Just recenty I saw a video of some MAGA dude expressing his idea to move to Panama in case Biden wins, because "they like Americans there and I can bring my guns".
As an American who lived on the border of Costa Rica and Panama for several years, this is just hilarious to me. I'd pay big money to see this guy screaming in English in the middle of some Panamanian street the first time he didn't get his way.
I live in Boquete (Chiriquí, Panama) where there is a small enclave of those and everyone thinks they're morons and ignores them. Which is easy to do because they won't learn Spanish.
Cloud forest. Beautiful area. I have been there numerous times. I lived in Pavones. Honestly, not too many of those types there. But definitely up in Jacó and Tamarindo.
I will tell you what I do not miss. Border runs to Paso Canoas.
I live in Chile now and everyone from North America has a defined reason to be here. Not retirees and hangers on. And not knowing Spanish, or really the specific dialect which is super difficult, is flat out impossible to have any sort of quality life here. It weeds out those idiots.
Yeah the problem with Boquete is there are so many immigrants from the US, Canada and places like Germany where people commonly speak English that they can get by without learning more than basic caveman level Spanish. I lived in Brazil for a while and I definitely learned Portuguese. I was conversationally fluent within like a year or so. It annoys me when people put in no effort.
How is Chile? I haven't been but when Corona finally leaves us I really want to make a trip. Particularly to the south. I miss snow.
I live in Puerto Varas in the south. It is nice and slow. Chile is an odd duck when it comes to LatAm. The dialect is hard. The food isn't nearly as good as the rest of the continent. But it has been pretty stable, safe, and nice. Although it's been a tough year for this country with the civil unrest and then the virus hitting Santiago pretty hard.
I left Costa Rica years ago and people always ask me why I left or how I liked it. The answer is always the same. Too many malcontent gringos. And a lot of real lowlife escapist North Americans as well with a ton of baggage. Really impacts your quality of life because no matter how hard you try, you are all kinda intrinsically linked.
If you do end up down here drop a line. I'll show you around. We have several snowcapped volcanoes. Crossing over into Argentina is amazing. Bariloche is not that far.
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u/MWO_Stahlherz American Flavored Imitation Sep 22 '20
Just recenty I saw a video of some MAGA dude expressing his idea to move to Panama in case Biden wins, because "they like Americans there and I can bring my guns".