adminee posted
New Expat Tip Tool on the Nicaragua forum on May 14, 2013:
We wanted to send out a note to introduce our new Expat Tip Tool. It helps you offer advice and grab tips from other expatriates about international jobs, moving overseas, retiring overseas and more. Use it to keep track of your expat insights and save tips from others living abroad all in one place!
http://www.expatexchange.com/expattips
Or, click on "Expat Tips" on the top of any page of Expat Exchange!
Also, if you would like to add a photo to your profile, you can do that now, too. Click on "My Profile" - "Photo" and upload a photo today!
china332 replied to the thread
gun laws on the Nicaragua forum:
hi can anyone tell what the gun laws are in nicaragua
Well I guess everyone is different but I've ate at dozens of sodas or mom and pop restaurants and have never experienced anything but happiness! As far as tuna goes I eat at least 3 or 4 cans a week of central american canned tuna and other foods and have no issues with it. The street grillers in Pochomil produce some of the best emplanadas I've ever tasted!
Anyone that tells you they can get you a gun and it is easy is full of crap. Owning an illegal gun in NIcaragua is a very serious offense.
1. You must be a resident
2. Have a background check by the police in NIcaragua
3.. Psych. evaluation.
4. In most cases you are required to attend a class on guns to insure you know how to use one.
If you meet the requirements, you can own as many guns as you want in Nicaragua but have to have each one licesened. There are restrictions on AK 47s
If you meet the requirements, just about any lawyer can assist you. Just check on how much they want to charge you and don't let them change the price. Don't pay more than half until you have the weapon and license in you hand. If you are approved, the police will give you a form to go buy the weapon, you then take the weapon / 3 shells to the police station and the police will run a ballistics check and record it. You will then be issued a license and given you weapon. The first couple of months you have the weapon the police will come to your house and inspect to see if you have the weapon properly secured and inspect the weapon to insure it is the one you have registered. You can go to the Oriental Market in Managua and buy an illegal gun. If you are caught with it you are looking at 6 to 10.
tunjio posted
finding good food on the Nicaragua forum on May 07, 2013:
been in nicaragua over 9 months now...i am putting a cap on my time here after 1 year and no long term stay for me again in the future.....I moved months ago from the cool mountain towns in north nicaragua..Now im in managua and just about handling the heat better than i thought......I havent had any horrific food experiences here....If you eat cheap of the roadside grills it can be cold,taste like lighterfluid and the plastic bag burning with the coals it carried into the fire to cook the food,and the meat is most often under cooked...That was the description of the cheapest places to eat.....i dont eat there any more.....so on to nice restuarants by nicaraguan standards,twice the price 5 to 10 dollars US just about any where in managua and they can get more expensive as they get fancy.......i remeber up north a bit cheaper in nice restuarants but not that many,maby one or 2 in jinotega and a few more than that in matagalpa and even more in esteli...i always dreaded the days that i would be surprised by bouts of 2 to 3 hour malaise after eating any where in town in jinotegs,this was weekly around the town wide fumugation and it would taint the food supply every where for the whole week,and then the fumigation would return the next week........managua has been better with less fumigation and no in house fumigation where i have stayed..its house to house in jinotega small town...in managua it would use too much money to be that thorough and so i am glad....I have more choices to eat in managua but have had to cut places out as i discover which places leave me feeling malaise for few hours after eating....i dont like the common greasy fatty foods at the USA fast foods counters here at the malls,but i go now every night to eat at the mall and go to the local foods counter which serves the same street side grill foods but done without lighter fluid and no plastic bags in the fire while the meat cooks.....i go to the market for fruits for breakfast and i dont have problems because i wash and prepare it all myself and choose the better produce......I live by a LA Union grocery here owned by Wal-Mart as i hear,and they do carry best value label as in USA but only select few with prices that beat even nicaraguan proccessed food prices....i bought some canned tuna at the very modern grocery as it was on sale,i got 4 flavours of it as they do here in central america...i whipped up some spinach,potato,tuna stew with herbs and spices....i got hours malaise right down to the last can of TUNA...i dont buy any more canned foods made i central america...some may be fine but i dont want to even find out which ones -the hard way........I buy imported olive oil and the first brand was not that malaise free,the second brand was basically much more expesive and i am much better feeling with it now......the mall food courts have proven to make food that dont have side effects on me.........i read about stories of farm worker families suffering in chinandega area of nicaragua,thats suffering due to working years or lifetime in the tainted agriculture fields here with the misuse of pesticides and what else,people in general here have very little concern or make little effort to avert contamination (throw a bag of coals with the plastic bag still on)into the grill fire to grill the customers meats every night almost every where...no one speaks about it,it can be tatsed,i spoke to one grill lady who made friends with me and she looked at me as if i had to learn how do do things right as in her way,and that was it,no change and no more conversation of it........i am able to eat here an enjoy foods,but the reality is that i have had to map a tight corridor of options where i maneuver so as not to waste precious time wallowing in malaise...long term stay here in the future is out of the question because i understand the plight of the chinandega farmers who are suffering bad illness due to lifetime of exposure of shoddy toxic practices,and i know they are mostly being unheard and the practices probably go uncompromised to save production and jobs.........To good health and making a living to live ,and not to die ill from making a living........I have to admit that i am more sensitive to what comes in my body than many people i know but i am not mistaken about it when i feel it going wrong......years ago before i started traveling constantly,i was sitting at a beach and packed up to leave as soon as i got there,my friend asked me what was up as he smoked, isaid the volcano smoke was coming,and he looked up and said no there is none..i told him i could feel it (a bit dizzy and weak) as i walked away,i stopped to chat with another friend and when we were 5 minutes later done,i looked up and the haze of the volcano smoke had filled the air and was obvious......i was in philippines for 2 years before central america and it was really bad for me there,every day of it and every place i ate or stayed.....its much better in nicaragua than philippines for me,but i have been to costa rica and panama and going later to peru and ecuador to keep up traveling and i know in USA i can by the cheapest generic product with shady reputation and not feel as malaised as i do in nicaragua with too many products............thansk for letting me post my story and hope it informs someone interested
Article Summary: Lee offers ten tips for people contemplating a move to Central or South America. (
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print this one out and use it, I couldn't have said it better myself. Especially the cultural mentor....a definite must have for any country in Latin America as culture is tied to language, government and business on every level, so a good understanding of their history and culture will take you a llllooooonnnngggg way!
I have just returned from Guat..I plan to relocate there.You hit the nail on the head when you talk about expats trying to look superior..I was a bit taken aback at the way they spoke to and about the Mayan people ..My adopted daughter is Mayan..I take it very personal..I would definately go native while living there..Thanks for confirming what I was thinking and feeling .
Article Summary: Where are the best places to retire overseas? Which retirement haven is right for you? France? Ecuador? Panama? Nicaragua? Thailand? Kathleen Peddicord shares the pros and cons of the world's top 9 retirement havens. (
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sueb4bs replied most recently with:
I have lived in South America for 13 years in three countries, Chile, Argentina and now Quito. Equador. I know Chile and love it.. Cannot afford it anymore so I visit my friends there. And many aspects of CHile have changed dramatically in the past 13 years! What is
this' nearly Fourth World' characterization of Ecuador in this KP article? EC. certainly is a very tough place to immigrate, and the govt. bureaucracy , banking and other systems are not easy. But the truth is immigrating for each of us involves a huge desire to take risks, doing all of your homework, learning the local language and resiliency and PATIENCE above all with yourself as well as others. As a Chilean artist friend told me " es muy alta, muy bajo' -- I am a woman, psychologist and teacher and it has not been easy here for me. I have been cheated by Ecuadorians
( owed me money for agreed-upon professional services), struggled for 10 months and spent way too much to get my immigration visa, I am practicing language skills daily etc etc.. Lots to learn in the 14 months I have been here. K. P. is a bit of a fraud, IMO -- she used to sell EC as a good, 'cheap' place to immigrate , seems her tune has changed -- "less stable" than what?? and what is "less accessible" about this little country? There is a lot of money to be made by IL types on people's dissatisfaction living wherever they are in the world... Prices are going up here, this is not a "cheap "place to live, only comparatively , it is a developing country and people everywhere in the world want to live like the First World - prices go up, rarely I have seen them go down. If you are willing to immigrate you gotta accept that life is DYNAMIC and change is constant... there ain't no free lunch and no paradise (except in the movie in your mind)
The key is wherever you go, there YOU are... if you are happy within, you will have a better chance of adjusting well anywhere you go (even if you repatriate to wherever you came from)-- so open your mind and keep learning!
A reader replied recently with:
Hi, excellent listing of retirement alternatives. I know most of them, and find the pro's and con's being very accurate. Though, it is difficult to publish a list in 'fit for all' manner. It depends very much on the individual budget and your life style. As I go for tropical climate only, Ecuador, Uruguay, and France aren't any option for me. For example Cuenca, Ecuador, can be a very cold place at times. The slogan of "everlasting spring in Cuenca" is misleading.
One thing is sure, it is not an easy decision where to spend your retirement. Vern
majicjack replied to the thread
driving license on the Nicaragua forum:
would a UK driving license be ok in Nicaragua or would i need to take a driving test when we move ?
Your drivers license are good here until they expire. You are suposed to be a resident to get a Nicaragua drivers license but unlike the gun laws this is not necessarly the case.
If you have a drivers license from another country, you are not required to take a test . My wife and I both have Nicaragua drivers license and no teat was required. With a drivers license, you are not required the investigation or mental evaluation.Once again, get a lawyer and the same applys as with the guns. Find out how much and don't pay all until you have the license in your hand. I would be very weary of anyone that tells you he has a friend or primo that can get it done with no problem. You may have it but is it the real deal.
Foreign driver's license are good here until they expire. I have been using mine for seven years. If you renew it in your origen country it continues to be good here or you can apply for Nica license but it requires a written test and it is in Spanish.
Regards
Darrell
bushamy13 replied to the thread
english speaking bank on the Nicaragua forum:
I am interested in opening a business in nicaragua and want to deal with a bank that eitehr speaks english, or has an english version of their website, so I can pay bills in english.
is there one?
Depends where you will be. Not sure about the English website but the few activities you would do can quickly be learned. As for the English speaking people in the banks, in Managua no problem, many speak English. In Granada, BAC and Ban Centro have English speaking managers.
Ban Centro is the most popular with expats and BAC is the most professional, similar to the states.
Regards
Darrell
hi me and my wife are looking into possibly moving to nicaragua in a few years and are looking for help and advice we will be moving from the uk any help on locations to live and the costs and why of life would be a great help thanks :)
thanks i will have a look at them
Hi
Since you have very general questions I would refer you to www.nicaragua-guide.com. For the community life www.nicaragua-community.com.
Regards
Darrell
whats available for internet connection if your outside the areas covered by regular internet serves. ?i have amnet now, but would like to move to a country location thanks for any info keith e.
whats available for internet connection if your outside the areas covered by regular internet serves. ?i have amnet now, but would like to move to a country location thanks for any info keith e.