Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

I posted on the international job forum, but they only get one or two hits a week.

I've been offered a job in Granada, Nicaragua.

Anyone know anything at all about the country, area....ANYTHING????

[Grimalkin]

Okay this probably really isn't much help but months ago there was some discussion on here about how it was a great place to retire to (cos it's very cheap) and the government there was really trying hard to attract international retirees.

Sorry that's all I can remember. I'm sure someone else will know more.

(How did you come across the job?).

[EFLtrainer]

Granada is a great little city. There are two volcanoes nearby, one pretty active, the other slightly. It's on Lake Nicaragua. It is, if memory serves, the oldest established European city in that area. Reminded me a lot of Spain in the old downtown area.

[buster brown]

I was there twice, maybe 3 weeks total, in 1996 and 2001. I have some missionary contacts who currently live on the east coast and work with the Miskito people. I could probably come up with more information if you have some specific questions. The one thing that really sticks out in my mind is that it's the poorest country in Central America.

[VanIslander]

Cool.

A great way to stay warm this winter.

Are you looking at 3-6 months, a year or possibly longer as you approach retirement age?

Freedom 55.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I found the ad for this particular school right here at good old Dave's. That retirement thread that was posted a couple of months ago was posted by me.

I'm not at all sure what I'm looking at. I'd like to find a place that I fall in love with and want to stay permanently. That's probably the wrong attitude since I came to Korea thinking I'd stay one or two years and stayed 12. Now that I'm ready to settle down, I probably won't find 'it'.

Ideally, I'd like to semi-retire and just work a couple of hours a day, partly to avoid being isolated until I meet some people. And just to keep my hand in. I really enjoy teaching when the students want to learn. Right now I'm still struggling with the idea that if I'm going to work full-time, I might as well work somewhere where I get paid a decent salary.

A couple of questions:

For anyone who has been there, how did you feel about the level of poverty?

How about the safety issue? (I've only really lived in small town Iowa and 99% safe Korea.)

[JongnoGuru]

[buster brown]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[JongnoGuru]

Ya-ta, give this a read if you haven't already. I was so tempted to cut & paste the whole blog entry right here, and Dave's post-length limit be g-damned.

But I wimped out. Here's the link. http://www.nicaliving.com/node/592

From December 2004


Some bits I liked:

Screw it. I'd end up posting the whole thing. Just put on a pot of coffee and go read it.

Also from that guy's blog:

At the present time there are many people interested in Nicaragua, they are coming both for holidays and to live, as a retired person or to a run business and make a living in Nicaragua. In any case the new "Nicaraguan residents and friends" need to buy a property. It can be: a beach house, a city house, a lot, a farm, etc. In my practice I have worked with many people--some American, Canadian or British--involved in long and scary stories with their seller, real estate agency and, the worst and most common, with their Lawyer, usually referred by another friend.

Not entirely unlike Korea some short time ago.


But you can't beat the construction costs there. US$15,000 for the materials and labour.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[noguri]

I lived in Nicaragua for 9 months in Masaya, a small city in between Granada and Managua.

I loved Masaya. I didn't get to know Granada, only passed through once. But you have to stay out of Managua. Managua is the armpit of the world. It is full of thieves and criminals. I speak completely fluent Spanish but the cab drivers couldn't understand where I was trying to go. It's not because my Spanish sucks, it is because there are no addresses! They have no street address system. Managua is a concrete jungle full of still-crumbling buildings never rebuilt after the 1972 earthquake.

In contrast, I didn't need to take a cab in Masaya. I walked everywhere. I had some problems with "picaditos" [drunks] haranguing me for money, so I bought a bicycle and then the drunks couldn't catch me.

Granada is like Masaya, a relatively small city and people are very friendly. They will take you under their wing, they will teach you spanish, they will want you to stay forever.

Here's the rub: the food sucks. You imagine something like Mexican food, right? Wrong. Everything is fried in cottonseed oil. In the 1950s, Somoza expanded the cotton industry and cottonseed oil became a side industry, and now everyone in central america eats tough meat fried in cottonseed oil.

They eat a lot of "guineo," which is a starchy plantain. It's okay when its fried but when it's boiled it is dry as dust. It appears with every meal, it is their equivalent of 'bab.' There is also rice served with every meal, but it is oily and salty.

Okay, that's Nicaragua in a nutshell. Stay out of Managua. In other cities, the people are warm and very friendly. You can live like a king with little money. However, the food stinks.

Internet is not widely available or reliable at home but you can just go to internet cafes. Not really tolerable for someone used to Korea.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Thanks for that info, noguri.

[noguri]

I know I probably made Nicaragua sound awful because of the food, but it ocurred to me that the school offering the job might be used to foreigners and might offer better food than the average Nicaraguan fare.

Here's some reasons that Ya-ta boy might like Nicaragua:

You don't have to settle down in Nicaragua to enjoy it. It can be a great introduction to Latin America. You can learn Spanish in Nicaragua and then try other countries. Nicaragua is much cheaper to live in than Mexico or other countries where people go to learn Spanish. Once you learn Spanish, you can explore, try teaching English in Argentina, Chile, Mexico.

By the way, Spanish is a heck of a lot easier to learn than Korean.

Second, the expat scene in Nicaragua has relatively few Americans, but a lot of Europeans. In particular, I met a lot of Spaniards. I met a group of Catalan women from Barcelona, they were really cool. I didn't try to date any of them or make any passes, they really were just fun-loving and great fun to go out with to clubs and bars. Also met some interesting Spanish guys. Norwegians, Brits, Belgians. I enjoyed all the Europeans.

Third, it is true that there is a lot of poverty, but most Nicaraguans who seriously study English are wealthy. They will be young people who are the future bankers and captains of industry. I'm betting that your students will be wealthy and highly educated.

Fourth, Nicaraguans are extremely hospitable and they go out of their way to welcome foreigners. They will invite you to their home for dinner, they will invite you to their parties, and you'll meet people. People will do you favors that you didn't ask for nor expect.

All of this is assuming that the job offered will pay you a salary in DOLLARS. If they want to pay you in cordobas, don't take it. You can live like a king in Nicaragua as long as you are paid in dollars, not in the local currency.

[The Great Toad]

http://centroconquistador.blogspot.com/

Above is an EPIC adventure of a Hero who did not fear to walk about Managua at night any more than he did to swim miles out in the Oceans- the reason of course is my time is allotted already and this being the best of all possible worlds there can be no incident that is not foreseen by Providence to account for. Thus I took it upon myself to Confront these warning ghosts, 'take cares', and threats headon - was I not the Lord of Toad Hall and the most clever Adventurer to wolf down mushy cooked bananas and clods of strange sour tasting cheese curd? Could any man aim and sight upon me to take my life when I took up the challenge and swam from the Cluber Bar Isle in the largest of Grenada Lakes and swim rught up to a Mansion House of Somozas descendants...? No!!!

Actually I never did fill in the spots in between on that blog... I guess I should someday...

Anyhow I know this will please all the Corn Island Nicaragua Questioners and also answer the question as to my care on water saftey being an open water life guard and Hella Hella Hella C00l Hell Dog Amphib Marine Beowulf Swimmer-

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1222299036