Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 1888

Hi everyone, particularly those thinking of traveling to Xela in Guatemala October 2006 I lived in Xela studying Spanish. After a couple weeks I decided I'd write about my experiences to provide more of a balanced view rather than the one-sided positive stuff I read before going. All I found before I left was either warnings about robbers & pickpockets or positive stuff. who is writing: I'm 56, male, an RN with a Master's and two Bachelors. I've traveled to Australia/New Zealand (1 month), western Europe (2 months), Mexico (numerous times for up to a months each time), Canada (numerous times for up to three weeks each time), Belize, Honduras, and Tahiti. I'll try to be brief and objective. I'll start with an analogy then use numbered points to illustrate. Xela is like a human being ... read more

Jetzt haben wir vorerst den Club fuer 8 Tage verlassen und haben uns auf unsere Rundreise begeben. Vor unserer Abreise mussten wir noch unbedingt bei einer Familie einkehren um richtig gut essen zu koennen. Havanna ist eine traumhafte Stadt. Man sieht Leute, Autos, Gebauede,..es ist einfach super. An die neuen Kollegen der Rundreise haben wir uns sehr schnell gewoehnt. Am ersten Tag spazierten wir durch die Altstadt, haben uns den Friedhof angesehen. Dieser fasst 600 000 Graber. Ein bekanntes Grab davon ist das von Ibrahim Ferrer. Dann waren wir noch im Hemingway Museum und in seiner Bar. Hier laufen so viele Touristen herum, das ist gigantisch,.. Das Wetter, ist so wie man es sich in der Karibik vorstellt einfach super, und der Rum schmeckt mit der Zeit auch immer Besser. Wir werden uns in dieser Woche ... read more

My frustration blog has by far turned out to be the most popular blog I’ve written. Not in the number of hits it’s received but in the number of passionate comments I’ve gotten. That being the case I’ve decided to do a follow up on it. I must reiterate that my blogs are MY OPINIONS based on real interactions and experiences. I tell the truth, if you don’t like it, don’t read it. For the record, our experiences have not involved long time developers in the area. Two of those developers contacted me today with comments. Apparently, my blog is being passed around the local real estate community. Who knew anyone cared what I had to say, I’m one person expressing her opinion. While most of the comments have been supportive, my own father chastised me ... read more

Opening a kosher hotel in a Costa Rica, a country where kosher food is not common has proved to be far more challenging than we could have ever imagined. It is not the luxury items that we miss, we can get some types of kosher cheese, and all of the ingredients Rachel likes to use to make her favorite blueberry muffins (a staple at any good bed and breakfast). We can even get our Morningstar Farms Grillers, and yesterday we found wasabi coated peas!!! We can eat wonderfully here if we don’t mind searching for imported food. The problems that we have been facing recently have been far more critical. It took us at least 5 grocery stores and almost a week of searching to get kosher vanilla extract. It took even longer, and finally a ... read more

My promised “10-12” hour journey from Havana, to Santiago de Cuba in the South East of the country actually took 16 hours! Cuba is Long! It’s longer from tip to tail than the British mainland and my journey was similar to London to Aberdeen. Not much to say about the journey really. We travelled first along an empty motorway, stopping at a few places on the way, and then the roads got smaller and more confusing as there were no sign posts. From my bus window, I saw countryside and towns full of tiny, dirty houses with as much poverty as I’ve seen in India or in those parts of Latin America in the “US Empire”. I finally arrived at Sofía’s house at 1.30 am, four hours later than predicted. She seemed non-plussed. Had a lie ... read more