soniamarsh.com What's it like to live in Belize? Two aspects of expat life in Belize, Central America, I did not expect. Shopping gringo style, and visiting a Belizean Orthodontist for my teenage son to get braces.
This video was 8:16 minutes I'll never get back. Please, someone tell us about life in Belize. It was like watching a video about a drama queen from Hollywood that couldn't find Adidas for her kids at the Mall.
You people don't understand that this woman is not just a delusional California suburbanite. No, she is also an ARTIST who has observed those happy brown-skinned people who are native to Belize and now explains their primitive lives to us.
Jackle61 The medicine is expensive here to the limit. companies that make a plier charge $300 because the metal of the plier is tested safe. It is the same alloy everywhere and the test for that alloy is needed once per batch of metla not individual plier.
You lived in one of the most expensive places in Belize. Other parts have normal prices on goods and we have numerous fresh food markets with a wide variety of both fruits and vegetables. I don't know which dentist's office you visited but based on your shady description, it doesn't sound like a good one. We have very professional dentists and doctors in Belize with very nice and well equipped offices. Please explore other parts of Belize before making such generalized observations. Yes, we are third world but we are very developed in general. Anyone who's seen this video, please don't take it all in as Belize as a whole.
+Ebony Cornish Ambergris Caye is very beautiful, and definitely the most expensive place to live. It would be like living in an all inclusive resort in Cabo San Lucas for a year. Doesnt count as living in Mexico. It is interesting to get your take on it though, thanks for sharing.
Hello Ebony, thank you for your post. What you are saying immediately caught my attention. My partner, myself and a friend are considering relocating to Belize. I would be very interested in talking with you about the truth and realities of moving and living there, if you have a moment or two. This video really is not helpful and the long friggin dialog about the braces isn't helpful.
It was a pleasure to listen to your story. You had such a lovely demeanor and you made it very interesting indeed. Thanks for the post and and ignore the negativity from some of the rude and crude posters, :-)
The point she brought out was not to be pre-judgmental of third-world countries. That's a good way to think. She mentioned that Belize is a third-world country, so she does realize it's a developing one (in answer to your question). A third-world country is a developing country.
sweetcoolie gyal My grandpa lived in Belize for 25 yrs he emigrated from London to Gardena Village. It was very beautiful, I came to visit twice before he passed away in 2016. I wish now I had visited much earlier and been able to share his experience. I would definitely live there, the people are wonderful and talented. It has so much potential to thrive given just the chance to blossom even further.
your kids lost weight not because they were starving but because the food quality was better and less fat and sugar than in 1st world countries:) not to mention all the yummy processed foods are expensive in Belize...another thing to be thankful for:)
British expats in Belize can avoid UK taxation through a pension transfer. Avoid 55% tax upon death and UK income taxes. We are also working on solutions for American expats. Contact us at QROPS Specialists for more.
Very good clip but RU-vid and Google are not letting me share. I do two expat channels here and invite everyone to drop in. I am American and have been in France for nearly 20 years. I was totally unprepared for life here, I was afloat at age 37! Almost no one puts out true info I find, very frustrating!
lol I'm sorry, the message was for someone who keeps bashing on Belize. Every video about Belize he talks about it being the most horrible country in the world... I'm glad you chose Belize to spend time. I hope you really enjoyed your time there. I'm from Orange Walk :-)
Everyone in Belize is a real estate agent flipper. I've been going there for diving (Cayman is far better, especially Little Cayman Island best wall diving in the World 20ft to 6000 90 degree drop! Incredible) Cayman Island is a First World Country because it has no vast poverty due to lack of slavery history -no agriculture there really. Also there are no income taxes, unlike Belize which has taxes on every foreigner who owns property there. Poverty is everywhere due to huge population of Indians. Go for yourself.
Sonia, thank you for posting this video. I've been curious about Belize for some years and it looks wonderful. I was wondering (if its not too personal) - I'd very much like to know what made you leave Belize after only a year. I hear about so many pro's with the odd comments on cultural or shopping habits. In many cases I've read about people staying there to write ex-pat books and leaving after only 1-3 years. The bulk of available expat research material seems to come from sources like this. I imagine there must be a negative side that really doesn't get explained in detail or I would figure people would stay much longer. Would you be able to shed some light on this for me? Thank you.
You can e-mail me at sonia@soniamarsh.com. Our reason was we couldn't get a business going. Plus after a while we missed "intellectual stimulation" like book stores, movies, new people to discuss and network with.
Sonia Marsh thank you so much for the response. I may take you up on the email offer. I get the impression from my research that there are many unexpected financial challenges to Belize. This is the kind of thing I'm looking to find answers for as I'm having a little difficulty planning a solid budget for "just in case" scenarios.
Dear sonia , I enjoyed your story immensly , we immigrated from canada to the usa. Please ignore the negative commentators, their just jealous,.What an adventure!
What is the situation is that they use older technolgies in these countries like doctors & dentist were doing say 50-60-70-80-90 plus years ago in America & other Western First World Like the way she describes the dental chair, it was a type of dental chair dentist used decades ago here in America , because my dentist as a kid had such a chair 50 plus years ago! however the older medical & dental technologies are still efficient today!
yep your book came to day will comment more when clearly its a book I want to read thats why I am writing here wishing you and your family the best until then bye.
Loved your story. Sounds like you had a great experience there in a year. Question: Are fresh ripe sweet fruits abundant in Belize? They may up 80% of my diet. And what about dark leafy greens and tender leafy greens too? Are these readily availalbe- are fruits and leafy greens grown there or are they shipped in?
Chris, we had mangos, tomatoes, bananas and pineapples. Green veggies are scarce, like broccoli and lettuce. They are imported from the US. When are you looking to move?
+RUcookoo was your human rights honored, when the U.S pushed anti terrorism laws after 9/11 and made the rest of the western world do the same? You're a bit slow. Belize is not south American. If you dont know anything about the country shut your trap. Its not a Latin American, it was a British colony like the rest of the English caribbean, so there is a western legal system. Yes its probably slow as a snail, but there is one....minus the odd back hand bribe like any American business situation
Hi Sonia. Great video, thanks for sharing. We're actually doing the footwork to move to Belize from America and one of our daughters is about to get braces here. Was wondering how much they cost on Ambergris just as a reference. Thanks.
Jim, We paid about 1/4 of the price for braces in Belize, compared to the U.S. We were extremely happy with the results, and the orthodontist back in CA said he would have done the same treatment with the same products.
Please reconsider your move to Belize, Jim. We had some valuable land stolen from us by Belizean government officials. The government is very corrupt. The country is not the safest. Import duties are very high. It can take a long time to get something you need shipped to you. The country is vulnerable to hurricanes. The one big advantage Belize has is that English is widely spoken. A much better bet in my opinion is Panama. There are more government inducements to retire there than Belize ( become a PENSIANADO), health care is better, there are still tax incentives to buy property, the country uses the US dollar for its currency (although they call it the Balboa), property in many places is still very reasonable and there are some very beautiful locales, banking is huge. The country gets considerable income from the canal, which is being expanded to accept larger ships. You can get about anything you need more easily in Panama than Belize. A new metro system is now being built to relieve traffic in Panama City, you have your choice of oceans, or you could live in the cooler mountains. The Panama government is stable- I wonder about Belize. True you should learn some Spanish for Panama, but to me that is the one and only advantage Belize has over Panama. If you have not done so already do some research on what Panama has to offer and consider visiting. I think you will be happier, and safer, there than Belize.
Hi Sonia. Would you mind if I contact you via email? My partner and I are seriously thinking of buying land on undeveloped/ lots on Secret Beach and Ambergis Caye for retirement and rentals ( until we retire). I’d appreciate any information you can share and refer us to others living or lived in the places I mentioned. Thank you in advance. My email: juliey2k@aol.com.
Are you sure your friends aren't involved in those type of things because it is rare to hear those type of stories from people with healthy relations I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it's more frequent in that type of enviornment. I'm really sorry for your loss. But you can't be judging the whole country like that.
Belize is a typical caribbean country like its counter part in south america, guyana. these countries did not develop properly, because all money was taken to UK and they have very small populations, .because they they were mostly protestant. ...Unlike the Spanish Latin American countries around them which have huge populations because they are catholic, and are more built up. You cannot compare them
Unless you have actually been there - you are clueless. There is poverty on Ambergris Caye. As for food shopping - everything is double or more and choices are limited. Most people travel around in golf carts or walk. Dirt roads everywhere unless you are driving in and around San Pedro. Gas prices are high and they don't make change when you buy gas or maybe that is just for Americans. You will not find many modern conveniences. A lot of expats I met come from Canada. Others that live there are trying to hide from their country or fall off the grid. If you are looking for the beautiful beaches head north otherwise you will only find Sargasso seaweed strewn everywhere along the beach and makes the water un-swimmable. Most of the water is only about a foot or 2 deep anyway unless you find a few local swimming holes. If you go - get some good wings at Average Joes. Other wise go to Georges Place for some good food and Crazy Canucks for some good drinks and entertainment. Good Luck.
btw you book is very condescending iv lived thier 10+ years i really feel sorry for you. 6:00 "but all I could here was the president of belize's speech in the radio" 6:035 this is very small example of why you are un qualified to place a commentary on the country of Belize. and if any one reading this this i am crazy for stating my cualms with this women the pleaze research president of belize
WE HAVE NO PRESIDENT..smh..lol. Justin, do not worry about your English. This is public, cyber converstaion. You are not writing an essay for anyone that will grade you. Actually, we write English and we do not speak it to each other, we speak and write KRIOL aka Creole. We speak English only to foreigners..get it "english SPEAKING country". We are bilingual.
belize vibes exactly what i was pointing out its prime minister DB receded by mussa an eh cronies dem but weh i truly me de try fi point out da de lady de tak lone fool ca e noh got nuff unastaning a de tru belizean de an pepole like she and mcafe give belize a bad name. i use a dose werk ina securtiy all ova cayo illusions fiya wata rumba room eagles landing hell even el mangito en i see wah lotta de com and live fe wal lee 5 years and go home an bad mouth belize lik nuttun an dat vex me bad. but mabey this whole ting da my falt ca mabey me got meh han ina tiga mout fe talk da unu
Wonderful place, happy people, a fresh start, and beautiful place to live......! don't listen to the sad sacks and pickled faces its your choice to have a wonderful time......
If you don't like the so called "facts" then get out... how about if you read more about the world itself... Every country has it's flaws there is no perfect and peaceful place out there.
