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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Work and Play in Nicaragua Work and Play in Nicaragua by Bill Bonner We sat on the terrace of Antonio's house…listening to the waves on the beach below and eating lobster that had been pulled out of the ocean just in front of us.Antonio's family had owned the property and raised cattle and horses on it. After we showed him what we were doing, he decided to join us. He bought one of the best lots and built a house. It has three bedrooms and a roof made of palm leaves. The bedrooms are airconditioned, but the main section of the house is completely open -- looking out over a pool and the ocean behind it. The temperature is never too cold and never too hot -- with the help of the sea breeze -- so you can spend your time outside comfortably. Antonio's mother had come over to supervise the meal. She added a touch of femininity to the all-male group. But after she left, the whiskey and cigars came out…and the talk turned to the most popular subject among ambitious, middle-aged, Type-A males -- money. Money is a curious subject. We were all there because we had some money and wanted to make more. But what made the place nice had nothing to do with money. The sea breeze takes no account of your personal balance sheet when it rushes by. The ocean was just as blue to a pauper as it was to a George Soros or Ted Turner. The sun was just as bright. Even penniless Nicaraguans ate the lobster they fished out of the sea -- or maybe the red snapper we had the next day. “Work is play for mortal stakes is the deed ever really done for heaven and the future’s sakes.” We wanted what the locals already had -- to sit around, enjoy the beautiful place, drink beer, talk. But we could not afford it. Leisure time is too expensive. Their time is cheap, because there is little market for it. Ours is so valuable that we have little available to do what we want. But you don't make money so you can enjoy life. You make money so you can feel good about yourself, that is…feel superior to other people. And that means you have to give up many of the good things in life. You have to work, instead of play. But the real trick is to turn work into play…for only when "work is play for mortal stakes is the deed ever really done for heaven and the future's sakes." …to quote Robert Frost… This project in Nicaragua has been both work and play. My partners are already designing the homes they will build. I have one in mind, too -- but it is in a section of dramatic cliffs…which is still unavailable for building. And we are already making money. When we first came to Nicaragua a couple of years ago, the Pacific Coast was almost untouched. We thought it was inevitable that it would soon become developed. It is too close to the United States…and too beautiful to be ignored. So we decided to do our own development -- creating a place we could sell and a place that we would like ourselves. Work and play. I mentioned a piece of property we bought in Baltimore. The price in real terms on that property went down over the last 100 years by at least 80%. But while property values in Baltimore were falling, they were rising on the California coast. In the early part of the century, the "New York Times" carried an ad for a bungalow on the beach in Malibu, California. It was for sale, if I recall correctly, for $6,000. How much is it worth today? I don't know, but I will bet that it is worth many times that amount. Poster Comment: Eugene Hasenfus was shot down over Nicaragua during Iran-Contra in 1986 while flying arms to the Contras. ;) Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
#1. To: BTP Holdings (#0)
f%ck nicaragua. commie shitehole. but dirtcheap and full of sexy putas. i've been there ~20 times for a long weekend and i pray the whole time the border will be open when it's time to exit.
Mike Rivero said their crime rate has gone down while ours has gone up since Obama opened the Border.
remember the mariel boatlift ?
#4. To: All (#3)
visiting cuba, nicaragua and vzuela is different than living there.
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