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However, as time has gone by in Colima, a few more restaurants have made it onto my list. Yours truly now considers them worth gracing them with my presence for brunch as well. “Las Guacamayas” is the restaurant of “Hotel Maria Isabel”. “Hotel Maria Isabel” deserves to be called one of the top notch hotels in Colima. The ambience of that restaurant – in particular its construction - rather reminds me of an island in the South Pacific than of Latin America. Never mind. In terms of quality it leaves nothing to be desired. Among other things, you can enjoy there a pleasant view at the tropical gardens within the hotel complex. Another restaurant in Colima that has been awarded the privilege of being added to my list is “Las Carabelas”. “Las Carabelas” is the restaurant of “Hotel America”, which is located in el centro, the city centre of Colima. “Las Carabelas” is named after the ship with the same name on which Columbus virtually bumped into the Americas. It would be a little far fetched to claim that the restaurant radiates a distinct Mexican or Latin American ambience. Instead “Las Carabelas” reminds me a little of the restaurant at the “Hyatt Regency” in Auckland. The music in “Las Carabelas” often consists of live piano music. In terms of class and quality it certainly won’t disappoint you. These are the outfits where I’m fond of starting my days in Colima. Besides having
my daily brunch at these restaurants, my humble self also tends to read
there very carefully publications by my favourite financial and economic
commentators. They range from Marc Faber and Doug Casey to Martin Murenbeeld
and Peter Grandich. But this sort of reading material includes Jim Rogers
and R.E. McMaster as well. They all seem to have in common that they go
against the grain, a character trait that more often than not turns out
to be successful in life. When you read or listen to the mainstream, what
often comes to mind is the illustration of lemmings and the cliff.
It looks as if these legs are in the process of learning to walk very quickly. From 2001 to 2003, exports from Latin America to Asia increased by thirty two percent. A significant portion of this tremendous increase is due to Chinese demand of raw materials. However, countries like South Korea, Japan, and Australia also demand increasingly raw materials from Latin America. The German management consultant Walter von Kalm, who lives in Sao Paulo, recently pointed out in an interview with the German “Manager Magazin” that the Latin American giant Brazil offers interesting business opportunities in agriculture. It confirms my impression. For the forseeable future, boring stuff that you can drop on your feet like raw materials, commodities, agriculture are investment themes to go for. Instead it may be wise to keep a healthy distance to new economy stuff. Now a word of caution. Please don’t get me wrong. Latin America falls into the category of an emerging market. Doing business and investing in an emerging market involves risk. The risk involved tends to be more serious and less predictable than in the developed world. To quote Ana Patricia Botin: “Though the Latin American market has improved a lot…. it’s still a market for risk taking pioneers”. Ana Patricia Botin was instrumental in opening up Latin America for Spain’s Banco Santander. Yet, to quote Ana again: “….many of the most exciting investment opportunities in the next decade will lie in Latin America". The lady knows what she’s talking about. She’s been there, done it. McOndo Everybody with
at least half a brain between his ears has heard about Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
Mario Vargas Llosa and Isabel Allende. But not everybody may be aware of
more recent literary developments in Latin America. A very contemporary
literary trend in Latin America is known by the name “McOndo”. With a little
imagination you recognise in “McOndo” “Macondo”, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
fictional village, as well as “McDonald’s” and “MacIntosh”. These connotations
may give you an idea what the literary trend “McOndo” revolves around.
“McOndo” as a new literary trend in Latin America revolves around city
life and things associated with city life – e.g. crowds, pollution, money,
death.
There appears to be a trend with my overseas stints. After almost a year in the United States and two years in South Africa, my humble self spent about six years in New Zealand and so far three and a half years in Mexico. The stints are getting longer. For the time being, there’s no reason for me to leave Colima. Let’s wait and see how much more time “we” are going to spend here. However, looking at my overseas experiences in hindsight, I’ve arrived at a few conclusions. When you leave your comfort zone to live overseas, do it properly. By doing it properly I mean that it doesn’t really make an awful lot of sense to spend a few months at one place before moving to the next spot. In case you’re keen on making a difference and having an impact, you’re going to need some staying power and stamina. No matter what we’re talking about, focusing primarily on short term results doesn’t seem to be the wisest of concepts. Commit yourself rather to something long term and you do make a difference and have an impact. In my probably not so humble opinion, this difference between short term and long term commitments does apply to international living as well. When you just spend a few months at a certain place, you can only scratch the surface. Spending a few months somewhere may be better than being a tourist on a shopping spree for a couple of weeks. But you can’t realistically expect to make a significant difference somewhere in just a few months. Instead go for something long term, no matter what it is, no matter where you want to do it. Going for something long term will also give you more personal satisfaction. Going only and always for the short haul won’t help develop your personality either. Finally, to round this sermon up, don’t do what everybody else does. In case everybody else tends to be your bench mark, you’re likely to end up marching to the same drum. Instead find your own niche. Develop your own style. March to your own drum. And keep a healthy distance to the mainstream. The following is a list of articles written by Jurgen for the magazine:
To contact
Jurgen Click Here
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Some
Thoughts On Living In Latin America ~ 