7 Color Lagoon

The last tropical storm that hit us in Chetumal (it came up from Belize in late May) I belittled — and prepared.  I was wrong to belittle any storm.  It only brought us in the immediate area a lot of rain with flooding limited to remote areas, I thought.  I was wrong that time since a number of people died in Belize and parts of Campeche and Tabasco states in Mexico did suffer from the torrential rains.
As the active storm season begins the US is threatened with Bertha, there is a storm forming in the Pacific, a depression in the Atlantic that might or might not intensify and Dolly is making tracks for the Yucatan Peninsula (check out the graphic from NOAA.  It appears that Cancun, Playa del Carmen and the Mayan Riviera can expect some wind and water and Merida appears in its path.  With luck we will be spared on the southern frontier since I have not prepared well this time — although in this part of the world it is best to always be basically ready for a good storm.

Click on the NOAA link to see a range of storm track maps and predictions.  I could not get the image to load into the WordPress blog.  Maybe the new version of WordPress will work better.  If you get an “under construction” message it will be the change-over to the newer incarnation of the blogware.

I have been away from posting again as the potential sale of the house has taken a lot of time.  It is not yet in contract but there is some hope.  Stay tuned.

As I begin to think about a move to Mèrida or, at the least, some trips to visit again; I am interested in the phenomena of “medical tourism” that has moved beyond fringe activity into mainstream alternatives.

It is understandable in the world - such as America - where insurance policies cost $5000 a year and more for one person, unbelievably large amounts for couples and families.  My policy that finally needed to be dropped was over $5000 with a $10,000 deductible.  It is a fine company, Equitable, that always paid as much as they were supposed to or more and paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years of by-passes, emergency surgeries and pacing devices.  But that is the problem that is destroying lives in the States where government has resisted more civilized health care for its citizens.  The costs of care have been driven up to astronomical and inhuman levels.

Medical care no longer costs a lot by normal standards.  It is now obviously based on play money since people do not, cannot have the astronomical sums that are used in the medical world.  That is only counting mainstream medicine.  Cosmetic surgeries, dentistry, alternative (non-reimbursable) techniques are seldom covered.  Dentistry comes to mind first since it is necessary but unaffordable in the US.  A visitor recently told me of the implants and dentures he needed in the States and the $48,000 estimate for the cost.  That would buy the Mexican dentist a pleasant house in many places.

Mèrida, for one, is gearing itself toward the medical tourism boom that is expected.  The economic downturn in the US, recession and the fear of the financial future will help as people flee the US for more affordable havens.

In my case I am looking for a place that has First World standards and Third World prices.  One of the alternatives for dentistry and other procedures is Mexico.

Living here I already have a dentist — actually a periodontist who does everything for me except the recent root canal when he sent me to another specialist.  He was quite painless, clean and professional with a charge of around $US120 for the root canal.  I seem to remember 10 years ago in upstate NY the same job was around $800.

There is finally a website guide to medical tourism called Pangea Medicine that acts as an online medical travel directory to help people find quality care outside the US.  Most of their Mexican referrals are similarly to dentists, often in the areas easily accessible to the West Coast but, by now, all the world is accessible by plane.  One dentist mentioned in Baja California is an American with a bi-lingual staff and photos of an amazingly modern and clean facility. Just to remind me how backward Chetumal is medically.  There are drawbacks to living on the edge of the jungle in a border area.

Another dental destination is Costa Rica which is highlighted on the Pangea Medicine site with a clinic in a town 15 minutes from San Josè which is described as:
Our specialized dental clinic includes dentist, doctors of dental surgery (DDS), orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, endodontics, periodontics, and aesthetic surgery all in one place. Along with these specialized dentistry services we also staff professional dental hygienists which help patients with Dental Clinic Prevention Programs. Our dentist and staff come from well known national / international universities and have been hand picked to provide patients with the best dentistry in this country. Dentist appointments are scheduled within travel packages for a nice and relaxing recovery. Get a dental solution, transportation, day tours and visit amazing places all at the same time. Take advantage of high quality dental services for much less than the United States cost. Make the most of your money and time off by touring amazing beaches and rainforests with Costa Rica dental tourism plans.

If you don’t already live here, it sounds great to me.  Costa Rica is said to be beautiful, democratic and peaceful.  The visiting American I mentioned had described a friend who had great luck with dentistry in Costa Rica.

Because health care costs have become so absurdly high in the US and,  the HMO alternative so unusable; the idea of combining tours to interesting and beautiful places while saving the cost of the trip is, indeed, a viable alternative for those who like to travel.

“A dentist with silver forceps and a necklace of large teeth, extracting the tooth of a seated man.”  Medieval print courtesy of commons.wikipedia.com.

Photo © Howard Dratch.

It has been nearly a month since I have posted.  My other blogs are languishing while I try to survive in my own changed environment, changed circumstances and interests.  However, I miss writing even if only a little.

The plan is to continue this blog, 7 Color Lagoon, with changes.  It is less about travel and living as an expatriate as it will be about global economics, photography, economic news and whatever happens to catch my eye and interest.  Links will slowly be checked and redone and the ads and Amazon store re-arranged to reflect the new subject matter.  Please support the advertisers as it helps continue the blog.

Here is a current (5/16) report from Canal Once, the Mexican news and TV network from the Polytechnic Institute in the capital city.  The 5th annual meeting of leaders of the Latin American states is being held in Lima, Peru under guard by 9000 police.  A major issue being discussed is global food supplies in light of diversions to biofuels, poverty and climatic changes.

This is an excerpt from Canal Once in Spanish,

Sumida en la pobreza sobrevive una tercera parte de la población de América Latina, son 220 millones de personas que carecen de lo indispensable. A este sector se dirigieron los trabajos de la Quinta Cumbre de Jefes de Estado de Latinoamérica, el Caribe y la Unión Europea en Lima, Perú, a la que acudieron 45 gobernantes.

Desarrollo sustentable, cambio climático y energía fueron otros de los temas principales. Se llegó a un acuerdo para analizar un posible gravamen al consumo de petróleo y gas licuado a fin de conseguir fondos que serían destinados a mejorar el medio ambiente.

The Lima meeting is concentrating on the poverty that continues to affect one-third or the Latin American population — 220 million people.  President Garcia opened remarks with the declaration that hundreds of millions of people are threatened with hunger in the midst of abundance.  The European Union is the primary donor in  humanitarian aid.

Garcia warned of the consequences of eyes closed against the food crisis and proposed increasing by 2% world agricultural production.  The Spanish president, Josè Luis Rodriquez Zapatero, lamented the impact of biofuel production on  rising food prices.  Besides Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan president, trying to turn the meeting to the political crises between his country and Columbia; the major themes were sustainable development, climate change, energy needs and funds to improve the environment.

The food crisis is not just a Market manipulation.  It may well be partly a result of what Robert Heilbroner called a “revolution of rising expectations”.  Like global warming that revolution gathered momentum slowly and is now breaking out in a rapidly ascending line.  People want things they didn’t have before nor even thought to have.  More meat in their diet (healthy or not), regular meals, cell phones, national infrastructure, TV, education, credit and consumer goods, etc.  The revolution has been won in that the world is more and more demanding that its expectations be met.  Providing those expectations may strain resources on an over-crowded planet and change the political face of many parts of the world.

Photo © Howard Dratch, 2008.  Pasta & tofu.

The world may not be waiting for this heart-healthy dish of tofu, nopal cactus, chaya leaf and zucchini but it is tired of waiting for 2 or 3 meals a day.  Now that everyone - almost - watches TV they are aware that the world has plenty of food and toys and they want a piece of the action, a slice of the pie.

Photo © Howard Dratch, 2007.

Fears of Food Shortages Rise

Rice stirs fears as the prices mounted ever higher and poorer populations rioted in anxiety over the coming famine. In the US some hysteria seems to have hit as people began hoarding rice from major groceries. The Bush people said “We have plenty of food in the U.S.” (U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Paulson reported to Reuters). He predicted food prices to rise but that the rise will be less “significant” that the rise in gas prices.

Rice has jumped to $1000 a ton which is said to be 3 times what it cost at the beginning of ‘08. Thoughts of social unrest in Asia are mounting with the cost of their staple. Africa and Haiti have seen riots as well. Here in Mexico where rice is a home-grown commodity (not that I wouldn’t like some Jasmine or Basmati before the cost the same as gas) there appears no shortage and prices remain relatively even.

“In Bangkok, some traders said Thai 100-percent B grade white rice, the world’s benchmark, could hit $1,300 a ton on demand from the number-one importer, Philippines.”

Read the CNBC report from Reuters HERE.

Since I have been posting again to my blog(s) and shooting a little, I have rebuilt the gallery of photographs of my house for sale on the shore of the Laguna Bacalar.

Visit the gallery — Bacalar House For Sale — by clicking on this link or on the blogroll in the left column.

Hot stuff, commodities. Gold and silver still drive the sane mad with greed. Food is getting popular in the financial world.

Oddly, food has been popular for a long time. Many people eat it, only some invest in it. Too large a proportion don’t have enough of it while some advanced countries grow their population super-sized.

Here in Mexico signs are needed as visuals for those who can’t read, as decoration where color is almost as necessary as food. This fellow is on the wall of a small shop that sells farm feeds, insecticides, some chile plants, seeds and such.

©Howard Dratch, 2007.

Photo © Howard Dratch, 2007.

In the face of the coming US recession — or so thinks Latin America — President Calderòn launched a new “Programa de Apoyo a la Economia”. The Program of Economic Support is to have 10 measures with which to push economic activity, investment and employment, according to Once Noticias, the website of Canal Once’s national TV network.

The purpose of the program, the new release explained, is for 60 billion pesos (about $US561,000,000) to be channeled into programs, services and discounted business services in order to expand productivity during a time of global adversity.

Agustin Carstens, secretario de Hacienda (Home Office/State Department) was quoted as saying, “La mayoría de estas medidas tendrán un horizonte temporal, pues lo que se busca es auxiliar a la economía durante el periodo en que la economía de Estados Unidos muestre una debilidad pronunciada”. Most of the points in the plan have a time horizon and are planned to help the economy of Mexico “… during the time in which the US economy shows a pronounced weakness.”

Eduardo Sojo, secretary of the Economy, stressed the need to reduce substantially costs and charges for businesses — especially small and medium — with savings of both time and resources. In a country where shipping a package from one state to another requires a long drive to a border customs station for examination, interrogation and possible corruption. It is not an economy in which it is easy to do business. However there are more and more US companies “going global” and global enterprises servicing both the developed world and the “emerging” markets.

The plan will reduce business taxes by 3%, stimulate business creation with additional support for a million entrepreneurs and simplify the arcane, usually endless commercial “tramités” (packages of forms for applications). It goes on to promise that the government will pay 5% of the costs for social security (IMSS) in order to promote more employment. Six hundred fifty million pesos will be used to set up a national employment system. In a society where people pay corruption money to obtain work in both private and public employment, this is a great undertaking to help Mexico’s labor force enter the 21st century.

Ten billion pesos will be designated for the renovation of the state-controlled oil industry’s pipelines and as an accelerant to employment. Pipelines built and maintained under the traditional system probably need renovation far sooner than those in more businesslike regions. The present government has been pushing for some privatization of the state oil industry to increase efficiency.

It is also promised that development will be especially supported in areas of poverty and special incentives will be directed at businesses in “vulnerable zones”.

The last is far more important than it would seem. The capacity for civil insurrection and violence pulses in the marginalized areas and in the indigenous tribes of the rural landscape. President Fox immediately de-clawed the would-be guerillas in Chiapas state by inviting them to Mexico City to speak in the Congress. It was a daring, needed and successful move. President Calderòne is doing something similar in an economic move that could not only co-opt future political problems but provide economic stimulus in previously ignored regions of a complex country.

The weakness of the American economy is certainly the catalyst for these actions. The possible benefits on a long-range basis far outweigh the dangers of American recession.

Much has recently been written and hoped for the “disconnection” of the U.S. credit and mortgage crises separating themselves from the European, Asian and emerging markets.  There was no disconnect.  The world has become tied together in all its dealings — economic, political, social, technological and violent.  It’s a small world, brother.

This is the quick visit to a nursery on the highway from Bacalar to Chetumal. There is a nonchalant elegance to the mash of tropical plants — some for sale and some growing prettily that come with a quizzical look. “Of course they are not for sale. They are growing. Yes. It is the only one we have.” So goes the business acumen of many. It is not a commercial society, not totally comfortable with the concept of capitalism.

A NEW GALLERY OF PICTURES FROM A RECENT TRIP TO A LOCAL NURSERY HAS BEEN POSTED.

This is the newly-painted barda (perimeter wall) with the steel gates (porton) that help to shield the house and property from the street.

It has been so long since I have been posting to this and to my other blogs and sites that it is hard to get over whatever block has kept me from it.  One way is these short posts and pictures.  The pictures are important to me and have become so much easier since I bought my first digital camera in September.

My velador — gardener/guard/assistant — pushing me to get out of the house more than I have been tempted me with a nursery in the jungle nearby.  He wanted to do some planting in the “front” of the house facing the lagoon.  The winds and slight salinity of the air may make it hard to grow things there but we chose bougainvillea (bugambilla in Spanish) for its sturdiness and beautiful blooms.  We motored over to the newish nursery (vivero) and then creeped home with the Jetta laden with plants.

A gallery of the pictures is being readied or I will post some more here but, as a teaser, is the young son of the Mayan family who tend the plants.  It is not mall-world in L.A.  This lad was as fascinated by the pictures floating in the screen on the back of my Nikon D40x as he was by the old foreigner who spoke with an accent.  Of course, this campesino Mayan family did not exactly speak the king’s Spanish either.  Their local accent was thick.  I collected some plants and some images.