Off Topic Part Cinq

[Flames9_RN 358]

In a few days our new adventure in a new country begins! Sound exotic, but its a very poor country, but should be very interesting. Will have a nice house, maid/cook and lucky enough to have a small pool. Will have to learn a new language as well, sucks to be me,lol but have known for awhile that I had to,and what have I done?? Not much,lol. I figure once there, will be forced to learn it. Which I will, as the onus is on me to learn their language, not them trying to understand me,lol

If your moving to another country and want to know their regulations in bringing in animals, check out http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/ Scroll down and find the country!! As well, as I found out, its best to contact that countries Consulate in the USA and see if the requirements have changed!! I was told that NO, our country that we are going to, does NOT require to be stamped by their embassy/consulate!! WRONG, yes it did! Beauty of living in the DC area, could catch the metro and walk down and get it stamped! Otherwise one has to mail it in and include return postage envelope

The biggest pain in our moving as been with the animals!! Ones vet has to give them a Physical! Send paperwork to the head vet of your State (and return postage paid envelope)and then to the host countries embassy!! All that costs $$$$ for the physical, fees and mailings. Plus one has to book the animals on flights, and they are separate, so 1 has to call he dog people and to ensure dates are available,then the regular booking line,lol And of course they only allow so many dogs and cats on a flight, AND only so many can book well in advance! Good times!

Life is an adventure and looking forward to it!! Getting further and further away from Tim hortons! lol

[Colleens 40]

In a few days our new adventure in a new country begins! Sound exotic, but its a very poor country, but should be very interesting. Will have a nice house, maid/cook and lucky enough to have a small pool. Will have to learn a new language as well, sucks to be me,lol but have known for awhile that I had to,and what have I done?? Not much,lol. I figure once there, will be forced to learn it. Which I will, as the onus is on me to learn their language, not them trying to understand me,lol

If your moving to another country and want to know their regulations in bringing in animals, check out http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/ Scroll down and find the country!! As well, as I found out, its best to contact that countries Consulate in the USA and see if the requirements have changed!! I was told that NO, our country that we are going to, does NOT require to be stamped by their embassy/consulate!! WRONG, yes it did! Beauty of living in the DC area, could catch the metro and walk down and get it stamped! Otherwise one has to mail it in and include return postage envelope

The biggest pain in our moving as been with the animals!! Ones vet has to give them a Physical! Send paperwork to the head vet of your State (and return postage paid envelope)and then to the host countries embassy!! All that costs $$$$ for the physical, fees and mailings. Plus one has to book the animals on flights, and they are separate, so 1 has to call he dog people and to ensure dates are available,then the regular booking line,lol And of course they only allow so many dogs and cats on a flight, AND only so many can book well in advance! Good times!

Life is an adventure and looking forward to it!! Getting further and further away from Tim hortons! lol

Good luck Flames....I hope you enjoy your new adventure

[Marilyn. 340]

my husband's surgery is scheduled for August 25th and he is probably taking a month off work...

I am getting nervous and scared about his surgery...

[Ontarkie 14,282]

In a few days our new adventure in a new country begins! Sound exotic, but its a very poor country, but should be very interesting. Will have a nice house, maid/cook and lucky enough to have a small pool. Will have to learn a new language as well, sucks to be me,lol but have known for awhile that I had to,and what have I done?? Not much,lol. I figure once there, will be forced to learn it. Which I will, as the onus is on me to learn their language, not them trying to understand me,lol

If your moving to another country and want to know their regulations in bringing in animals, check out http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/ Scroll down and find the country!! As well, as I found out, its best to contact that countries Consulate in the USA and see if the requirements have changed!! I was told that NO, our country that we are going to, does NOT require to be stamped by their embassy/consulate!! WRONG, yes it did! Beauty of living in the DC area, could catch the metro and walk down and get it stamped! Otherwise one has to mail it in and include return postage envelope

The biggest pain in our moving as been with the animals!! Ones vet has to give them a Physical! Send paperwork to the head vet of your State (and return postage paid envelope)and then to the host countries embassy!! All that costs $$$$ for the physical, fees and mailings. Plus one has to book the animals on flights, and they are separate, so 1 has to call he dog people and to ensure dates are available,then the regular booking line,lol And of course they only allow so many dogs and cats on a flight, AND only so many can book well in advance! Good times!

Life is an adventure and looking forward to it!! Getting further and further away from Tim hortons! lol

Good Luck

my husband's surgery is scheduled for August 25th and he is probably taking a month off work...

I am getting nervous and scared about his surgery...

Will keep both of you in our prayers

[CBM 14]

I had my AOS interview on Monday and it was easy peasy!

Since receiving my EAD a few weeks ago, I've been applying like mad, and I have a job interview in 2 weeks for a professional tutoring company! fingers crossed!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I had my AOS interview on Monday and it was easy peasy!

Since receiving my EAD a few weeks ago, I've been applying like mad, and I have a job interview in 2 weeks for a professional tutoring company! fingers crossed!

That's great - it's pretty exciting to finally get back to work eh? Good luck!

[Kimbear 53]

In a few days our new adventure in a new country begins! Sound exotic, but its a very poor country, but should be very interesting. Will have a nice house, maid/cook and lucky enough to have a small pool. Will have to learn a new language as well, sucks to be me,lol but have known for awhile that I had to,and what have I done?? Not much,lol. I figure once there, will be forced to learn it. Which I will, as the onus is on me to learn their language, not them trying to understand me,lol

If your moving to another country and want to know their regulations in bringing in animals, check out http://www.aphis.usd.../iregs/animals/ Scroll down and find the country!! As well, as I found out, its best to contact that countries Consulate in the USA and see if the requirements have changed!! I was told that NO, our country that we are going to, does NOT require to be stamped by their embassy/consulate!! WRONG, yes it did! Beauty of living in the DC area, could catch the metro and walk down and get it stamped! Otherwise one has to mail it in and include return postage envelope

The biggest pain in our moving as been with the animals!! Ones vet has to give them a Physical! Send paperwork to the head vet of your State (and return postage paid envelope)and then to the host countries embassy!! All that costs $$ for the physical, fees and mailings. Plus one has to book the animals on flights, and they are separate, so 1 has to call he dog people and to ensure dates are available,then the regular booking line,lol And of course they only allow so many dogs and cats on a flight, AND only so many can book well in advance! Good times!

Life is an adventure and looking forward to it!! Getting further and further away from Tim hortons! lol

Hope everything goes well Flames! I'm sure Tim Hortons will miss you and your addiction

[Flames9_RN 358]

Hope everything goes well Flames! I'm sure Tim Hortons will miss you and your addiction

Life is well!! No complaints!! No big secret but we are living in Managua Nicaragua!! Very poor country, and of course the gov't here sure isn't pro-American,lol For the most part the people are somewhat friendly, maybe not as friendly as other countries I have visited. Cops here are on the take! love to pull u over and try to get bribes, and they dont even hide it, lol On the bright side, if they wave you over and you dont stop, good chance they won't chase you, as they can't afford the gas!! AND gas is cheaper here than in Canada,lol Well its pretty close as same as Canada f u buy ur gas at Costco!!

Help is cheap!! Our house is gated, razor wired has 7 days a week, 24 hrs a day guards, which is prob Nic. biggest business--security,lol We have a pool guy/gardner and pay him $15 a week. We have a 6 day a week MAid/cook who is awesome and we pay a ttl of $270 a month and that includes paying into her health insurance and retirement!!! This past week was her 1st week of working with us, she was VERY relieved we liked her and offered her a contract! You would have thought she had signed a 10 year $130 million contract!! Pay day for her is next week, I gave her $20usd as a bonus, well sort,lol I speak no spanish and didnt want to bother my wife at work, so I used one of the online translation programs. Well those programs are only so-so at best. What the program spitted out was that the $20 was a LOAN to her,lol I say she had a puzzled look, so I used another program and she seemed better. But I got my wife to call her later to make sure all was ok. Good thing as she was pretty worried!! She was soooooooo happy about the $20, over the moon. It breaks my heart to see how $20 can make such a difference to someone. I gave her an extra 100 Cordobas last week for shopping the next day (24 cordobas =$1 USD) and she phoned my wife as she was sooo worried about this extra 100 cordobas ($4) We don't even need a maid/cook as Im not presently working, but hey, the price is cheap (we pay more than the avergae) and it gives her valuable $$$. I believe the average Nic makes less than $1 a day!! She actually worked with a CDn family that worked at the Cdn Consulate here, but its a very small consulate, only 3 Cdns,lol

Driving here is crazy!! I do believe locals have to pass a driving test, BUT $$$ talks here, so u can bribe ur way out of everything. If ur in an accident, you CAN'T move your car at all!! If you do, you automatically claim fault!! And can take HOURS before the cops show up! So yes, traffic builds up!! Good times!! Lot of potholes!! And people love to steal the manhole covers!! Nice! I guess in some places it got so bad, they just paved over them,lol

Managua is not a touristy place, lot of nice places on the coast and grenada is nice (about 45 minutes from us)

The food is very good here, lot of different foods from around the world and fairly cheap! Has Mcdonalds, burger king, pizza hut, papa johns, Quizznos, Buffalo Wings for ur Yank food. No Tim Hortons,lol But they make an awesome Cappacinno! Most even put that heart or leaf on it,lol

Hot here all year round. I think the coldest it has been is 22C and every day right now is like 33C Its the rainy season, but since we have been here, ha snot rained a lot. Dry season is from Nov to April! Have yet to see a scorpion, or Tarantula, not do I want to,lol The scorpions they have here are normally not deadly to humans, I dont think our 2 cats or dog would be soo lucky!! Friend of ours got bitten by a scorpion and he said it was the msot painful thing he has ever experienced, not the bite, but how the venom acts!!

Maybe I have painted a bad picture,lol But I love it here, not because of the maid or house or pool,lol but as poor/dirty here, it is full of life! So much to do, and its a very cool experience. Only wished I spoke Spanishm my own fault, I knew we were coming here for a long time,lol But luckily my Wife is pretty much fluent.

If your ever traveling to another country with pets, PM me and I can send along a link that shows what the requirements are for that country. The hardest part of moving here was dealing with the pets!! For the airlines requirements, the animals physical has to be within 10 days of flying! Easy enough to get ur vet to see ur animals! BUT then paperwork has to go to the USDA vet for ur state, so that may require over nighting it to them, then overnight it back to you, THEN some countries require their Embassy/Consulate to sign off on the USDA paperworkm, so again mail it and mail it back,lol Luckily for us, living in the DC area, I could just metro it to the Nic consulate! And they were nice enough to charge me an extra $10 per document for getting it back the same day,lol So pain in the butt.

As well continental is great for flying pets!! They work hand in hand with a company called Petsafe! But they can pretty much take you aniamls al year round, as the dogs are put in a special cargo area where its pressure and Temperature controlled!! Maybe not avail on all routes! But some airline do not offer that and if the temp gets too hot, ur dog doesnt fly! Which would really ruin ur day, as what are you suppose to do?? Ur flying out, ready to go and then they call you and say, sorry, ur dog can't go now!! ouch

Beer is cheap,lol Get a can of Tona or Victoria for like .80 at the convenience store!! They have super rum here, Flor de Cano!! And its cheap too! many like the Nic cigars!!

I haven't really done much since our vehicle has yet to arrive, can take anywhere for 1 to 3 months. Been out a bit with friends, but once our vehicle arrives or we buy a 2nd one, which we may do tomorrow, will be heading out a lot. Lot of Volcanos to see, markets, etc etc We went to Heubros market last week and it is HUGE!! Broken off into different sections, veggies, fruits, meat, poulty, seafood, hardware, crafts, furniture, etc etc! Our maid stops there on mondays and picks up the Fruits/veggies but not the meats,lol As per most markets down here or other palces I have been, the meat is just hanging away,lol Your lamost being brushed into it as you walk by They use the same dirty knife on everything,lol Its quite neat to see everything, want a live chicken, lizard, your good to go!!

So thats what I have been up to. chilling in Managua.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Wow! What an adventure! Thanks for all of the details - I will definitely look forward to the next installment. And, you can always get care packages of Tim Horton's sent to you, if necessary .

[Flames9_RN 358]

Wow! What an adventure! Thanks for all of the details - I will definitely look forward to the next installment. And, you can always get care packages of Tim Horton's sent to you, if necessary .

Never tastes the same!! Plus I love the Capaccinnos here,lol

[Colleens 40]

Quite the adventure Flames. You could have been one of the people I see on the hgtv show International House Hunters

[Flames9_RN 358]

Quite the adventure Flames. You could have been one of the people I see on the hgtv show International House Hunters

Not us,lol!! I don't even meet a Fellow Canuck that lived in the same apartment building in Arlington. You think I would go on TV? lol Were in Managua, those Nicaragua episodes were on the coasts

Most houses here are gated!! With like 2 rows of razor wire!! House have guards. Ours are not armed, but their is a roving patrol that is!! Its actually good that they are not armed, as recently guards in the areas close by have been killed for their guns!! Good times!! One always has to be aware of their surroundings here. No running with an Ipod, thats for sure,lol

I like it better here than DC,lol

[Flames9_RN 358]

Not us,lol!! I don't even meet a Fellow Canuck that lived in the same apartment building in Arlington. You think I would go on TV? lol Were in Managua, those Nicaragua episodes were on the coasts

Oh ya, that Anthony Bourdain guy had an Episode in Nicaragua! Showed some of the local foods and it showed some of the poverty, very very sad! We asked our maid/cook to cook more Nicaragua foods this week as long as they are pretty tame,lol

Most houses here are gated!! With like 2 rows of razor wire!! House have guards. Ours are not armed, but their is a roving patrol that is!! Its actually good that they are not armed, as recently guards in the areas close by have been killed for their guns!! Good times!! One always has to be aware of their surroundings here. No running with an Ipod, thats for sure,lol

But one could come down here and retire quite comfortably! Most dont retire to Managua, they goto surrounding areas. But they see a Gringo, they see $$$$$$$. Maid took a taxi cost her 40 cordobas and she went a fair distance. I went with her to get groceries, like only 2 miles down the road, and paid the gringo price of 130 cordobas!! (24 corobas = $1)

I like it better here than DC,lol

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Sounds cool bud - enjoy your time there!

[OBX 51]

Sounds like quite an experience flames. Thanks for the update.