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Books for and about Expats

I usually have a lot to say about the books I’ve been reading, but right now I have to admit that none were either especially memorable or important for expats and prospective expats. In my e-mail, however, I discovered messages from an e-group catering to expats, abroadview@yahoo.com (the group is an offshoot of the excellent website talesmag.com) with messages about books they’d been reading and would recommend to others. I began making a list of books I’d like to read and decided to pass it along.

Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible is a novel about a Baptist minister who takes his family to the Belgian Congo in 1959. One of the many well known books I haven’t gotten around to reading. It’s sometimes compared to The Mosquito Coas,by Paul Theroux, which, as I recall, was excellent.

For something different, there is Azadeh Moaveni’s Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America And American in Iran, which promises to be interesting.

Pulitzer prizewinner Jhumpa Lahiri has written The Namesake, a novel about a young man who comes to America from India to study.

Another memoir, this one by Sarah Macdonald, is Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure, a young Australian woman’s account of following her journalist boyfriend to India. One reviewer called it “a wonderful roller coaster ride on the road to enlightenment.” I definitely want to read it.

In Tahir Shah’s The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca, an Englishman of Afgani descent moves to an ancient house in Casablanca with his pregnant wife and young daughter. Although everything that can go wrong does, readers find this book extremely funny.

Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month Is Enchanted by Annie Hawes is a travel memoir in which two English sisters set out for a village just two miles from the Italian Riviera. Note: the author has remained in Italy.

Rules of the Wild: A Novel of Africa is a well received novel by Francesca Marciano, narrated by an Italian woman who goes to Kenya.

Since I started making this list, I’ve started reading The Savage Gardenby Mark Mills, a mystery narrated by an Englishman who goes to Tuscany. I’ll have more to say about it next time.

More Books

If you’ve been reading my notes for a while, you know that I praised Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. a memoir of her sojourns in these countries. I mentioned it here because it has some interesting observations on the culture of these very different locales.

She has just come out with another volume, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage which is about marriage and her decision to marry for a second time. What does this have to do with living abroad? Well, when in Bali, she fell in love with a man who is Brazilian. They became involved and lived together until...surprise, surprise… he was stopped by Homeland Security in Dallas for having exited and entered the U.S. too many times. Such are the hazards of international relationships and one should be aware that this can happen. Marriages would solve the problem, however. They are, in effect, “sentenced” to marry.  Deciding that they wanted to be together while he awaited a new visa, they found inexpensive places to stay in Southeast Asia.

The reason prospective expats might benefit from this book is Gilbert’s perceptive analysis of the difference between a traveler and someone who is at home anywhere. She admits she’s a traveler. When she and Filipe arrive at a comfortable hotel in Bangkok, he wants to sit by the pool and read mysteries while she wants to go to Cambodia and visit the temples there. Filipe is a person who is at home wherever he happens to be, so he’ll be happy living wherever she wants, while she acknowledges that she would not consider settling permanently anywhere but along the U.S. eastern seaboard. So, if you’re still wondering if you and your significant other are suited to the expat life, it’s not enough that you enjoy traveling. Stop and ask yourselves, can you be at home anywhere?

Another book I can’t resist mentioning though it doesn’t have much to do with being an expat is Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, just because, in my opinion, it’s a gripping story, very well done. You can see what it’s about by looking at the cover, but there’s far more to it.

Welcome to all those who’ve signed on with us recently. We’re sorry if you are getting e-mails that seem to be from us advertising pharmaceutical products. They aren’t from us! Some unscrupulous vendors are using our return address to send them, and we can’t stop them from doing this.

LiveAbroad.com and our e-mail Updates are supported by our advertisers and by our affiliate relationships with Google and Amazon. We’re grateful to those who’ve clicked on those links at our site because this helps support our efforts. 

Ho…Ho…Ho….

It’s that time of year again. I don’t blame anyone who is trying to stay out of the malls, although I think it’s good to patronize local merchants and craft fairs. I’m also a believer in giving a donation in someone’s name to a worthwhile cause.

Typically, I write about books here and a well-chosen book can be one of the most personal of gifts. Giving a book can say: “I know what you like, what ideas you appreciate, where you like to go in your imagination.” While you may not know what the person has not yet read, selecting a book they have read and loved sends the same message, maybe even a little stronger.

Some of my favorite books for giving are ones by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coehlo. The best known is The Alchemist.  It’s a sort of parable - simple, spiritual, beautiful. I’m also fond of The Witch of Portobello: A Novel (P.S.). It you’re not familiar with Coehlo, be aware that his work isn’t magic realism like that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose Love in the Time of Cholera is another gift idea.  If you prefer to give a recently published book, consider this long-awaited American novel, A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. She’s an unusual writer with a great many fans.

Calendars also make good gifts, and there are more choices than ever, especially for travelers and would-be expats. For example, there’s 365 Days in Italy Calendar 2010 (Picture-A-Day Wall Calendars) as well as Mexico - 2010 National Geographic Wall Calendar and Colors of Guatemala 2010 Calendar. These are just a few.

Thank you for subscribing to our Updates and for visiting our pages. Happy holidays to all. Be well, be safe and may 2010 be a better year for all!

The End of Summer

Welcome to all those who’ve recently signed up as affiliates. 

Summer is over, and I’ve just heard a weather forecast predicting a 30% chance of snow tomorrow here in Santa Fe. This would be unusual, but it feels as though it could happen.

For my summer reading, I continued with John Le Carre, whose books are, I think, worthwhile for their elegant language as well as for the suspense. I also believe Le Carre is keenly aware of cultural differences as well as political and historical matters. A couple volumes that I stumbled onto recently also provide insight into the troubled history and raw feelings of the people in the breakaway republics in the Caucasus, specifically Chechnya.

Our Game is the odyssey of a former British agent, Tim Cramer, who has retired to an inherited estate and vineyard in the English countryside. An agent he trained has disappeared and evidence points to Cramer as having been responsible. Meanwhile, Cramer’s young live-in girlfriend has also disappeared. What follows is not only a hair-raising tale but one in which the main character, a not very likeable sort at the onset, transforms himself into what we might call a hero. Written in the 1990s after the end of the cold war, the book was a best seller, yet does not seem dated.

More recently, Le Carre wrote A Most Wanted Man The story takes place in Hamburg, Germany, a beautiful old city where foreigners are generally welcomed. The “wanted man” is a young Chechnyan, who is soon surrounded by an international cast of characters. A Turkish immigrant and his mother befriend him; a young liberal, upper-class German woman becomes his lawyer and a British banker appears because a large sum of money is involved. Secret agents from Germany, Britain and the U.S. with interests of their own enter the picture and the conflict evolves from there.

Please - let us know what you’re reading and where you’re going. Keep sending news and resources of interest to expats and prospective expats. Thanks.

“Don’t Pack Your Bags”

That’s the title of an article on Metro, (sorry, the link is just too long) where I was quoted about the difficulty in finding a job overseas. Things are tough all over. Writer Luke O’Neil did a good job of summarizing my ramblings.

I did suggest, however, that some people might do well to wait out the recession in one of the countries with cheaper living costs such as Mexico or Costa Rica, where you can live on less than you’d pay in rent on a New York apartment.

A special welcome, though, to all of you who found your way to our website and signed on as associates because of the article.

If you’re among the many people wondering if an overseas move is right for you, or facing another difficult, life-changing decision, I have a book for you – How We Decide. Author Jonah Lehrer describes which parts of the human brain are involved in various kinds of decisions, how we’re often misled and why rational thinking isn’t always the best way to go. It’s a fascinating read.

A number of books about the brain have appeared lately. Among them is How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist by Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman. It’s not offering religion as a solution but it explains which parts of the brain are involved in various religious practices, especially meditation, and offers simple practices or exercises that can improve memory, promote relaxation and relieve stress. After doing just a few of the exercises. I found myself remembering numbers that I hadn’t even tried to memorize and putting my fingers on objects I had misplaced months ago. Power of suggestion perhaps, but that’s good enough for me.

Wishing you all a pleasant summer and hoping you’ll send us tips and suggestions to help other expats and would-be expats.

Books Worth Looking Into

I’ve just discovered Tourmaline, a novel by Joanna Scott, published a few years back. The title refers to the gemstone found on the Italian island of Elba, where Napoleon was exiled and where an American family goes for a vacation that keeps getting extended. The story is told by various family members long after the fact. It’s the early fifties, post-war Europe. The Americans have borrowed money from their more affluent relatives for a vacation. Their misadventures begin when their luggage is stolen before they even get to the island. It’s not a comedy of errors, though errors are plentiful. Murray Murdoch, the father, is full of grand schemes, some of them quite absurd and his pursuit of them leaves his wife and four young sons unsettled. What’s interesting here is the juxtaposition between these American expats and their Italian neighbors who are ever polite and accommodating, but who become suspicious after the mysterious disappearance of a young woman from a prominent local family. The loose ends are tied up finally. This is recommended to anyone considering a move to a country where there’s apt to be culture shock.

Another not-so-new book that I enjoyed tremendously is The Mission Song by John Le Carré, whose work I’ve always loved. Here the main character, (dare I say hero?), Salvo, is half black, half white, a highly gifted interpreter, who happens to be married to an upper-class Englishwoman who is a journalist. There is another woman, though, African, sincere and compelling. Salvo is summoned to a meeting where the fate of an impoverished African country is being decided by a group of moneyed Europeans and some Africans tribal leaders they’ve hoped to dupe. The Africans are characters one rarely meets on the printed page, much less in real life. One in particular, Haj, is unforgettable. As Le Carré fans would expect, the plot has more than a few twists and turns. Le Carré is now well into his seventies and let’s hope he enjoys good health for some time to come.

I’ve been spending time with Living Abroad in Costa Rica, an excellent source for anyone considering a move there or who enjoys Costa Rican lore. See the review Updates from All Over.

Please note that the Living Abroad books aren’t related to Network for Living Abroad or liveabroad.com/ However, we do think they do a fine job.

Send us your suggestions as to books, resources and news items. We like hearing from you.

A Book for All Seasons

Imagine healing a broken heart by living three months each in three exotic locales! That’s what Elizabeth Gilbert writes about in Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. I opened it not knowing what to expect, and while I don’t always enjoy books that make it to the best seller list, this one was a delight - funny, sensitive and finally, wise. 

Having undergone a protracted divorce followed by a love affair that ended badly, the thirty-something author takes off on her travels. With Rome as her first stop, she takes Italian lessons and indulges in gastronomic pleasures. I wish she had explored a greater variety of Italian foods but she’s no gourmet, just a young American with a taste for pizza and a need for comfort food. 

Her next stop is an ashram in India, where she arises before dawn to meditate, becomes friends with other acolytes and gains some serenity. Living in an ashram isn’t for everybody, to be sure, but the spiritual part of Gilbert’s journey is highly accessible. Finally she lands in Bali where she finds joy, generosity and even love, though not right away.  I found myself thinking, well, she could have just gone to Brazil in the first place....  Nevertheless, the section on Bali is where she shows the greatest sensitivity to the local culture.

I wish I had written about this book before Christmas or at least before Valentine’s Day because it would make a good gift for either of those occasions. It’s still not too late to buy a copy and share it or give it to some one special. I’d advise ignoring the negative reviews on Amazon but you can find out more about Elizabeth Gilbert at www.elizabethgilbert.com/ At her site, you’ll also learn what happened to her after the book ended, but please, don’t look until you’ve read the book. For those with a special interest in Indonesia, see Cool Maps of Indonesia: An Unauthorized View of the Land of EAT, PRAY, LOVE.

Make it a Serendipitous Year!

A new year, a new president in less than a fortnight and lots of problems we never expected. The financial world as we knew it has undergone a sea change. My interest in AIG, which I wrote about under International Investing, is more than academic. I worked for the company in New York after college, helping with a company magazine that reflected AIG’s worldwide reach. The morning’s mail might contain letters from Singapore, Manila or Sao Paulo. It was an exciting time and if anyone else who worked there happens to see this, I’d love to hear from them.

Partly to make sense of the recent cataclysmic economic events, I picked up a copy of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

Most of us live with a false sense of security, Taleb maintains. We’re wired that way and the so-called experts, especially economists and statisticians, encourage us to think that things will stay pretty much the same. Then wham, the unexpected happens and catches us off guard. The world economy has just experienced a black swan event. The title refers to the fact that everyone thought swans were invariably white until black swans turned up in Australia. An options trader turned philosopher, Taleb writes with considerable wit and humor. The book is tough going at times but worth the effort, and its outlook isn’t totally grim as these quotes prove.

“We are so quick to forget that just being alive is an extraordinary piece of good luck, a remote event, a chance occurrence of monstrous proportions.”

“Imagine a speck of dust next to a planet a billion times the size of the earth. The speck of dust represents the odds in favor of your being born; the huge planet would be the odds against it. So stop sweating the small stuff. Don’t be like the ingrate who got a castle as a present and worried about the mildew in the bathroom. Stop looking the gift horse in the mouth – remember you are a Black Swan.”

I especially liked the advice - “maximize the serendipity around you.”

New York, Crime and Cricket

I’ve never been big on summer reading. I believe books are to be enjoyed year round and perhaps more than ever in the winter when there’s less to do outdoors. But in any event I’d like to recommend a novel I enjoyed very much,
Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland.

The hero is a Dutch expat, living in New York just after Sept. 11, 2001, working as an oil analyst for a major investment back (we don’t hear much about that), and becoming involved with cricket and a cricket enthusiast named Chuck, who is from Trinidad. (we do hear a lot about cricket). There’s an appreciation of New York that as rivals Woody Allen’s use of the city in his films. There’s enough about cricket to demystify the game or almost. And there’s a glimpse of small-time criminal activities as well. What happens, however, isn’t nearly as important as the way the story is told and it is told beautifully.

By the way, any Amazon purchase made after clicking on one of our Amazon links helps support our website. Whether you buy this book or read a library copy, as I did, get your hands on it.

Tell us what you’ve been reading as well as sending your ideas on great places to live.

Let’s Get Connected!

A special welcome to all those who have signed up as associates since our last updates.

We need to hear from you! Although we rarely publish articles, we need news items, ideas for news items, questions and concerns, anything that involves living abroad. We especially want to hear about expat organizations anywhere in the world. We’ll be happy to add them to our Links pages; we already have an many organizations listed but it’s far from complete. Also, please send us notices of events events in the U.S. and elsewhere that might interest expats and prospective expats.

Write to us directly, leave comments at the blog or post at the message board. Please note that we cannot provide free listings for commercial organizations. Our paid advertisements help make this website possible.

Those E-mails Aren’t from Us!

Once again I must apologize for something I didn’t do! You may have received e-mails that appear to have come from liveabroad.com. Well, they were not sent by us but by strangers who decided to use our return address. I wish we could stop them, but there appears to be nothing we can do. Anyway, we are not selling pharmaceutical products or anything else via e-mail.

We do have advertisers and we’re grateful for their support. We also get credit for any Amazon purchases someone makes if they click on of our Amazon links. Even if you buy something else, something totally unrelated, Amazon credits us.

You’ve probably noticed by now that we have a section of the blog devoted to international investing. In case you haven’t looked, it isn’t about real estate in foreign countries. Other expat sites do a much better job with international real estate than we could possibly do. Instead it’s about emerging markets and exchange traded funds with some explanations of these investments. These things don’t have to be complicated, and I hope you find these explanations clear and timely as well. But as with any investments, of course, there are risks.

Greetings All!

A special welcome to those of you who recently joined the Network as Associates. If you haven’t explored liveabroad.com, please do. You’ll find information on more than a few countries with links to other sources of information such as books. To search for resources by topic, visit our Links pages where you’ll find such categories as Expat Sites and In-Country Contacts. To stay current, keep checking this News/Blog. You’ll find a link under the logo on our home page, or just bookmark this address: http://liveabroad.com/index.php/news/index/

Those of you who’ve been following the blog know that I’ve been very concerned about the future of Antioch College, where I got my degree with a year abroad in France. Earlier this year, the college announced its intention to close its doors after the current academic year. In the months since then the alumni have made enormous strides in getting organized and raising money. The decision has been reversed and the college will remain open, but more funds are needed. To find out more, see antiochians.org/

Will next year be the year you move abroad? Or will it be further in the future? Sometimes the stumbling block is simply having too many possessions. If you’ve reached the point of having more of everything than you need, why not ask friends and family to make a donation that will help in parts of the world where help is really needed? Or start a new tradition with your family and friends by making donations in their names to an agency that helps poor people help themselves.

In any event, have a joyous holiday!

Change - Good and Bad

I find it very exciting that younger people are living abroad and are earning a living. Places like Panama, Belize and Costa Rica are not only attracting retirees these days. The same technological advances these expats are using can also benefit trailing spouses, who often have to leave their careers behind, as well as retired individuals who want to stay involved.

The bad news in recent days has been hurricanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Felix slammed Nicaragua hard and Honduras even harder. At the same time, Henriette was hitting the tip of Baja California in Mexico. This is the first time that Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes to hit landfall simultaneously since the National Hurricane Center began keeping records. It is also the first time for two Category 5 Atlantic storms to make landfall in the same year.

Many factors have to come together for hurricanes to occur, but warmer weather is among them. Global warming may make living in tropical coastal regions more of a challenge. Should this determine where you choose to live? That’s up to you. But I have to admit that I moved from an area prone to earthquakes to a place with fewer chances of natural disasters

Where Have I Been?

You might be wondering since our Updates haven’t been sent out for a while. A few weeks ago, the news came on NPR that Antioch College in Ohio would be closing after the current academic year. Antioch happens to be the college where I earned my B.A. and which sponsored the abroad program which introduced me to a wider world by sending me to France for a year.

I was up in arms and I wasn’t the only one; there are about 17,000 alumni of this small, liberal arts college. A few hundred had gathered for “reunion week” when the news broke, and began organizing in an effort to keep the college open. Those who weren’t there as well as some who were began blogging and e-mailing frantically. Alumni groups began organizing in major cities all over the U.S. as well as in London and Paris, and an e-mail from Peru turned up in my inbox.

I started following the blogs and e-mailing alumni in the Albuquerque - Santa Fe area, sending out “updates” or digest versions of breaking news. It seemed, and still seems, like the right thing to do. We hope these efforts will pay off and save the college from closing. For those who’d like to know more, see http://www.antiochians.org.

More on Spam

Have you received suspicious looking emails that seem to be coming from liveabroad.com? Well, they aren’t coming from us. We’re sorry this is happening, but we can’t stop it.

It seems that anybody can fake a return address without leaving a trace as to who they really are. Please note that we are not selling pharmaceuticals, gambling, investments (though we do write about international investments at here our blog) or websites with scantily dressed women. In fact, we’re not selling anything but ads at liveabroad.com and back issues of the Network for Living Abroad newsletter, which we no longer publish.