Americans and other expats are treated quite well in Mexico. There are many private expat organizations, not just here in Merida, but across Mexico. One example in Merida is the Merida English Library, where many young Mexican professionals come to practice their English and the expats practice their Spanish by talking with each other. Americans and other expats are treated quite well in Mexico. There are many private expat organizations, not just here in Merida, but across Mexico. One example in Merida is the Merida English Library, where many young Mexican professionals come to practice their English and the expats practice their Spanish by talking with each other. .png)
We were mostly surprised by the amount of discounts afforded to the people who retire in Panama. Almost anywhere you go, there is a special line for jubilado pensionados (retirees). My husband went to the bank the other day and the line was a mile long. He went to the guard and mentioned that he was a jubilado. The guard asked him to go inside right up on the jubilado line. There was no one in front of him, so he got assisted right away. We were mostly surprised by the amount of discounts afforded to the people who retire in Panama. Almost anywhere you go, there is a special line for jubilado pensionados (retirees). My husband went to the bank the other day and the line was a mile long. He went to the guard and mentioned that he was a jubilado. The guard asked him to go inside right up on the jubilado line. There was no one in front of him, so he got assisted right away. 
The public doctors in Portugal are not very good because the public health system here is almost the same as the rest of Europe. You have to wait a month to get an appointment with a doctor and once you get one, the checkup is all done very quickly and is not very thorough. They give you lots of medicines because they want to get rid of you quickly. If you need tests done, you have to go to the National Health System and the queue is very long. You have to wait a week to get an...The public doctors in Portugal are not very good because the public health system here is almost the same as the rest of Europe. You have to wait a month to get an appointment with a doctor and once you get one, the checkup is all done very quickly and is not very thorough. They give you lots of medicines because they want to get rid of you quickly. If you need tests done, you have to go to the National Health System and the queue is very long. You have to wait a week to get an appointment for the test. Then you wait another week to get the results and you have to wait another month to book an appointment with the doctor to show your results. It’s a long process. If you need an operation, you have to wait for almost a year in order to get the operation through the public health systems. This doesn’t only happen in Portugal. It is the same thing for the rest of Europe.
Panama has a capitalist / free market economy. You can do most any business you want in Panama that is legal and you would have no problem in starting the business and getting the paperwork done. With a local lawyer it will take you a couple of weeks to get your licenses. And any legal business is acceptable. Anything in financing, building, buying and selling, retailing, and putting up a franchise; all is doable. Everything is doable and everybody will help you to do it. You just have to...Panama has a capitalist / free market economy. You can do most any business you want in Panama that is legal and you would have no problem in starting the business and getting the paperwork done. With a local lawyer it will take you a couple of weeks to get your licenses. And any legal business is acceptable. Anything in financing, building, buying and selling, retailing, and putting up a franchise; all is doable. Everything is doable and everybody will help you to do it. You just have to get people to do the paperwork and you’re in business.
Belize has a very diverse culture. It is a country that is very open-minded and where everybody can do his own thing. That is true for almost everything such as tradition or religion. Belize has a very diverse culture. It is a country that is very open-minded and where everybody can do his own thing. That is true for almost everything such as tradition or religion. 
If you’re like me, you’ve got a song in your head pretty much all the time. Sometimes, you know why it’s there, and sometimes, you don’t. Sometimes, you don’t even know where you heard the song. .jpg)
My Mother-in-Law, Dona Maria
It is really difficult to get to know the people around you when you don’t speak the same language. You can be speaking the same native language and not understanding each other. Words have meaning, but if you think about it, how many times have you said something to someone who interpreted it entirely differently than you intended? And you had to say, “That isn’t what I...
