Where and What

[teabone9]

Hi,

I'm about done in Chile. I liked it, but I didn't love it, so I'm not coming back for now.

I'm looking where to go next in Latin America, and it would be great to get some advice. Maybe it would help to know where I'm at in my life. As in my previous posts: I'm in my late 20s, make a decent income through my own business - have no need to be based anywhere - and speak fluent Spanish. I'm looking to find a country I like to one day live in permanently (I don't want to live in the UK, where I'm from). I'd like to meet a good woman to make a life with as well.

At the moment I'm considering Costa Rica, Colombia and Peru.

I need something to do when I get there simply to meet people and get involved in things. Not for income. Voluntary would be absolutely fine.

Anyone have any ideas or advice?

Thank you.

[Jester]

What was missing in Chile?

[publicduende]

If you speak fluent Spanish, Colombia (Medellin and Cartagena) looks the best fit for you.

[terminator]

OK, maybe you can teach English for free - run some classes for girls? I'm shocked about Chile - I thought it sounded good.

[teabone9]

Everyone has different experiences, and a lot depends on the people you meet. I have met some great people here. Mostly I'm just not ready to settle on one place yet, as there's no need for me to do that so early on. It's better I check out other countries while I still have no responsibilities!

Having said that, I find Santiago to be noisy, polluted, characterless, crowded and to have ugly architecture. It's also cold in the winter. I'm not trying to be snotty, it's just that if I can pick anywhere, it definitely isn't going to be here. If I had close contacts with people from other parts and had stayed in those other areas of Chile, who knows, it might be a totally different story. As an example in comparison, where I used to live in Mexico it was beautiful, hot, had good cuisine and was significantly cheaper.

I've gone out with quite a few women while here, and got close to one in particular, but since I don't think I'm coming back it's not going anywhere.

On the plus side, the police here in Chile are decent, you can drink from the tap, overall the standard of living is higher for most people and getting around is easy.

I'll check out Medellin and Cartagena - thank you. I remember you talking about Colombia before in fact.

I'm thinking of contacting a local school before going to see if I can offer some free English lessons or something like that. I'd be happy to teach maths and science too. I guess these would be my best areas for doing something useful for others there. I also considered helping out in a dog sanctuary. Any other ideas?

[publicduende]

Everyone has different experiences, and a lot depends on the people you meet. I have met some great people here. Mostly I'm just not ready to settle on one place yet, as there's no need for me to do that so early on. It's better I check out other countries while I still have no responsibilities!

Having said that, I find Santiago to be noisy, polluted, characterless, crowded and to have ugly architecture. It's also cold in the winter. I'm not trying to be snotty, it's just that if I can pick anywhere, it definitely isn't going to be here. If I had close contacts with people from other parts and had stayed in those other areas of Chile, who knows, it might be a totally different story. As an example in comparison, where I used to live in Mexico it was beautiful, hot, had good cuisine and was significantly cheaper.

I've gone out with quite a few women while here, and got close to one in particular, but since I don't think I'm coming back it's not going anywhere.

On the plus side, the police here in Chile are decent, you can drink from the tap, overall the standard of living is higher for most people and getting around is easy.

I'll check out Medellin and Cartagena - thank you. I remember you talking about Colombia before in fact.

I'm thinking of contacting a local school before going to see if I can offer some free English lessons or something like that. I'd be happy to teach maths and science too. I guess these would be my best areas for doing something useful for others there. I also considered helping out in a dog sanctuary. Any other ideas?

Medellin has the highest living standard in Colombia. An excellent public transport infrastructure that includes the only metro system in Colombia, public hospitals and clinics fed by the best medical schools in the country (and among the best in the continent), a wealth of good manufacturing and service jobs due to high concentration of large international and national companies (including the country's biggest industrial conglomerate). Need I mention Medellin girls are widely regarded as some of the most attractive in Colombia?

I cannot put my finger on it, but I guess mother-tongue English teacher are still in demand in a place like Medellin. If not a teacher, you could still work in one of those language schools that provide language training to corporate executives and employees.

Cartagena has a beautiful historical centre and great tourist bars serving jet set clientele, yet it's smaller, a lot hotter and more humid and with less job opportunities besides tourism. I would recommend you spend a few days in Medellin just to get the vibes and see if you would like spending more there or go elsewhere.

For a sample of Colombian beauties, look no further than http://www.pegateya.com.

[teabone9]

Everyone has different experiences, and a lot depends on the people you meet. I have met some great people here. Mostly I'm just not ready to settle on one place yet, as there's no need for me to do that so early on. It's better I check out other countries while I still have no responsibilities!

Having said that, I find Santiago to be noisy, polluted, characterless, crowded and to have ugly architecture. It's also cold in the winter. I'm not trying to be snotty, it's just that if I can pick anywhere, it definitely isn't going to be here. If I had close contacts with people from other parts and had stayed in those other areas of Chile, who knows, it might be a totally different story. As an example in comparison, where I used to live in Mexico it was beautiful, hot, had good cuisine and was significantly cheaper.

I've gone out with quite a few women while here, and got close to one in particular, but since I don't think I'm coming back it's not going anywhere.

On the plus side, the police here in Chile are decent, you can drink from the tap, overall the standard of living is higher for most people and getting around is easy.

I'll check out Medellin and Cartagena - thank you. I remember you talking about Colombia before in fact.

I'm thinking of contacting a local school before going to see if I can offer some free English lessons or something like that. I'd be happy to teach maths and science too. I guess these would be my best areas for doing something useful for others there. I also considered helping out in a dog sanctuary. Any other ideas?

Medellin has the highest living standard in Colombia. An excellent public transport infrastructure that includes the only metro system in Colombia, public hospitals and clinics fed by the best medical schools in the country (and among the best in the continent), a wealth of good manufacturing and service jobs due to high concentration of large international and national companies (including the country's biggest industrial conglomerate). Need I mention Medellin girls are widely regarded as some of the most attractive in Colombia?

I cannot put my finger on it, but I guess mother-tongue English teacher are still in demand in a place like Medellin. If not a teacher, you could still work in one of those language schools that provide language training to corporate executives and employees.

Cartagena has a beautiful historical centre and great tourist bars serving jet set clientele, yet it's smaller, a lot hotter and more humid and with less job opportunities besides tourism. I would recommend you spend a few days in Medellin just to get the vibes and see if you would like spending more there or go elsewhere.

For a sample of Colombian beauties, look no further than http://www.pegateya.com.

Hey again,

I think it's better I'm honest, to give myself the best chance of finding something I like:

I don't like drinking alcohol, I don't like parties and I don't like dancing. The last one I'm willing to learn, the other two I'm not going to change.

I know that many of the ways to meet people revolve around partying, but I'm simply not into that. It was fine in Mexico, for other reasons, and my gf there was similar to me, which was excellent.

So I'm wondering, if I went somewhere like Cartagena or Medellin, would I be wasting my time?