Expat Files - Manifestaciones - 12/8/13

-When moving to Latin America, you’ll occasionally have to put up with traffic freezing strikes and demonstrations (99% of them are very peaceful). Generally these strikes (called manifestaciones) are limited to blocking traffic in government districts since the guys going on strike always seem to be goldbricking, lazy-ass government employee unions or groups looking for a raise. By the way: the strikers almost never get what they demand and only succeed in messing up traffic for working people that have real, productive jobs. Sound familiar?    

 

 -The other day the touchy subject of forgotten land mines came up in casual conversation. A fresh, new, gringa expat mentioned she’d heard somewhere that  Latin America is still rife with forgotten (live) landmines dotting the countryside. Her point was that Latin America in the 70’s and 80’s was host to a dozen or so violent revolutions, coups and civil wars. So here’s the real scoop on what became of those leftover mines- mines by the way- our nice generous government handily furnished to US friendly Latin dictators back in the day…now its not mines, just money.   

 

-The good and the bad news about the recent spate of Latin American lake cleanup projects touted in the local Latin media outlets lately. Will these efforts work? Will they have some impact? I’d say using the phrase “naively optimistic” would be wildly optimistic to say the least… 

 

-A report on the glamorous subject of cisterns and septic tanks. Down in Latin America  sewage and raw garbage are treated differently than it is up in Cleveland. In the USA we prefer to bury it or vote it into office(that’s a joke… err, no it isn’t). But down in Latin America, who really cares about cisterns and septic systems? Pretty much no one… but you ad I definitely should!   

 

-If you’re a chicken and/or seafood eater, here are some tips on eating the best quality, natural, healthy, chicken and fish in Latin America

 

-My January 2014 “Expat Wisdom” seminar is almost filled. I've got just 3 or 4 places left. To get one of those last few spots, check out the agenda and the signup details by clicking on the Latin American Seminar link on the top of the www.ExpatWisdom.com mainpage.