Sunday, July 16, 2006
THE MOVE!!
My wife and 2 small children finally moved to Honduras in mid June. She has not run into problems as of yet. Maybe the only one was the kids' school, in the sense that since its the capital, I guess the demand for available spaces is a lot more. We were unable to find space for both our boys in our 2 top choices - they would take one but not the other. It seems the younger the children the harder it is to get in. We did however, find a spot for both in another bilingual school (which I will admit was my kids favorite!). The first line of business was to get internet service (so we could use vonage) and call the US every day. Our biggest expense is the children's school, everything else is minor in comparison to Louisiana, except maybe the internet service. The school is 60% foreigners and I guess that is the reason why it is so expensive, but.. my kids fell in love with it. We reached our decision of what schools to apply to by finding out how many children from the graduating class were going abroad for collage. There are more than 3 excellent bilingual schools, of course. Our house should be finished in march and we have not run into any major problems as of yet. We hired an engineer to build the house and she seems to be doing a good job. It will be ready in about 9 months (February 2007). ... We just bought a car, a 2006 SUV Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 2x4, for $27,000. I am including prices because I have received several emails requesting specific information. The children are enrolled in Tennis camp right now and it is $75 a month for 2 hours a day/5 days/week with about 4-5 kids/instructer. Food is relatively cheap, about $50/week for all 3. Energy bill is around $80/month -it can be cheaper, but my wife does not care for drying clothes in the sun. The maid is $200/month full time for a GOOD one. You can find one cheaper with no experience. Minimum wage is abouth $155/month. Our budget is about $1,800/month for all 3 of them. We have not checked health insurance costs yet but we will keep you informed. But to give you an idea on the cost of medical care, our attorney just had a tummy tuck for $3,000 (all costs included). The cost of a doctors visit (US/Europe graduate) is about $25 without insurance. There are of course cheaper doctors, specially in small towns. To all those who have sent emails, I hope this helps.
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2 comments:
Jeff this question is kind of off the subject. I am moving to Honduras next summer my husband is from honduras as of this moment we are in the US, he has told me about Honduras and what it is like and of course you are always going to talk up your own country that is where you are from and you are proud of it and I am not knocking him for that, but I would like to know from another persons point of view, what is it like in Honduras, I see that you have included prices on things and that is great, I am talking about the people, weather, jobs, and is it as poor as people really talk about?
Dear Anonymous,
This question is hard to answer because everyone is different in there expectations. Just like you, I'm moving to Honduras because my spouse is Honduran. Have you ever visited Honduras? It does seem like you have from your question, so I would urge you to visit for at least several weeks if you are contemplating moving there.
The weather varies according to where you are, the North Coast and San Pedro Sula are hot and humid. Tegucigalpa is in the mountains and the climate is very nice, warm during the day, cool at night. The South Coast is hot and arrid.
The people I have met are great, but it is hard to generalize. It is like any other place, you will meet nice people and some that are not so nice.
With regards to poverty, there is no getting around the fact that Honduras is a poor country and the vast majority of people live in poverty. But with that having been said, it depends on the social circle you are with. The expatriate community runs the gambit...with some people just wanting a cheap place to live and others very cosmopolitan.
I don't think I answered your question, but I really believe it is something you have to see and find for yourself. (Or you can just take your husband's word for it!)
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