10 Reasons Not to live in Latin America

From a single women's perspective, from Colombia. In her comments she also suggests 10 reason to live in Colombia. Interesting amidst all the fluff we read about Mexico. Interesting about the fear of the common cold, the reaction to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico could have been culturally based.

http://www.latinworld.com/2010/ten-negatives-in-my-opinion-of-living-in-latin-america.htm

CHILLIN wrote:From a single women's perspective, from Colombia. In her comments she also suggests 10 reason to live in Colombia. Interesting amidst all the fluff we read about Mexico. Interesting about the fear of the common cold, the reaction to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico could have been culturally based.

http://www.latinworld.com/2010/ten-negatives-in-my-opinion-of-living-in-latin-america.htm

What reaction? The over-reaction due to pressure from other countries to an "outbreak" that never happened?

Funny, I just don't see most of those as negatives. Truth, for the most part but not negative.
Ice cubes in a cold beverage and wet hair are also pretty much a death sentence , I catch he'll for that kind of thing all the time. Got a sore throat and want a Popsicle? What ? Do you want to DIE?
" Gorda" is a term of endearment...one my husband learned not to use a long time ago. Strange she would be offended by that.
It did take me a while to get used to people asking how much I paid for a horse or whatever...big no-no where I come from but perfectly acceptable here.
I think the title was all wrong.

seisdedos wrote:
What reaction? The over-reaction due to pressure from other countries to an "outbreak" that never happened?

I thought the Mexican government's reaction to the flu scare was pretty good.Mas vale prevenir que lamentar.

Girl has no clue about Latin culture, maybe some jealousy!

Prevenir que? The whole swine flu pandemic was completely overblown.

Regarding the behavior when someone has a cold: Do you think she is talking about the drama when someone is not feeling well? I mean, have you had any Mexican friends with colds? I can picture one of my friends, last October, with a scarf tied around her neck and a jacket buttoned up because she had a cold. And this person has had a post secondary education. I think there is something to be said about that.... the idea that cold drinks or cold weather is going to give you a head cold. Then again.... my Grandma thought the same thing.

seisdedos wrote:Prevenir que? The whole swine flu pandemic was completely overblown.

If you read Bill Bryson's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything you will find out exactly how scary the swine flu was, compared to the other previous swine flu pandemic in 1918 which killed 50 million people. It started as a highly contagious illness which caused people to be sleepy - so sleepy they would die. Then it morphed into the more familiar swine flu symptoms, affecting mostly younger, healthy people, not the elderly and infants, and it quickly spread all over the world. The weird thing was that it would appear in one country, then another, almost simultaneously - even though there was no airline flights between them. The first stage has never reappeared, and a cure or vaccination for the original swine flu strain has never been discovered. It is a medical mystery, and very, very, scary to public health officials.

Bryson's book is all about how fragile and unique this planet really is.

CHILLIN wrote:

seisdedos wrote:Prevenir que? The whole swine flu pandemic was completely overblown.

If you read Bill Bryson's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything you will find out exactly how scary the swine flu was, compared to the other previous swine flu pandemic in 1918 which killed 50 million people. It started as a highly contagious illness which caused people to be sleepy - so sleepy they would die. Then it morphed into the more familiar swine flu symptoms, affecting mostly younger, healthy people, not the elderly and infants, and it quickly spread all over the world. The weird thing was that it would appear in one country, then another, almost simultaneously - even though there was no airline flights between them. The first stage has never reappeared, and a cure or vaccination for the original swine flu strain has never been discovered. It is a medical mystery, and very, very, scary to public health officials.

Bryson's book is all about how fragile and unique this planet really is.

There were only 20 deaths (some sources say even less) attributed to the swine flu in Mexico and those could possibly be from other conditions. More people die every year here from common forms of the flu. The media hysteria did far more harm. Tourism took a big hit and caused great economic damage to the country.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/10/swine-flu-pandemic-less-lethal

A doctor friend of mine who is the head of infectious diseases (in children) at Hospital Civil in Guadalajara says the whole thing was botched from the beginning.

As far as the original piece that started this thread, it was written by a 25-year-old.

I think you read that wrong - there were something like 183 deaths in Mexico just last year, 2012. All influenza viruses cannot be 'cured' until there is an outbreak, it has to be stopped while it is in motion. All influenza are a strain of the Spanish Flu - they can be deadly, or maybe not. The Spanish Flu killed more people than the bubonic plague and AIDS. It acts against the immune system like AIDS but is highly infectious and airborne.

It was not media hysteria, it was pure luck. It reminds me of hurricane warnings on the coast(s) - roll of the dice.

CHILLIN wrote:I think you read that wrong - there were something like 183 deaths in Mexico just last year, 2012. All influenza viruses cannot be 'cured' until there is an outbreak, it has to be stopped while it is in motion. All influenza are a strain of the Spanish Flu - they can be deadly, or maybe not. The Spanish Flu killed more people than the bubonic plague and AIDS. It acts against the immune system like AIDS but is highly infectious and airborne.

It was not media hysteria, it was pure luck. It reminds me of hurricane warnings on the coast(s) - roll of the dice.

183 deaths in a population of 110,000,000. And that was without taking nearly any of the precautions taken during the media driven scare of 2009. I'd say you scare easily.

Is not that big a deal unless it happened to someone you knew.

espíritu del lago wrote:Is not that big a deal unless it happened to someone you knew.

Dude, the odds are extremely low that someone will die of the virus. There are probably more deaths from other strains of the flu. None of this justifies the precautions taken in 2009. Those same precautions were not observed last year and yet the number of deaths was minute, damn near 1 in 1,000,000. If schools were being closed, blah, blah blah and the press reporting epidemics and causing large economic hardships on many people for illnesses that hold those odds then we are truly paranoid.

let's not go to the excited states because even more people die from flu their annually.
i have been unable to contact my expert on statistics,george carlin, to verify what the #'s are. i hope he has not succumbed to flu

seisdedos wrote:Prevenir que? The whole swine flu pandemic was completely overblown.

Would it have been better if they had downplayed it?What if it had turned out to be as bad as it could have been,then you'd really be bitching about their response or lack thereof,as far as the school closings go, that was only for a couple of days while they were being disinfected,I didn't see any panic in the streets,just a run on "cubre bocas" and anti-bacterial soap.

I guess you missed the sarcasm... 《 ★~★》

Pedro wrote:let's not go to the excited states

What's up with your constant US bashing?

viajero wrote:

seisdedos wrote:Prevenir que? The whole swine flu pandemic was completely overblown.

Would it have been better if they had downplayed it?What if it had turned out to be as bad as it could have been,then you'd really be bitching about their response or lack thereof,as far as the school closings go, that was only for a couple of days while they were being disinfected,I didn't see any panic in the streets,just a run on "cubre bocas" and anti-bacterial soap.

How about a proper response like they do for most illnesses? You have a problem with that? How about all of the health resources wasted fighting a press driven illusion, the public health workers manning checkpoints in places such as airports, going door to door in many areas. Inspectors visiting hotels and restaurants and those being closed for something that irresponsible media representatives created? There was no fucking epidemic. Calderon was forced into taking measures dictated by outside influences, mainly the US government via the CDC, who I lost all faith in, and trying to salvage Mexico's undeserved image as a virus infested country. Gringos have become a nation of chicken littles. Must be a bitch to be so afraid all of the time.

viajero wrote:

Pedro wrote:let's not go to the excited states

What's up with your constant US bashing?

Thin skin, gringo?

It's not about being paranoid, it's like Bill Bryson's book - it wonderous how little we know about our planet and the things that live on it. The human body hosts something like 10,000 strains of bacteria. If you dug up one cup of soil and examined all living things there, something like 80% of them would be unidentified scientifically. Move 15 feet away, another cup of soil, another 80%, different than the previous one.

Modern medicine is essentially a confidence game. The number of people who die from diseases contracted while in hospital or nursing homes is truly staggering. Hospitals host diseases which only exist in hospitals.

So you can stumble along with a sense of wonder, or a sense of fear - I choose wonder.

seisdedos wrote:

viajero wrote:

Pedro wrote:let's not go to the excited states

What's up with your constant US bashing?

Thin skin, gringo?

No mames cabron,y por favor no seas tan hipotricra.

viajero wrote:

seisdedos wrote:

viajero wrote:

Pedro wrote:let's not go to the excited states

What's up with your constant US bashing?

Thin skin, gringo?

No mames cabron,y por favor no seas tan hipotricra.

Vete a la verga, mamoncito.

seisdedos wrote:

viajero wrote:

seisdedos wrote:

viajero wrote:

Pedro wrote:let's not go to the excited states

What's up with your constant US bashing?

Thin skin, gringo?

No mames cabron,y por favor no seas tan hipotricra.

Vete a la verga, mamoncito.

Ve tu primero,y despues me dices como te fue.

confused wrote:Regarding the behavior when someone has a cold: Do you think she is talking about the drama when someone is not feeling well? I mean, have you had any Mexican friends with colds? I can picture one of my friends, last October, with a scarf tied around her neck and a jacket buttoned up because she had a cold. And this person has had a post secondary education. I think there is something to be said about that.... the idea that cold drinks or cold weather is going to give you a head cold. Then again.... my Grandma thought the same thing.

"Putting on the agony" is typically Latin.