Around San Juan del Sur

To complete our SJDS tour, below are other places around the town one can visit and enjoy. I will only describe those we have been to but as T and I are (apparently) whether we like it or not, creatures of habit as evidenced by the places we go back to over and over again, it is prudent to read more about others in the links provided.

Beaches in SJDS (20 to 1/2 an hour's drive from town depending on road conditions):

Our favorite, Playa Maderas, for it's soft waves (great for beginner surfing or body boarding) and where T and V take up an hour's surf lessons for $10 including surfboard (last time was 3 months ago, so I'm not sure how much it costs now).

Playa Mathilda - equally interactive (the waves, that is) only less surfers. The waves seemed bigger though, so maybe only experienced surfers go there - don't quote me as I'm not certain about these things. All I know was that we enjoyed being there too as much as we do in Maderas, except that it's an additional mins or so farther after Maderas. We actually discovered it by accident after choosing the wrong road at a forked intersection on the way to our favorite beach. A pleasant surprise.

Playa Maderas is easily recognizable through the smattering of rock formations on both ends of the alcove and the make-shift building that rents out rooms (or hammocks) to avid surfers that doubles as a restaurant (try the sumptuous whole fried fish served with rice and fresh cut-up salad for less than $4). Playa Mathilda on the otherhand has a wider beach. There are a couple of rustic places to rent on Mathilda (beachfront) and something resembling a pulperia where one can buy drinks (water, soda and beer).

Read more about Nicaragua's surfspots in Rivas and the rest of the country here.

Refugio de Vida Silvestre la Flor - A natural reserve known as a favorite nesting place of Olive Ridley turtles where as of this October they are expecting a total 'arrival (arribadas)' of about 60,000 turtles. unfortunately, we just the big arrival of about 4,000 turtles in one night just 2 days prior. Thie weekend wasn't our first time but each time is a great experience.

For the resilient, one can camp on the reserve for $C 500 per person per day. The best way to enjoy the reserve. Do not expect any amenities....at all. This is a place where you're better off doing your business in the bushes, if you know what I mean....and yes, we did. No regrets and we'll do it again. The experience with the turtles alone is already exhilirating but in our opinion, La Flor is hands down one of the most (if not the most - in our opinion, anyway) beautiful beach in Nicaragua, no contest....ask the turtles. Maybe they do know better.

The most awesome moment probably was the time we found ourselves at noontime swimming with the turtles while they were waiting for night fall (darkness) to begin their ardous trek up the sandy beach, space out and continue the cycle of life.

San Juan del Sur

Again, recommendations long overdue. When one mentions Nicaragua, 2 places immediately pop into mind....San Juan del Sur and Granada.

San Juan del Sur, a coastal town off the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua, 2-2 1/2 hours away South of Managua (Rivas Province) known for its moderate waves and otherwise, is one of the most visited place in Nicaragua. A 'gringo' town to quote the locals. Given its laid back atmosphere - it is a favorite place for foreign retirees to...well, retire. A haven for those with limited income - or savings or just to stretch their dollars...or euro, or those who just wants to downsize and have a quiet beachtown life to surf and fish to their heart's content - to own either beach-front properties or that with a view of the bay and a languid lifestyle to go with it. Read more about the town here and find more photos here.

We used to go to SJDS almost every other week when we first came to Nicaragua, it is after all a pretty, colorful and interesting town, but in time, less and less as we discovered other hidden gems of Nicaragua. SJDS is not a 'been-there-done-that' place either mainly because when we have guests visiting, it is a part of the must-see and experience places still in Nicaragua together with Granada, Leon, Ometepe and Masaya. Inevitably, we had to go back there and go back we did last weekend as you guessed it, we had family visiting.

Although the road has been miraculously fixed (like all beautiful places in Nicaragua getting to them alone is already an adventure in itself), I would still recommend a 4WD if you plan to visit neighboring beaches and the nature reserve, La Flor (Refugio de Vida Silvestre La Flor).

Above, the road to Playa El Coco and La Flor in the rainy season (just after a storm) nearing 1 of the 3 rivers we needed to cross. We have heard of friends being stuck at Playa El Coco when there's heavy downpour, so check weather conditions first or if a novice, use a tour agency or get hotel transport as they will have the proper vehicle to get you there - and most importantly, out of there.

Lodgings in the area can cost anywhere between $5 - $300 depending on how luxurious you want it to be. $5 would mean a hammock (why not?) and the rest, how far or near it is from the bay, size of acommodation, the view from your room, ammenities, at which time of the year, etc. will dictate the price.

The most popular resort in the area is Piedras Y Olas - luxurious and to me, serves the best and the biggest burger (with melted blue cheese is best) in Nicaragua. Whether you stay there or not, don't miss the restaurant (La Cascada) for either lunch or dinner and enjoy your food next to their eternity pool overlooking the bay. If you can stay for sundowners, do so, I guarantee you the best sunset view in town. Just imagine staying in one of their casitas. We unfortunately haven't had any luck in staying there as almost always, they are fully-booked and understandably so. One day for sure we will as friends who have stayed there only have glowing recommendations of the place where half of them are, in fact, repeat customers. Each time we are in SJDS, we always take lunch at Piedras Y Olas as a treat.

The restaurant pool with the view of La Bahia de SJDS. Photos courtesy of DanCesar and Piedras Y Olas.

We have mostly been staying in a place called La Posada Azul when in SJDS, a very quaint, quiet inn right in the middle of town and a block away from the bay. It has a pool and serves very delicious home made cakes (not the sweet kind) together with their american breakfast. The consistently friendly staff and Maria their beautiful and friendly manager makes for a more pleasurable stay than it already is.

Inside the inn, the pool and the view of the bay from the street where La Posada Azul is.

Restaurants in SJDS, except for a few consistent and notable ones like La Cascada, are sometimes hit or miss. One would think that there will be an abundance of reasonably priced seafood dishes (other than the usual fish and shrimps) - but you'd in fact be surprised of the few variety of the bounty of the sea to be had.

If you take the beach-front restaurant El Timon for instance, my $C 300 (about $15 including tax) prawns al ajillo (below) was a blah but still we keep coming back. Why? because it's beach-front and serves seafood (someone please knock my head on a wall...any wall), a cliche, hoping that each time we would encounter something exciting but so far, never have....or maybe, again, it's just me - I have been too spoiled in Asia.

There is one restaurant I would really like to recommend that was under renovation while we were there and therefore was not able to enjoy the great Italian (?) - am not even sure anymore but I do know that they have been consistently good - cuisine they have. Maybe someone can help me:

Someone might recognize the place above. Like most places here in Nicaragua, I sometimes take the name for granted having only the capacity to concentrate on how to get there. Dropping names in Nica won't get you there but getting (long winding) directions would.

Another pleasant addtion to the restaurants in SJDS is a beach-front restaurant called Bambu Beach serving some kind of Asian cuisine....a fusion or melee of Asian and Caribbean, for lack of a better way to describe the taste of their food. All I know is that everything we ordered was good and reasonably priced. You can find it at the opposite end of the beach from where El Timon is. Although not offering lodging, Bambu Beach has beach chairs and a Jacuzzi for guests who like to enjoy their drinks or sundowners, perhaps, the 'kokomo' way. The clear winners for the evening:

Springrolls (fried or fresh), Fajitas de Res with Asian Bambu sauce and the sinfully delicious but mind-boggling Fried Cream.

Last but certainly not the least, you haven't been to SJDS if you haven't had coffee at Kelly Ann's El Gato Negro, my fave english bookstore (in fact the only one I know of in the whole of Nicaragua) and a night cap at Big Wave Dave's, (although not beach-front) the quintessential seaside bar .

New Minimum Wage - October 2008

The unions "Frente Nacional de los Trabajadores" (FNT) and the "Central Sandinista de los Trabajadores" (CST) has for the longest time since after the advent of the economic 'crisis' (for lack of a better word) have been negotiating minimum wage increase, with the union groups demanding 20 - 35% while companies are only willing to compromise up to 11.75%, as that is what the businesses can afford to survive the business climate in the country.

More recently, the government has, in compromise, approved 18% in minimum wage increase and about time, I think. See table below for the new minimum wage in Nicaragua (click to enlarge).

A necessary move, for sure, but a very disconcerting development for companies in the Zona Franca that caters to the US market. The only thing people are waiting to see now is how this is going to affect the export companies in the 'red'. Surely a 'damn if you do and damn if you don't situation". Vamos a ver.

For reference: 1 USD = 19.75 Nicaraguan Cordobas

Sources: La Prensa and The Real Nicaragua.

The loneliest month of the year

If there is at all any, it could very well be June. June is when most expats leave a post or go on their long summer vacation. Transition normally runs between May, June, July and August for most but since expats take the vacations they have accumulated before moving on to the next post that would most likely start in September, most will be on vacation in June and July. This would also be the time when expats who aren't due to change post take a month to a couple of months break. If you are one of the few who have decided to stay put for that season, then you better have many local friends or family visiting.

If I am right about June then that makes April & May (together with September and December) the busiest months of the year when social calendars burst with invites. September is of course when the next batch of expats arrive where welcome parties or dinners would be in order while April and May, dotted with 'despedida' parties here and there.

Our vacation starts late this year due to T's commitments (what else is new), which, by the way, I don't begrudge him. Most of our friends have already either left for good or have gone on their long vacation, so it's pretty quiet right now...in my world that is. That doesn't mean that it is quiet here in Nicaragua as this is the time when tourists abound. Just recently (I think only a week ago), Matthew McConaughey was here (in San Juan del Sur) surfing his buns out during the day and partying his guts out at night.

At this time of the year, the hot spots in Nicaragua (read: popular beaches) would also be expensive; ex. our favorite place on the Pacific, Hacienda Iguana where you can rent a beachfront condo unit (2 BR) for between $170-200 per night would now cost around $300-350 and most likely be fully booked, giving you less options while in-country.

We are going on our vacation still albeit shorter than usual (3 weeks) and quite late. This couple of weeks have been a tad lonely, thank god I've been kept busy by V and preparing for our vacation (don't get me started on the papers we needed to do this). On one hand, I appreciated having been kept busy but am a bit annoyed at all the ridiculous requirements (am just hinting but will spill my guts when this vacation is over) we had to fulfill to do this. So, am I excited? I guess so, at some level I always am if going to a new place. I'm just amazed at the irony of how technology has developed to make it easier for people to travel while all else pertinent to the act of traveling itself remains inconvenient. Absurd.

Anyway, I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I am taking my leave for some weeks, in case you bother to pop by and don't see a new post. But that also means that (hopefully) I would have plenty to write about under the 'travels' tag.

V's La Mora Limpia at Ruben Dario

Except for the small detail of starting earlier than he should have, V's performance turned out fine and that, despite being so nervous that he thought his fingers would freeze (poor child). He had guitar accompaniment and in his excitement (to probably get it over with ha-ha), he started before the technician can adjust the guitar's microphone and signal them to begin.

Once he started (again), it was smooth sailing from there. After the performance, he was very happy to learn that some of his schoolmates, their parents, other families and his teachers from the Swedish School came to watch. Except for the brother (who goes to a different school) of V's good friend T, he was the only one from the school invited to perform. I can't rave enough about this school, one of the best he's been to when it comes to fostering goodwill, camaraderie and support for one another.

Although T missed this performance (already in DK), he called before V left the house for some pep talk.

Support we can't do without

Proud mama

V's big night

Tonight's the night, wish us luck! At 7 tonight V performs at the Teatro Nacional Ruben Dario. He's very nervous and at the same time excited about it. Me, I'm just excited and (however it turns out) is the proudest mother on earth for the next couple of hours or so!

For the meantime, enjoy this clip from youtube of Nicaragua's Grupo Quetzalnahuatl's interpretation of 'La Mora Limpia', the piece V is going to play solo. The venue of this clip, it seems is also Nicaragua's National Theater. Enjoy.

Banking Nicaraguan Style

I have heard from many expats here about various problems in opening accounts or applying for credit cards in local banks due to requirements close to impossible for some to comply with (like a local personal guarantor - who's going to do that for someone they barely know and who is staying for only 3 years?). Therefore, most expats I know use only their international credit cards issued by their banks abroad. Credit card fraud, so far, is still non-existent in Nicaragua...well, not that I've heard of anyway. Almost all restaurants, shops, personal services and even the cinemas in La Galeria accept credit card payments without surcharge. As to cash requirements, ATMs abound in most of the country using the VISA / Cirrus systems and is therefore also not a hassle except for the withdrawal charges. But I've known some who has never had a local account.

Nicaragua (as I've said so many times before), for its economic standing (2nd poorest in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti) is a rather expensive place to live in - I once had my hair trimmed and coloured for $120 which I would have paid for less than half in the Philippines. Depending on what you buy, some groceries (mostly imported) can cost the same as in Denmark and definitely a lot more expensive than Asia. This is where our local bank comes in.

or Banco de America Central (BAC) is an institution present all over Central America, the US and has presence in the Caribbean. We have never had any problems with them and in fact have benefited from their many imaginative promotional activities. In La Colonia, with a BAC Credomatic (credit card) you always get an additional 5% discount on all your purchases on top of other promos or discounts the Supermarket offers. On Valentine's day, even if T & I didn't want to join the melee of lovers out to prove just how much they (still) love each other, we went to try a recommended restaurant anyway because BAC had a 50% off promo on restaurant bills that day. Meaning that even if you get a bill for, say, $100 and signed for it using your BAC card, you will only be billed $50 on your next billing. This promo was repeated this Mother's Day, 50% off on all salon services in any salon - no, I didn't have anything done just for the heck of it even if I'm a sucker for 'rebajas'. Add to that their various 20-30% off promos in different shops at different times of the month - you know, a weekend sale here and there except that they are regular items carrying regular prices but discounted when using BAC Credomatic.

Just the other night we watched a movie for $3 for 2. Tuesday is a movie night. La Cinemas de Galeria offer discounts on this day. Recently, BAC has joined the party by giving discounts on cinema tickets purchased through the Credomatic (Tuesdays, Thursdays and one more day which I don't remember). Imagine my discomfort signing for $3.

For all the complaints I've heard about banking here in Nicaragua, I can't say that I can sympathize but I sure can recommend BAC anytime.

Finally, real rain

Today, for me, heralds the rainy season here in Nicaragua having woken up by its pounding on our roof in the wee hours of the morning and its incessant pouring today. Many said that it's supposed to have started on the 15th of this month. We have had welcome showers here and there, even on V's birthday party, that helps cool an otherwise hot, hot, hot summer. Many people are happy that rain has finally arrived...it has been scorching hot.

We will probably have 4 months of this at least and at some point within those months, it will rain every single day and in most days, pour really hard. What I remember from last year was how heavy it can fall in late afternoons and pound our roof in the evenings - like it just might cave in. Many roads to beach resorts on the Pacific will be impassable with rivers overflowing on kilometers and kilometers of unpaved dirt roads. A real challenge to traverse even for 4-wheel drive vehicles. In some Suburban dwellings in Managua, there may be days when you feel like you're running an obstacle course zigzagging through debris from soil erosion - trash, tree branches, rocks, etc.

To me rain means seeing the frogs again (we have this small variety whose skin I heard is poisonous), mosquitos (sancudos)...they come with the rain and are extremely vicious (this type) and on the home front, erratic cable service. On the otherhand rain also means an end to scheduled power outages, green, green grass, abundant garden and less dusting.

When it rains, it does pour indeed, literally here in Nicaragua. Just another season.

Living with guilt

Having written my previous post, brings me now to my present one. The title, borrowed from one of my fave read blogs Africa Expat Wives Club, calls for me to write about it as it is true that there is some level of guilt you have to live with when posted in a 3rd world country - Africa Expat Wife's post must have been my last read before my internet service went out. I have indeed met quite a few in the business of aid, the Diplomatic Corps and even those within the private sector, most specifically spouses that carry a tremendous amount of guilt living in a poverty stricken country (why they need to be aided by international organizations, in the first place). Unlike the working spouses who feel that they are doing their part of aiding the country through their work, the spouse live a comfortable, if not ostentatious lifestyle...some, not all.

The only way I differ from them is that I grew up in a third world country myself and have had to live with poverty surrounding me on a daily basis. I am not jaded, I just know my limitations. I too know what I have given up to warrant a comfortable life while on post (it is a choice).

Guilt to me is impotence. There's just so many things in the world today that can make us feel impotent, if we let them...detrimental to mental, emotional and physical health, that eventually render us useless than we already are in some cases.

I am putting forth the following not as an advise nor to assuage guilt but just my own guiding principles:

1. I am for sustainable development
2. I refuse to be a party to creating a dole-out community subsistence
3. I believe in teaching people how to fish, rather than set their table for them
4. I believe in working for your keep
5. I don't give money to street children as it only keeps them on the street, instead I give food - fruits, biscuits, etc, whatever I have at the moment other than change. And yes, I get a thank you less than half the time and a frown very often.
6. I only support feeding programs for the orphans because feeding programs for non-orphans only encourage irresponsibility on their parents end.
7. I support schools for the disabled
8. I believe in empowering women
9. Relative to #8, I support the marginalized sector of society mainly the women and indigenous groups.
10. Most importantly, I believe that everyone should be empowered with self pride, knowing that what you are spending, wisely, if I may add, comes from hard work.

By 'my limitations' I mean that I cannot change the world single handedly but can help when I can starting with those who are close to me. I come from a family that always had someone, a distant relative or other staying with us because my grandparents are sending them to school. Half the time, they have to do something in the house to help us. We have always had nannies, maids and drivers in the Philippines because that's just how the economic wheel has turned ever since I can remember. In our case, they have been with us since I can remember...like family. Part of my grandfather's day is to sit down in th evening with my nanny and the driver for a round of beer. My cousins and I have had the same nanny when we were kids as our parents and our nanny's children have worked with us in the house. A symbiotic relationship is how I see it. Job creation as needed. They worked their keep.

In Kenya, our predecessor, before they left enrolled their gardener in driving school and recommended him to us as a driver. An honest hardworking guy, we decided to hire his wife too, contrary to our rule of thumb (no personal relationships), who was a stay-at-home wife and never had any work experience at all. I trained her (quick learner and very smart) and now works for another expat (she was quite in-demand even before we left), whereas her husband now works for someone with a very responsible position in the UN. While with us, they managed to move their children to a better school.

Relative to this I worked with a women's organization in Kenya where I was part of a project that taught design (accessories). I agreed to this because I saw how these women work hard to earn a living. What was sustainable in this project was that the women covered all aspects of the business. They were taught accounting, sourcing, purchasing, profit and loss, etc. It made me feel good to be a small part of something that I knew would last even after we leave the country...yes, expats of limited existence within a country is bound to leave sooner or later. That makes me really think hard of what I am leaving behind. Am I leaving behind a project that will not subsist on its own once the donors are gone? Or a project that will close down when the changing of the guards come to pass...which is an eventuality.

Charity begins at home as the cliche goes works very well for me...literally. Our empleados here at home, together with us follow these simple guidelines:

1. I am not a bank nor a financial institution - I am more flexible than that but should definitely not be abused.
2. Emergency situations or otherwise can be covered by a loan up to a month's salary payable in 3 months (anything can happen within that period).
4. Succeeding loans can be had depending on how much of the previous loan have been paid off.

5. I give them extra monthly to buy their food because I believe I should not have the temerity to change their pallet imposing on them the food we eat. In Kenya, this is more the norm as the tribal food preference will drive you crazy.

These simple guidelines, from what I have seen have taught them, specially M, to be responsible with money. I do what I can in my own little way. To me what is important is to leave behind a legacy of respect for oneself on how you have earned your keep, pride that you indeed deserve the lifestyle you have and the responsibility you have for others, specially your children.

I do not triple their salaries like some expats do (to assuage guilt maybe?), double maybe, as the salary level here is also outrageously low given the cost of living, in fear of creating an economic imbalance. Are their salary levels sustainable when we leave? Would they be able to get a job giving them the same salary level (which by law will still have to be increased on a yearly basis)? If not, how do they revert to the lifestyle they have been accustomed to while they were working with us? A did buy the latest phone model the moment I increased his salary (so did M, by the way)...but that was before he got married, now I hope he knows better...priorities, priorities. Will they then have to give up their cheese? Or worse, move their children back to public school when they've had a taste of private schooling?

I'm not saying that this is happening to us right now, but those who out of guilt, inadvertently, drastically bucking the economic trend is innocently creating havoc that could threaten to skew an already skewed economic graph of a country. An unsustainable surge which I believe does more harm than good in the long run.

This early, I can already say that when we leave, I have glowing recommendations for all of them and I won't even be exaggerating. Hopefully, they will move on to better jobs - for M, if she finishes her secondary education, which I insist she does - or at the very least keep the well paying jobs that they have.

There have been success stories of course. T's predecessor's driver-gardener now works for the embassy as a full-time official driver...another stepping stone, yes, but at least they can say that they have done it themselves and owed no one in reversing their economic situation. Hopefully, these values will trickle down to the next generation and as they say here, poco-a-poco and slowly but surely...if I may add. In all these, I have learned that I cannot change a culture that has been developed for centuries in a blink of an eye and regardless of what I do, my impact will not so much even make a ripple in a sea of hopelessness.

I know of spouses that went back home (leaving the other half to fulfill their contract) because they cannot take the sight of poverty or carry the feeling of impotence on a daily basis. I, on the on the other hand, refuse to be dragged into the abyss of despair of seeing poverty all around me (there are other things that drag me there believe me)...without turning a blind eye, I know that I can only do so much and I do what I can.

But then again, that's just me.

Suspended internet service is hazardous to my mental health

Yes, you read right...pathetic, you'd think, my rationale would be that on the net, I can choose which news or type of news I would like to read.

Having said that, AGAIN, I will break one of my sacred rules in maintaining this blog...and that is not to write anything that would put my host country in a negative light or at least write about what's going on here - on an economic or political level, anyway.

No internet connection means reading the local newspaper. There are 2 known local newspapers here and I subscribed to the one we have now mainly because not only do they have a promo for a year's advance subscription, we also get a discount card in some restaurants and that is just so.....typical me. Later in the year, I found out, well, I heard that the one we are subscribing to is critical of the incumbent government more than the other one and therefore either exaggerates or reports on every single thing that the current government might be doing to put it in a bad or worse light than it already is. It really depends on who you talk to...those who voted for the incumbent say that yes. they are overly critical while opposition supporters call it fearless journalism. I have linked both newspapers, you be the judge. I am a third party observer and therefore have no opinion on the matter (read: my lips are sealed).

Although I DO read the newspaper every now and then (believe it or not), these couple of days' news have finally alarmed me (okay, a bit), coupled with some other (official) security reports that I have been personally receiving.

Monday started with a nationwide transport strike, where those who chose to still service the public have been forcefully restrained (from plying their trade) by the striking group. The reason for the strike is that they have been requesting a dialogue to negotiate with the Ministry of Transport to freeze the price of Petrol (economic reports say that Nicaragua's petrol, per gallon, is the highest in Central America by $0.50). From today, there have been reports that the police have detained some strikers outside Managua, specifically in Leon. It doesn't look good as the government denies funds for subsidy exists to enable the price control. I feel the striker's pain as when we put on petrol last Saturday, I realized that my cost for petrol is in fact now close to double. For the Prado, I now spend a bit more than $C 1,700 (roughly $ 85.00) every 2 weeks, depending if we go out of town or not...and that's diesel even, as opposed to $C 900 (roughly $ 45.00) when we first got the car in January of 2007. It's not the price but the jump that scares me.

We too are affected with the strike, of course, I now give Adolfo extra to take a cab from home but that cannot last long as if this goes on and the way 'taxistas' are threatened to stop running and customers are forced to get off the cabs, soon there won't be any cabs to take. I suggested to Adolfo to take T's bike for now, instead of having to be forced to walk for miles and miles to get to work but he declined. He'd rather walk he says as the area where he lives is not the safest in Managua. Therefore, him on an imported titanium bike would just be begging for a robbery attack.

Signs of desperate times indeed. Also in the news is the closure of a big Taiwanese textile firm at the Zona Franca, their economic Zone here like PEZA in the Philippines, leaving 14,000 unemployed of which 70% are women, who by the way also took to the streets or plan to to protest unemployment (there are at least 3 more Asian companies planning to close down at the zone) and to remind the government of its election promise of job creation. The companies are leaving for various reasons but one of them is the increasing cost of production coupled with the effect (sales loss) of the economic down-turn in the US considered to be the biggest market of companies that have relocated here from Asia. Business is business after all.

Relative to this of course is the issue of the increasing price of the 'cañasta basica', the security situation where more people get robbed and more houses (even with security guards) get broken into even in areas that were considered safe only a couple of months ago. I learned yesterday that quite a few security personnel were not able to report to work, well, because of the transport strike. We're lucky with ours, they go to work on their bicycles. Desperate times call for desperate measures indeed. So much for the safest country in Central America...the least violent, maybe, but 'the safest' is no longer safe enough.

Headache...can't read anymore. Double headache to write about it. If interested, follow the (newspaper) links to read more as there's so much more to read about. None of them are good (right now, anyway)...well, there's actually one company that announced it's investment in Nicaragua by opening a factory that will employ 800 people...but really, what does that mean to the other 13, 200.

Now you see what I mean by the title of this post.