NEWS/BLOG

Don’t Cross Costa Rica Off Your List

Not yet, anyway. Costa Rica began attracting retirees over 20 years ago, at a time when would-be expats didn’t have as many choices as they do now. Meanwhile, Panama, Belize and other countries have opened their doors to foreigners with liberal residency programs, while Costa Rica’s residency requirements are tighter than they once were.

Costa Rica is still beautiful, however, still lush, still filled with an almost unimaginable variety of flora and fauna. The people are still friendly and can boast a literacy rate of about 95%. (Having decided in 1948 not to have an army, the country has been able to budget more funds for services such as education and heath care.) The health care system, which is free to Costa Ricans, has been praised by the World Health Organization. The New Economics Foundation ranks Costa Rica 5th worldwide in its “happiness index.”

It’s still possible for U.S. retirees to live here, albeit modestly, on social security or a pension of just $1,500. Those who can afford a luxurious lifestyle will find numerous new developments, many of them along the Pacific. The expat population is mainly concentrated in teo areas: the Pacific area and the central highlands in and near San Jose.

True, many roads still have ruts and potholes, but a new highway connects San Jose with the Pacific Coast. Many U.S. companies have opened factories or branches in Costa Rica.

Is Costa Rica for you? You won’t know until you make a visit, look around and meet others who’ve chosen to live there.

Brazil Keeps Booming

While European economies continue to churn and China takes a timeout, Brazil is on fire, boasting the largest growth of any major economy for the first quarter of 2010, a whopping 9%. And while Brazil still has large numbers of its citizens living in poverty, the middle class is growing by leaps and bounds, now representing 49% of the population.

The Brazilian government is involved in the economy either as partial owner of some companies or as a strict regulator. This public/private mix seems to work well.

Brazil is currently undergoing a credit revolution, but since banks here have tight government controls, the boom in credit is unlikely to give way to a bubble/crisis. Brazil’s credit growth and the burgeoning of the middle class mean that certain types of stocks are likely to do well. Some worth watching are:

Ambev (ABV) Brazil’s only bottler of Pepsi (PEP) in Brazil and of beer brands that combined have garnered 70% of the Brazilian market. This stock has Investor’s Business Daily’s highest rating in its category and is currently extended and has a 3.6% yield.

Banco Bradesco (BBD) This bank has underperformed recently but has investments in insurance and in IT.

CPL Energia (CPL) This utilities stock has just pulled back from a new high, is a “group leader” according to Investor’s Business Daily and has a 7% yield.

Gafisa (GFA) The homebuilding company is currently 30% below its 52-day high, but has begun picking up steam and is just above its 50-day moving average. With government support and the demand for more homes, it has potential.

Itau Unibanco Holding (ITUB): A premier Brazilian bank, it is currently 18% below its 52-week high.

Note: This is not a recommendation to buy any of the above investments. Do your own due diligence. 

Safari Promotes Girls’ Literacy

A 13-day fund-raising safari has been organized to benefit girls’ literacy in Africa. Called AfricAid’s Tanzania: In-Depth Cultural Experience & Wildlife Safari, it will include game viewing in Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti parks, as well as village visits to AfricAid-supported schools. The program will begin May 20, 2011. Accommodations will be in luxury tented and mobile camps and lodges. Meals, land transfers and more will be provided.

The cost is $7,995 based on double occupancy with a single supplement of $750. The fee Includes a tax-deductible donation of $2,000 that provides a two-year scholarship for one girl as part of AfricAid’s Kisa Project (www.kisaproject.org). Kisa Project funds school scholarships and leadership training to some of Africa’s brightest young women.

Education for girls in developing countries has far-reaching benefits in building stable communities, establishing prosperity and promoting peace. Kent Redding, president of Africa Adventure Consultants and newly appointed Board member of AfricAid (http://africaid.com/?page_id=17), states: “It’s well known that girls who are educated can transform their own lives and positively impact the futures of their communities.”

For more information, see www.adventuresinafrica.com or call toll-free 866-778-1089.

Scolarship for Documentary Makers

Would-be documentary filmmakers can apply for a World Nomads’ http://worldnomads.com/ scholarship that will take the winner to the Ecuadorian jungle with documentary producer Trent O’Donnell. O’Donnell is the maker of the World Nomads’ Positive Footprints (http://journals.worldnomads.com/positive_footprints/) series, which screened on the National Geographic Adventure Channel. The winner will benefit from O’Donnell’s mentorship for the duration of the filmmaking project. The resulting documentary will be reviewed by the channel for possible inclusion in its upcoming show schedule.

Application deadline is August 1, 2010. Scholarship applicants must be 18 ir older and hold a valid passport. The package includes round trip air from the winner’s home airport and all land and travel expenses. Applicants must make a commitment to being available to travel sometime during the last two weeks of September 2010. The final winner will be announced on or before Tuesday, August 17, 2010.

Applicants must submit a three-minute documentary in English for judging based on the theme “Local Encounters.”

For more information, see http://journals.worldnomads.com/scholarships/post/54707.aspx.

Job Fair in London

The Bilingual People Fair for multi-lingual recruitment will be held June 19, 2010, from 10 AM - 6 PM, at the London Hilton Metropole, Edgware Road, London in 2010.

The largest event of its kind for language jobs and multi-lingual recruitment, the job fair is free to all job seekers. Employers from the UK and elsewhere in Europe will be present. Positions are available in various sectors including customer service, shared service and finance, IT, sales, marketing and translation. There will also be an Expat Zone at the event offering useful information and services to expatriates living or planning to move to the UK.
For more information, see www.bilingualpeople.co.uk.

Books for and about Expats

I usually have a lot to say about the books I’ve been reading, but right now I have to admit that none were either especially memorable or important for expats and prospective expats. In my e-mail, however, I discovered messages from an e-group catering to expats, abroadview@yahoo.com (the group is an offshoot of the excellent website talesmag.com) with messages about books they’d been reading and would recommend to others. I began making a list of books I’d like to read and decided to pass it along.

Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible is a novel about a Baptist minister who takes his family to the Belgian Congo in 1959. One of the many well known books I haven’t gotten around to reading. It’s sometimes compared to The Mosquito Coas,by Paul Theroux, which, as I recall, was excellent.

For something different, there is Azadeh Moaveni’s Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America And American in Iran, which promises to be interesting.

Pulitzer prizewinner Jhumpa Lahiri has written The Namesake, a novel about a young man who comes to America from India to study.

Another memoir, this one by Sarah Macdonald, is Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure, a young Australian woman’s account of following her journalist boyfriend to India. One reviewer called it “a wonderful roller coaster ride on the road to enlightenment.” I definitely want to read it.

In Tahir Shah’s The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca, an Englishman of Afgani descent moves to an ancient house in Casablanca with his pregnant wife and young daughter. Although everything that can go wrong does, readers find this book extremely funny.

Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month Is Enchanted by Annie Hawes is a travel memoir in which two English sisters set out for a village just two miles from the Italian Riviera. Note: the author has remained in Italy.

Rules of the Wild: A Novel of Africa is a well received novel by Francesca Marciano, narrated by an Italian woman who goes to Kenya.

Since I started making this list, I’ve started reading The Savage Gardenby Mark Mills, a mystery narrated by an Englishman who goes to Tuscany. I’ll have more to say about it next time.

Belize - A Small, Spectacular Country

Belize is part of Central America, but many people think of it as a Caribbean country, even a Caribbean paradise. Before becoming independent in 1981, it was British Honduras, and the legacy of the British is still apparent.

For one thing, this small, exceedingly friendly country has English as the official language. For another, the banking system in Belize is both sophisticated and solvent.  It’s easy for foreigners to open a bank account, which could either be in your own name or held by a structure, such as a trust or a business. Banking secrecy is observed here and it’s possible to open an account without ever setting foot on the country. Banks here are extremely healthy, one reason being that they are required to maintain a liquidity rate of 24%. Recently, as banks were failing worldwide, not one bank in Belize failed. When it comes to mortgages, banks here lend only 50% of the value of the property.

Belize has still poverty, to be sure, but the overall economy is prospering. The growth rate has held steady at about 6% per year. The major industries are finance, tourism and oil. (Oil is supposedly being extracted in ways that preserve the barrier reef and the shore.) Inflation is at a low 1.4% per year.

Residency requirements are easy. Belize welcomes expats, including those not yet of retirement age. Internet access enables them to continue to work free-lance or operate small businesses. Affordable beachfront properties make it possible to enjoy diving, snorkeling and fishing near to home. Other pastimes here include horseback riding, enjoying the country’s biodiversity and visiting the spectacular Mayan ruins.

For those interested in learning more about living in Belize, there’s a “Live and Invest in Belize” conference scheduled for June 21 - 23, 2010. For more information, see www.liveandinvestoverseas.com/belize-conference10. 

Coming Home is the Hardest Transition

For some, being an expat is forever, while for others, it’s an interlude that may last a few years or perhaps many but with the intention of returning home at some point. Peter Hessler, who went to China after college and stayed 15 years, has written a New Yorker article “Go West” about his coming back to the U.S., with many keen observations of the cultural differences between the two countries.

He and his wife arranged for movers without knowing where they’d be living. Since it would take five weeks for their possessions to reach the U.S. by ship, they figured they’d have plenty of time to decide.

He describes how the Chinese movers worked, carefully fitting cardboard around the shape of each piece of furniture. A chair became a box shaped like a chair; another package resembled a bed. He writes, “It was like watching a tam of sculptors work backward, until every object we owned had been converted into a larger, rougher version of itself.”

Finally he and his wife, who was from New York born of Chinese parents, decide to live in a small town in southwestern Colorado. It’s a long way from Beijing and not just in miles or even in population density. He notes, however, that the Americans he encounters here have an “appetite for loneliness.”

The individuals he meets willingly tell him their stories in a way that Chinese people would never do. In this lonely landscape, it seems that everyone has a story, and fortunately, he enjoyed listening. He observes that Chinese people, on the other hand, like to talk about relatively impersonal subjects such as food or weather, rather than disclosing much about themselves, and they unabashedly ask foreigners all sorts of questions. They are genuinely interested in other people.

Americans, he notices, like talking about themselves are less keen on listening. Merely mentioning that he and his wife had lived in China is a conversation stopper. There’s more, and you can read it in The New Yorker, April 19, 2010 or online at http://www.newyorker.com, where there other examples of Hessler’s writing, including an article titled “the Doorknob,” about the Peace Corps. His most recent book is Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory.

Don’t Lose That Rental Car!

Ever wonder how to get back to your rental car? Sandy in Collingwood, Canada, provided this useful tip on journeywoman.com. She and another woman were at the market in Sienna and parked the car they’d rented without knowing exactly where they were. This resourceful pair, however, took digital photos of the parking lot address and of various signs along the way. “It was a little like Hansel and Gretel in the forest.” she writes. After much walking and consulting their photos, they got back to the car. The same technique would work well for finding your hotel or the perfect little place for lunch.

This is just one of the travel tips at the journeywoman website. Others include free walking tours in Buenos Aires and an English bookstore in Barcelona. The site is especially for women, but has information men are likely to appreciate as well. 

The Hague Hosts Job Fair

The Bilingual People Fair, dedicated to multi-lingual recruitment, will take place in Grote Kerk. The Hague, Netherlands, on Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10 AM - 6 PM. The largest event of its kind for language jobs and multi-lingual recruitment, the job fair is free to all job seekers who wish to attend.

Employers from The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe will be present. Positions are available in various sectors including customer service, shared service and finance, IT, sales, marketing and translation. There will also be an Expat Zone at the event offering useful information and services to expatriates living or planning to move to the Netherlands.

To obtain a free ticket to the job fair and for more information on this and upcoming recruitment events, see www.bilingualpeople.nl.

Mexican National Denied US Visa

"I have been living and enjoying Mexico for a while now. During my time here I have made a fantastic friend who has introduced me to his family, friends, colleagues and business associates.

“I and my family were so pleased with the budding friendship that we extended an invitation to host a visit to the United States and share a bit of our country, family and friends with him.

“Unfortunately, obtaining a visa turned out to be a nightmare and very hurtful experience for our Mexicano friend. It left deep scars that can only be overcome by find a way to procure a visa.

“An interview at the US Embassy in Mexico City was made and paid for - the applications were complete (honest and well done - nearly 2 inches of paper) and guarantees were made for all expenses and a return to Mexico after spending several weeks in the US - many hours were put into the application as good cheer and planning for the visit proceeded. By the way, my friend had never been in trouble, was a good student and is very close to his family (his father died when he was very young and as the oldest son he always worked hard to contribute money and ease the burden on his mother).

“Finally the day of the interview arrived. My friend arrived at the Embassy at 6:00 am (carefully groomed and dressed) and waited for 4 hours outside before entering the building - he was all anticipation and smiles at this point.... but that changed.

“After nearly 6 hours of waiting he was called to the desk of an Embassy employee who promptly asked 2 questions:

“1) What are you going to the US for?
Answer: Visit with my friends (a complete list with full contact information and itineraries were attached); and
2) How much money do you have?
Answer: About 3000 US Dollars for spending money, but ALL of my expenses (round-trip travel, accommodations, food, entrance fees for museums, etc) are completely covered by my hosts).

“The Embassy employee (after 2 minutes, 2 questions and some note taking) promptly ripped the official forms from the top of the meticulously prepared 2 inch application (which she did not look at), then stamped the application ‘Denied.’ The actions and gruff attitude of the Embassy employee was that of total rejection. My friend would never say so, but to hear him recount the experience I know that tears had come to his eyes and he was heartbroken, not only by the result by the way the Embassy employee made him feel.

“Since this happened I have been doing some investigation and have found that 98% of all applications end with this sad result. Embassy officials summarily reject applications in a way that most Americans would not agree with. Bear in mind that these are not Mexicans that want to “fly under the radar” and enter the country illegally - these are Mexicans that want to visit their neighboring country (often times with more money than Americans have when they visit Mexico).

“Mexicans (without a visa) cannot even enter the United States to make connecting flights to other countries (at generally lower rates). They are just told and shown by Embassy officials that they are some sort of bad people… guilty before being proven innocent (even when fully documented).

“I think this situation is appalling and should be changed. We need the tourism dollars in the United States, we need more people traveling on US flag carriers, we need to reciprocate the generous hospitality and genuine caring between the people of our countries. We are, after all, neighbors and NAFTA partners aren’t we?

“This discrimination must stop if we ever expect to have a respectful, honest relationship with average Mexican citizens. They are good-hearted people.

“We are now seeking ways to re-apply. If anybody here, or anybody they might know could offer assistance I would truly appreciate it.”

Respectfully,

TM Wiley

tmw775@gmail.com

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Rogers Says Euro Won’t Last

Jim Rogers, the financial wizard who culls information by traveling the world on a motorcycle, says that Greece should simply go bankrupt and that Europe will eventually give up the Euro, though not for 15 or 20 years, and the British pound will tank in the next few years. Meanwhile, he’s playing the bounce in the euro.

Rogers sees two minor bubbles at the present, one in Chinese real estate and the other in U.S. treasuries, but he’s not making a prediction on when either will burst. He anticipates the price of gold to reach $2,000 in the next decade, as currencies lose their value. Commodities, including oil, cotton and sugar, he says, will continue going up, not reaching bubble proportions until 2019.

Dublin Hosts Job Fair

The Bilingual People Fair, dedicated to multi-lingual recruitment, will take place in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, March 27, 2010 from 10 AM - 6 PM. The largest event of its kind for language jobs and multi-lingual recruitment, it will be held at the Guiness Storehouse in Dublin. There is no charge for job seekers to attend.

Employers from around Europe will be present. Positions are available in various sectors including customer service, shared service and finance, IT, sales, marketing and translation.

Candidates are asked to register for their free admission tickets at www.bilingualpeople.ie/get_ticket.

More Books

If you’ve been reading my notes for a while, you know that I praised Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. a memoir of her sojourns in these countries. I mentioned it here because it has some interesting observations on the culture of these very different locales.

She has just come out with another volume, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage which is about marriage and her decision to marry for a second time. What does this have to do with living abroad? Well, when in Bali, she fell in love with a man who is Brazilian. They became involved and lived together until...surprise, surprise… he was stopped by Homeland Security in Dallas for having exited and entered the U.S. too many times. Such are the hazards of international relationships and one should be aware that this can happen. Marriages would solve the problem, however. They are, in effect, “sentenced” to marry.  Deciding that they wanted to be together while he awaited a new visa, they found inexpensive places to stay in Southeast Asia.

The reason prospective expats might benefit from this book is Gilbert’s perceptive analysis of the difference between a traveler and someone who is at home anywhere. She admits she’s a traveler. When she and Filipe arrive at a comfortable hotel in Bangkok, he wants to sit by the pool and read mysteries while she wants to go to Cambodia and visit the temples there. Filipe is a person who is at home wherever he happens to be, so he’ll be happy living wherever she wants, while she acknowledges that she would not consider settling permanently anywhere but along the U.S. eastern seaboard. So, if you’re still wondering if you and your significant other are suited to the expat life, it’s not enough that you enjoy traveling. Stop and ask yourselves, can you be at home anywhere?

Another book I can’t resist mentioning though it doesn’t have much to do with being an expat is Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, just because, in my opinion, it’s a gripping story, very well done. You can see what it’s about by looking at the cover, but there’s far more to it.

Welcome to all those who’ve signed on with us recently. We’re sorry if you are getting e-mails that seem to be from us advertising pharmaceutical products. They aren’t from us! Some unscrupulous vendors are using our return address to send them, and we can’t stop them from doing this.

LiveAbroad.com and our e-mail Updates are supported by our advertisers and by our affiliate relationships with Google and Amazon. We’re grateful to those who’ve clicked on those links at our site because this helps support our efforts. 

Nicaragua - Real Men Don’t Carry Umbrellas

If you want to live in the tropics on a budget and don’t mind foregoing certain amenities, Nicaragua might be the place for you. There are drawbacks: the roads are bumpy and sometimes flooded; temperatures range from hot to very hot; utilities aren’t always reliable. Umbrellas are available, of course, but as Randall Wood and Jashua Berman write in Moon Living Abroad in Nicaragua, “...although Nica men sing dance, and write poetry, real men definitely do not carry umbrellas.”

This is just one item in their list, “What Nicaragua Has Taught Me.” Wood and Berman moved to Nicaragua in 1998 and they write, “it ended up being the perfect fit.” These writers know and understand Nicaragua; it may help that Wood has Nicaraguan in-laws. This the book to read if you’re seriously thinking of Nicaragua as a place to live or even to visit. Part of Moon’s respected Living Abroad series (not related to Network for Living Abroad), it’s one of the best in the series.

Nicaragua is either the second or the third poorest country in Latin America, depending on your source of information. However, low prices should never be the prime reason for moving to a new country and a new culture, and these authors warn against moving to Nicaragua to take advantage of cheap land and cheap labor.

Expats who come here because of the friendly people, relaxed pace and breathtaking landscape won’t be disappointed. While expats often fail at becoming part of the local culture elsewhere, Nicas take an unusual interest in foreigners. Very little English is spoken, and the authors recommend learning at least some Spanish.

Nicaragua has visa and residency programs that allow foreigners to live here. There’s red tap, of course. Wood and Berman suggest getting to know the vendors outside the immigration building because you’ll be making many visits and eating many lunches here. They acknowledge that the process may be discouraging, and they offer some useful tips.

A special program lets retirees bring in a vehicle and up to $10,000 worth of personal possessions. Since cars, electronics, furniture and linens cost more here, this can make sense. These authors note, however, that many don’t take advantage of this.

The book suggests budgeting $800 to $1200 for living expenses, more in some areas, and other sources hae recently pegged the amount at $1000. Individual needs vary, of course. Doing business is possible in Nicaragua, but this book warns that it’s “not for the faint of heart.” Opportunities to volunteer abound, however. Many expats who are far from wealthy come here hoping to make a difference.

Like others in the series, the book gives sample itineraries for trips lasting one week, two weeks and one month. The most pages, however, are devoted to various cities, towns and neighborhoods where expats may want to live. Also included are fascinating profiles of expats with details of their lifestyle along with any complaints and advice to others.

Employed expats are more likely to live in Managua, the capital, and the book describes various neighborhoods. Expats who have a choice may opt for the charming,colonial city of Granada, situated on Lake Cocibolca. Nearby Las Isletas, a peninsula, is a tourist destination with some restrictions on buying property.

The Southwest, along the Pacific and to the north of Costa Rica, draws more local tourism as well as backpackers. The town of San Juan offers rentals and real estate in all price ranges. Note: no building is permitted along the beach. Further south, Isla de Ometepe is a charming spot that has avoided the real estate boom across the lake in Granada.

Leon, the other colonial city, is in the north, with a more pronounced dry season along with higher temperatures. Home to the National University, and a haven of progressive thought, it offers old world charm equal to that of Granada with housing costs are lower. Nearby are beach towns with reasonable rentals.

The Caribbean Coast is a world apart, a rustic spot even by Nicaraguan standards. It was colonized by the British, who left the indigenous peoples intact and armed them with muskets, hence the name “Miskito” (no, not mosquito) Coast.

Also included here are Spanish phrases, basic vocabulary, multiple resources and bibliography. It’s all in a paperback small enough to take with you.