Skip to main content

Decisions Decisions -- where to retire?

Image
By

 Factors typical for settling in Latin America:

  1. Studied Spanish language in school

  2. Longtime affinity for latin america & the culture

  3. Friends or family in or from latin america

  4. Living & working in latin america

  5. Wonderful past vacations in latin america

We have had none of those.  Our attraction to latin america is only that it:

  • Is exotic, not US

  • Is inexpensive

  • Is relatively close to the US

  • Has same timezone as US

  • The language is not difficult


    We have personally checked Panama, Costa Rica, Medellín, Mexico City, and San Miguel de Allende.  We agreed that Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico City are not for us; probably Lake Chapala also, though we may try a house-sit there.  (I still like Medellín, and it is lowest-cost)  

    SMA is the most likely agreeable place in latin america for us, because it is amenable, pretty, walkable, artsy, and still less expensive than the US.  However, we have concerns about the inequalities that show up in the barbed-wire, walls, and gated housing (apparently worried about burglary), the casual infrastructure that neglects pedestrian walkways, the ground-water crisis, and food hygiene: the public water supply is only vaguely potable, and fresh vegetables need to be sanitized.  Also, public noise is tolerated – dogs and roosters abound, and fireworks are daily noisemakers at seemingly random times and places (though we have never seen a fireworks shop!), thus requiring a closed-up bedroom to get decent sleep.  

    Cost – is it really much less than Porto?  Costs for imported or deluxe items are more than U.S., but locally-made items are half  the price of U.S.   Rental prices are wildly variable, so difficult to compare.   Restaurants: we dined at places really inexpensive, and at places surprisingly expensive.  Beer and wine prices are only a bit less than U.S. prices.  Gasoline = US prices.   Tipping: because it is a tourist town, tipping is universally expected for restaurants and taxis, and most creditcard machines have provision for adding a "propina" of 10% 15% 20% to the bill.  Fortunately, VAT is pre-added, so there's no "sales tax".  


We like these things about SMA:

  • It is artsy, has culture, lots of cultural events

  • The climate is hospitable

  • Has a great church

  • Friendly locals and expats

    • Because it's a smaller town, more likely to associate with locals

    • Long-established expat scene with lots of volunteer groups

  • Walkable (though cobblestones can be rough)

  • Relatively safe, both personal and traffic-wise

  • Beautiful, so most tourists are from Mexican cities!
Location: San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beirut, Byblos, and walks in the city

By
There are police, and barriers, in Beirut.  Our first 2 days in one neighborhood were quite peaceful.  Yesterday we walked further, to see more typical signs of concrete barriers and razor wire and military guards around the former President's house, and then today around the Saudi Arabian embassy.  We also note the flurry of construction activity, both buildings and roads; yet in amongst the renovated sleek apartment buildings and shopping malls are old walls pockmarked with bullet-holes, and empty shells of buildings including the bizarre alien-looking building in the center of town.      Cole and I attended a lecture by Tariq Ramadan at the American University of Beirut -- educational, fascinating even though Prof.Ramadan was speaking quite academically and not wanting to get tied down.  The question-and-answer session was even more enlightening, to hear the emotional and articulate ripostes and sallies.  About 400 people attended. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Driving everyone crazy

By
One of the lightning rods of dissent in the Kingdom is the government's refusal to permit women to drive. We know of no other nation with this ban; and to compound the confusion, there is apparently no explicit law banning it, just a reference to a decree in 1991. Like the other irritating restriction of the niqab veil, it also has no basis in the Koran, and therefore is not easily upheld in Sharia law. Recently the first name "Manal" has become a symbolic name, as the divorced Aramco IT expert -- she received awards for her expertise a few years ago -- drove a car near Coleman's high school last month and published the feat on YouTube. The deliberately banal video inflamed the sensibilities of the Saudi police, who detained Manal in the women's reformatory for 10 days. Her lawyer carefully pointed out that there was no law against her driving, and further she carefully avoided any reference to the Facebook group urging women to all drive on June 17th. St...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reservoir of European Youth, Parliament

By
 A few days ago I walked to the nearby Pasteleira Park, planning to visit the city museum at the Reservoir.  Walking through the park I noticed a large group of young people gathered in a circle, engaged in team-building activities.   My days in education attuned me to the spectacle and piqued my interest, so I sat on a nearby bench and watched as a succession of enthusiastic students ran to the center and started an activity, which all the others joined enthusiastically.  What sort of group would this be?  A typical high school class would include a portion of disinterested teens, and others only half-heartedly participating.  This crowd was unanimous in their excitement.   I also noted that the leaders were speaking in English, though the breeze muffled the words.  I walked around, found a couple of older participants on the side, with official-looking lanyards, and asked:  this was an activity of European Youth Parliament , simil...
Post a Comment
Read more