The Giver

Jefferson is a weekend philanthropist…a young giver with a heart that invests in people. He came to Ometepe Island seeking a way to help people change their own lives. Not only did he find Mariselda, a ten-year old with polio, he also became engaged to the love of his life while visiting Ometepe.

This is his story…a story of helping unconditionally, loving freely, and simply giving for the joy he receives in knowing that he can make the world a little better one person at a time…one weekend at a time.

Thanks to Jefferson for allowing me to share his story: Buying a Girl a Bike

 

Trickling Up: An Expat Economic Theory

The U.S. Trickle-Down economic theory sounds hopelessly pessimistic to me. The word “down” used as an adjective reflects negativity and is downright depressing. It defines a lower position ( Nicaragua has a down economy.), something unable to function (Our electricity is always down!), and someone who is sick. ( My neighbor is down with the flu.)

Therefore, with optimism and enthusiasm, I am going to attempt to explain my expat economic theory of Trickling Up. Just the word “up” sounds so much more encouraging, don’t you agree? If there is one thing I have learned while living in Nicaragua, it is to always be optimistic and encouraging, and lend a hand up when possible.

When we moved to Nicaragua, we received advice from everybody… from how to purify our water to how to bargain like a Nica. Some of the advice was well-received. Other advice, I couldn’t help but wonder about. For example, I was reprimanded by other expats for providing a free lunch for our workers, tipping too much at local restaurants, and paying too much for a taxi. They said, “You are driving up the cost of everything by paying gringo prices willingly.” Or, “The workers will expect the same treatment and pay from us, too.”

I look at it this way. Trickle-Down has never worked in impoverished countries because huge sums of money allocated to government officials never reach those who need it the most. What is wrong with reversing the system of aid by trickling up? The average Nicaraguan earns five dollars a day! Even in Nicaragua, that is well below a level of poverty that defies my understanding of how hard-working families exist.

Here’s an example of my trickling up theory. We are building an addition to our guest house. We hired Marvin to build a bathroom, dig a new septic tank, and add a new kitchen/living room area…nothing fancy…just small and comfortable for our guests. First, we had Marvin make a list of all the materials he would need and give us a list of the costs of materials. Then, we told Marvin that in the U.S., we usually figure labor costs based on the cost of materials. Labor is usually the same amount as the cost of the materials. The carefully prepared list of materials came to $2,000, so we told Marvin that we would pay him $2,000 for his labor. “That is not how we do it in Nicaragua,” Marvin honestly replied. “We charge $10 a day for the contractor and $5 a day for the helpers.” If we did it Marvin’s way, he and his helpers would make much less and take more time to complete the job.

We wrote up a contract, specifying the payments in six weekly installments. Marvin orders the materials with our approval and we pay the bill at the local hardware store. It is a win-win situation for all of the families. Marvin will have enough money to buy more tools and supplies for his business, and meet the needs of his growing family. His son and another friend are his helpers. Marvin can decide how much of a percentage to pay them and knowing Marvin, he will be generous with his percentage.

Marvin and his crew

Trickling up is a fair and sound economic system for expats. We can live comfortably on our retirement savings because the cost of living in Nicaragua is about 1/4 of the cost of living in the states. Our money goes a lot farther here, so why not invest in the future of Nicaragua? Trickling up makes sense to me! With a simple system of accountability and fairness in good labor practices, everybody is happy.

Health Care for Expats in Nicaragua

 

 

One of the biggest challenges of living abroad is health care. When we opted for early retirement, we could have continued our group health insurance, but the cost of the insurance would have reduced our pension checks by half. Plus, when we retired, our health insurance was not accepted in Nicaragua. We are too young for Social Security and Medicare. Medicare is not accepted in Nicaragua either. At the time, our only option was to take a risk, self-diagnose, and live cautiously on our tropical island.

Fortunately, Hospital Metropolitano Vivian Pellas in Managua is committed to providing healthcare with international excellence. So, we made an appointment with Arlen Peres, the Medical Tourism Manager, called our faithful taxi driver, and visited the hospital to explore our insurance options.

                                                Arlen Peres, Medical Tourism Manager

Arlen met us in the lobby of the hospital and attended to us like newborn babies. She took us on a tour of the immaculately clean and modern hospital, answered all of our questions with the honesty and professionalism of a Supreme Court Judge, and spoke fluent English. Impressive!

She explained the two insurance plans for the hospital: the Silver Plan and the Gold Plan. When we were trying to decide which plan would be the best for us, she recommended the Silver Plan because it cost less and it would meet our needs until we are 65 years old.

                        The Silver Plan

We filled out the health insurance application for the Silver Plan. It was three pages of general health questions..all in Spanish, which Arlen patiently translated for us. Ron’s Silver Plan is $21 a month. Mine is $18 a month. We could pay monthly or annually. We chose to pay annually and we charged $468 on our credit card for a year of health insurance for both of us!

The Silver Plan offers discounts for emergency room services, medical and physical rehabilitation, laboratory diagnosis and tests, annual preventive health check-ups, intensive care, and operations. The discounts increase after 24 hours, 90 days, and 180 days of insurance coverage. The discounts range from 15% to 70% depending on how long one has had insurance coverage.

Next, we had to have blood tests and urine samples tested for health insurance coverage. Arlen sent us to the lobby where we waited for about 10 minutes while she set up the appointments.

                                                  Ron and one of our friends

                                              The reception desk in the lobby

Arlen returned and took us directly to the admittance booth, where we paid $25 each for all the laboratory tests. Then, she took us to the laboratory for our tests…no waiting! Top notch service! We went to the emergency room for general physicals: weight, height, blood pressure. While we were in the emergency room, Arlen toured us through the offices and operating rooms. They have a kidney dialysis room, where we heard soft music and the TV behind the closed-door. She said the kidney dialysis room is open 24 hours a day and is always busy. I don’t know why so many people in Nicaragua have kidney problems, but it is prevalent.

We met with the doctor for a few more questions and prodding and poking. Then, on to the cafeteria where we had lunch while we were waiting for the results of our lab tests. Thirty minutes later, after we had delicious cappuccinos and chicken burritos, we met Arlen in the lobby with our test results. The best news was that the test results indicated that we had no parasites. Ron had just completed a round of parasite pills because he had a bad bout with parasites the week before. I know the parasites were the result of him eating mangoes that dropped to the ground!

We were finished for the day! Our lab tests and physicals would be reviewed by the insurance director and we would be notified of our acceptance within a week. I have never encountered such personalized attention. Where in the states could one have a personal attendant, who tends to every health need? Not to mention immediate test results hand delivered the same day. Before we left, we asked Arlen how much each operation or procedure cost. She said, “Email me with the specific procedures and operations you may need and I’ll send you a list of the all-inclusive costs.” Can you believe that? No hidden costs? A list of all the costs of the procedures and operations? I’m amazed! Why can’t they do that in the states?

My expat friends from Granada went to Vivian Pellas hospital two weeks ago for their annual check-ups. While they were doing the stress test, they discovered that J had a serious heart blockage. They operated on him that evening and placed 2 stents in his heart. He did not have the hospital insurance, and he had to pay upfront for the operation. He charged $16,500 on his credit card for the total bill. His wife had the same operation seven years ago in the states. She only had 1 stent placed in her heart. Total cost for her? $50,000. What is wrong with the health care system in the states? I won’t rant here, but something is terribly wrong when the same operation costs 3 times as much in the states.

Vivian Pellas Hospital has a website, but when we checked for information, the website was outdated. I talked with Arlen about the website and she told me that someone had hacked into the website. They had to put up the old website until October when the new website will be completed. Here’s a link to the old website: Vivian Pellas

If you are an expat living in Nicaragua, or a potential expat, please feel free to contact me for more information about Vivian Pellas Hospital. Nicaragua is advancing daily in health care for expats. It is reassuring to know that excellent, affordable health care is available in Nicaragua.

 

 

 

 

Cost of Living

Today is our second anniversary of living on Ometepe Island permanently. I have never done a cost of living analysis. Please keep in mind that Ometepe Island is a small, rather primitive island in the middle of a huge lake, in the middle of Nicaragua, in the middle of Central America. This breakdown of costs on la isla varies from the cost of living elsewhere in Nicaragua.

Our monthly expenses:

1. Utilities
a. Electric – anywhere from $20-$50 monthly. We don’t have an air conditioner. We do
have a washing machine, a refrigerator, ceiling fans, and floor fans.
b. Water- $7 a month. This is an estimate, because our water meter is covered with 2
feet of sand from the flood 2 years ago. They can’t read our water meter.

2. Internet
a. We have a 3G Claro dongle. $23.30 a month.

3. TV
a. Sky Satellite TV- $37 a month. We purchased a satellite mainly to watch the Steeler
football games.

4. Groceries
a. We have a huge garden and a vegetable truck that comes to our house every Friday.
But, we do like some of our favorite gringo foods like peanut-butter and chocolate
chips. As an estimate $200 a month on groceries.

5. Propane and Gas
a. We bought a new Pulsar 180 motorcycle for trips around the island.$2,500 We only fill
up the tank about once every 3 months. $25
b. We have a propane stove/oven and we love to cook. Our tank lasts 3 mo. $16

6. Transportation
a. We walk, kayak, or take our motorcycle around the island. When we travel off the
island, about once a month, it depends on where we are headed. If we go to
Managua, we usually hire our favorite taxi driver $60 round trip. I would estimate
monthly transportation $100 and that’s on the high side.

7. Entertainment
a. We don’t spend much on entertainment. Our entertainment is visiting friends,
swimming or kayaking, and the rare times we eat out. $30 a month

8. Travel
a. This is probably our biggest cost because we love to travel. We try to
take a trip once a month. $500

9. Pets
a. We have 10 free-range chickens, our neighbor’s dog ( who has adopted us because
we feed him), and soon we’ll add 3 kittens. Cost of food for pets- $20 monthly.

10. Health Insurance and Medicines
a. We are rarely sick, but when we are, we try holistic methods and natural teas and
remedies, first. You don’t need a prescription to go to the pharmacy. If we need
antibiotics or other pills, we go to the pharmacist, explain our symptoms, and receive
one pill or a packet of pills. Then, we return home, research the medicine before taking,
and start the regimen. $5 a month
b. Vivian Pellas hospital in Managua caters to expats. They offer two types of health
insurance for their hospital. The silver plan is $26 a mo. per person. The gold plan
is $46 a mo. per person. Our expenses: $52 for both.

11. Housing Costs
a. We bought a manzana of land that had an old beach shack on it. We have beach front
property. We remodeled our house- $12K and added a small two-story guest house/
garage for $6K.
b. The average home rental on Ometepe Island is from $150-250 per month.

12. Miscellaneous Expenses
a. Gifts and volunteer projects- $50 a month
b. Repairs and costs for other things we need don’t happen on a regular basis. For
example, I am researching gas-powered weed eaters because I am sooo tired
of using a hand sickle or a machete to mow our lawn. I can’t find what I want
in Nicaragua, so I have to order it online and have it sent to my mother’s house.
Then, when we return to the states to visit, I can pick up my purchases and bring
them back to Nicaragua. Yearly cost is about $500

13. Nicaraguan Residency
a. This was a one time cost. Overall, I would estimate that we spent $2,000 on
getting our residency. That includes lawyer fees, translations, and all costs in the
states and Nicaragua. It does not include flights to the U.S. to gather documents.

With our monthly teaching pensions, we figure that we can spend $55 a day. We rarely spend that much daily. When we are able to collect our Social Security, we will have double the income…which means more traveling for us. Our goal was to have a home base in Nicaragua and travel for several months of the year, especially during the wickedly hot months of March and April.

Overall, as an estimate our monthly expenses are: $1084. In reality, they are usually much less. We’ve lived comfortably on $500 a month with no entertainment and no traveling. It just depends on our wants and needs. I hope this gives you a better understanding of the cost of living on Ometepe Island.

The Human Termites

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Last night, at 2:30 am there was a loud crash that interrupted the sleep of most of my neighborhood. The flashlights scoured the area like a well-cleaned cooking pot, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. Ron thought it was a crash landing of the German satellite, due to hit Earth last night. “Space junk,” he yawned and fell back into a deep sleep. Cory thought it was a spaceship. I guessed the Mango tree had fallen into Cory’s house. Our neighbors thought maybe Vulcan Concepcion had erupted.

With the light of dawn, I saw that a giant limb had fallen off an enormous tree behind our property. The heavy rains must have weakened the tree. “Time for the human termites to do their job,” I yawned.

Last September, after a strong wind storm, a huge dead tree fell into the lake obstructing my view and messing up my beautiful beach. I hired two men to cut the tree and they arrived early in the morning armed with machetes, strong backs, and an ancient ax.

They parked the horse cart beside my beach chair hoping to load the wood into the wagon and cart it off for firewood. “How much will this cost?” I asked apprehensively because it looked like a huge job. “Five dollars,” they responded.

At dawn’s first light, they waded into the warm water and proceeded to whack at each limb with their well-worn machetes. Machismo at its finest!

Meanwhile, Marina, my neighbor, ran over to my house wearing a black velvet party dress and smelling of strong flowery perfume…at 6 o’clock in the morning. Her 77 yr. old husband, Don Jose, has been in Rivas all week with his sick sister. “What are they going to do with all that wood?” she asked. “I told them to haul it off,” I said. “How much are you paying them to cut the tree?” Marina inquired. Discovering that I was paying them 5 dollars, she screamed, “Oh, muy caro!” Very expensive.

“Don Jose isn’t here, and I need wood for my cooking fire.” she exclaimed. “Can I help to pay if we take the wood?” Knowing that my neighbors are very poor ( I had to lend Don Jose $10 to visit his gravely ill sister in Rivas) I said, “I don’t want you to pay. I’ll tell the machete men that you can have the wood.” So, the machete man sent for his 7-year-old to take the horse cart back home.

Within an hour, they had most of the small branches cut off the dead tree and hauled ashore. “How much more do you want us to cut?” they yelled across the dead tree to where I was snapping pictures of their toothless grins. “I want more of the dead trunk cut.” I yelled back. After much debate and a demonstration of where I wanted the trunk cut, they said, “Oh, but it will cost you more money because the trunk is very thick.” “How much more?” I asked.” Five more dollars,” they said kind of apologetically.

So they grabbed the ancient ax and began to cut the thick trunk. Within another hour, they had most of the thick trunk hacked away. The wood was piled up on the beach and Marina’s father,and her son, Julio, carried the piles of wood to their house.

While they were hacking away at the trunk, Marina brought refreshments for all of us, warm bread from the local tienda and pinole drink ( Marina drinks this every morning instead of coffee).

A few more whacks with the ancient ax and their work was done. Not a bad day’s wages for 2 hours of work. Soon, the little termites swarmed to the beach to collect the wood for their cooking stove.Grandpa joined in the collection, and in no time at all, the beach was cleared.

The human termites were remarkable. For $10 I had my incredible view and a clean beach. My wonderful neighbors had enough firewood for a month of cooking. And best of all, we shared our blessings with our lovely community.

Looks like we’ll have to hire the human termites again!

 

El Zaguan…Best Steak in Nicaragua

                                      Filet Mignon

Last week, Ron and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary. Actually, Bill and Hillary Clinton wed the same day and the same year, too. I used to send them anniversary cards, but when we moved to Ometepe Island, I stopped using mail. We have no mailman, no mailbox, and only one tiny post office in Moyogalpa. But, this is a story about steak!

We both had a hankerin’ for a melt-in-your-mouth dainty fillet. As far as we are concerned, the best place in Nicaragua for a tender filet mignon is El Zaguan in Granada. The service is impeccable, the house wine is dry and perfect for my tastes, and the steaks…well take a look for yourself.

We started our celebration with wine ( Wine isn’t Nicaragua’s forte, but Flor de Cana Rum is! I recommend the seven-year rum.). A crunchy, delicious salad was next with real lettuce. ( When you order a salad in Nicaragua, usually it is shredded cabbage.) Then , the mouth-watering, juicy, filet mignon  arrived smothered in mushrooms. After the main course, we ordered mountain grown Nicaraguan coffee and chocolate cheesecake.

My taste buds tingled for a week after the meal at El Zaguan. Now, how much would you pay for a meal like this in the states? Possibly $100 for two when you throw in the tip and the tax? Maybe more?  Our bill, including the tip and the tax, was $48 inclusive. And best of all…we could use a credit card! It is difficult to find places where a credit card is accepted on Ometepe Island.

Have I told you how much I love Nicaragua?

Traveling Salesmen

I bought a bra on our beach!

I was cleaning and raking our beach one day, when a traveling salesman trudged through the deep volcanic sand swinging an arm load of bras. He held out the bras, like a rack in a department store, so I could compare them. “They are very beautiful,” I commented.

“¿Cuánto cuesta?” ( How much?)

He responded, “For you, beautiful lady, only 75 cents. They are on sale.”  Well, who can pass up a bargain like that? I usually don’t wear bras in the tropics…it’s too damn hot. Maybe he noticed. Six years ago, the only Christmas present I received was a fancy bra from my neighbor. I know that she noticed. Since we were making a transaction on my beach, there was no fitting room, so I took my chances and bought a pretty little brown bra. As luck would have it, it didn’t fit. It will make a fine present for my neighbor this Christmas.

Traveling salesmen come to our house almost everyday. The word is out that two gringos live on the beach. They arrive hauling encyclopedias, fruits and vegetables, kitchen tools, clothes, vitamins, and tonics. We try to buy something from each vendor. After all, they walked over two miles along the rutted, volcanic beach path to get to our house. The day the vitamin salesman came to our house, I bought calcium tablets. He tried to sell me vitamin B 12. He said that it would make my husband virile and strong. Jokingly I replied, “Oh, believe me, my husband doesn’t need those pills.” It was my first joke in Spanish. I think I embarrassed him. He blushed, and thanked me for my purchase.

Bargaining and bartering are arts in Nicaragua. I don’t think I’ll ever learn how to bargain or barter because everything is so cheap here. Francisco told me this joke one day about a traveling salesman.

A Nicaraguan traveling salesman is riding his bike home after a long day of selling his wares. He sees a friend walking along the side of the road and picks him up on his bicycle. His friend notices a plastic bag wiggling on the rack of the bicycle. “What’s in the bag?” he asks the bicycle driver. The driver says, “It’s a piglet. I got it for my wife.”  His friend is silent for a moment, then says, “Good trade.”

The mattress vendor

The mattress man walked past our house the other day. When the planting and harvesting season is over, the farmer’s take to the roads to sell their wares. We never know what to expect. Next time, I’m going to buy one of his mattresses. It’s the least I can do to lighten his load. Maybe, he’ll trade for a piglet.

Health Care in Nicaragua: A Hypochondriac’s Story

Nasty ant bites, swollen foot

Last September, I was hauling brush away from the beach, when I felt a strange tingling sensation. It started at my toes, and like a super charged lightning bolt, the sensation passed through my body to the top of my head. I began to itch like crazy, then my upper lip swelled and became numb, as if I had just received a shot of Novocaine.

Living on a tropical island, we have learned to take charge of our own health care. There is a hospital in Moyogalpa, the port town; however, I have been there with Marina, and I don’t want to return. EVER! Our workers, propped my foot on two cement blocks, and gave me a little cap full of…I think it was Benadryl…because I fell asleep upright on the only piece of furniture we had in our house at the time. (a purple plastic chair)

My foot swelled to the size of a small papaya and I was unable to put any weight on it for a week. I’m not one that likes to be incapacitated, so I began to research ant bites and allergic reactions. The locals know the insects, plants, and animals intimately. They all agreed that I had a horrible allergic reaction to ant bites.

Thank God for the internet! Once I determined the cause of my swelling and the treatment, I hobbled to the closest pharmacy armed with an array of new Spanish words..swollen foot, allergic reaction, numb upper lip, cortisone cream. Prescriptions are unheard of in Nicaragua. One only needs to discuss the symptoms with the pharmacist and the pharmacist will dispense one pill, or as many as one needs or can afford to buy.

Six years ago, Ron thought he had parasites. We went to a little shack…literally…where they had the only centrifuge in town. A man handed Ron a little plastic cup and said, “I need poo poo.” Then he directed him to the outhouse. As the centrifuge whirled the poo poo around and around, we waited patiently on the front porch, watching a long string of leaf cutter ants hauling their loot to their nests to make a fungus for the queen.

“Poo poo white,” he announced. “No parasites.” So, because of the white poo poo, he sent us to the pharmacy with a little scrap of paper that told the pharmacist what we needed to buy. All for the cost of one dollar.

Health care is cheap in Nicaragua. Even at the best hospital, Vivian Pellas Metropolitano, in Managua, expect to pay much, much less for all procedures. For example, a hip replacement in the USA is approximately $53,000. At Vivian Pellas, a hip replacement will cost $8,700…total..no hidden costs. And, that price is without purchasing their insurance plan. With the Silver Insurance plan, take an extra 40% off the total cost of the hip replacement. I know you are wondering how much the insurance costs for Vivian Pellas….$26 a month!!!!

When we retired and moved to Nicaragua, we could have continued on our group health insurance, Cigna. However, the monthly cost of $500 would have been taken out of my tiny teaching pension check. Too young for Medicare ( which isn’t accepted in Nicaragua), and too poor to have $500 deducted from my pension, we really didn’t have any options. Before Vivian Pellas started to cater to expats, we had to take charge of our own health and care for our own aging bodies. Plus, we were at a disadvantage because of living on an island…with a one hour ferry ride to the mainland.

After my allergic reaction to the ant bites, I became a hypochondriac. Every sneeze, every ache, every insect bite, everything kind of out of the ordinary…I researched. Most of the little health issues were just due to an aging body. Yet, due to the fact that we are growing our own food, walking and swimming everyday, and always active, we are healthier than we have ever been before.

A retired RN lives close to us, now. I have become friends with a homeopathic doctor, who has a clinic in Moyogalpa. We found a great chiropractor in San Juan Del Sur, and an acupuncturist in Moyogalpa. Soon, we will have an airport a quarter of a mile away from our house. Should a medical emergency arise, we can hop on a flight to Managua for less than $50. Vivian Pellas hospital is getting better all the time, with international awards, U.S. trained doctors, and medical tourism programs.

Now, the only thing we have to worry about is health coverage in the states. Fortunately, we don’t return to the states often. But, when we do, the only health coverage we can get is on our car (stored in our garage back in the states). We upped the medical coverage for accidents in our car. So, if I break my leg, or anything else that requires immediate medical care, I have to do it in the car to be covered. What a shame! Health care in the USA is a mess. But, that’s another story for another day. A story I have no control over.

Here in Nicaragua, I have control over my own health, and a wonderful group of professional friends, and locals who can help us identify and treat the minor problems. If we need immediate medical attention, Vivian Pellas is only an hour’s flight away. What more could we want?

 

 

 

 

I’m not Poor…I Have a Washing Machine

My new lavadora

The other night, Jon Stewart did a segment on the conservatives’ contradictory views about the rich and poor when it comes to deciding how to lower the deficit. Fox News reported their break down of what constitutes “Poor.” According to their break down, “If you have a refrigerator, you probably don’t need any financial assistance.” The Poor’s Free Ride is Over.

I wouldn’t have found that statement so absurd if they were discussing Nicaragua because it’s true…only the rich have refrigerators. Living in La Paloma, surrounded by poverty, I constantly think about what constitutes “Poor.”  Ron and I are by no means rich, yet, to our neighbors who live in a little one room shack with a dirt floor, we are wealthy beyond their wildest imagination.

It’s all relative, but try to explain that to our neighbors when we came home three days ago with a new motorcycle and a washing machine. I tried to explain to Marina that Ron sold his Harley Davidson in the states and that’s how we could afford to buy a new motorcycle and a washing machine. Of course, the first question all Nicaraguan’s ask is, “How much did you pay for that?”  Our automatic response is always, “It was on sale, so we got a good deal.”

Marina’s family has joined the ranks of the rich, now. We did get a good deal because not only did we buy a washing machine and a motorcycle, we bought a small refrigerator for Marina’s family at the same store. We are learning the art of bargaining! They practically threw it in for free when they saw us with cash-on-hand for the total purchase. Credit and small monthly payments are king in Nicaragua. Credit cards are an unheard of luxury! La Curaçao clerks said we are their best customers. It’s no wonder because it is practically the only place on the island where we can use our credit card.

Marina loves to cook and we thought that if she had a way to refrigerate food, she could cater to the workers building the new airport down our road. Now that I have a washing machine, Marina needs a new job. The refrigerator is a small one, so it won’t use much electricity.That is when we have electricity! Lately, Disnorte-Dissur, the distributors of our electricity have been in a rationing mode. Like clock-work, we lose power from 6 pm to 8 pm every night.

Our refrigerator is full of food that Marina brings over to our house almost hourly! She trimmed Ron’s mustache and cut his nose hairs yesterday. I am grateful for my new washing machine, and Marina is grateful for her new refrigerator. Things are looking up in our little community of La Paloma.

Ahh...the first load of clothes from our new washing machine.

Hanging my first load of freshly washed clothes on our clothesline, it dawned on me how to fix the debt crisis dilemma. What if all the rich people would buy the poor people new refrigerators? It may be a simple solution to improving the lives of the desperately poor. After all, according to Fox News, “If you have a refrigerator, you probably don’t need financial assistance.”

The Money Machine

Loot from the Money Machine

I often have people ask, “How do you access your pensions, while living on an island?” Six years ago, the answer was bi-monthly trips to the mainland. Now, we have one ‘money machine’, or ATM on la isla. For the first four months, accessing our bank account in the USA was simple. I made daily trips to the ATM, and withdrew our limit with my VISA debit card.
Since most of Nicaragua operates on a cash only basis, I had to walk to Banco ProCredit daily because we were building a house and paying the construction workers. But, things turned ugly in January, when our bank in the USA changed their debit cards from VISA to MasterCard. The ATM only accepted VISA. We had no way to get access to our money on the island.
Living on an island presents many challenges. It requires one to be persistent, vigilant, and think outside of the box. Frantic calls to our bank in the states only increased my anxiety. Phrases such as, The Patriot Act, money laundering, and deportation scared me to death.
Our only option was to open a bank account with Banco ProCredit, travel to the mainland where the banks accepted MasterCard, withdraw as much money as we could, and haul the loot back to la isla to deposit in our new Banco ProCredit account.
Banco ProCredit gave us an ATM card. The ‘money machine’ works well…most of the time. We completed our construction, so no more daily walks to the bank. Life is challenging, but the rewards so outweigh the challenges of living on an island, in the middle of an enormous lake, in the middle of Nicaragua, in the middle of Central America.

The Money Machine

November 8, 2004

         We have seen many changes in our sleepy little port town of Moyogalpa recently.  The bakery has enlarged and now has two glass cases filled with bread, beautifully decorated cakes with icing that miraculously withstand the tropical heat, and personal pan sized pizza.  There are two internet cafes, both competing for customers.  Our regular café moved into a brightly painted room, far removed from the nuts and bolts of the hardware store, installed air conditioning, a couch and two overstuffed chairs, free coffee, and a satellite connection.  Burman’s (one of my English students) mother opened the other internet café and a price war is helping to keep down the costs for our usage.