Where? Granada, Nicaragua (as Shel guessed first, with a couple others close behind).
Nicaragua??? Yep. I was amused, and not at all surprised, that nobody even mentioned Nicaragua as a possibility until I gave those hints. After all, isn’t Nicaragua the land of Sandinistas and Contras? Isn’t it a socialist country? Isn’t it the place where former revolutionary Daniel Ortega has more recently done what all former revolutionaries do when they gain political power — declare the official language of the country to be Swedish declare himself presidente for life. (Well, effectively so) and plaster the country with his own “heroic” face?
(I didn’t get a chance to photograph the 2014 version of this billboard. Had to copy this one online, but rest assured the current ones are similar and even more grandiose.)
Yes, it’s all that. But …
So whoffor did you go there? Short answers: 1) I had an airline credit from a long-ago cancelled trip that I had to use up or lose; 2) I knew that it’s legally possible to retire to Nicaragua on a pension of as little as $600 per month; and 3) Nicaragua is developing a reputation among expats as “the next Costa Rica.” I had to go someplace, and this seemed the best place to check out for possible “offshoring.”
Why Granada? Mainly just keeping it simple. This wasn’t an adventure trip, just a relaxation trip. Granada is the coolest place within an hour’s drive of the airport in Managua. It’s also the oldest city in Central America (though its claims to hoary age are somewhat diminished by the fact that it was burned to the ground by a personage our carriage driver described an Americano malo malo).
She was talking about William Walker, though she could just as easily have meant one of his deputies, Charles Frederick Hennigsen. Those dudes were as malo malo as it gets from a Nicaraguan perspective. And oh, the things they never taught us in history class! For example: the dishonorable origin of the word “filibuster”.
Don’t they hate gringos down there? My host at the B&B (a genially left-wing Canadian) swears they don’t. But then, he runs around town wearing tee-shirt celebrating la lucha (“the struggle”) and shaking hands with local beggars. My own sense (and keep in mind this is based on one week’s observation in one city so it’s hardly definitive) is that, while most individual Nicaraguans probably don’t hate individual Americans (and are quite happy to take our money), there’s a sort of national pride in having whupped U.S. backside more than once and intense hostility to the nearly 200 years of painful history Americans imposed on their country.
Granada is no hotbed of revolution. That honor belongs to another city, Leon. To give you an example of Leon’s “official” attitude toward Americans, here’s a copy of a Leon street map I picked up. It’s in English and I got it in a totally touristy shop, so this isn’t for local consumption, but for tourists.
And here’s a detail in case you can’t tell who’s sitting on that poor peasant woman’s shoulders.
Also, I couldn’t help but noticing that those ruthless drivers I mentioned earlier actually seemed to be aiming at those of us who appeared to be foreigners. Even the ones who might have been Swedish or British instead of gringos.
But in what seems to be a typical Central American love-hate contradiction, I smile to notice that Leon used a painting by an American artist on its brochure — right next to a seal affirming that they strive for all-local “100% Nica” content.
More later
Yep, as I said, I had just ruled it out from the start. But it’s easy now to understand David’s parents’ reluctance in re. his learning English. But, upon reading a bit more, seems there’s quite a tourist economy there now. As you said, they’re happy to take the money.
I really should go visit the place one day, after all I live fairly close.
I find it interesting that English is not very widely spoken in Granada. In all of the Costa Rican towns that have either a large ex-pat population or are tourist oriented English is very common.
Did you chat with your host about living there? I am interested in his take on it.
From what I understand both the government and the people are very welcoming to those who want to relocate there, but it is always better to get a first hand opinion, especially from someone who is running a business.
You’ve got more adventure in your soul than I do, Claire. Once upon a time I spent a lot of time in furrin’ places, but I never once went for relaxation.
Jorge — If you go to Granada, I’d be very interested in your take on it. You’re the person who first put Nicaragua on my mental map.
I was surprised at the dearth of English, too — particularly in people connected with the tourist trade. The drivers who took me to and from the airport didn’t speak English (though the owner of their cars did). The carriage driver had only a few words. The first company I approached about the lake tour had one employee who had just enough English to try to translate my request for the person who actually booked the tours. Even on the Calle Calzada (the very “European” street where many restaurants and bars have English names and dual-language menus and cater to tourists and expats), my experience was that perhaps one employee might be able to speak halting English. Now, there were several very, very “American” businesses here and there, like a bookstore specializing in English-language books. The picture was probably very different in those places, but they were the exceptions.
David (from the lake tour) spoke great English, as did one shopkeeper I met, and one little girl who was very ably helping her mother manage a vending booth in the town square. Otherwise, we mostly got by on a few words, gestures, and awkward smiles.
I don’t know whether this is a Nicaraguan cultural thing or what — that they resist speaking English because of their pride in resisting the U.S. But Granada is the tourism center for the entire country and I was definitely surprised.
I did talk a bit with my host about living there, but not as much as I might have. He’s quite happy there, feels very much accepted and at home, and pretty much agreed with my (limited) observation that, for all Nicaragua is a nominally socialist country, there’s a lot of street-level laissez-faire going on.
Joel — You’ve traveled to places I’d never want to set foot and you’ve had some “adventures” there I’m glad never to have.
Really, I don’t have an adventurous bone in my body and every time I travel I swear I’ll never do it again.
Spent some time there in the mid to late 1970s. During the Revolution… which made me see ours in a different light since the Nicaraguan one was more like the Rodney King Riots, only not as violent… and not near as coherent, just one big goat screw. Did you know that until the Revolution about 10 percent of the place was expats? It was a great place to retire to. Most of them started out loving it and then weren’t exactly kicked out, but life got hard… and then the poor bastards all fled to Panama. I knew an awful lot of crusty old Viet Vets, living with lovely young ladies half their age, drinking every night, eating seafood for breakfast lunch and dinner, all taken care of by the lovely young lady. These poor lads were sure the US government had made it their mission to force them back to Minnesota and work in some damn factory. And because of the US Guvs control freak personality they eventually got “The good-bye look”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L6L1NbJuIo
No, Nicaragua wouldn’t have occurred to me either. But I expect that’s because my thoughts are somewhat colored by the few stories of back “home” that the Nicaraguan woman I dated would tell. Little things like finding her uncle with his head hacked off (by Sandinistas, she insisted). Yeah, a long time ago, and not everywhere/everyone, so on and so forth, but those things stick in your mind.
This line cracked up, “there’s a lot of street-level laissez-faire going on”. It’s always been thus. And I shoulda posted this first. And the other one second for the Panama odyssey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNw6J9g5ahw
Bear, it’s so hard to say who did what in a many sided Cluster %$&*. The blame always went to the side who was breaking your rice bowl. God, I’m such an old man, it’s like watching reruns. LOL
“…it’s so hard to say who did what in a many sided Cluster %$&*. The blame always went to the side who was breaking your rice bowl.”
Amen, EN. What more can anybody say? Sh*tty deeds are perpetrated in wars, and in so-called “civil” wars worst of all.
And everyone gets even… Sad, but too true… and it’s not like I’m the man of peace, so I’m probably a bit out of line my own self. I have a love hate relationship with the Neocons. I understand they want a better world, we all do… but how can you build a better world with faulty material???
Off-topic: I finally have a possible clue concerning my looks-like-a-grave-but-the-police-didn’t-want-to-dig-it-up-and-neither-do-I. The caretaker of a nearby horse ranch just had a warrant put out for his arrest for animal cruelty. Police are taking a very close look at the horses after one of them had it’s injuries ignored until it was too late. There wasn’t even any hay for them.
These horses get loose so often there’s a joke that he lets them out for the evening. And when they get out, they behave in a way that makes me think they’re underfed. I didn’t realize it, but several farmers in the area had been reporting exactly that. They’re beautiful horses, but there’s been a string of . . . I’m not sure exactly what, but every person associated with that farm for the last 8 years has been arrested or has a warrant out for them.
On a lawyerly blog I follow there’s a thread on whether secession from the U.S. would be Constitutional. It didn’t seem to help that I reminded them that in such cases the Constitution is irrelevant. Revolutions are invariably settled with the “Winners make the laws” rule.
I don’t want to be presumptuous, and it’s probably redundant for someone who blogs here, but I’m getting That Feeling. Ellendra, keep your powder dry. “Family” situations like you describe can go critical overnight, and the fallout doesn’t always stop at the property line.
One can end up on an adventure at home too, as this 81 yrs. old woman found out.
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/03/14/81-year-old-great-grandmother-jailed-for-2-days-for-pet-violation/
Also notice how “they” didn’t care about anybody’s health.
A little tidbit for anyone looking to expatriate to that general region (Central America).
I spent an extended period of time at an agricultural college (Zamarano) in Honduras just a few miles from the Nicaraguan border. The school was located in the mountains at an altitude of (over?) 10,000 ft. It was a very pleasant place to be. And the Hondurans are probably the most “pro” American people in the region.
The lower elevations were miserable–the heat very intense. However, the high altitude-low latitude makes for a very pleasant place to live.
My gut had told me that you would travel to someplace unexpected, probably somewhere that had a relatively recent history of turmoil, as you would be interested in looking at the aftermath. My brain stopped me from considering anyplace other than El Salvador. I also sensed that if you were comparing the country to Panama, it might be contiguous with Panama. Again, my imagination stopped me at Costa Rica. Only with hindsight can I see that Nicaragua fits both scenarios. It never would have occurred to me without your hint.
While I was never shot at, I did spend some time across the pond and was so repulsed by how badly we treated our own people that I really wasn’t interested in coming back; in fact I tried to find a civilian job over there. In that state of mind, I only came back for money; it’s no exaggeration to say the best part of being back was seeing dogs with straight tails.
Consistent with the deterioration of our public libraries, I found in the “for sale” section the excellent book Hard Men Humble, about Vietnam vets who chose not to come home. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/181-2564771-7029357?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=hard%20men%20humble
One of my high school classmates, who was never in the service, has lived for many years in Pattaya, Thailand. According to the book, it’s as sleazy as it gets. It’s rare that I would think of a man as being not pleasing to the eye, but he fits the description. He seemed very happy at a high school reunion years ago, so it’s probably his best chance for a social life.
Probably by now all have read Kipling’s “Road to Mandalay.” http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mandalay/
This is a riot. As I make this entry, I’m looking at an ad on your site that says “Retire in Nicaragua”…”Click Here.”
Funny, how we’re all so proud of our 2nd amendment rights here, but when it comes to considering becoming an expat, it seldom even comes up in the discussion. For some of us, I guess, being able to own firearms isn’t a deal breaker with regard to “freedom”. Interesting.
Oh, gun rights come up in the discussion. And in thinking. You bet they do. They’re one of the main reasons a lot of us have resisted “offshoring.”
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t bother exploring possibilities.
Also, gun laws and gun ownership are often only marginally connected with each other.
@LarryA: Thanks. Yeah, there are rumors of some of the trouble that family has been causing to other neighbors, but no proof so I try not to judge based on rumors. Still, I’m pretty sure the next time that farm gets put up for police auction, there’s going to be teams of neighbors trying to buy it before the crooks’ buddies get it.
I’d suggest finding things like that out before buying a property, but even in hindsight I can’t think of a way I could’ve found out without completely destroying other people’s privacy. It was almost 2 years before I found out there was anything going on at all. It’s not like they put a sign up.
I feel sorry for the horses. They really are beautiful animals.
Jimmy T — You have led an adventurous life, haven’t you?
I don’t know about 10,000 feet, but when I was in Panama, my two favorite places were between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. Nicely above the hot zones.
Nicaragua is generally drier than Panama, so I found that being in 95 degree daytime temps and 78-80 nighttime temps mostly felt quite good, although one of the other guests who arrived while I was there found that the heat made her queasy.
I, like Graystone, have thought about the gun rights issue. It seems like ours are disappearing almost by the minute. http://www.conservativefiringline.com/breaking-news-atf-breaks-ares-armorsecond-amendment-attack/ As we all know, gun control in this country will lead to disembowelment of the population. One has to think that a stable country, with respect for the law, even with more restrictive gun control will be freer at some point than one which is falling apart as we watch.
Reporters without Borders ranked the U.S. 32nd in freedom of the press in 2013 http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html The U.S. – I hate to say “we” – dropped in 2014 to 46th (I can’t find the original report) http://www.freepress.net/blog/2014/02/11/us-plummets-global-press-freedom-rankings, although the “World Audit,” whatever that is, had the U.S. 13th in 2013 http://www.worldaudit.org/press.htm None of this seems good to me.
Now we can get into serious trouble even for having a pond. http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/epa-state-rights-citizens/2014/03/14/id/559715/?promo_code=125BD-1&utm_source=125BDTelegraph_Media_Group&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
When I was in Nicaragua around 1985 (mainly Managua, with a side trip up to Jinotega I think) I found the people very friendly. I was particularly struck with how the little kids just came up to me, a stranger, completely fearless and curious – right in the middle of a nasty war. Quite a contrast to American kids who are taught to fear everybody it seems. I thought they were quite gracious hosts considering the US government was warring on them. If I were going xpat I would definitely consider moving there.
BTW my trip was more a tourist thing than anything, despite the advertised purpose of TecNica. I assumed they wanted to bring Americans in to influence us not to kill them, and so we would come back to America and influence others. Imagine that!
Spanish is a problem for me, but I guess total immersion is a way to learn. I did find one or two Nicaraguans at the university who were happy to speak English.
Yeah, the bearing arms thing is one of the main items that stops me going expat even if, as Claire says, the law and the reality usually have little connection (JD Tucille has written a lot about this lately). The other reason is that I am getting too old and don’t like to be pushed around anyway. If someone wants to take me on I am ready for them.
Shel, I think you are quite wrong about “gun rights” (I usually don’t talk in terms of rights, since I find “rights” a religious notion). I have become quite encouraged lately. Gun control is dead, except as a wet dream for the ruling class. The people don’t buy it much any more. It doesn’t matter what laws they pass or what the courts say. People are not going to give up their guns without a fight. That’s all that matters in the end.
As to that pond, that sort of thing is nothing new. It has always been that way, wherever governments exist, even in the US. What is new is that such cases now get a lot of publicity.
Nicaragua is generally drier than Panama, so I found that being in 95 degree daytime temps and 78-80 nighttime temps mostly felt quite good
Plus, you don’t have to shovel hot.
Gun control is dead, except as a wet dream for the ruling class.
I wouldn’t go quite that far. A SCOTUS shift could make a huge difference.
But You’re correct about the momentum. The MSM harps on the handful of states passing more gun control, while avoiding comment on 30 or so states passing gun-rights legislation. Illinois is shall-issue, the door is opening in California, and Hawaii is ripe. (Recent cold weather = Hell freezing over.)
Guns in school isn’t a laughing matter any more. At least 70 Texas school districts have announced they’re arming teachers. States are passing campus carry. That’s huge because schools are the next-to-last major gun-free zone, the last being federal property. Even there we have national parks and post office parking lots for a start.
I don’t think anyone would have predicted that 12/15/2012.
BTW my trip was more a tourist thing than anything
A consideration while planning expat: It’s not about how natives treat tourists they expect to return home, or how they treat comparatively wealthy retirees. How will they treat you once your retirement/SS checks start bouncing? How will they treat you when the world economy goes belly-up and resources get scarce?
One question to ask is “How can I invest* in the country where I’m going to be living as opposed to being dependent on funds back in the U.S. where they’re vulnerable to the chaos I’m fleeing.”
* “Invest” including banking, buying property, starting a business, developing useful skills, prepping, mattress-stuffing, etc. Whatever makes you an asset to the community, instead of a liability.
I confess I’m a pessimist by nature. I even admit that near the end of the Vietnam war I was convinced the Russians were going to win the cold war because we had screwed things up so badly. So I do hope I’m wrong. At the state level, things are becoming more permissive; hopefully SCOTUS doesn’t ruin things.
Another case for a pessimist; I’m not sure about the latest news: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/20/dc-businessman-trial-one-shotgun-shell-wasnt-given/