Introducing myself

Submitted by fyl on 14 January, 2004 - 08:11.

While I was in the shower (I do my best thinking in the shower) I realized that if we are a community then we should know a little about each other. So, here goes. Hopefully this will encourage everyone else to create their first Blog entry.

I am a baby-boomer that grew up in Los Angeles, California. I played with electronics as a kid and got my ham license in 1960. Technical stuff has always interested me and after graduating from college I went to work in the computer industry. I have done programming, systems analysis, designed hardware and just about everything else. In 1983 I started a company that specializes in technical documentation and training on UNIX systems. That grew into a company that publishes the magazine Linux Journal.

I managed to escape from LA to Washington state in 1972. I say escape because everyone in LA kept talking about how it was the greatest place on the planet. Getting to Washington showed me that there were alternatives.

In the 1980s I got involved (through a strange path that isn't worth describing here) in helping to explain to the U.S. public that Nicaragua wasn't really going to invade the U.S. The work I did I would call preventing bad. That is, my time went into counteracting mis-information. While I put hundreds, probably thousands of hours into this effort, I never traveled to Nicaragua.

In 1999 I made a trip to Costa Rica. It was work-related (a bonus for some of my employees and I got to come along) and three of us fell in love with Costa Rica. Five trips later I moved here (in January 2001). While it isn't perfect here, there has never been a day when I wished I was back in the U.S. This experience has broadened my outlook on living on the planet. Also, I am almost vegetarian (I eat fish) and moving to a country where the national dish is black beans and rice certainly made sense.

While I still work in Seattle, the Internet is my connection to work and many other things. Thus, as long as I can get 24/7 Internet connectivity I can move wherever I want. My activism time here is spend doing good instead of preventing bad. That is, I try to do things that directly benefit people. This has been mostly in the form of computer education with regard to Linux, a free alternative to commercial computer software.

After three trips to Nicaragua I have decided to move there. Part of the reason has to do with Costa Rica red tape but, primarily, it is that I can see a greater opportunity to do good. That is, to directly help people. I will be moving to Estelí in northern NIcaragua--probably in March.

I am working with a cooperative there that currently offers a pre-school, adult education and other services. I have three projects I will be working on:

  • Introducing people to using computers (running Linux, of course)
  • Improving Internet connectivity thru low-cost wireless connections
  • Developing a network of computer-controlled (Linux again) low power FM broadcast stations for community education

My two years in Costa Rica has taught me a lot. I look at it as a good investment in my transition. It is very easy to live in Costa Rica just like you would in the U.S. That wasn't my goal but it made the move less scary. In future posts I will talk more about this transition process.

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¿Linux?

Submitted by alan on 28 January, 2004 - 18:58.

Interesting that you are involved in things Linux. I am down here looking for some sort of work, hopefully related to software libre/linux. What has been your experiences around this in this part of the world?

Linux and World Domination

Submitted by fyl on 29 January, 2004 - 08:28.

I sent you e-mail suggesting we talk but, if your SPAM level looks like mine, you probably lost it in the noise.

It appears that the only country where Linux is moving slowly is the US. You might want to check out the articles on http://worldwatch.linuxgazette.com to see what I mean. Note that this site is now static--it is being replaced with the a more general site at http://www.a42.com.

In Costa Rica, Linux is making amazing inroads and where it seems to get sidetracked we can usually find a direct link to Microsoft politicizing the decision. We already have big plans for Linux in Nicaragua. Starting in March we will be teaching user-level computer classes. But, there is more. If you want to talk further about this, write me at fyl@a42.com.

Blogging Blissfully

Submitted by gypsytoes on 14 January, 2004 - 22:03.

Well, this is my first comment on a blog and I hope to soon make my own blog. Thanks again, Phil. I've said before that Nicaragua found us instead of the other way around. I'm a teacher from Asheville, NC. Last year I was looking for a Service Learning Project to do with my class as well as actively posting on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree web site. I coincidentally came across a post needing volunteers and school supplies for an organization called La Esperanza Granada. The supplies that were needed matched my Service Learning Project and voila... we collected over 500 lbs. of school supplies to take to Granada last summer. Now to really get the true picture of who I am ,I have to take you back... not way back, but to Arkansas, where my husband and I pulled an old 1952 school bus into Wade Holler, set up camp, birthed a baby boy, and lived off the land without running water and electricity. That was the true meaning of life at its best. We were adventurers, survivors, gardeners, wine makers, and held excellent pot lucks with all the other souls who migrated to the Ozark Mtns. back in the 80's.Life was good. But, things happen, our lives became more complicated and we ended up moving to Tennessee in search of a more sophisticated life for our son. Slowly,with barely a whisper, life settled its fat arse upon us and we dug down deeper into stability, respectable jobs,a mortgage, cable TV, and fast internet access. Before we knew what hit us, we were nestled into middle class boredom. Life became not so good. Our creativity had been erased from the blackboard of life only to be replaced with lesson plans, IEP's, and the federal income tax deductions. We wanted OUT!!! I started riding a Harley during the peak of my midlife crisis. Cradling Ron's black leather jacket as our bodies leaned in unison at each turn reignited an orgasmic passion to pursue happiness. We began spending each summer in a different country on a quest for our utopia. We would immerse ourselves in a culture, never frequenting the tourist traps, trying to blend in as one of the locals. We began living only for summer vacations.Happiness became a summer event, fleeting and stored away in small mementoes of each trip until the next year. Now, I don't know about you... but I BELIEVE in the power of syncronicity. I would tap my emerald heels together every night before bedtime, wishing for " a place to call home". We moved again, to Asheville. "Oh, so this is home," I gleefully questioned. We've been here six new aged months and I know now that it was only meant to be a pit stop in life. Nicaragua, through a series of tiny, sparks of coincidence, had found us and is leading us to Ometepe Island in June. I don't have all the answers yet, but life is once again good. My creativity has returned. I'm preparing to pull up the materialistic anchors that have been holding me at bay. I'll be posting a lot here. I love writing. It's almost a religious experience for me. I'll try to keep you posted on my progress in coming to the edge and preparing to jump. First, I have to figure out how to make a web page to post all my accumulated stuff for sale. Debbie

Woman's defection, prefers the values Ecuador, , Nicaragua and

Submitted by califpacific on 10 January, 2005 - 08:02.

Article reads:

"While she encourages other Americans to flee the United States, she doesn't want them all to show up in her new back yard. She prefers the values of people in places like Ecuador, Nicaragua and the Caribbean."

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/03AreaEAS...

Result of election prompts woman's defection

By CHRISTINE GIRARDIN Staff Writer

Last update: January 10, 2005

DELAND -- When the realization dawned that her fellow Americans signed on for four more years of President George W. Bush, Tere McLaughlin knew she couldn't stay here to live with their decision.

Like the conscientious objectors who fled to Canada during the Vietnam War, McLaughlin headed south to an undisclosed Latin America country last week with no plans to return to the United States.

Political pundits and observers say there are thousands of Americans who looked into moving overseas rather than endure the divisive political climate here.

N-J/David Pringle Tere McLaughlin, right, sells some of her belongings to Eileen Stefanski at a recent moving sale. She said she sold possesions and left the country because she's fed up with President Bush, his policies and supporters. The former DeLand merchant has previously lived in Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. "This is a rogue nation with a madman at the helm," McLaughlin said. "I'm ashamed and embarrassed for the country. We're a laughing stock for the world."

Initially, Canada seemed the destination of choice for people as frustrated as McLaughlin. The day after Bush's victory, the Web site for Canada's immigration services fielded more than 115,000 hits from Americans, almost a six-fold rise in traffic.

But Canadian officials say requests for travel visas haven't jumped. It's still too soon to tell if the initial threats will result in an American exodus to Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America and other nations.

Jim Coffield, chairman of the Volusia County Republican Executive Committee, said no matter what they're saying now, he believes people like McLaughlin will eventually return to the United States.

"There's no country any better than the United States of America," he said. "We've got everything every country is dying to have."

But Coffield does have some respect for those who made good on their threats -- unlike some anti-Bush celebrities who still live here after promising to leave the country during the campaign.

"Hats off to someone who actually lived up to what they said. And we'll welcome them back when they're ready to come back," Coffield added.

McLaughlin said the decision to leave was easy for her.

She's passionate about her politics, a liberal baby boomer who could be seen driving around DeLand in a Volkswagen minibus with a bumper sticker-covered rear window.

She has lived in Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, but spent the last 10 years in Volusia County, close to relatives. She's divorced, with a 21-year-old son who has decided to stay in the United States, McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said she has always felt more comfortable with the political attitudes of other countries, and may have returned to Latin America even if Sen. John Kerry had won the election.

But she campaigned hard on Kerry's behalf from her store, sending e-mails to friends and family members in the hope support for the candidate would build by word of mouth.

McLaughlin is also opposed to the war in Iraq, something she considers a fiscal folly that's only contributing to the nation's debt and the military's rising death toll.

"Right after the election, I said, 'I'm outta here,' " she said.

To make the move, McLaughlin sold her business, a small clothing and accessory store called The Black Market in downtown DeLand, and her small home. She also arranged for her elderly father -- afflicted with Alzheimer's disease -- to accompany her.

"There's a lot of good people here, but it's our politics. You can't hide the greed and ignorance anymore," McLaughlin said a few days before heading to her new home in a country she refused to identify.

While she encourages other Americans to flee the United States, she doesn't want them all to show up in her new back yard. She prefers the values of people in places like Ecuador, Nicaragua and the Caribbean.

McLaughlin said she will retain her U.S. citizenship, but she's determined to find success in her newly adopted country. Once she settles into her apartment, and finds a health-care aide to help her father, she might even open a retail shop similar to the one she owned in DeLand -- a place where she can sell local clothes and funky accessories.

Some people would be concerned about moving to a developing nation in Latin America where governments can be unstable and rife with corruption. But for McLaughlin, Latin America offers increasing social, economic and political opportunities, opportunities she says appear to be on the decline in her native land.

"I don't want to be surrounded by these people," she said of Americans. "I'd rather live in a tent in Mozambique."

Information from the Detroit Free Press was used in this report.

christine.girardin@news-jrnl.com