Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with SouthAmerica

Looking for a Diamond (not Justin)

namewithhe1d — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:26:53 -0800

It's Diamond time people. Where in the Americas could you find the best deal on a certified Diamond? South America? Central America? Blue Nile? It's probably worth a flight to buy a diamond if it's thousands cheaper, no? Or do I just need to take matters into my own hands? I don't care if it's rough or set... I'm just looking for a high quality certified diamond for a you-know-what special occasion. Minimum 1 carat, in case you were wondering. Trying to get this ready by New Years... I'm under pressure now.

Christmas '09 Mini-Vacation Suggestions?

OuttaHere — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:14:56 -0800

Christmas '09 Mini-Vacation with the Fam. I need your suggestions Me-Fi! Ok, so I haven't seen my family in a while, and decided I would like to go on a trip with them for Christmas. We live on the East Coast and are looking to get off the mainland to spend some time together. We are looking for a good place to relax, drink some beverages and get a little culture in our lives as well.

We are spanish speakers and were thinking of places along the lines of Dominican Republic or Costa Rica. I would even take a trip down to South America, but I'm not trying to break the bank.

Does anyone out there have suggestions, anecdotes, or perhaps cheap flight ideas on a good place to go? It doesn't need to be a spanish speaking country, I just like to practice my spanish whenever I can. Also, I would like to go to a place where there are people to hang out with, party, etc.

Like I said, I'm not trying to break the bank but all suggestions would be considered ie. Carribean, South America, Central America etc.

Thanks!

Cotton or synthetic fibres

lahersedor — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:52:08 -0800

Should one wear cotton or synthetic fibres in a tropical country ? I'm visiting guyana and the tourism website advises "Bring clothes made of cotton (avoid synthetic fibers) ". What is the justification for this ? I prefer synthetic fibers in hot & humid weather.

breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Chile?

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:37:03 -0800

You are a resident of Chile. What do you eat? I want to spend a month eating like a Chilean. I ordered this book , but want to do some research before it arrives. Some specific questions are below, but any related info would be of interest!

1. What are the eating schedule and rituals (early dinner vs late dinner; small meals vs large meals; utensil use vs eating by hand)?
2. What would typical days of food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) look like (including, for instance, when you don't necessarily want to cook, but just throw something together)?
3. Do you drink water, tea, wine, beer?
4. What's in your pantry?

Non-U.S.-centric web content and design

kalapierson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:20:24 -0800

Non-U.S. residents: Aside from language issues, what issues can U.S. web designers keep in mind to make their sites ideally usable for you? I'm U.S. born/based and I'm working on a new version of my website. For the moment, it will be English-language-only (when I can afford it, my first priority is to get my short-form bio and a little practical info translated into as many languages as possible). I'm a classical composer and my non-U.S. projects & performances so far have mostly involved people in Europe and Australia/NZ. I want my site to welcome all users as much as possible, especially from regions I haven't dealt with much yet (Asia, Africa, South America).

This is oddly hard to Google (because in most cases, web internationalization = language encoding issues), but below are some things I've thought of so far. Please add your ideas. Thank you!

MATERIAL ISSUES:

• make any downloadable PDFs available in both A4 and Letter;

• be sure I'm not embedding (or linking to) media from any sites that only work for U.S.-based users;

• when offering anything for sale, use a payment/shipping method that excludes as few countries as possible (and on my site, mention the approximate prices in at least USD, EUR and UKP).

EDITORIAL ISSUES:

• use words, not numbers, for the month in all dates (10/11/2009 is bad notation -- is that in Oct or Nov?);

• in any random list of cities (e.g., when listing my upcoming events), name the country in every case so USA doesn't feel like the default assumption ("Lisbon, Portugal" / "Chicago, USA" / "Tokyo, Japan" );

• include free alternatives to phone numbers (email, Skype, etc.) wherever possible;

• express U.S. phone numbers without default-USA assumption (start with +1, not just the 3-digit area code).

[• this is just symbolic welcoming, but the front page will include a decorative list of non-English words for composer, with as many non-European words as possible.]

Where would you live if you could live anywhere?

borkingchikapa — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:16:19 -0800

I just finished undergrad. I don't have any particular attachment to this city and I don't think I can handle another winter here, so I want to buy a one-way ticket to somewhere interesting and find a new place to live. I've done this before and I'm not really concerned about the logistics, I just need somewhere cool to start my life. I want to leave the US and I'm thinking South America, but all suggestions welcome! If I had my druthers I'd pick a medium-sized city with great weather (leaning towards hot is better) and a lot of young people/creative types. Who wouldn't, I guess. All the obvious stuff, too - cheap, easy to get work visas, etc. I want to become a photographer, but I taught English for a year and I'm sure I can use that anywhere.

I also want to be outside of America. I know there are cool places in this country, but if I'm going to go to all the trouble to move I'd like it to be somewhere a little more off the wall than San Francisco. I've spent about a year and a half total between Japan and Southeast Asia, and while I love them both I'd like to see something new. Many people who know these kinds of things have told me South America is fantastic, so I'm leaning in that direction. I'm pretty sure I could figure Spanish out, and a plane ticket to Lima is only 300 bucks.

I've got enough savings to bum around for two or three months, but instead of backpacking like a jackass I want to go with the pointed intention of finding someplace I want to live. I once asked "What's your favorite place in the world?," but I feel like that's a different question.

So, Metafilter, if you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Patagonia Panoramas

netbros — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:02:27 -0800

Please tell me about your experiences in the beautiful mountainous regions of Patagonia, South America. I have always marveled from afar at the exquisite scenery of the Patagonia area in Chile and Argentina. Someday soon, I want to travel there during the South American summer. For those who have spent time in and around Patagonia, please help me with logistical concerns I should consider. I am North American. Where would you suggest as the best town for a home base? What is the best way to get around from sight to sight? Are you better off at the touristy national park areas, or is it all open and available to hikers and campers? What should you not miss? What should you stay away from? Are there any unusual safety issues to consider? What is a fair amount of time to allot for an extended vacation? What questions am I not asking that I should? Thank you in advance for your help.

Who services the south american cinema industry?

lazaruslong — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:38:52 -0800

Please help me build a roster of South and Central American Cinema Technical and Service companies. Bonus points for ones with bilingual sites / staff. I'm having a really hard time with the research to build a list of Central and South American Cinema Service companies.

Pretty much I'm looking for companies that sell / install cinema equipment like projectors and platters and speakers in Central and South America.

I speak and read a basic amount of Spanish, so either is fine, but ones that are bilingual in English as well are a great bonus.

Al sur.

donpedro — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:57:21 -0800

Requesting travel, transport and itinerary suggestions for southern and western South America. I have a guide book for the continent and ideas about where I want to go, but the distances seem vast and I'm having trouble envisioning how to string together several destinations in multiple countries without spending a fortune. Difficult to tell where overland travel is or is not feasible.

* Time frame: 18 days, including travel down and back from North America. I live near a major international airport that has direct flights to many South American cities.
* Time of year: March (i.e. Southern Hemisphere late summer, early fall).
* Budget: TBD, though certainly not unlimited. I imagine airfare will be the single greatest expense.

Things I'm interested in seeing:
* Usuhaia, Argentina, and nearby parks. Tierra del Fuego.
* Glaciares National Park, Argentina. Specifically, a hike around Cerro Torre. -Or- Torres del Paine in Chile.
* Santiago, Chile.
* Atacama Desert.
* Lake Titicaca and/or La Paz, Bolivia.
* Cuzco/Machu Picchu.

I seriously doubt I could see all that in the given period of time. Does anybody with experience traveling in the region have any good suggestions for how to do as much as possible, without being a total road warrior? Any particularly obvious links between places, such as good short reliable ground transport between Cuzco and Bolivia? Are flights between Santiago and Argentine Patagonia/Usuhaia reasonable? Etc. This is a rather expansive question, I realize, and am very appreciative of any advice you're willing to offer.

About me:
* U.S. citizen.
* Fairly travel-savvy and mobile, does not require luxurious accomodations.
* Fluent in Spanish.
* Has been in South America previously (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay).

How can I start an NGO?

mateuslee — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:06:06 -0800

How do I go about creating an NGO to help a remote village in S. America? I am a researcher who works in remote parts of South America. On a recent trip, I came across some communities who were really in need of development aid. I won't outline here the details, but the point is I would like to set-up an NGO to benefit these communities by, for example, sending them textbooks and school supplies, as well as other donations etc. Simultaneously, I would like to promote language/cultural documentation and/or preservation.

My question is, what is the best way to get this started? Perhaps someone who has done this already can point me in the direction of some resources or offer some tips.

I have the option of making the base in the US or the Netherlands... any idea where is more ideal?

Thanks!

EPIC JOURNEYfilter - I want to make a drive from Alaska to Chile.

robdon — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:57:36 -0800

I'd like to make a drive down the entire western coast of the Americas, starting in Alaska, and ending in Chile. I need advice on how to go about this using the least amount of money, and in the safest way manageable. Background: I am an 18 year old college student on a limited budget living in D.C.

What I'd like to do: Fly up to Alaska, obtain a cheap, sturdy, small 4-wheel drive vehicle, and drive south until I run out of land. I also need a way to transport the car back up to the states (container ship?), as I plan on flying back from Buenos Aires or Santiago

Pressing Questions:

What would be the best vehicle to use?

- I would want a smaller, rugged SUV that has proper off-roading capability, the ability to carry a large amount of fuel (and run on the kind of fuel one might come across in South America), and is easily servicable. Something along the lines of a Range Rover Defender would be nice, but in the under $4,000 USD range

What sort of International Driver's License would I need?

Driving through some more unstable parts of the world seems unavoidable (ahem, Colombia)... Is there a way I can circumnavigate the unsavory parts? Is there a real risk that I might be robbed, killed, or kidnapped on this journey?
- I would be driving this with a fluent Spanish speaker (I don't speak a word of it), but we are both small, skinny white kids, so we couldn't do much more than talk our way out of a bind

Is there a service available to ship the vehicle back to the East Coast of the U.S.A. once I make it south?

I dont really have a set goal in mind other than to simply make the journey, but visiting a coffee plantation and some ruins along the way might be nice.

Any glaring faults in my plan that I haven't thought of?

Long Sighted: What's the novel where a character has their eye stretched to the back of their head, thus enabling a kind of second sight?

pipstar — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:28:45 -0800

Help me find this book! It's about a family, possibly from the North of the UK / Scotland, but the thing I remember most is one of the brothers travelling through South America. He washes up on a riverbank, plants almost grow up around him. Local indigenous people save him and he becomes a medicine man. The image that really sticks in my mind is that his eye is slowly pulled out and the optic nerve extended so that he has an "eye in the back of his head".

Does this book actually exist?

Alien Fruit Identifictation

phrontist — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:38:34 -0800

My friend found this strange fruit somewhere in or around Oaxaca, Mexico. What is it?

Please recommend books on infant mortality rates in Peru

Solomon — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:57:40 -0800

Please help me find a present for my sister's 30th birthday. She's asked for book(s) on certain topics that she's interested in, but I have no idea about these particular genre's. The first genre she mentioned is India. She wants a book about the country, with specific leanings towards things like female literacy, projects that help the poor, infant mortality, etc, and less on the geography and politics of the county. Basically, what is being done there on a grass roots level to make people's lives better for them.

The other genre she mentioned is what sounds to me like an atlas of world issues. It seems to be about things like freedom of speech, poverty levels (and stuff like the example above), around the world. She's been to South America, and speaks Spanish, so maybe something about SA would be nice.

She works with less-well-off communities as a job, to help improve people's local spaces, if that's relevant. I bought her a Kiva gift certificate for Christmas, and she's been quite into that ever since.

I've tried looking on Amazon, and Googling, but I know very little about such things, and I'm not having much luck. I'm looking to spend about £20-25, which is about $35-45, I think. Product recommendations would be great, or links to websites where I can have a poke about would be cool too.

What charity project shall I support?

badmoonrising — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:33:42 -0800

I'd like to donate a sum of money to a charity project, preferably an educational one, but I need some advice on which one to choose. This is a little long and rambly, so bear with me!

It's my 21st birthday very soon. My father has been hounding me for present ideas, and since I can't think of anything for myself I've come up with the idea of contributing to a charity project. I'm interested in education and am thinking of becoming a teacher, so I rather like the idea of building or equipping a classroom.

My preferred area would be South America, particularly Ecuador, since I spent some time volunteering there. This is negotiable, though.

The prices I've seen online for building classrooms range from £1700 to around £15,000. I don't know how much my dad is willing to spend (and it seems a little indelicate to directly ask him), but he is an exceedingly generous man and he originally suggested buying me an expensive new laptop, or paying for a holiday, so I think something in the high hundreds to low thousands would be OK with him. I'd rather err on the cautious side, though. My plan is to give him a few options (from, say, £500 to £3000) and let him decide which is closest to the amount he wishes to spend.

I know that the easiest option would be to simply donate a sum of money to be used at the charity's disposal, but I'd rather like the money to be used for one specific project. Also, most of the 'Oxfam Unwrapped" style giftshops seem very uninformative - they send you a greetings card and a certificate, in case you are making the donation on behalf of someone else. I know that personal gratification is hardly the point, but if I'm giving up a new laptop or a holiday then I would like more than a generic certificate. (Yes, I'm aware that probably makes me sound awful, but I don't care.) Something along the lines of some photos of the completed project, and maybe a very short report, would be lovely. Is this realistic, or is this kind of feedback only likely with much larger donations?

I've seen some rather suspicious websites, so I'd like to be completely certain that the charity I choose is legit and will actually use my money for the intended purpose.

I'd prefer a non-religious charity if possible, but I don't mind too much.

So. Does anyone on MeFi have any experience of this sort of thing and can offer any advice? Or does anyone have any suggestions of charities or projects? Many thanks in advance.

(In case anyone asks, Dad's absolutely fine with this - in fact he seems delighted with the idea. Also, in case anyone missed the references to pounds, I'm in the UK, but I don't mind donating to any nationality charity as long as it's above board.)

Recommendations for booking central/south america?

dpx.mfx — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:22:24 -0800

Trip for 2 to central/south America. I'm lost. I'd like to plan a trip for 2 to central or south america (considering: Peru, Costa Rica, Belize). I'd like to book a trip online, but I'm overwhelmed by the number of sites and trying to figure out if they are legit or not. Have you booked a trip online that was a reasonable deal, with reasonable accommodations? I don't need five star, but I don't want to be somewhere sketchy. Really looking for information on the website more than specific recommendations (but I'll take those too).

If it matters: budget is around $2500 (not including air), not interested in cruises, 5-7 days.

Name that drawing style

twine42 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:35:30 -0800

What's the proper name for the style of painting where pictures are created from large blocks of colour with very few details? It's the style of painting I associate with Cuba and South America and which was used for the artwork in GTA San Andreas.

Vacation in november/december

boyinmiami — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:17:30 -0800

Help us with our yearly guy's vacation! Trying to plan a wild and crazy trip to somewhere in central/south America and need your help in making this the best trip yet. Details inside :) Trying to plan a trip around November/December. We are super flexible in where we want to go, and have come up with this scale of most important to least important when trying to gauge where we will be going! Before I present the scale, here is a bit more about us!

There will be 5-6 of us on the trip
All of us are between 27-30
Trip should be around 5-7 days
Anywhere in South/Central America is fair game
We will be leaving from Miami/Fort Lauderdale area
All of us are single
Though budget is not a major concern we would like to stay under 3k for the 7 days

1. Best Bang for the buck (places where the dollar will go the furthest.)
2. Beaches
3. Partying/Nightlife
4. Girls (normal and errrr.... working ones)
5. Other Adventure things to do i.e tours, rafting, zip lining, and more tamer ones such as golf, fishing etc
6. Partying/Nightlife
7. Any other must things we have to try!

Thank you in advance :)

Help me help others

mateuslee — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:48:16 -0800

Tips on creating a non-profit organization to help people abroad get basic necessities? I'm a researcher working in small indigenous communities of rural areas of South America. All of these communities are poverty-stricken and lack what many of us in more developed countries would call basic necessities.

I was thinking that if I set-up a not profit maybe I could solicit, for example, toothbrushes/toothpaste from the American Dental Association. It may seem like a small gesture, but this is one little way in which maybe I could make a difference: teaching people to brush their teeth. Perhaps with a non-profit I could also request other types of donations (school supplies like pens and notepads for incredibly lacking "schools" - I use the term loosely), vitamins, and other small things which I could bring. I'm not (necessarily) looking to accept financial contributions.

However, I recognize that the logistics involved in doing this may not be easy - especially since this involves work outside of my own country.

FWIW I'm a dual US/EU citizen.

Another idea: joining with an already existant organization - though this is trickier.

Any advice, suggestions, or insight would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

presents? presents?

genmonster — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:43:41 -0800

Gifts to bring when volunteering in South America? So there are acutally 2 gifting situations:
1. I'm heading to Peru in a week or so, staying with a host family through an NGO. Even though I'll be paying them for room and board, should I bring a gift for them? And what should it be? I know nothing about them. I've tried to do this when staying abroad before (I brought my host mom a tablecloth and a book of photos of my home state) but it didn't go over really well.

2.Some things I've read about Peru mentioned bringing stuff like candy and pens/pencils to give out to kids on the street. Is this actually something people do? If I was panhandling on the street and got candy or pens instead of money I wouldn't be very happy, but if this is normal I'd consider doing it, especially because sometimes I feel like a jerk for not giving out money to kids on the street when I travel.

Where should we go?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:03:33 -0800

How and where to go for two weeks at the end of August? Me and my friend John would like to take a two week vacation together in or about the last two weeks of August.

Some facts:
-we are both poor students
-I'll be studying the language of whatever place we choose in the coming months
-we don't need any fancy accomodations, shelters and hostels are fine
-beaches and warm/tropical places would be nice, but not necessary
-it's not necessary either, but it'd be nice to be able to score mushrooms/acid/weed while we were there since we both enjoy that
-we won't have money to buy plane tickets till july

We don't want to go to:
-Europe/Scandinavia/Canada, anywhere too cold
-places where the dollar will be especially weak compared to local currency

Places we would love to go:
-India (1st choice!!)
-Cheap parts of Asia (ie not Japan)
-Africa
-South America

Basically the deciding factor is where we can get the cheapest plane tickets/accomodations.

So where would be the best place to go, and where can we get the cheapest plane tickets? Please tell us anything you think would be helpful!

How can I work in economic development in Latin America?

Ashley801 — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:25:46 -0800

How can I work in economic development in Latin America? Background: I just graduated with a BA in economics, my Spanish is somewhere between an intermediate and advanced level, and I'm a U.S. citizen.

I am interested in working in any Spanish-speaking, South American city.

I'm also interested in working in any kind of industry as long as my job directly created or supported economic development. This could range from working in real estate or finance to providing support to small business entrepreneurs.

I do have preferences though- I would prefer to work in real estate development or to attract businesses to areas with high unemployment rates.

I am also interested in working for any kind of organization with any kind of mission, whether a completely for-profit, huge multinational, a non-profit/NGO, or anything in between.

I know there must be organizations out there with jobs like these that could make use of someone like me. How can I find them?

I appreciate any information at all.

I should also note that I spoke to the career services office at my college about this, and they were completely unhelpful.

Help me Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

yoyoceramic — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:09:12 -0800

I am looking for an anti human trafficking/slavery group to work for this summer in South America. Can anyone offer any ideas or suggestions? I am trying to research social justice groups in South America who are effectively serving and/or fighting for victims or potential victims of human trafficking and/or modern day slavery.

An ideal organization will either be likely to pay us (UN, or other well funded programs) or provide at least a bed... eg., a church without much money but can provide a home stay.

Organizations could range from a small town mom and pop shelter all the way to a huge international group. Note: there is no need to only look at groups that are currently looking for someone like me. This is going to be a non-traditional job experience, so I think I will be creating a job opening for myself.

Anyone have any experience with this, know of any organizations I can get in touch with?

IT Jobs in Costa Rica

bmct — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:13:18 -0800

Looking for help with tech employment searches for jobs in Costa Rica. I am looking to move to and live in Costa Rica. Specifically San Jose because that is generally where the tech stuff is to my understanding.

I'm having trouble finding anything online in the area of IT/Support jobs that are not just outsourced callcenter stuff. Has anyone been there/done that?

I'd love to work at an ISP datacenter/NOC or for a company doing IT stuff for their PCs, Phones and servers. The one thing I could find is an index of VoIP providers, which is a start- but I was hoping to find more of a monster.com for south america.

I found the intel.com site for costa rica jobs and would LOVE more of the same from other companies if its out there.

About Me :
Senior Network Engineer 4+ years at an ISP doing VoIP, colo, managed services. Computer engineering degree. Happy in linux, MS, or cisco. CCNA MSCE A+ certified.

Thanks!

Trying not to fry them

Bezuhin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:30:13 -0800

Plug adapter for Argentina and Uruguay? I am going on a trip to Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Iguazu Falls (Argentinean side). I'm going to be staying in business-class hotels (Sheraton Montevideo, Hotel Emperador Buenos Aires, Iguazu Jungle Lodge). I am taking my iPod and the battery charger for my Canon SD870IS (both dual voltage/frequency), and I am researching what type of plug adapter I will need. It looks like most places will either have this two-prong plug, which is similar to the plug used in many countries, or this three-prong plug, which is similar to the plug used in Australia and New Zealand. Just when I think I will be able to get by with a simple universal adapter, I notice this warning regarding the three-prong plug found in AR and UY: In Argentina and Uruguay, the neutral and active wires are reversed from what is used in other countries. Now what? Should I just wait until I get there and buy a plug adapter at the airport? Any first-hand knowledge or general advice would be much appreciated.