I have heard this a number of times now. A couple times from those back home who have stayed in contact and also from those other ex-pats that were here before us. The other ex-pats know the answer but ask anyway? We have been here for about 2.5 semanas (weeks). To me this is way too short of time to make any kind of judgment but yes there are impressions. First of all, anyone who thinks that somewhere else is just what was expected just hasn’t done much traveling, especially to different countries/cultures.

So far there are things that are great and there are things that are challenging. It is a different country; of course it will be different. Different customs, expectations, foods, languages, manners, food labels, driving habits, availability to items, etc… These are negatives, yes often frustrations, but mostly are just differences that should be expected when being in a different country.

We have chosen to start our adventure in a very specific area. The Playa Coronado area was/is an area where the ‘well-off’ from the city would have second homes or come for a weekend or holiday visit to be at the beach. There are a number of great homes as well as resorts/resort condos that have sprung up offering a great attraction to non-locals as well.

There are some very fancy estates in this area. As we walk down the beach we see some very high-end haciendas. They are well taken care of. We also see some that appear to have once been hi-end but seem to have been abandoned or at least left alone until high season comes. There is one place that reminds me of the large house/mansion seen in the movie Jumanji after the game is well underway and vines invade the home. There is also a real big fancy estate that some have said must be owned by some Columbian Drug Lord since there is hardly anyone there and it is kept real nice. Someone told me they saw guys walking around this estate with machine guns guarding it. Well I have been watching as we walk by as well as admiring the handwork of the structure. Yesterday I actually did see someone on one of the patios that appeared to have something resembling a gun over their shoulder. Humm, yes the imagination does begin to flow. Well today I saw another person with a gun across their shoulder on a patio near the beach. They came out of the shadow and leaned on the rail. I was clearly able to see the police/security uniform and badge. Well, so much for imagination. The place must be owned by someone well to do desiring protection or maybe a politician from the city. He returned my wave and I continued on. Remember this is the low-season-everyone abandons Florida also during low-season.

The beach is great. Everyday it changes with the tides. Sand comes and sand goes. What is unique here is the make-up of the sand. Some is regular sand and some is negra (black). I mean really negra. At first it almost looks oil soaked but it is very soft fine black sand from the ancient volcanoes that once formed this area. Most of the sand is like fine sifted powder. We have very small shells we see on our beach walks. Denise even found a full sand dollar, the only one we have seen so far. She has also found some sea glass. She likes collecting some shells and glass.

So is it what we expected? No, never thought it would be. We really like where we are staying. We have met a number of real nice folks. Seems to be a lot of people from Canadia (hey) as well as Texas. Monday night was an impromptu pot-luck on the roof top deck with about 2 dozen folks. There is a nightly happy hour on the roof for who ever shows up. There is a Wednesday night happy hour for the ex-pats at a place called Picassos that is a 5 minute walk away. We are adjusting, trying to learn the language/culture, trying to learn how to get around without a car, trying to get good exercise, and most of all trying to be patient. Patient with each other, our selves, and those who do not hablo Ingles as it never is what you expect it to be! Wouldn’t that be boring?

These blog posts are my random thoughts and experiences. Feel free to comment/reply. Let me know if seeing this stuff is worth your time or if I should just be rambling to myself.

Adios!