That One Particular Harbor (or Finca)

[Iamzonzon]

Just got off the phone with friend who has lived in Colombia for 4 years - Manizales (little north of Medellin). For myself, I have spent much time over th past couple years in the Caribbean, Central American, and Colombia. (don't know really what I am looking for ... think I will recognize it when I find it. Along the way, sexy young women is a great past time).

ANYWAY.

Neither my friend, or myself, scare easily. That may be courage or stupidity. But, it has been difficult to not notice the alarming raise of crime and real gringo danger in Colombian. Not to be a pussy, or an alarmist. Things are DAMN worrisome for foreign business people in Colombia today - especially those of us that have started a business there (It puts a red flag on your back, and the locals think we have more money than Donald Trump. You have to spend much time with your Colombian "friends" before you can trust their authenticity)

When I am in Colombia, I seem to adapt a different set of definitions of what is safe, and what is fool hearty. I think I am safe when I live there. Then, I get to the US, and shake my head and thank my guardian angel. I don't mind small time crime. I don't mind a 1 in 10 chance of getting mugged. I just don't want to be drugged or kidnapped.

QUESTION. I am eager to explore farther South. Is it more of the same?

Are there any traveled vets that can elaborate on the current state of affairs (it is possible that all economies are becoming depressed and crime is raising everywhere as a consequence) and expand on this comparison?

I would be particularly interested in hearing not only about BA, but also about Uraguay, Paraguay, and South Brazil.

Gracias

[El Queso]

There's not much of anything (yet anyway, and I doubt there will be) in Buenos Aires related to dangerous crime. Not that it doesn't happen, but it's a fairly safe place.

I have only made day trips to Uruguay, so I can't comment on that much.

Paraguay is safe, at least most of it. Asuncion is where I've spent some time, and I fell very very safe there. I've spent a lot of time in the "campo" outside of Concepcion and it is safe, but I don't think you'll be going there.

The Paraguayan economy was pretty rock-bottom before the "crisis" so I don't think they had too much to lose when the shit hit the fan. Most of the problems they had were the poor subsistence farmers who were hard hit by the drop in commodity prices, but they are always in problems anyway.

I have spent time in Paraguay both before and after the shit hit, and I didn't see much difference, except the dollar went higher against the Guarani, which for us was nothing but good.

I've heard that Encarnacion (called the "Jewel of the East") is supposed to be a very nice place, more modern than Asuncion and more money as well. I've heard that it is safe.

Ciudad del Este I'm not sure about. I've heard things from my wife's family (Paraguayans) about the problems that are there. Supposedly there's a lot of drug trafficing and even al Qaeda cells there. The drugs I believe, but I don't know about al Qaeda.

[El Greco]

Ciudad del Este I'm not sure about. I've heard things from my wife's family (Paraguayans) about the problems that are there. Supposedly there's a lot of drug trafficing and even al Qaeda cells there. The drugs I believe, but I don't know about al Qaeda.Not worth visiting at all. Like a midle eastern crap neighborhood.

IMO the Argentinian small city in the Catarratas (Puerto Iguacu I think) is the best of the three of them.

[Iamzonzon]

How far will my "beginner" but rapidly improving Spanish get me in Paraguay; Uruguay; and South Brazil?

I have no exposure to Portuguese - but, how hard can it be? Also, is there a drastic difference between the purchasing power of the dollar between Florinapolis; Uraguay; and Paraguay?

[JuanCaminante]

How far will my "beginner" but rapidly improving Spanish get me in Paraguay; Uruguay; and South Brazil?

I have no exposure to Portuguese - but, how hard can it be? Also, is there a drastic difference between the purchasing power of the dollar between Florinapolis; Uraguay; and Paraguay?Asuncion is safe - Ciudad del Este is oK just watch your Rolex when you go shopping.

Uruguay is safe everywhere.

Portuguese is hard to understand, most people find it difficult and with the Real at 1.80, Brazil is expensive.

As the previous post says Puero Iguazu is pretty decent and much cleaner than Ciudad Del este.

The best clubs are on the Brazilian side in Foz de Iguuacu - Cristal is legendary but best talk to the taxi drivers for up to date info

[Iamzonzon]

Perception is as important as reality to a traveler. It can offer undeserved hatred, or admiration. What is the perception of the gringo, yankee, norte Americano in these areas? Do they differ from region to region?

Also, what is our relative wealth? By that I mean.

Of course there is wealth in South American, however it is not well distributed. Therefore a very small percentage are wealthy. VERY wealthy. Then the upper middle class, enjoys nice standards of living (often higher than upper middle class in the US) But, if one was able to earn 80K. 150K annually, what would that translate to in these regions. Wealthy, I imagine? More so in rural areas of Argentina, Paraguay, less so in Uruguay, and less so still in Brazil. I am sorry for writing a statement. Actually, it is a question.

As always, I appreciate all qualified input.

BTW: the reason for my continued questions regarding off beaten track locations is that BA seems like a great place to visit, perhaps less great to live (New York City is similar). Reports from people in secondary locations seem to indicate a much stronger attachment and contentment living there. Again, just my impression. And I am still very early on the learning curve.

[Schmoj]

PLEASE DON'T LOSE YOUR LONG REPORTS!

This screen times out after 30 minutes. Please save long reports to your clipboard BEFORE you submit them. To save your report, select the text, then select "CTRL+C".

I was typing in a very wise response to Iamzonzon (ok, probably a diatribe) and did not heed the above warning so prominently posted in red text.

Maybe I'll try again later.

[El Queso]

Iamzonzon, talking about Paraguay:

The Paraguayans for the most part are very friendly with US Americans. Indeed, the US has contributed a lot of money to their country in aid and they all know it. The Peace Corps comes to help the people out in 'el campo' and they are always well-versed in Guarani, which really impresses them because to the rest of the world (except isolated places maybe in Brasil and Argentina) Guarani is a dead language and they realize that. In Paraguay they have Spanish and Guarani as dual official languages.

I made friends with a fairly powerful guy in real estate in Asuncion earlier in the year, who presented me to the President of the Paraguayan Senate the last time I was there. We had a nice hour-long conversation about some possible projects that foreigners could get involved in there in Paraguay. He did everything he could to assure me that Americans and their capital are deeply respected and the government's position was that they would ensure that there were little problems on the financial side of things.

I've always had very good experiences traveling to Asuncion and other parts of Paraguay. I speak good Spanish, although with an accent - for some reason the most common question I get is "are you Brasilian" - and as soon as I tell them I'm an estadounidense they actually become even friendlier.

An American's relative wealth in Paraguay is pretty big. The Guarani (their currency) is currently at 4915 to 1. You can rent a good-sized house (3-4 bedrooms with a pool) in or near the city, for example, for around $500-$700 a month, or about as much as 1/3 to 1/2 the value for a similar house in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. The funny thing is - the houses in Asuncion are going to better made than the houses here in BA.

You can go to a supermarket in Asuncion and see things very similar to the what you're used to in smaller cities' supermarkets in the States. There is a lot available in other words, many of the same kinds of things that you can't get here in BA, or are hard to find. Better service. Cleaner in many cases. Better prices than BA by far.

There's a place I like to go downtown (can't remember the name, but I know how to get there) where you can get a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with jelly and a fresh glass of orange juice for around $5.00. I had a Pizza Hut meal the last time I was there, a giant pizza, 4 Cokes and chicken wings, for about $12 for two of us.

As an aside, Paraguayans have this myth about eating comida dulce (sweet food) with comida salada (literally "salted" food, but usually means meats and such) so when you ask for the combination of eggs and bacon with toast and jelly, you actually have to convince them that you really want both together and weren't just asking for one, then changing your mind to ask for the other!

You will need a little more than very basic spanish for many things there. There are people who speak English, but they are not as common as in BA. But they won't give you a hard time or be snobbish about it like you may often get here in BA.

But the level of Spanish you would need is about what you could get going through a good month or two of Rosetta Stone (I highly recommend their online version - no CDs and works about as well, I've used both) depending on your facility with languages.

Paraguayans as a whole like to do business. You don't have a lot of the idiotic government restrictions there that you have here. You can rent property without a guarantee (although you may have to put more money down up front because they don't know if you will stay the length of a contract) because the rules are basically "if you don't pay, you can't stay" unlike here in Buenos Aires where it can take a couple of years or more to get someone out of a place for non-payment. You can hire people without a worry about paying them thirteen months' pay in 12 months, a ton of vacation time, and a month of severance per year of work, for example.

I will one day move to Paraguay, I'm pretty sure. I started out doing business here in Argentina and I'm a bit entrenched therefore, but one day I will probably extricate myself, buy a lot of property or a ranch (estancia) outside of Asuncion and live like a king.

I often say that Paraguay is a lot like the US Wild West, except not as lawless, but equally ripe with opportunities for a shrewd person with a little bit of money.

[Iamzonzon]

Thanks big cheese for your generous comment. (I hope Schmoj overcomes his understandable frustration and contributes his long post too)

Thanks to your posts and El Alamo (whose views I tend to agree with more and more) I already have Paraguay on a test drive list. This comment particularly got my attention: "I often say that Paraguay is a lot like the US Wild West, except not as lawless, but equally ripe with opportunities for a shrewd person with a little bit of money."

It seems that most people have a love / hate relationship with BA. I have become distantly familiar with its history and political and economic realities and see clearly the problems.

Two direct questions on Paraguay:

1, is there a modern life that can be enjoyed, complete with modern social habits. (for example, in Cali, Colombia you might find a woman at the mall who is beautiful. But, on a date, this woman lacks the grace and manner that her beauty suggested she possessed. I am not necessarily talking about writing poetry and knowing literature - although that would be a plus. I am talking about just not picking her nose)

2, how does the life you have found in Paraguay differ from the life you could find in Uruguay? I see they have many historical differences. I see that Paraguay is more developmental. But what else.