.Flame for your shame, and they wonder why they get heat.

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Why live and build in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua?

On my comments form, a reader of my e-zine; sjdsNOW writes to me the following.Hey Bobbie please post this; “Mom, sorry I haven’t emailed in awhile or called… Its been kinda a hectic few days but I am fine. I am in San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua right now, it is beautiful. The town is reminds me of small town Mexico with low and really colourful buildings. There is a nice beach and of course the weather is nice. The people in Nica are super sweet too, the nicest ones Ive met yet. I am just finished my first day of spanish school. It felt weird to wake up this morning and go to school, which was actually on a patio of a restaurant on a beach. My teacher is really nice, she is pretty infatuated with me I think, prolly because Im white. She just sits there and stares and me t me while I sputter along. Besides that I am hanging out, reading, learning s`spanish, haning with some of the locals, and having a pretty good time. Its really cheap here, the stret et construction guys who work from sun up until one hour after sun down make $2 a day. I am staying here for another 5 or 6 days then heading north to Granada, going to see some volcanoes Ive heard are really beautiful on a lake. Then heading back down into San Jose in like 8 or 9 days and heading for Panama. Hope things at home are well, and I miss you lots. Dad p.s 0 – if Brook hasnt forgotten me yet tell her I miss her and Ive bought her a few weird little things . Cant wait to see you both.”

Why live here because with the failing US economy, it’s a no brainer! The ezine can be found here http://sjdsnow.tripod.com/.

What I didn’t get “gringo priced”?

Ok, for those that live outside of the Cental Americas,  “Gringo priced” means paying more for just about everything because you are a gringo(North American). For example, when the locals see a blue eye, lighter skinned foreigner, the price goes up for taxis, land and meals in the resturants. A resturant in Boquete, Panama has two menus for the locals and “touristas”. Hey, this is  the mindset  in these Latino countries.

Ok, now back to my blog. I looked at my ISP internet bill and paid $35 USD for 128k, a quoted to me “normal” price for these countries.The internet here are not equiped with many options for speed. Well I thought perhaps I’m being “Gringo piced”, I better check. So I hacked my ISP with a netscanner freebie and downloaded the client list. Why? Because that is what I do here in this cheaper econmy, hack and attack easy targets. Anyways, I find out that I am paying the lowest compared to the other clients who are locals. I am the only gringo in the LAN. What???? I was the lowest paying customer, as they say here “Que sorpreso!”. Google that term if you can’t guess the meaning.

Speaking of hacking, anyone doing a blog on this subject that knows the biz? I would like some feedback on this question if a reader of my rants knows a source.

yet more on money

Not long ago, many experts were convinced that a vibrant world economy would prevent an American recession. Even if the beleaguered American consumer suddenly turned thrifty, they reasoned, healthy spending on other shores was supposed to keep the expansion rolling.

But now, with the turmoil in financial markets resonating around the world, those same experts see signs that economic growth abroad will probably not be strong enough to prevent the United States from slipping into a recession.

Indeed, the very global interconnections that many thought might spare the United States now appear to be working in reverse: American consumers will pull back from their exuberant spending, cooling demand for goods worldwide, dragging down the global economy. This could in turn stifle foreign demand for American goods.

“Exports had been seen as the one strong sector of the American economy,” said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital. “Now there’s a sense that the American contagion is spreading abroad.”

in my travels, my view is this…

And, recent changes in the U.S. tax laws concerning expat housing allowances also have affected workers’ attitudes toward such benefits.

Jessica Cutrera, an investment advisor with an international clientele primarily in Asia, finds that global cost-cutting means “more people are on their own and housing packages are going away.” Based in Tokyo, she researched her own housing options online before consulting local agents.

“Most international executives do not simply wait to be handed their agency contact upon arrival,” said Leigh Ehrlich, director of Pulford Real Estate, a British firm operating in Moscow and St. Petersburg. “Mostly they are curious and anxious in advance of their move. This is where word of mouth, formal and informal networking and Web advertising come into play.”

Almost everywhere in the world, somebody is online to share a lead or an opinion about housing or lifestyle. International real estate agencies provide streaming video tours of properties and links to expat resources. Many expats also blog about their experiences. A recent count on Expat-blog.com lists 73 blogs in Africa, 460 in Asia, 53 in Central America, 106 in Eastern Europe, 94 in the Middle East, 146 in North America, 84 in Oceania, 71 in South America and 806 in Western Europe.

sanjuanjohn

Leon recommends

Backpacking in Nicaragua; By the way, not sure when you were last in Leon, but a few restaurant recommendations: 1. for when you visit this weekend Cocinarte: Managed by the Dutch guy who owns va pues tours. An interesting and eclectic range of international vegetarian food. Sunday night afternoons sees chess tournaments, jazz and free coffee. 2. Meditterraneo. : French and Italian cuisine, including pasta , pizza and fine wine. Good , but pricey. 3. Mississipi. : The manageress has the unfortunate name, la ‘La Cucaracha’, an nick but several people raved about the bean soup in this unpretentious comedor. 4. La Buena Cuchara: Good cheap buffet food. Managed by a lovely, hospitable lady.

Why go to a small impovished country with problems? The surfing, cool!

san juan del sur

From another permission based blogger;

“The past two days have been spent at the pacific coast beach town of san juan del sur, nicaragua.I came down yesterday with 5 people I met in granada, one of my buddies rode down on our chicken bus with a chicken at his feet. town is quaint, a little more to do here than monterrico, big surfing town, attracting people from all over the world. electricity is shut off for half the day, so its a bit tough to work around, although the locals are well used to it. this morning we headed off to playa maderas, about 30 min in truck through rivers and jungle. beach is quite pretty, horseshoe shaped, and about 25 other surfers. had boards rented for the whole day, though only to the waves for about 2 hrs – quite fun. half took lessons, other half of us did what we could.”

The surfing is good for seasoned ridge riders and great for beginners. San Juan del Sur is quiet, cheaper than Costa Rica but higher than Panama in many ways. But Panama does not have decent surfing like SJdS as the locals call the town. Surfing is best at Popoyo, north of SJdS, around 40 minutes by water taxi , but the beach Maderas is close by and Bee-u-tee-full. And best of all, the women are hot and the beer is cold. Food is cheaper in the local Nico resturants and hammocks are between $3-5 a night. Playa Maderas, you can sleep on the beach like a hobo for a dollar. It’s safe but stay within a group. I see a lot of european single girls tripping into town, nice looking girls. Couple of clubs to go clubbing in town, now that the electricity is on more, there is more to do. Cheaper living costs, cold beer and hot women….life is good. Now if only there were only a 7-11 open nearby….