What the US / South America / Europe gets right and Reflections on a Year Abroad

So now that I've been back in the states for a few months, and fully reminded of its joys and horrors - and after spending a year each in Latin America and Europe and America in the past 3 years, let's look at where the U.S. "gets it right," and where Latin America and Europe get it right.  Keep in mind this is, of course, fairly subjective, but I will TRY to be as objective as possible.  Also keep in mind that if I had done this same exercise, say, 40-50 years ago, things would be DRAMATICALLY different (esp. in regards to the U.S.).

Let's start with HEALTH CARE. Most folks will not be shocked to find the U.S. fails at this miserably - and in almost every marker: access, cost, quality. Sure, if you're filthy rich you can BUY better health care, but the U.S. remains woefully behind every single modern country in this regard. I accessed health care at multiple levels/disciplines in Ecuador and, again, ACCESS/wait times and cost were WAY better - and quality was comparable, if not better.  Ditto for Europe.  Mexico was a little more spotty, but it wouldn't take much to get established with quality providers once settled there. 

COST OF LIVING. Again, no surprise here: even in "cheaper" areas like Oklahoma, the U.S. remains insanely expensive compared to Latin America, and outside of wealthier countries in Europe where I wouldn't be able to retire anyway, more expensive than there. The biggie is rent, of course, and since that's folks' #1 expense.... As mentioned, health care is way cheaper abroad, groceries are cheaper, eating out, entertainment, etc. About the only thing I found that may be of similar cost is electricity - and still cheaper than Oklahoma.

CHOICE: So I did wanna throw in one area where the U.S. still excels. I remember when I was in Peace Corps/Kazakhstan a fellow volunteer showed some kids a pic of his mom in the grocery store (medium sized store in medium size town). The kids asked what was on the shelves. Bill told them, "Looks like jelly." The kids: "What else?" Bill: "Jelly. Just lots of different brands of jelly." Kids: "Why so many different brands?" Bill: "Um...."  So, yeah, the U.S. has more choice/options, but you quickly find you don't NEED 50 diifferent brands of strawberry jelly - especially since Latin America and ESPECIALLY Europe doesn't allow the absolute SHIT that America allows to be put in its food. Boo hoo, there's only one KFC in town?  Well, at least they offer veggie tenders that are not only way healthier, but actually REALLY tasty and I preferred them to the regular/real chicken.

SAFETY/QUALITY OF LIFE: Again, not even close. The everyday stress here is insane. The ignorance, The violence. The hate and racism. The greed. The entitlement. The complete disregard for the environment. I could go on and on. Not too long after we got back here, both DJ and I started having stomach issues and I'm having to spend limited funds on good probiotic supplements to keep us (relatively) healthy. And don't get me started on the possibility of being gunned down in public by some rando angry white dude.

So, on the whole, while it's nice to see family, and nice to have more (CHOICE) of Tex-Mex restaurants, I'm pretty unhappy to be back in this shithole country and am counting the days when I can leave for good/retire. So with THAT in mind, what am I thinking right now?

Firstly, I was very pleasantly surprised with Ecuador. I could totally live in Quito if need be, BUT in a year or two, I plan on going again and checking out Cuenca, which is supposed to be an even better fit for expats and is even cheaper than Quito, and lower elevation wise which would be nice. And strong expat community.

I could totally live in Porto, too, and loved the vibe, the outdoor culture, etc. But I'd probably wanna share an apartmnet with someone there as it's more expensive than Ecuador. But Europe is still the goal for travel options. The one biggest takeaway from my year exploring is that Ecuador is an even better option than I originally thought.  I would also consider a quasi-nomadic life where I go in with someone and buy a home "base" in, say Cuenca or Porto, and then sublet it when I'm traveling, maybe doing trans-oceanic month long cruises, etc.

That being said, to help me be sure, once I can get this little monster stabllized, I'm planning on one more scouting trip abroad to check out: Medellin, Colombia; Cuenca, Ecuador; somewhere in Spain; Estonia and/or Lithuania; eastern Europe (Georgia, Romania); and possibly Hanoi, Vietnam (apparently one of the few places in Asia where it's not ungodly hot/humid most of the year - AND so my little monster can see his "heritage.").

More Thoughts/Experiences in Oaxaca

So one thing I was worried about living abroad: passport renewal! As it turns out, it was easier than I dared hope. I just had to do the typical passport pics and application, send all that to the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara via DHL with my current passport and a return waybill and they turned it all around in about 3 weeks and sent it safely back to the DHL office where I picked it up! Yay!  Oh, and the cost for DHL there and back was about $25.

And we finally had some good Chinese food!  Ni Hao is a charming little place in old town/Centro with good dumplings, good fried rice, and even decent kung pao chicken - altho not really as spicy as it should be - but I find that typical with Chinese (or Thai) food outside of Asia: dialing it back for delicate foregn devil palates. lol

Some fun/interesting/different things here:

• They still have a goodly number of pay phones. Actually more of those on the street than trash cans, unfortunately.
• And we still see a Shit. Ton. of old VW bugs.  We actually, finally, saw one of the newer models the other day. When I mentioned it to my mom (a bug afficianado who has a convertible bug from the last year they made them - 2019), she mentioned it's odd to not see more of the newer models here since it was Mexico that had the last VW bug factory! (The plant in Puebla started making Bugs in 1967, and made the last "old school" one in the world in 2003, and then made the last newer/retro one in the world in 2019!)
• When you get take out, in addition to ketchup packets, you get packets of jalapeno sauce! Score!
• Mexican stoves are apparently incapable of simmering. Both here and in Chapala, no matter how low I turned the fire, no matter how small a burner I used, I can NOT get anything to just "simmer." Really have to pay attention when cooking rice.
• I can get Fresca everywhere - including "sin azucar" (sugar free).  
• While the days can still get pretty hot, it almost always cools down by early evening. And while MOST of the rain comes at night, Oaxaca has more during the day and afternoon than we had in Chapala.
• There's also more "celebrating" here with the INSANELY loud firecracker rockets. It's hard not to be judgmental of people setting those fuckers off at 6:30 in the morning to celebrate some random saint day.  Or just beacuse. NOT a fan - and neither is DJ who is sensitive to loud sounds. We also both REALLY hate the ridiculously loud posturing from all these tiny dicked yahoos revving their SUPER loud (clearly tweaked) motorcycles.  Wah, get off my lawn!  lol
• On the plus side, I've totally bought into "siesta culture" and get a good read and nap in pretty much every afternoon in one of the hammocks on the patio. Many businesses close for an hour or two each afternoon around 2-3.

We also accessed medical care for the first time!  Actually, it was the dentist. DJ needed a cleaning, and it turns out there are multiple in our neighborhood, so we just went around saying "Hablas ingles?" until we found one who did. lol  Literally a block away from us - maybe a block and a half.  Went in on a Friday to make an appointment and was able to get in the following Wednesday. He used ultrasound instead of those awful/sharp picky things - and DJ was in and out, completely finished, within an hour of his scheduled appt. - which included time the dentist spent explaining DJ's issues (luckily, relatively minor). And the cost was about $17.  I will need a cleaning soon, but am holding off til we're in Ecuador next month so I can compare.

Finally, one of the interesting things I've noticed here is the distinction between exterior and interior. Often, most of the buildings you'll walk by here are NOT visually appealing, often run down lookng, graffiti smeared, etc.  But then the garage or entrance doors will be left open, and as you pass by and get a peek at the interior, it's like Dorothy stepping out of her dirt brown dilapidated house into the technicolor wonderland of Oz.  I mean, amazingly like that. It's hard not to be nosy and barge in and look around the courtyard!