At Home On Heaven’s Mountain

Jan. 27, 2012, Medellin, Colombia: Monticello is a private mountainside development community less than an hour outside Medellin, Colombia.

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

Carlos Nieto is a Colombian American who returned home to his native Medellin about a year ago.

Carlo's family has a finca, a country estate, less than an hour outside downtown Medellin. Any Medellin family with the money to afford it would have a finca outside the city. There are 26 national holidays in Colombia. Paisas (as the people of Medellin are known) like to enjoy them at their country houses.

Carlo's family's finca is called Monticello (that is, Heaven's Mountain). It's north of Medellin, just past the town of Copacabana. Now that Carlos is back home, he's had an idea.

Children’s Christmas In Casco Viejo

Dec. 25, 2011, Stowe, Vermont: The children of l'Ecole Paul Gauguin in Panama City, Panama, celebrated Christmas with a concert in the 300-year-old Teatro Anita Villalaz in the center of Casco Viejo's Plaza de Francia.

Also This Week: Christmas In Cuenca--Celebrating El Pase del Niño Viajero...Caribbean Christmas...Settling In...Why Costa Rica May Become One Of The Least Attractive Retirement Choices In The World... 

Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,

A few nights before we departed Panama for our holiday visit here in the States, we assembled in Casco Viejo for Jackson's Christmas spectacle.

Our son Jack, 12, attends the French school in Panama City. L'Ecole Paul Gauguin is a small school, with about 200 students in total, many, surprising to me at first, Panamanian. Why would a Panamanian family, living in Panama City, choose to send their children to a French-language, French-curriculum school? I still don't know the answer to that question, but the result, for us, is charming.

Unexpected Welcome

Dec. 27, 2010, Nha Trang, Vietnam: Safe, friendly, welcoming, affordable Nha Trang, Vietnam, is an emerging top retire overseas choice in Asia.

Congratulations, Meredith DuHamel, the Grand Prize Winner of our Christmas Around The World Trivia Competition on Facebook.

Meredith has won two free conference registrations and, along with a friend, will be joining us, as our guest, for any event on our 2011 calendar.

Meredith, we look forward to meeting you in the New Year!

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

"The Vietnamese must be the most forgiving people in the world," writes Asia Correspondent Wendy Justice. "Even as we've become more familiar with this country, the kind nature of these people is still baffling to us.

How Ed Is Reinventing His Life In Medellin, Colombia

Jan. 26, 2012, Medellin, Colombia: American Ed Bayer is reinventing his life as a foreign resident and investor in Medellin, Colombia.

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

"Years ago, when my son was young, I was the leader for his Boy Scouts troop. Working with the boys, I realized that none of them had been more than a few miles beyond the Pennsylvania town where we were living. So I decided I was going to take them to New York."

Speaking was Ed Bayer, one of the resident expats we're introducing to attendees at this week's Live and Invest in Colombia Conference taking place in Medellin.

"So," Ed continued this morning, "I took 65 10-year-olds to Manhattan. I only lost three or four.

"Seriously, we had a great trip. We toured all over the city.