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VOLUNTEERISM MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD
FEEL GOOD….
Has anyone noticed that the headlines
and polls all state that America’s confidence and attitude is diminishing?
We have more to be upset about than happy. I say, WHAT???
We have the stock market at historic
highs and almost no unemployment, the airports are full. I know, I traveled
last week. America, something is amiss here. Please, do not blame
it on your politicians, they do not wake you up everyday and take you to
work and your kids to school.
If you want a better world, volunteer
to do some good works. There are a myriad of needs out there that someone,
some place or something can use a helping hand.
We had neighbors that endured a tornado,
volunteer to help clean up, donate your outgrown children’s clothes, clean
out your pantry and donate to a church or food bank, assist a senior or
student during the summer months with reading, help a child with cancer
by donating money and time at their oncology site or hospital.
Volunteerism helps everyone and it
is a wonderful discipline to raise children with. Why? With volunteerism,
one has to leave their ego at the door and see how helping others help
their world. No amount of money can pay you back when you see someone smile
with gratitude that they are receiving selfless help. That someone matters
that you may not have ever met or expected to meet but yet you can change
their world.
My family volunteers often. It can
be something as little as helping to write a school paper by using a grammar
check or a sound ear, making calls to seniors to check on their health
after a disaster, knitting a scarf for someone to bear the cold winter
months. Most volunteer efforts require little money and do not dominate
your time but it will take over your heart.
So, America, get over you and volunteer
to help someone or someplace. Your world will feel better and soon, so
will you and yours.
Respectfully,
Catherine Casterline
Catherine..I couldn't agree more...I
think there are many people who could help themselves by doing something
worthwhile like volunteering. What better way to combat introspection.
The Ed |
| Thanks for the article on the ...eternal
quest for Italian citizenship...as I am about to embark on that journey...I
found it to be quite informative...Grazie |
I have
to agree with Scott Boswell's conclusion in “Living On Isla Margarita -
Is The Grass Greener?” in the May 2007 edition, that life is better or
at least less expensive for US Ex Pats on MI. Another way to
verify his conclusion is to simply surf the advertisements for housing
and divide the price by square footage. Panama runs $350 a sq. ft for luxury
beach front, and Costa Rica not much less. Nicaragua is not really
all that much less than either CR or Panama, which is somewhat surprising,
since its labor costs would be lower. I guess the costs of materials and
the lack of capital willing to invest may be the cause of the higher than
expected prices.
MI runs about
$100/ sq ft for the same or better quality and it has an almost first world
infrastructure. The Europeans are buying property and apartments
on the island, but not that many US ex pats are investing even though their
dollars buy more. Despite the rhetoric from Caracas, the people like
Americans.
But this arbitrage
may be short lived. One major reason for the difference in prices
is the perceived political uncertainty in right now, which has led to a
parallel market for US dollars that is almost double the official exchange
rate. Another reason is that there are no direct flights from the
US to MI, although there are direct flights from Canada and Europe.
This makes MI inconvenient to occasional tourists, which keep prices down
for lack of US dollars. Yes, there is a Burger King, a Hooters, and a Hilton
on MI, but its still not as tourist dominated as Aruba. So,
please, don’t tell anyone about MI so we can keep the prices down, the
living quality high, and the values high.
Mark Thierman |
Manu Crow's talk on Costa Rica is
severely biased.
He intentionally focuses on the
oldest unsafe neighborhoods and completely ignores the high end living
areas. It would be like writing an essay about California focusing on the
bad neighborhoods and deliberately ignoring Beverly Hills.
He complains about the rain when
Guanacaste’s beaches get actually less rain than Panama’s!!! plus he fails
to mention the comfortable weather in San Jose: you can live there
without A/C ... good luck trying that in Panama.
He’s right on something; the cost
of living is higher than it used to be. But the quality of the products
you can get has improved a lot and the purchasing power of the population
has increased. The cost of living is still significantly lower than in
the States by the way.
Finally, more often than not you
will find that Ticos speak English; no matter what they say most Panamanians
dont.
In any event, I don’t intend to
do the opposite he’s doing and start saying wonders about CR and bad things
about Panama, I’m simply trying to warn the editor about Mr.Shakespeare's
biased opinion.
Regards,
Steven Burns
Thank you for your letter....I
think Manu is just expressing an opinion....and I think it is better for
our readers to get all sides of every story so that they are able to make
a much more considered opinion about relocating...too many articles miss
out the 'cons' and that is not good either.! The Ed |
The article "San Carlos de Bariloche,
Argentina a Great Place to Retire" By Douglas Harris is not accurate.
I have recently recieved my title for property purchased in Bariloche in
1995. At the time I signed the agreement to purchase the property,
I was told the same apocryphal story from a real estate broker. I
didn't believe it and after hiring my own attorney, had the title application
submitted. The zona frontera approval took some time, but I did recieve
it and the rest of the process proceeded fairly propmptly.
This mis-information needs to be
stopped. It is a myth.
Sincerely,
John Myers
Regulations for buying property
in Argentina are changing almost daily, depending on the area you want
to buy in and your nationality; each individual needs to check very carefully
which particular rules apply to them before handing over any money.The Ed
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