jfschwank: Saying that you may not be prepared to work outside the region you are trained in is good advice. It isn't saying that you won't be well trained or that the region's doctors are not good practitioners. Let me give you an example: I am originally from the Arctic. A friend of mine went on a trek across Southeast Asia. When he came back, he noticed this green thing on his foot and it was getting bigger. He went to his hometown doctor. The doctor was fascinated with the green thing and even took some pictures. When my friend said, what now? the doctor said he didn't know anything about tropical medicine, he was from Toronto and had never been to the tropics. My friend had a very difficult time finding anyone who had knowledge of tropical medicine. However, they all knew plenty about frostbite. When you go to a school in a region, they are preparing you to work in that region. This something you should keep in mind because a professional education can be difficult, long and costly. If you go to medical school in Guatemala, you may need some further schooling to practice in Greenland. That is not to say that the doctors in Guatemala or Greenland are not good doctors. I always try to go to a local practitioner because they are most experienced with local problems. I have to differ with you on "not being prepared for outside the region" Some of the best trained doctors anywhere are in Guatemala. Any of them who went on to training programs in the United States in the past have had to take and pass the ECFMG in order to do so. It is comparable to the boards that medical students take here. They also have to have taken the TOEFL and make an acceptable score. Yes, they do a lot of the work themselves. All medical students learn how to do just about anything connected with taking care of the patient. The majority of the physicians that are trained there, stay there and I have no complaints about what I have seen in working with visiting medical teams in Guatemala over the past 35 plus years. I do not know of anything comparable to a PA or NP position in Guatemala.

Ok I am latina speak Spanish fluent.Thanks for positive input have lived in Mexico for years. And am interested in my worker's getting a decent wage thats why I asked.My hubby is a native born and raised here.We do all we can to make our ladies feel respected and needed but seems I opened a can of worms or did not explicitly go into all the details We live in a very remote town .Far from the big city .Was told my wages were fine since room board food clothing and schooling asstance was given .Most of my ladies got the ree time to attend all of the church activities they asked for .But thanks for your positve responseAnd if I asked it was because I want to do what is morally humanely correct.Not wanting to take advantage of no one ok Well one thing every body seems to ignorate is Guatemala as a minimum salary.. of currently of Q 2530.34 per month.. check their web site.. http://www.mintrabajo.gob.gt/index.php/salariominimo.html and if you employ somebody monthly you can't pay them less..according the law.. now of course people will accept less in order to eat.. but if you are a foreigner.. think about it.. Would you like in your own country that a foreigner pay you less than the law requires..? Also maid have a special status in the labor law.. so you better check with your lawyer before engaging somebody because if they go to the ministry of labor and it does happen you will find out that their rights are non forfeitable.. Ultimately it all go with the values which rules your life ...

You're right if that's the case now. Well things have changed there. Maybe they also call the regular buses colectivos now. there is an easy exit from the road to Antigua (and Atitlan) into San Cristobal and just as easy entrance back onto the road from San Cristobal. The underpass and over pass have made it simple without having to cross traffic like before when just one traffic light controlled the entire intersection that at time was bedlam!! In san cristobal they allow just small vans that are used as mini buses and one large bus that goes to and from Peronia. But that line goes into Guatemala City and back.

Yes you can have regular mail delivery to your home here. As far as mail from out of country it may take awhile to get to your home. Also you can go to the post office and mail items. What are you planning to bring with you or have shipped? In some cases the item may be cheaper here in Guatemala. Electronics, no far more expensive. ok, I use a mail forwarding service for my regular mail, letters, etc. and packages from family and Amazon. I have two addresses with the company. One for letters, a PO Box, and one for packages, a street address because Amazon and others won't ship to a PO Box. They are both used for "regular" post just like at your home. This company is a mail forwarding company, make sense? They have an office here in Antigua and my mail, packages are forwarded from my Miami address then on to Antigua. Many products on Amazon are "shipping only to US address". Obvioulsy you need to urchase from someone who ships internationally using POSTAL service. Amazon does ship vias Canada post to a PO box as I lived in a remote sub arctic town for 5 years and did almost all my shopping online.only from people who were willing to ship using >US or Canadian mail and Amazon did indeed use the mail service and shipped to my PO box. I still do 90% of my shopping online and still insist on mail/post rather than "shippers". I just do not buy from people who insist on a shipper. Surely this is available to Guatemala if you shop around.? is it not?

There is one school between Antigua and Guate and another here in Antigua, don't know about others. ok thanks, just curious.

We lived in Pastores for 10 months, about 10 minutes outside of Antigua by bus. We are a family of 6 and lived quite comfortably on $1300. a month. So it's a matter of how you live. I have many friends that rent 1 bedroom apts in Antigua for under $250.00 a month. While residency requires minimum $1,000 you can live in Guatemala on a Tourist Visa and there is no income requirement as Busman7 wrote. Now to answer your question, you can live on $1,000 per month. But your life may be a bit sparse as far lifestyle. As Busman7 said, check out Nicaragua and El Salvador, I think you'll find it a bit cheaper than Guatemala. I live in Antigua and comparing it to the rest of Guatemala it's expensive.

I'd rather not be in the city. We could do well on the lake or in a rule area. I have a child that can either go to school or be homeschooled. My 87 year old dad is my biggest concern. We need a couple of acres so he can keep busy even if we buy it somewhere fairly close to where we actually live. We will bring a lot of dogs. Sure, do you want to live in a city, or rural, close to the beach, in the mountains, at lake Atitlan? Do you have children that need a good school or and English school? You have many options.

Go to Guatemala immigration or have your lawyer tell you what documents you need from home, then go to the US embassy they should (the Canadian one in San Salvador did) the documents for applying for the criminal check plus a document to take to the Guatemalan police for fingerprints, mail your prints along with the application to the appropriate agence in the US. You should have no problem getting a birth certificate and proof of pension online, have those documents sent to your US lawyer or a friend who will take them to be notarized and forward them to you, then take them to the US embassy for authentication. The rest you can do locally. Works in El Salvador anyway, shouldn't be much different in Guate. Bajasur why not go to immigration in zone 4 and ask? or ask around where you live for a good immigration lawyer, Not someone who does tramites, but a bona fide abogado y notario. Consultations cannot cost all that much. I received my residence through marriage 17 years ago so I really have not idea the ins and outs. I know there is another person who posts on this site who has his residence as a pensionista if I am not mistaken but I do not know if he did some paperwork prior to arriving or not.