from intl living postcards…. “Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 Dear International Living Reader, Drum roll, please… The cheapest country in the world, according to our just-published Quality of Life Index, is… Narau, formerly Pleasant Island. But this tiny South Pacific republic taking top honors in the Cost of Living category has little [Continue]

This is starting to feel like I’m beating horse’s bleached bones, but I feel like some people still aren’t “getting it”. While it clearly has a use as jewlery. And, although it’s used in industry, it doesn’t really qualify as a commercial commodity. Gold is Money. The same amount of gold that bought a [Continue]

…..This post will cover the first night and first full day in Chile. When I we last left you, we were being mercifully driven away from the “Indian Best Western” (Best Eastern?) In the cab, fuBarrio quickly assured Golden Lotus that our quick inspection of the room probably wasn’t enough exposure to need a delousing, but [Continue]

Wind whipped through fuBarrio’s sundrenched highlights. His tanned face accentuated the impossible whiteness of his perfect smile as he steered his 40 ft Chris Craft Stinger with himself and Golden Lotus across the wake of a passing cruise ship. The boat lept majestically in the air repeatedly crashing down and sending [Continue]

It’s “desk clearing” time! All the photos I wasn’t able to post while traveling I’ll try to get posted in the next couple of days. This picture was actually taken a couple of weeks ago after a relatively violent windstorm here in Montevideo. The oak tree in question (outside my home at the time) had caught a [Continue]

Ok…. Probably the number one request from all my loyal readers (other than, “take down that “fugly” profile picture of yourself and put up some more of Golden Lotus”) has been my take on the real estate market in Uruguay. Since I know very little about Uruguay outside of Montevideo, I will confine my comments to the [Continue]

Ok….this is but a brief break from your previously scheduled programming (misadventures of my Chilean “vacation”) I admit that I’ve been blissfully “out of touch” the last couple of weeks, but I kept seeing reports that President Bush was recommending a troop *increase* among some other tactical changes in [Continue]

…sigh….it is with a twinge of sadness, and an inappropriate touch of nostalgia that i type this entry and remove “30 days in Chile” from the top of my blog. Now, unfortunately, only those new visitors crazy enough to read past the first posting will be able to drink from the “vast pool” of my [Continue]

…uh….7 days in Chile! ugh. Where do I even begin? Perhaps “cognitive dissonance” contributed to the perception of my time in Chile. In other words, it was my subconcious trying to justify my earlier decision to live in Montevideo. Whatever the reason, I cut a 30 day “vacation” short and I’m glad to be [Continue]

Ok….little bit of a posting hiatus due to travel, my laptop being on its last legs, and wasting a bunch of my energy posting thoughts on a bulletin board where people can actually post back and refute my beliefs (gasp!) Of course, it´s no heroic show of bravery to point out that a bald dog “has [Continue]