Living Abroad in Nicaragua (Moon Handbooks) by Randall Woodand
Joushua Berman This is the first in the Moon “Living Abroad” series that I read. When it started off with five pages of full color pages singing the praises of Nicaragua without any caveats I thought “This is just a hype machinge.” However, this was immediately followed with the introduction that encourages the reader to think if living overseas is truly right for them. With sentenaces like the following “It would be wrong-and seriously misquided to epect living in Nicaragua to be remotely similar to more tratiotinal warm-weather retreats, like Florida or Costa Rica.” I warmed up to the authors. I liked how they started with a very clear descrption of both the postivie and negatives of adjusting to a life in Nicaragua.
The book is well organized, easy to read and informative. It is divided into 4 major sections. The first section “Welcome to Nicaragua” has all the nuts and bolts of living there and includes subsections on the History, the arts and sample iternaries for exploratory missions.
The second section “Daily Life” includes information on Health, how to manage your finances, housing options, and getting around the country. I liked in their culture shock section they described the inclaination and trap of always thiniking with culture is “Better.”
The third section gives an in-depth look at four areas the authors consider the “Prime Living Locations.” These include; Granda and Environs, San Juan Del Sur and the Southwest, Managua, Leon and the North, and finally the Atlantic Coast. I liked how these sections did not focus on specific reatuanrtants or expat hang out spots but gave a descrptiove account of these places to help you really compare the places.
Costa Rica, Belize, and Mexico may indeed be “played out” and Nicaragua may be one of the few countrys left that are pleasant to live in and not already corrupted with too many expats. I would encourage anyone to start their research by reading
Living Abroad in Nicaragua.
