Last week’s message looked at the tax benefits of having a micro business.

A key point in that message is that overseas businesses that are channeled through the USA are often the most effective tax wise of all.

We can use the restaurant article below as a good example.   This is an excellent article about fine dining in Cuenca, Ecuador.  Many readers who have moved to Ecuador have started restaurants.  Restaurants are not tax efficient businesses.  Merri and I are trustees of a foundation that owns both a restaurant and hotel.  We know from experienc e.

However look at ways that restaurants can become tax efficient.

Writing about restaurants is tax efficient.  Book sales and sales of products based around the book can take place outside the country where a person resides.  All the expenses related to that book are tax deductible.  So if you own a restaurant and write a cookbook… numerous tax benefits can arise.

Let’s say an American owns an Ecuadorian restaurant but has a website in the USA.  Trips to and from Ecuador and the US can be all or part tax deductible. Book sales logged and banked outside of Ecuador can legally avoid the 5% exit tax in Ecuador.  These sales taxed in the US may be taxed at a lower rate than in Ecuador.

Let’s say that the owner then offers a cooking school to non Ecuadorians.  Again the income gains multiple tax advantages.

Our Ateam Ecuador has attorneys and tax preparers in both the USA and Ecuador who can help you use existing tax law to make your business as tax efficient as possible.  Learn how to be an Ecuador Living club member here.

We’ll look at the tax ramifications of writing at our upcoming Writers Camp. See details here.

Going to Ecuador? Don’t miss this restaurant in Cuenca.

Fine Dining in Cuenca, Ecuador

One of many reasons to choose Cuenca is the variety of wonderful restaurants. Over the past 5 years ago, the number of places to enjoy fine dining has increased substantially.

Xavier with one of his signature desserts.

This week the focus is on a new restaurant opened by a returning Ecuadorian.

Xavier Vizcaino spent 14 years in the US where he attended culinary school and refined his own style and recipes. The name of the restaurant is Sabor-e-Arte which doesn’t translate into English with the same meaning it does in Spanish. Suffice to say it represents the gift of fine food. Speaking of which…

Bacon wrapped Filet Migon  &  Seafood Platter

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyascott/8455295911/in/photostream/

Pasta Salad

Xavier developed his own style of Italian which is reflected in the menu. Arguably his calamari is one of the best we’ve tasted anywhere and his homemade marinara sauce is simply incredible.

Xavier and his sister, Fernanda.

Sabor-e-Arte is truly a family business. Xavier along with his sister Fernanda, brother Juan, sister in law Bertha and his wife Sonia create a welcoming atmosphere.

Interestingly the location for the restaurant was owned by Xavier 25 years ago and was the office for his import business. He sold it to his brother in law when he left for the US and is now renting it back from him.

In addition to  the dinners, they are also open for lunch and Xavier makes some great subs.

Just a portion of what is available.

When you walk in you’ll not see a dining room but instead will be greeted by a display case with some lovely desserts and the kitchen. The dining room is upstairs and is quite nice.

On the opposite wall is a wine rack with some wonderful wines. The “arte” part of the name is not only reflected in the food, but also in some well done paintings which are by Xavier’s uncle. Truly a creative family.

Sabor-e-Arte is located on Gran Columbia 20-87 which is about 200 meters from Unidad Nacional heading toward downtown.

Order your meals in Spanish like a connoisseur!

Learn Spanish in Three Days

Learn how to speak Spanish in just three days with Super Thinking.

Super Thinking tactics help us absorb… retain and recall information better and faster.  We prove this in our Super Thinking + Spanish course which teaches delegates to communicate on Spanish in just three days.

Merri and Pronunciation coach Don Childs teaching Super Spanish.

An M.D. who attended wrote:   We want to thank you plus all the others for making the class such a fun and rewarding experience.   I took Spanish as an undergraduate and lasted two days before dropping the class due to my own anxieties.  Over the years I have tried to learn French, Italian, and Spanish yet again using a variety of methods such as Rosetta Stone, Berlitz etc. and was never successful.  I finally feel like I can be successful at learning to converse at Spanish–in fact already feel successful!  Thanks so much for teaching an old dog some new tricks.  We’re both looking forward to continuing the learning process, having fun doing so, and taking more classes.

Enroll here.

See a ten minute video of Gary Scott and Pronunciation coach Don Childs showing how to get started creating Spanish sentences right now.

Click here for FREE Super Spanish video.

Here is our Super Thinking + Spanish schedule below.

2013

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 5-6-7  Super Thinking + Spanish  Sarasota, Florida  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

Attend all our Spanish and writing courses, plus investing and business seminars and tours FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Our Super Thinking + Spanish courses are Spanish course that goes way beyond just learning to speak Spanish.

Spanish is the second largest language in the world. Chances are a huge Spanish speaking population lives near you. Yet our language system did not teach us how to communicate with or understand this culture.

Learning Spanish is valuable and important.  Now there is way, to enjoy a long weekend as you learn Spanish at a very affordable price.

Unlock the power of your untapped knowledge.

There are numerous little known, but scientifically proven ways to enhance the speed, accuracy and efficiency of your decision making process for greater wealth, health and happiness. In just three days you can gain almost amazing learning skills.  Plus you become skilled in Spanish as a bonus.

In just three days?

Sound too good to be true?

This is not a gimmick nor a trick. At least three best selling books, Superlearning, the Mozart Effect and Superlearning 2000 have revealed insights about how we can learn and think more powerfully based on systems drawn from the Bulgarian, Dr. Georgi Lozanov.

In 1980 Superlearning sold over two million copies and showed how the Lozanov learning system blended long-tested sciences of yoga with contemporary physiology and psychology so people could learn faster and better.

This book exposed this fact and made the system so popular that Dr. Lozanov was allowed to visit the US from Bulgaria to teach this system to just a very few people so they could pass on this vital information on how to learn and think in a more natural, powerful way so we can enjoy life and enhanced memory more.

Merri was among those few who learned how and is licensed to teach the Lozanov system from this Bulgarian master. She has organized a practical course on how to learn faster and better.

With her modified system, you will learn how to think and learn more powerfully in just three days. To prove how good you will be with this process, you learn Spanish as a side benefit.

The learning system you gain expands on Dr. Lozanov’s original work and offers new insights into tapping human potential, drawing from ancient and modern tactics for quick learning such as subliminal memory, music, nutrition, and productivity.

There are three scientific reasons why this course will change your learning capacity forever (and help you speak Spanish in just four days).

This system uses music to integrate brain waves so the process of absorbing, processing and recalling information is vastly accelerated.  This brings forth the three C’s:  Calm, Clarity and Coherence.

Shawn and Suzanne Bandick teach Super Spanish in Mexico and Canada.

Here is one more rave from Shawn and Suzanne’s Mexico course.

The Super Thinking system works by focusing on the learner first… the data second.  The system “grows the learner” rather than just expands the information.  The explosion of data we must all process everyday means there is too much information to process already.    Let’s view this learning in terms of plumbing to outline what “Growing the Learner”  means.

If you have 4.5 inches of information flowing through a 4 inch learning pipe, the solution is not to add another inch of information.  The answer is to first create a six inch pipe and then an even larger pipe…a never ending expansion of abilities!

You learn how to evoke the power of the senses thus super-charging memory. Ever hear a song from twenty, thirty or forty years past and in a snap know all the words, the tune and remember with who and where your heard it decades ago? Learn how to use ten cycle music to gain almost super human thinking powers.

Dr. Lozanov was totally committed to learning without stress, to enjoy the thrill of relaxed, leisurely learning. These are just two, whole learning, super-thinking tactics you gain at this course.

What is your desire? Do you want to speak Spanish, French, German, Chinese or any language? Would you like to golf better or accomplish more in school? Would you like to easily, quickly zip through projects, chores, reports? Merri’s “Super Thinking” course can help you learn any subject two-to-five times faster, in exciting and innovative ways.

The techniques you gain will help unlock the quantum potential we all possess. This evolutionary program shows how certain types of music can enhance learning and how even altered nutrition can make you a startling 25 percent smarter, how subliminal messages can increase your energy and thinking process, plus much, much more.

Merri’s system follows and builds upon what was taught in the Superlearning, the Mozart Effect and Superlearning 2000 books plus includes techniques and strategies that she has gained in her 42 years of global travel and study with educational masters around the world.

This is a course that shows you how to increase your mental power to better succeed in the 21st century when we can otherwise be overwhelmed by information.

The system you gain is built from old and new sources ranging from yoga to contemporary Russian science, and ultimate zone training already used by many Olympic champions.

“Super Thinking plus Spanish” presents new ways to use music to supercharge your mind. The knowledge you gain about smart food and super nutrition allows you to enhance productivity and creativity.

The tactics you gain enhance your ability to absorb… retain and recall information.

Once these concepts of enhancing your mental powers with music are understood, you will know how to create your own program and build new skills at work in study and play.

Second you gain seventeen, easy to use learning techniques that can help you gain any romantic language in much less time than traditional learning techniques.

Rick Brown will teach next in Toronto.

Here is our Super Thinking + Spanish schedule below.

2013

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 5-6-7  Super Thinking + Spanish  Sarasota, Florida  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

Attend all our Spanish and writing courses, plus investing and business seminars and tours FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Spiro Michas teaching in Motevideo.

Fluency in a language is considered to come when you know 1,200 words. To prove that it is possible to gain this and much more, let me share just one of the 17 tactics Merri taught me that gives you thousands of Spanish words in less than three minutes.

Here are the thousands of Spanish words lesson #1:

All words in Spanish and English that end in ION are almost identical,  just pronounced differently. For example action is accion, education educacion, manipulation, manipulacion, etc.

Now you already literally know hundreds of Spanish nouns. This is just one of seventeen Spanish lessons you gain. The next lesson teaches you how to pronounce each of these nouns. Then you learn in a third lesson almost as many verbs, almost as quickly.

Third, you learn how to avoid conjugating verbs by sticking with the infinitive (far easier than it sounds). This simple lesson leaves you sounding like a Spanish professor (believe me I know as I use this tactic every day when in Ecuador).

There are many other lessons. For example lesson five shows how to sound infinitely polite and yet get almost anything you want in Spanish. Lesson six gives you the valuable connectors and the seventh lesson triples your Spanish capacity with yesterday, now and tomorrow.

By the end of the three day course you will feel quite comfortable speaking Spanish without stress!

A delegate who learned Super Spanish outlined how this course can help you.   After three days, I can speak Spanish in complete sentences. In simple conversations, such as buying groceries or ordering a meal, I can make myself understood. I think that’s incredible!  Although I am far from the competence level of a native speaker, I feel I’ve taken a giant step forward in learning Spanish so that I can experience the people and culture of Ecuador.  The foregoing benefits would have more than justified the time and money I invested in Super Thinking Super Spanish. And learning Spanish was not the most important benefit I got from the course.  In recent years, I’ve rarely relaxed (No wonder I have had high blood pressure!) .   In class, the past three days, I’ve been introduced to the calming effects of Baroque music.  What a blessing! I’m inclined to make this a daily part of my life.   Rob Christi

The Super Spanish helps you start speaking and understanding Spanish right away.  This can help you speak Spanish faster and make your traditional Spanish course easier and more effective. 

A Livescience.com article helps explain why this course works and how delegates are creating Spanish sentences by the first lunch break and can communicate well in Spanish after just three days.   This article by Jeremy Hsu, LiveScience Senior Writer, is entitled “CIA Seeks Anyone, Anyone Who Can Speak 2 Languages”

Four important points in the article are shown in excerpts below with my comments to show what has been wrong with traditional Spanish courses and why the Super Thinking tactic is perfect for this program.

The article says: WASHINGTON, D.C. — Many Americans don’t learn a second or a third language from birth, let alone a language that the CIA or U.S. Foreign Service might want. The situation has forced U.S. government agencies to learn how to cultivate the most talented second-language speakers from among college students with little to no other-language expertise.

“In U.S. education, we don’t develop early bilinguals,” said Catherine Doughty, a language expert at the University of Maryland.

Doughty spoke as part of a panel on Feb. 19 during the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Washington, D.C. Finding the best.  Government agencies aren’t alone in trying to recruit multilingual speakers; U.S. corporations covet such skills for doing business in the era of globalization.

The article explained how Doughty and her colleagues used tests to train up cognitive processes related to language learning, such as the ability to hold information in the brain while using it for learning.  The tests sought to predict those who can succeed despite everything stacked against them.

The article reviewed changes in the brain.  Lee Osterhout is a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Washington in Seattle.  His lab used electrodes placed on the scalp to measure the electrical activity created by the signals of brain cells. That allowed the researchers to see differences in the brain patterns among language learners and fluent speakers. They found some surprising results.

The article pointed out: Repeated studies of French language students showed that their brains responded differently to real French words compared with fake words after just two weeks of classes, even if the students themselves could not tell such words apart.   

“From knowing nothing to a little bit, [there are] huge changes in the brain,” Osterhout pointed out.”[From] knowing a little to knowing a lot, [it is] much more subtle.”  Another surprise came from studies of Spanish-speaking immigrants, because neither age nor language proficiency seemed to predict how quickly the immigrants picked up English. Instead, the fastest learners showed both the greatest motivation to learn and a willingness to use English at every opportunity despite being bad at it (at first).

MY COMMENT: This is the other reason why Super Thinking plus Spanish works. This three day course gets the delegates speaking and thinking Spanish all the time so they can use and/or think Spanish every day… and communicating even from the beginning. In this way the education grows even when Spanish is not being spoken.

The Super Thinking course first integrates the brain.  Students learn better with relaxed concentration. Then the course teaches them 17 simple lessons so they know 4005 words in Spanish and can use them to create sentences. In this way, you can communicate in just three days.

Travel, accommodations and food are not included.

Gary

Yet your Spanish will just be one result from learning how to think better!  You will be able to use your new learning powers in amazing ways.

Here are what delegates wrote about a Super Thinking + Spanish seminar. 

“Hi Gary & Merri, You two are the BEST!!! Your Seminar was fantastic! I am so excited. I had procrastinated fulfilling my continuing education for my Broker’s License and then just before my surgeries, I realized by expiration date isn’t Nov. 12th – it is Sept 12th. Well, as you can see prior to taking your course I had only completed 3 units of the required 45 units. I thought I would take your course and then complete my remaining 42 units over the next 2 weeks. However, I took one class exam on Saturday night, August 27th. I didn’t even take the cellophane off the required Course manuals until after I saw the two of you today less than 5 hours ago! I used your techniques and completed 39 units of continuing education today. I have now completed all 45 units. All of my test scores were in the 90.6-96% range. My course exam information is listed below. I just wanted to let you know how valuable your course was to me. Thanks again!” Suzy Kurinsky

John Sloan teaching Super Thinking + Spanish in Costa Rica.

Another wrote:  Thanks for the Spanish course.  This technique is truly a breakthrough in learning.  I believe I learned more Spanish in four days than I learned in four weeks in a previously attended Costa Rica language school.  The Costa Rica school taught a very limited number of memorized words and phrases. Ted.

Another delegate at a Super thinking plus Spanish seminar wrote:  The Super Thinking approach exposed us to a broad variety of works and the technique needed to expand the language.  Again, Thanks for the experience.

One attendee wrote: I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything during the seminar. You guys are indeed a shining example of having a business that truly serves others. And thanks for the extra time spent and good things taught to me personally. I have begun to implement them already and will continue to apply them. And you might be interested that waiting for my flight home I ended up sitting next to a woman from Quito and could understand some of what she said in a cell phone conversation. We talked a little and she said that I should visit Ecuador!  Thank you again for your real graciousness and acceptance! I will also write to Merri and thank her as well. And I wish that I could do something for you two!

Another wrote: Thank you!  We  always look forward to spending time and learning about so many fascinating things. Like Minded people and Vivaldi! What could be better?

Another sent this note: Thank you for the wonderful workshop on Super Learning + Spanish!  I really enjoyed the workshop.

Since I returned home, I have purchased some of the CDs of Baroque music and thought about which specific pieces will work best in different parts of my classes.  I am also reading Perfect Health by Deepak Chopra.  I found your discussion of this book to be very helpful in showing how to balance one’s life.  I have adjusted my daily schedule, and I can already notice a difference in my productivity.

Thank you for sending the file of the 4005 Spanish words.  This will be very helpful in my daily review of Spanish.

Another emailed this: Every day I’m becoming more proficient in Spanish.  As I get ready to do something, I think about how I would say it in Spanish.  Thank you again for a Super Workshop!  With love and blessings,

Another: It certainly was an interesting and intriguing four days for me.  I enjoyed the Spanish but even more so, all the tentacles that extended during those four days that went into so many different directions.

I grew up in a very SQUARE box with loving  and intelligent parents but my world remained within this box, unable to see beyond those walls, as I was never encouraged to “think outside the box”..  Mike has been opening doors and leading me outside this box but because of my upbringing I have not completely embraced or understood what was beyond those doors he opened for me.  As I have gotten older I have become more open to the world outside those doors yet those old tapes continue to play and I have not been able to completely release myself and experience all that can be.

Another shared this: Listening to the two of you during our time together has suddenly got me to thinking, and although some of the ideas still seem foreign to me,  I am at a point in my life now where I can say, “anything is possible” and I am now willing to embrace and allow myself to experience the world of possibility and let it take me in directions I may have in the past resisted.  I really don’t know where all this is going to lead me but I am now willing to explore, develop and grow.

I found all the information you offered on healing, realigning the body, nutrition, etc. so fascinating, have you ever thought about doing a course on just that?  With the aging population and the health care issues I think it would be not only an interesting course but one that would be very beneficial to so many.  I, personally, would love to learn more about what you talked about and plan on purchasing the book, “Body Renewal, the Lost Art of Self Healing” for my Kindle.

Thank you again for a wonderful four days!!

Another:  We had fun at Disney World on Monday and sat beside several Personnes Espaniol.  We could understand them however I couldn’t make sentences quickly, but could say one or two word phrases that were understood.  We arrived home at 3am yesterday – the airlines were very late in Denver due to a crew incident.

I found myself making up sentences all day yesterday as I was running errands.  John knows more vocabulary than I at this point as he has studied Spanish previously.  Today I will begin to review the lessons and construct sentences to send to you and the group – as you suggested below.  Es en BUENO sugestion!!!  I also received the email Merri sent with the 4005 words and started to scroll through those yesterday.

Another: Thank YOU for everything you have done to create and bring this wonderful experience to all of us.  It takes a well sychronized team of people to put on an effective, change producing seminar!  I have given many seminars and enjoyed the experience immensely.  The outcome is even better!  Estoy une infantil de Super Thinking and Spanish, y es possible aprender en tiempo.

John and I both thank all of you for the wonderful experience – we are working now to clear up things so we can leave for the Galapagos and Ecuador November 25th – December 20th.  Nosotros tiene muchos appreciacion!  Gracias y Abrazos,

Another:  Muchas gracias para la informacion!  I had a wonderful time at the Super Learning + Spanish weekend!… excelente!

I was impressed with your depth of knowledge on numerous subjects and your ability to speak about them with exceptional recall.  Con mucho apriciar,  P.S. Yo estoy enteresado en Espanol #2.

One delegate even explained how after our course they ended up as the accidental translator: Gary,  I have sent a couple of messages, and  a story of Mike being able to translate yesterday for a Spanish person  who couldn’t understand what a man was trying to tell him!

We loved the seminar, and are excited to put the super learning to practice, and especially the great company of like-minded people (especially G & M!)  Muchas Gracias!  Tiene an excellante dias.

One delegate communicated entirely in Spanish…. after just our Super Thinking + Spanish seminar: Buenas dias nuestra maestra perfectamente, Merri!   Muchas gracias por la lista espanol.

Claro, David y yo aprendemous mucho espanol el fine de semana pasada. Gary y usted nos hacen espanol muy facil aprender. Es importante continuar a practicar espanol cada dia. Gracias tambien!  Buenas suerte…hasta la vista! Con mucho amor,

Comments from another delegate: I wanted you to know that the Spanish course has proven incredibly helpful. Dealing with internet service providers and shopping for appliances, etc., normally would have required me hiring a translator to follow me around. While it may not be pretty or 100% grammatically correct, I am understood. Thank you!  Saludos!

Whether your goal is to reduce your cost of living… increase your income… enhance the return on your investments or all, being able to speak Spanish… enhances your opportunity and does the world good.

Lose Weight and Inches With Frequency Modulation

See an example from a Super Thinking + Spanish delegate who lost 55 pounds after taking our course.   See how Jim Reed used our Super Thinking + Spanish course to enhance his health and wealth as well as speak Spanish.

The ability to speak Spanish… even if you never leave the US is valuable in this day and age.   Spanish opens access to a good labor force and helps you communicate with a useful part of the American population.

Beyond Spanish… knowledge is bliss. Ignorance is dangerous in these times of rapid change.  The more knowledge we can absorb, retain and recall… the better our chances of success… higher income… less stress…. better health and more fulfillment.

So it’s little wonder that the attendance at our Super Thinking + Spanish and Quantum Wealth courses have grown dramatically.   Our changing world not only reinforces the need to speak Spanish but also requires us to be smarter.

Ernest Neuman and pronunciation coach teaching in Vancouver.

Attend all our Spanish and writing courses, plus investing and business seminars and tours FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

Super Thinking plus Spanish courses are among the few I know that not only share valuable information but help the delegates become smarter so they absorb, retain and recall the education more effectively.  The course does this through the power of music… a power we all already have within. Let’s see some examples.   Meet Jim Reed.

Jim is a retired airline pilot who moved to Ecuador a year ago and lived in our Casa Blanca condos for a year.  He has become an Ecuador resident and built a house.   I interviewed him on one of our trips to Cotacachi.

Like so many others I have spoken with who have attended our Super Thinking + Spanish course… he claims to be much happier… more relaxed and has become healthier, shedding medication and weight.

Jim lost 55 pounds in the last year and, as reported by so many… without trying… without eating less… without any feeling of deprivation.

One fact that many who enjoyed wonderful positive changes when they have attended our Super Thinking course is they learned to use music in a very specific way to reach the quantum states of their intellect.

Here are more raves from delegates of this course:

I have so enjoyed attending your seminars.  I look at is as a place to gain  “tools for life” as well as  receiving a plethera of information on the topics at hand.

(So far we attended  Spanish and investing.) I get equally as much value out of the tools, and mindset in viewing the information that can be applied to life in general as well as the topic at hand. So thanks for enjoying what you do… it definitely shows up in real world application.

At each seminar we meet many interesting and unique folk – I think the audience you draw  can think out of the box at least a little bit! So again thanks for gathering such a wonderful array of resources for us.

Another emailed:  We so enjoyed the language class last weekend!

Carolyn came back with your simple, common sense approach and the new tools to start speaking.

Most remarkable is that she feels comfortable putting together sentences and ‘communicating.’ Somehow many of us seem to get caught in the trap of thinking we have to say it ‘right,’ and so we don’t even try. It is interesting that we do not see ourselves ‘creating’ communication in our native tongue; each saying it a little different than the other, and yet still all getting the ‘communication’ across the bridge in our own manner.

We delighted to know you both better, and greatly admire your passion for life and generosity sharing what you have learned.

We are planning to attend the next business seminar you offer. Carolyn is talking about returning for the Fall Spanish Super Thinking class with a girlfriend.

We are excited by the many new challenges we have found through your offerings.

Delegates during a relaxation session.

Another a dentist said: I was so delighted with my experience at the Spanish training.  I felt more confident of ability to pronounce Spanish than I ever was of French or German.  Funny… I did not think I remembered any French or German but when I cannot remember the Spanish words the German and French popped up.  Practicing my pronunciation made my trip home go faster. I never enjoyed pronouncing either of the other two, but this was fun. It is hard to fall asleep at the wheel when you are moving your mouth to speak Spanish. It does work your mouth in a different way.  I realized that you have to say each syllable slowly and correctly(until you get it perfectly) and when you do it is impressive.

It was amazing to see us all writing such advanced sentences after a few days and so much more enjoyable than having to go through the alphabet to build the words to build the sentences.

Another Wrote: I intended to give it a few days before I wrote to you about my experience in the Spanish + SuperThinking  Course. However, I had such dramatic results today, in the physical rather than the cognitive realm, that I had to share this immediately.

I started my day with Baroque music. Before I began my Spanish lesson, I went through the Mayan Waves Brain Refresher (Brain Sync). I also played an alpha wave composition while I completed a lesson in the morning. I repeated the process this afternoon. Before my high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout in the evening, I put on a gamma brain wave video from you tube faster reading gamma waves help with exercise. I preformed the “Halo Of Sweat” workout from an online fitness site. Around the world, people complete the workout and posts their scores, striving to meet or beat the personal trainer. Frankly, my reps have rarely come close to the reps of the woman featured in the video nor have I ever beat her. Until today.

Not only did I come close to her performance, I surpassed her quite significantly with several exercises. I performed my best in the last exercise, Abs Burn Out. Her scores were 38, 34 and 33 and mine were 60, 40 and 47!

I believe several factors allowed me to achieve this acceleration in athletic ability today:

1. My left and right hemispheres are now harmonizing.
2. The meditation and relaxed concentration techniques I learned are coming more easily to me and effective.
3. My focus and concentration are greatly enhanced.

I am a Pilates professional so to have my exercise regimen improve so swiftly is remarkable. Not only am I now able speak Spanish but I am experiencing optimal health as well. I am deeply grateful to you and Merri for your SuperLearning instruction.  Be well,

Mark Frakes with a Super Spanish class in the St. Louis area.

Here is our Super Thinking + Spanish schedule below.

2013

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 5-6-7  Super Thinking + Spanish  Sarasota, Florida  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Attend all our Spanish and writing courses, plus investing and business seminars and tours FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

Learn more about Cuneca here.

We need to be earning anywhere we go because no matter how we look at it… our purchasing power is at risk.

I left high school in mid ”60s and look at what has happened to prices.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Our friend, Charles Vollum, who publishes www.pricedingold.com shows what has happened to the average US wage in terms of gold.

See a link to more prices in gold charts below.

The chart below from Fidelity Viewpoints shows that this trend has not abated in the 2000s.

The ultimate form of inflation protection is the ability to earn through service with your own micro business so we have been posting stories to show how others are doing this as they follow their dreams around the world.

Here is the third in a series by Stephen Milden on Ateam Ecuador about how expats are earning with micro businesses in Cuenca, Ecuador.

How Expats Earn in Ecuador – Part 3 by Stephen Milden

This is the 3rd in the series of how expats have either re-invented themselves or used skills from their previous life to earn in Ecuador. The impetus for  the series stems from the hundreds of emails we receive each month many of which have the question, “How can I earn some money if  I move to Ecuador?” A variation on the theme is, “How can I add to my retirement or social security?”
What follows is an interview I did recently with Lindsay Burton who opened a popular cafe in Cuenca called San Sebas.

Here’s her background:

I was born in Hawaii, but I was born into a traveling family. I grew up all over the world including New Zealand, Belize, Peru, The Philippines, Japan, Texas, Oregon, and also spent some time working in Cambodia.

Why Ecuador and Cuenca in particular?

After traveling to South America I fell in love with the culture here. It reminded me of the family and community culture that I missed so much about Hawaii. When I was 19 I started working with a social project outside of Quito helping children in an area of extreme poverty.  I continued working with the project 3 months every year for about 5 years, and during that time I decided I would love to find a way to support myself living in Ecuador for a long period of time. I came to visit Cuenca 2 years ago after my parents had moved here and fell in love with the city. I went back to Austin, Texas where I was living at the time and sold everything to move here.

Did you plan to open a business before coming?

I had the idea of the cafe for many years now. I have always worked in restaurants and love the service industry. I remember being asked at one point in a negative tone “Well, do you just want to be a waitress the rest of your life?”   My response was, “Well actually, YES I LOVE IT!”

The name comes from Parque San Sebastian which is adjacent to the cafe

How did you decide to open a cafe?

San Sebas was inspired by the eclectic cafe scene that I fell in love with while living in Austin, Texas. When I moved to Cuenca I missed having somewhere comfortable to go sit and work, or read a book and also enjoy a good cappuccino.

Although I love local food, I am not a big rice eater and I missed North American style soups, salads and sandwiches for lunch. San Sebastian Park was also an inspiration for the cafe. The tranquility and beauty of the park, along with the chance to have outside seating is what drew me to this location. I had my eye on this building for months before it was actually available and when it became, I jumped on the opportunity immediately.

What were some of the challenges?

There were many hurdles to overcome when opening the cafe regarding permits, visa issues, contractors and renovations. My Spanish is improving now, but in the beginning my vocabulary was limited, which made it really hard to communicate with contractors and vendors. I could not have done any of this without the help of my mother who worked so hard to assist me with everything she could along the way.

Great place for a burger and a beer

What did you learn that you’d do differently next time?

This is the first time I have ever been a “boss”. It has been a growing process for me personally learning how to manage employees, work, my time and free time. At the Cafe I am stretched thin, and I think the next time I go into business I will be looking for a partner who also has experience in the industry and can help carry the load.

or a vegetarian taco

How is the business going?

The business is going great, we have been very blessed. This year we are rated in the top 10 restaurants in Cuenca with Tripadviser.com and also had full page articles in the local newspaper EL MERCURIO and Miami Herald. We are growing consistently every week and are almost ready to start expanding.

Did I mention the incredible fresh baked desserts?

Any idea what percentage of your customers are local versus expats?

The first few months we were open we were labeled a “gringo hang out”. It was very easy to get the word out to the expat community through web sites and blogs that we were opening. Getting the word out to the locals was a little harder. It has been mostly word of mouth through friends and family that recommend us. At this point I would say that we are about 70/30 expats to locals but every week it seems to be evening out. Sundays are becoming very popular with the locals.

Full house at the cafe

Future plans?

The last 6 months I have been working on training the kitchen and waitresses and getting them solid and comfortable before the next step. Right now we are in the process of renovating our second level and hopefully in the next 2 months we will be expanding our hours to be open at nights as well. I am really looking forward to opening evenings here, and doing some live music events. The atmosphere of the cafe completely transforms at night and is so beautiful. I can’t wait to show it off!

Located on the corner of Calle Sucre and Parque San Sebastian

If you have an interest in starting or buying a business in Cuenca Ecuador, Contact us at Stephen@AteamEcuador and we’ll be happy to let you know our thoughts.

Learn about Cuenca Real Estate tours here.

Gary

Super Thinking + International Investing & Business Seminar

Super Thinking + International Investing & Business Seminar, February 1-2-3, 2103 in Mt Dora Florida.

This is the premier seminar we have been conducting every February for over 30 years.  This February is special because the best opportunities come at the darkest hour and that time is here.  Learn how to…

#1: Borrow yen at 2.5% and gain a 5% profit in three weeks.

#2: Turn $499 into $142,020… per year.

#3:  Buy a beach view Ecuador home for $16,000.

Review these ideas in warm and sunny Lake County, Florida, with over 1,000 named lakes and the charm of historic Mt. Dora. This a special place especially at the this time of year.

(Click on photo to enlarge).

These are balmy winter days I shot of the Florida winter from…

my canoe.

Forces have come together for the biggest economic expansion in history.   Huge profits are waiting in business and investing… whether you are just starting… in the middle… are ready to retire or want to start an entirely new career.

One reason for this timing is cyclical.  Equity markets are selling at some of their best valuations in years.

This optimistic outlook is based on the development of earnings, cash flows, dividends and book values.

When you look at the big picture… from the turn of the century until now the entire global economic history has been a series of slow downs and catch ups,  but over the long run  values in the stock market have risen about 9.1 percent, respectively, compounded annually.

There are always emotional reasons for slow downs…  as we have seen in the past five years…  the worries of double dip recessions… high unemployment… concerns about fiscal cliffs. Such fears hold investors back.  Yet  global population growth and advances in production and prosperity are relentless.   Values increase as prices stagnate. Then markets break free and rocket upwards creating wealth, prosperity and growth.

Economic breakouts create fortunes.  This February we get to share with you three… enormous profit possibilities…. one in business…. one in investing and one in Ecuador.

All the facts have come together.   The next boom is about to begin.

We can see the power of breakouts from the last BIG ONE in 1979.   Warren Buffett saw it coming. He mentioned it in a famous 1979 Forbes article “You Pay a Very High Price in the Stock Market for a Cheery Consensus”.

Everything looked bleak.

The 1980s recession, the worst since the Great Depression, was about to begin.   Yet in 1979 Buffett said…. BUY NOW.    On August 13, 1982 the biggest global bull stock market in history began.

The Dow’s 1982 to 1999, relentless 17 year climb is just one breakout we can see.

Click to enlarge.

1979 was the darkest hour.  The herd was thinking negatively.   The reality?  A boom was on!   Then in 1999 another economic contraction began and has been with us till now… 14 years.   The cycle is repeating.  This is the beginning of an even bigger boom.

“It’s not what’s happening that counts. It’s what you do with it.”

Make no mistake… Merri and I have been able to help readers have better lives, less stress and to make fortunes during these last 17 economically depressed years.  Yet the simple fact is that the really big profits come at the start of a boom.  This is why I want to kick off 2013 with you and share more than my usual confidence and enthusiasm. 

The upcoming February seminar is divided into three main sessions.

Each session helps you learn how to gain freedom, remove stress, earn more and do more good in and for the world.

Session One :  International Micro Business – “How to Have a Positive Global Income”.   You can turn $499 in $142,020 a year, even in small towns.

Session Two : Ecuador Living and Real Estate.

Sessions Three:  International & Value Investing Outside the Box.

Here is a partial syllabus of the seminar:

SESSION ONE:  How to Turn Your Passion into a Profitable Microbusiness.   A micro business can be the best investment you can make. Start small and magnify your investment with your effort, enthusiasm and energy.

* Turn $499 into $142,020 through writing and publishing… without risk.  In just one year.  Cash in on the blowback from the global community.  The global economy is good but big business… big government…. big medicine and global everything is also impersonal, often harsh and inhumane.  This expansionary process leaves us believing in nothing.  We are cynical of the global banks… the aggressive police… the intrusive government… the big church… the monetized medicine… the negative media… the unfair laws…. the failing currencies… all the broken promises.

Yet as humans, we have to believe in something and our last bastion… the one we can see, hear, taste, smell and feel is our local community… either as a  place or as a collection of like-minded souls.

This is also where we can actually accomplish something and actually have an impact at doing some good.

On January 1st, 2013, Merri and I launched a new business “Positive Community Magazines” (PCM) with David Cross our webmaster and Dave & Sherry Johnson. This opportunity is for anyone young or old.  PCM offers excellent income… less stress, fulfillment and positive service to the community.  This business helps publish positive community magazines in small towns or to small communities of highly focused, like-minded souls.

Warren Buffett believes so much in this potential that he is buying newspapers in small towns all over America.

In 2012 Berkshire Hathaway purchased 63 small and mid-sized daily and weekly newspapers throughout the United States.

He plans to buy more and says: “I like buying individual papers at the right prices.” 

Buffett stated that Berkshire is not buying big newspapers or more newspaper shares because he believes in the value of local communities.

In February, you’ll meet Dave & Sherry Johnson who had a good life until times turned sour during the 2007 recession.  They lost everything so they moved to Asheboro, North Carolina which Forbes magazine highlighted as “One of America’s Ten Fastest-Dying Towns in the USA”.  They started a community magazine and from the ashes it has risen from success to success.   They now earn over $17,000 a month.  They came to our Writer’s Camp.  We saw their amazing business model and let no moss grow under our feet before asking them if they would help us spread this incredible concept around the world.

We know trends when we see them and this is even more exciting than the trend we saw in Ecuador’s expansion 17 years ago.

As an Independent Community Publisher of Positive Community Magazines, you will publish positive, upbeat community publications dedicated to representing, encouraging and celebrating the community you serve by focusing on the lifestyles, talents, gifts and contributions of the people who live and work there.  Plus you’ll earn as much as $17,635 a month.

Learn how to gain a proven business model with training – archive of articles – design templates – access to low-cost printing – marketing materials – and a very, very low investment (as little as $499) to start.

The Money – Here is the Proforma Income for a 64-page Magazine

In the model magazines the ad revenues run around $13,000 (40% ads/$500 per ad page) and editorial revenues of $4,635 or a gross income of  $17,635 a month.

Printing  and operational expenses are in the $5,800 range leaving  profits of $11,835.  You increase the bottom line if you do more of the design and distribution work yourself.

Other advantages of magazine publishing include the freedom to set your own schedule,  PRESS credentials, prestige, service to the community, philanthropy, being in the know and having a well respected profession.

Saves Lives.  Here is just one example of the good you can do. Sherry Johnson shared this story.

She wrote: Gary,  we even save lives.  In one issue of their magazine they told the story of a little boy who was struggling with a rare disease that caused life-threatening seizures.  One day, while his mom was out shopping, the little boy had a seizure so she rushed him to the hospital.

She called ahead and the nurse met her at the emergency room.  As it happens, the nurse had read the article in the magazine (which someone had brought to the nurse’s lounge) and she recognized the little boy from the article.  Since she knew immediately what was wrong with him, no time was wasted and he was treated quickly.  They were told that this particular seizure was especially bad and that the article probably saved his life.  This doesn’t happen every day but once in a lifetime is good enough!

Downtown Mt. Dora, Florida

Another session in the seminar shows “How to have an international micro business.”  These sessions are highly practical and usable. They focus on how to use modern technology to start global micro businesses based around a website, with minimal investments of time and capital.

By starting small and building with stepping stones and a harmonious focus, Merri and I have learned how to own profit generating phrases at Google.  We, along with our webmaster, David Cross, share the secrets of how you can use words to create your own global income.

The seminar shares how we us “Seven Ps”  (Person, Problem and Promise, Product) to zero in on key word phrases.  The Fifth P (Promise) develops new customers. The Sixth P is the Prospecting Path and Seventh P is the Presentation that creates income.

Learn about other microbusiness possibilities…

In the global micro business sessions we’ll see ideas on how to:

* Create Export Businesses

* Earn from Self Publishing and Writing

* Develop Internet Sales

* Cash in on Ecuador Business Ideas

* Find Organic Agricultural Business Ideas

* Profit With Health Business Ideas

* Turn Ideas for Tours and Seminar Businesses into Profitable Lifestyles

* Create a Multi Dimension extra income lifestyle.

Multi dimensional living can create a lifestyle that brings better health and lasting “real” wealth.  Many readers  are choosing a multi dimensional lifestyle, living on a farm and earning in other ways such as writing.

Activity on the farm in North Carolina. It’s tax deductible and profitable but…

I cannot call it work.

Merri and I have been fortunate. The self publishing business has treated us well.  However a great deal of our financial stability also comes from being multi dimensional.  We have lived on our own farm and seminar camp and orange grove and in our own Ecuador hotel and hacienda.  We are always fixing things up…. buying broken places or taking broken ideas and making them whole.

For decades we have been buying houses and fixing them… painting, restructuring and such.  This is our hobby… that happens to be profitable… or maybe that’s our business and writing is the hobby that also happens to be profitable?

The point is what we do is not work.   We just regularly do what we love and figure out how to earn income in the process.  The adage framed on my desk given to me by a beloved Indian Pundit is “Action is Thy Duty… Reward Not Thy Concern“. With this motto and a bit of common sense living joyfully and earning merge.

Our daughter, Cinda, and David Cross, our son-in-law webmaster and granddaughters, Sequoia and Teeka, have taken this lifestyle route as well.   Cinda loves animals so is a veterinarian and specializes in animal acupuncture which she can do at their farm.

David has his website and voice-over business he can run from their farm and the girls love working in the gardens.

David and Cinda’s multi dimensional farm. They now produce 60% of their food and earn extra income selling their excess organic crops.

Using the Bio Degradable “Bio Wash” to gain added value we have been able to double our production and quadruple the profits in our orange grove.

In the multi dimension segment of the seminar we review how to spot “live on agri and B&B opportunity” in small towns and Ecuador.  We’ll also look at Bio Wash, that we have supported now for nearly 20 years. We’ll show the environmental as well as health and business benefits it brings.

Join Merri and me at our Super Thinking + Investing and Business Seminar – February 1-2-3 , 2013, Mt. Dora, Florida.

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999

See  How to Attend this Seminar for $177 instead

SESSION TWO: Ecuador Living.  Talk about catching an early wave… Merri and I caught the Ecuador expat trend right at its beginning 17 years ago.   We brought readers who joined us in Ecuador then… some amazing opportunities.  This cycle has matured but there are still great bargains if you know what to do.  No one has as much experience and as many contacts in this field. This experience is also dependable.  We do not sell Ecuador real estate so you won’t be hearing any hidden agendas.

A beach house for $16,000?  Is that bargain enough?  You cannot beat experience when it comes to learning all the ins and outs and buying real estate in a country like Ecuador.

For example after more than a dozen years of traveling… working… buying and selling real estate and running businesses in Ecuador… we led Jean Marie Butterlin from France to the coast and he began scouring the beaches from Manta, north to Pedernales… finding the bargains…. meeting the landowners…  understanding the rules, regulations and customs.

That experience made him the expert of Ecuador beach real estate so that bargains could be found and so his clients could overcome the biggest problems and intelligently buy real estate on the coast.

We’ll share how to  buy beach property intelligently.

Here is Jean Marie’s second beach home…. secluded overlooking this…

isolated beach home for just…

$16,000.

You’ll learn how to overcome one of the biggest mistakes most real estate buyers make on the beach.

Dr. Andres Cordova will speak and join me in updating Ecuador real estate and residency rules.

Dr. Andres Cordova speaking at our seminars.

Andres is our friend and Ecuador attorney. He is the grandson of one of Ecuador’s more famous presidents and was a senior partner in a law firm that represents Ecuador’s treasury.

We’ll also review how to create an Ecuador export business as Merri and I have for many years.

Roberto Ribadeneira speaking at our seminar about how he can shop, ship and charge for Ecuador export businesses.

We’ll review the Ecuadorshop Logistics service that provides all these services for exporters in importers into the USA.

We’ll share how Roberto provides an exclusive service that helps readers who export from Ecuador monitor production and quality and assure timely delivery.

This is a great service that provides every detail for importing products into the USA.   We have used this logistics service ourselves for years and became the largest shipper of Ecuador roses last Christmas.  One big benefit is that the service can send each product direct to the buyer in the USA.  The Ecuadorshop Logistics service makes small and medium scale Ecuador exporting possible.

Join Merri and me at our Super Thinking + Investing and Business Seminar – February 1-2-3 , 2013, Mt. Dora, Florida.

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999

See  How to Attend this Seminar for $177 instead

Session THREE  – International & Value Investing Outside the Box.  This session shows how to protect your investments and savings, plus what to do with extra profits you’ll earn.

The educational program Merri and I have developed uses a different form of frequency modulation that opens enormous opportunity for expansion, understanding, peacefulness as well as greater wealth.

FM teaching uses frequency (in music and with each sense… sight…. smell, tactile and even smell) to integrate brain waves so the process of absorbing, processing and recalling information is vastly accelerated.  This brings forth the three C’s:  Calm, Clarity and Coherence.

FM creates relaxed concentration… a key to happiness, health and success.

You learn whole brain thinking that can help improve your freedom, satisfaction and income through business.

This part of the seminar helps us integrate their brain waves so they are more intelligent, intuitive and relaxed.

The Super Thinking sessions show three ways (baroque music, relaxation and nutrition) to get into and stay in a state of relaxed concentration… a mental state shown to enhance almost every human capability… especially writing.

Merri and I are explorers so we have used this techniques for decades. We  are always looking for what’s next… trying to stay on or ahead of the leading edge and need ways to think outside he box.

The Super Thinking sessions share how we do this to live better…. using frequency modulation to be smarter… stronger…. more energetic… more aware, friendlier, compassionate, happier and healthier.

We are in our 45th year of business and we share what we have learned and where this is leading our activities in our upcoming seminar. Join us.

Spotting new trends and applying them to our micro business has brought us a strong and continual flow of income through good times and bad.  More importantly the process has been fulfilling…. beneficial to society and healthy.    Now you can benefit from the latest… and perhaps strongest… of all the trends we have stumbled upon.

Applying the concepts of super thinking to spotting trends over the past 45 years has helped thousands of our readers make and save millions.   The success of our readers has been a driving force in our lives yet we have always wanted to do more so continued looking deeper at ways we can share how to have income, stability, good health and contentment.

Join us to learn our most recent experiences and most advanced concepts and ideas.

Join Merri and me at our Super Thinking + Investing and Business Seminar – February 1-2-3 , 2013, Mt. Dora, Florida.

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999

There are two more Reasons to be in Mt. Dora February 1-2-3.   One is old time values.

The Lakeside Inn seen from Lake Dora.

130 years ago three local, and reasonably successful individuals, sitting around around one afternoon when one of them says “hey… lets build a hotel”.  The three agreed, plans were drawn up, materials were ordered and work began.  The year was 1883, Mount Dora was still called Royellou, Chester Arthur was President, and it would still be several years before the railroad would make its way in to town.   This leaves the Lakeside Inn as the oldest, continuously operated hotel in the State of Florida.   The Inn is just across the street from our meeting place and is celebrating its 130th Anniversary throughout 2013 with a number of special events and celebrations.

Mt. Dora Arts Festival.  This is is ranked in the top hundred art shows in the US. It’s a juried fine arts festival, for art lovers, casual festival-goers and families.

Downtown Mount Dora, with its New England architecture and breathtaking views of Lake Dora is the backdrop for this event. In addition to the endless rows of fine art, including oil paintings, watercolors, acrylics, clay, sculpture and photography, the festival features local and regional musical entertainment at a main stage in Donnelly Park.

The event draws over 300,000 visitors and features more than 285 artists from all over the world.Super Thinking + Investing and Business Seminar -

Join Merri and me at our Super Thinking + Investing and Business Seminar – February 1-2-3 , 2013, Mt. Dora, Florida.

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999

See  How to Attend this Seminar for $177 instead

Join Merri, me and the following speakers:

* Thomas Fischer of Jyske Bank, who will talk about International investing, forex, plus borrowing low to invest high.

* Rich Checkan of Asset Strategy who will update the state of the precious metals markets.

* Dr. Andres Cordova updating Ecuador real estate and monetary, residency and tax regulations.

* Dave and Sherry Johnson. How to turn $499 into 142,035 with Positive Community magazines in small towns.

* Shirley Peacock.  Lake County real estate.

* Mike McDonald. Aegis Capital Corp.

* Lou Shinamin. Ruggie Wealth

* Larry Grossman. Sovereign Pension Management.

Join Merri and me at our Super Thinking + Investing and Business Seminar – February 1-2-3 , 2013, Mt. Dora, Florida.

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999

See  How to Attend this Seminar for $177 instead

Pricedingold.com

Moneynews.com

Fidelity View points

Here is an idea on how to earn abroad from Stephen Milden who heads Ateam Ecuador in Cuenca, Ecuador.

How Expats Earn in Ecuador – Part 2

By Stephen Milden

We receive hundreds of emails each month with lots of questions asking about what it’s like to make the move to Ecuador. One question comes up over and over again; “How can I make money if I move to Ecuador?”  A variation is, “How can I add to my retirement or social security while living in Ecuador?”  So we decided to post a series of articles in the form of interviews highlighting how expats are actually earning in Ecuador rather than just provide our thoughts about it.

This is the second in the series and focuses on Edd and Cynthia Staton who like many people that have moved to Ecuador, re-invented themselves.

Edd and Cynthia owned a large interior landscaping company in Atlanta for 15 years. After selling the business they both enjoyed successful careers in sales and marketing before moving to Cuenca two years ago from Las Vegas. They have recently become partners in TerraDiversa (www.terradiversa.com), one of Ecuador’s leading tour operators and travel agencies. Edd also writes a popular blog about his experiences in Ecuador (www.eddsaid.blogspot.com).

Why did you choose Ecuador and Cuenca in particular as your new home?

The lower cost of living is probably everyone’s #1 reason. Our daily life now includes what we used to think of as luxuries—fresh flowers all the time instead of special occasions, eating out more often, having a maid, massages, and mani/pedi’s—at a fraction of our monthly budget in the US.

Weather-wise we’re Baby Bear in the Goldilocks story—we don’t like it too hot or too cold. It’s amazing to live in a place where heating and air conditioning are unnecessary. Low humidity is another plus, along with the lack of annoying insects at our higher altitude.

The size of Cuenca is so manageable. It’s a city of ½ million people but there’s such a small town feeling. You can get almost anywhere in less than 15 minutes either by walking or with readily available public transportation. And there’s a wide variety of cultural activities, excellent restaurants, and day trip excursions. We haven’t found very much not to like.

Where you thinking “retirement” when you moved here?

Actually we arrived in Cuenca with no agenda other than to have fun and keep our eyes open for interesting opportunities. Our careers ended somewhat involuntarily because of downsizing, and we quickly determined that we have too much energy to just hang out all the time. So at this point in our lives the conventional definition of “retirement” isn’t a good fit.

What was life like in Cuenca before your involvement with TerraDiversa?

People who aren’t living abroad have no idea how long it takes to get your new life in order. And that’s whether you’re shipping your belongings or starting from scratch. Everything takes longer than you expect. Beyond the obvious chores like setting up utilities it really takes awhile to get your bearings and establish some sort of routine. If you’re not fluent in Spanish that just adds to the fun.

Once we settled in, we were pleasantly surprised at the social aspect of expat life. In the States we would have probably enjoyed having more social activities but didn’t have time. Here if a lunch goes on for two hours because of interesting conversation it’s no big deal. You really get to know people. This has been the most surprising bonus of our relocation.

How did you decide to get involved with TerraDiversa?

It all happened very organically and serendipitously.

Juan Heredia

Our partner Juan Heredia, the founder and Managing Director of TerraDiversa, was the very first Cuencano we met when we came here for our “look/see” trip almost three years ago. We stayed in touch over the following year while preparing for the big move and once we arrived permanently our relationship blossomed into a true friendship.

Last fall Juan ended an acrimonious partnership and mentioned that because of his other business interests he would benefit from active involvement by someone else. I had already been informally assisting him with rewriting company brochures and a new website that has just been launched.

Cynthia and I have a passion for travel. One of the reasons we ultimately decided to make the radical change of moving abroad was to lower our expenses so we could participate in active travel while we’re still young and vigorous enough to do so.

TerraDiversa’s clientele is mostly foreigners, and we felt our sales and marketing background could help take an already successful company to the next level. So we said, “How about us?”  Juan agreed and here we are, back in the saddle again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecuadorliving/7839086120/in/photostream/

What are your responsibilities at TerraDiversa?

Well, let me make it clear that one thing we did not move to Cuenca for was a full-time J-O-B. My title is Director of Marketing. A lot of what I do doesn’t require regular hours or even going to the office regularly except for meetings. I’ve been working for several months designing and rewriting the entire TerraDiversa website, which has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. I’m also in charge of social media, and I write a blog for the company (www.ecuadortraveladventures.blogspot.com).

In business, have you noticed cultural differences between Ecuador and the US?

Absolutely. Doing business is much more straightforward in the States. In Ecuador the locals are unfailingly polite and are uncomfortable saying “no.” So when you’re told, “I’m very interested,” you’re never sure of the message. Customer service is, to put it politely, more “casual” than we gringos are used to. And actually asking someone to buy something is considered pushy.

What advice do you have for people considering going into business in Ecuador?

Starting a business or joining an existing enterprise like we did are two very different approaches. In either case I would definitely recommend taking your time to understand the laws, the rules, and the culture.

Having a great attorney is indispensable in both your personal and business life. In the States most folks need a lawyer only to maybe draw up a will or get a divorce. Many aspects of living abroad are not do-it-yourself projects, and choosing to go it alone can be perilous. An excellent attorney can not only handle legal requirements but can also assist or refer you in other sticky administrative situations.

A number of expats have successfully opened businesses here on their own, but I feel extremely fortunate to have teamed up with a local. Juan brings a lifetime of knowledge about Ecuador and years of experience in the tourism industry to the table. We’ve had training in sales and marketing techniques from the States that are hopefully adding a new dimension of professionalism to TerraDiversa. It’s a great combination.

The next article in the series will highlight a young woman who opened a very successful café in Cuenca that has become a favorite for locals and expats alike.

Stephen

Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Cuenca real estate offers excellent quality and value for expats in Ecuador.  Here is a shot of downtown Cuenca.

Downtown Cuenca.

Ecuadorliving.com was the first website to recommend Ecuador real estate nearly two decades ago and we continue to assist Ecuador Living Club members in arranging Ecuador tours as the most efficient way to learn about Ecuador’s real estate market.

Ecuador real estate markets have evolved to the point that group tours are counter productive. When Ecuador Living began,  there was not enough property… easily reached… for sale.   Little English was spoken and the properties were often hard to reach and spread far apart.

Ecuador real estate group tours helped readers reach these properties.

Today there are many properties and group tours can inhibit zeroing in on specific wants and needs.

Ecuador Living’s Real Estate Tour service helps its members create custom tours that fit each person’s schedule and particular desires.

The personalized tours are like AAA Trip Tics and help in three ways.

#1: The dates of your tour can be set to fit your schedule.  Ecuador Living makes sure you don’t book a tour on holidays or times when you would not be able to see property.

#2:  The tour service helps you zero in on your particular needs in real estate so you do not want to spend time viewing properties that are not of interest to you.   Once we have your tour dates and specifications, we contact brokers, developers and sellers of real estate in advance to help focus your search.

#3: You can turn these tours into adventures and overall Ecuador introductory tours so you see many different areas of Ecuador as you wish.

Ecuador Personalized Real Estate Tours are the most efficient and inexpensive way to get an overall view of Ecuador real estate.

Because we are publishers who owe our loyalty to our readers and not real estate agents, you can be assured that the tours are based on your wishes, not on any broker’s desire to sell a specific property.   Ecuador Living does not participate in any proceeds, commissions etc. from real estate sales.

For example if you only want to view farms with acreage and want to see farms in three areas… such as Cuenca, Imbabura and the coast we can help you organize a tour for this.

A recent article entitled “Building a charming destination”  by Paola Vellejo in the Bienes Raices Clave (Key Real Estate), Ecuador’s leading real estate magazine shows how experienced we are in Ecuador real estate.

You can see this article below.

Organizing the tour is a three step process.

#1:  This is a service unique to our Ecuador Living Club members.  To begin, become a member here.

If you are already a member please go to your password protected page at the link below.

#2: Once you have enrolled please use the real estate tour page to describe your real estate needs and email to us.

#3: We will research the trip… airfare and internal travel costs… hotel… food… guide and time required for each aspect of the trip.

To begin the set up of your tour please join the Ecuador Living Club here.  

Existing members please go to your password protected page.

The article entitled “Building a charming destination”  by Paola Vellejo in the Bienes Raices Clave (Key Real Estate), Ecuador’s leading real estate magazine shows how experienced we are in Ecuador real estate.

A translation of the article says:    In conversation with Britain’s Steve Marchant, familiar with the housing boom of Cotacachi, you can see the origin of the phenomenon of its growing popularity as a destination for retirees is the result of the sum of a series of coincidences that inevitably arise from one person: Gary Scott.    Scott was the spark that ignited the housing boom of Cotacachi for retirees.

You can read that article in Spanish here.

See a Google translation to English of the article here.

Here is a new project with water and view lots near Cuenca.

This is a new 15 lot development near Cuenca overlooking the Paute River Valley.

On our first trip to Ecuador about 16 years ago Merri and I fell in love with the country side outside of Cuenca.  We nearly bought a hacienda in this area but did not due to lack of water.  Since that time we have looked at hundreds of real estate projects in Ecuador and very few are on the water.

So I was very interested to see so much water in the new Rio Vista Linda project.

The old casa overlooking the valley and river at the Rio Vista Linda project.

Other features for all lot owners include access to the reservoir at the end of the property. There is variety of lot options in Phase One. Four lots have water views, four are in a large meadow, and two are hillside view lots.  There are also five lots in Phase Two. Of the 15 lots… two have been taken.

The developers have permission to plant trees or shrubs along the Paute Reservoir easement.

These lots also appeal to those who wish to garden or farm. The soil is rich, will produce many  different crops and the land has irrigation rights to a water canal on the lots.  The four meadow lots are large enough to have horses, cows  or other animals.  This is a rich farming area and  the University of Cuenca’s agricultural program is on an adjacent property.

The reservoir is also designated as a recreational area for boating or other activities.

Paute River Reservoir

There are ten lots in phase one.  If water interests you, read the paid advertisement below… then meander through the project’s website and if interested get in touch with the developer.

Gary

Here is the paid ad.

Rio Vista Linda

Nestled in the magical Paute River Valley is beautiful Rio Vista Linda. This little bit of Heaven located in the Andes Mountains has everything to make you feel right at home!

Wonderful rich and productive farm land surrounds you on all sides. And of course you can produce a fantastic garden of your own!

Breathtaking views of the lush river valley, Paute Reservoir, and surrounding mountains are  the first impressions you get from your new home site.

Next you notice the rich deep soil and mild temperate climate perfect for growing just about anything. The crystal clear mountain water in the canal, and pure fresh air are so invigorating. The land is lower and warmer than Cuenca.

It’s private, quite, peaceful and safe. Just perfect for your new  home in the country!

Minutes away is the small village of Guachapala. It’s a quaint farming village with real charm. If you need something  there are small convenience stores. You will also find a car wash, small restaurants, taxi cabs, police station, new sport arena and soccer field, an even a children’s water park with refreshment area. Country conveniences near home!

Paute.

Ten minutes drive is the bustling town of Paute where you’ll find shops, restaurants, banks, hardware stores, building supplies, and a year round farmer’s market with every kind of fresh fruit and vegetables imaginable!  The whole community comes out for market days and it’s quite a sight to behold!

A house built near Rio Vista Linda.

Back on the land there are several lot types to choose from. You can have water views, valley views or meadow lots which are large enough to have a horse if you wish.

There is building activity in the area and some existing wonderful homes

Another house near the project.

Kitchen in the house.

Lot owners have access to numerous architects and builders.

There are only 12 lots available and each is priced right for those wanting to establish residency in Ecuador!

See our website riovistalinda.com

Contact me James Carroll at: riovistalinda@yahoo.com
or call from the U.S  011 593 81 478 423
In Ecuador call   081 478 432

See the schedule of Cuenca Ecuador real estate tours below

We DO NOT investigate properties when they are advertised so be sure to complete your due diligence.  Always use an independent Ecuador attorney who represents you (not the seller) when you buy real estate in Ecuador. We also recommend that you rent, become familiar with Ecuador before you buy.

We have a list of Ecuador attorneys who have helped club members at our password protected Ecuador Living club website.

See how to get a password here

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell Business Courses.

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

during…

its annual arts festival. 

2013

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 14-15-16    Super Thinking  Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC   (Gary & Merri Scott)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish  Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

August 31-September 1-2  Super Thinking Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC  (Gary & Merri Scott)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

October 4-5-6  Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999 (Gary & Merri Scott)

November 15-16-17   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

 

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

February 14-15-16   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999  (Gary & Merri Scott)

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Attend all seminars and courses and more FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

 

Brand New Two Bedroom Cuenca Ecuador Rental Apartment with Incredible Views

Views from fully furnished Cuenca Rental Apartment.

This Cuenca Ecuador Apartment is owned by an American Family so you can talk to them in the USA.  This brand new 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment is on the first floor of a 4-story bldg and is available immediately for short term (3-6 months)  or long term (1 year +) rental.

The apartment has a small balcony to enjoy the spectacular views of the city and it comes fully furnished.

View from Living Room.

Living room

This rental apartment includes:  Internet access, land line for local calls.

Dining Room and Kitchen.

This Cuenca rental apartment has refrigerator, stove with oven, microwave oven, kitchen utensils, washer and dryer, bed and bath linens, flat screen TV, central gas, intercom, security alarm, parking space for one car, underground storage room and other amenities.

Master Bedroom.

The master bedroom has a queen size bed, large closet, a large window with incredible views and a bathroom with bathtub. The second bedroom has a closet and two double beds.

View from Dining Room.

The building is almost finished and is located in San Sebastian, up on the hills of Los Cerezos, 4 blocks from Hotel Oro and the Tomebamba River.

The apartment is close to shopping and restaurants and within 25 minutes walking distance of Cuenca’s historic district.  Downtown Cuenca is just a 15 minute drive.

The rent includes utilities.  

A two month security deposit is required.   Pets are not allowed.

(Apartment Size:  102M² (1,098 Sq. Ft.) Rent: $600 a Month

For details contact Alicia Singerman at asingerman@hotmail.com
US Phone: 805-937-7946
Ecuador Phone: 011-593-09580-6459

Three more days to orders fresh Ecuador roses for Mother’s Day.  See details here.

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell Business Courses.

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

during…

its annual arts festival. 

2013

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 14-15-16    Super Thinking  Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC   (Gary & Merri Scott)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish  Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

August 31-September 1-2  Super Thinking Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC  (Gary & Merri Scott)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

October 4-5-6  Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999 (Gary & Merri Scott)

November 15-16-17   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

 

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

February 14-15-16   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999  (Gary & Merri Scott)

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Attend all seminars and courses and more FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

 

Here is a brand new luxurious two bedroom two  bathroom  condo for sale near the historic center of Cuenca, Ecuador.

This new apartment is in a quiet, upscale neighborhood popular with Cuenca’s foreign residents. The building is just a 20 minute walk from El Centro and is right across the road from the Tomebamba River. Located near the Oro Verde Hotel, the building is close to a major supermarket, shopping mall and an indigenous market.

The 1170 sq ft (108 sq m) 2 bed/2 bath apartment is on the 7th floor and has its own balcony with partial river and city/mountain views. All rooms, including the kitchen, have large windows with great views.

The kitchen has an elegant feel, with dark brown (espresso) wooden cabinetry, offering plenty of storage, and granite counter tops. Flooring is tile in the kitchen and baths and floating wood in the living area and bedrooms. Both bedrooms have built-in closets. Both bathrooms feature granite countertops and the master bathroom has a separate shower and luxurious 2-person soaker tub.
The condo also features a laundry room/pantry and the building offers 24-hour security.

Included in the price is a bodega and parking space.

Asking price $109,500.

Please contact Shona Paget by email – shona@crazytrails.com   for more information.

Balcony

Living Area

Kitchen

Kitchen Counters

Kitchen Sink

Master Bathroom

Shower and Bath

Guest Bathroom

Dining Area

Large Bedrooms

Guest Bedroom

Laundry Pantry

Master Closet

Shelves in Closet

Please contact Shona Paget by email shona@crazytrails.com – for more information.

We DO NOT investigate properties when they are advertised so be sure to complete your due diligence and always use an independent Ecuador attorney who represents you (not the seller) when you buy real estate in Ecuador. We also recommend that you rent before you buy and become familiar with Ecuador.

Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Cuenca real estate offers excellent quality and value for expats in Ecuador.  Here is a shot of downtown Cuenca.

Downtown Cuenca.

Ecuadorliving.com was the first website to recommend Ecuador real estate nearly two decades ago and we continue to assist Ecuador Living Club members in arranging Ecuador tours as the most efficient way to learn about Ecuador’s real estate market.

Ecuador real estate markets have evolved to the point that group tours are counter productive. When Ecuador Living began,  there was not enough property… easily reached… for sale.   Little English was spoken and the properties were often hard to reach and spread far apart.

Ecuador real estate group tours helped readers reach these properties.

Today there are many properties and group tours can inhibit zeroing in on specific wants and needs.

Ecuador Living’s Real Estate Tour service helps its members create custom tours that fit each person’s schedule and particular desires.

The personalized tours are like AAA Trip Tics and help in three ways.

#1: The dates of your tour can be set to fit your schedule.  Ecuador Living makes sure you don’t book a tour on holidays or times when you would not be able to see property.

#2:  The tour service helps you zero in on your particular needs in real estate so you do not want to spend time viewing properties that are not of interest to you.   Once we have your tour dates and specifications, we contact brokers, developers and sellers of real estate in advance to help focus your search.

#3: You can turn these tours into adventures and overall Ecuador introductory tours so you see many different areas of Ecuador as you wish.

Ecuador Personalized Real Estate Tours are the most efficient and inexpensive way to get an overall view of Ecuador real estate.

Because we are publishers who owe our loyalty to our readers and not real estate agents, you can be assured that the tours are based on your wishes, not on any broker’s desire to sell a specific property.   Ecuador Living does not participate in any proceeds, commissions etc. from real estate sales.

For example if you only want to view farms with acreage and want to see farms in three areas… such as Cuenca, Imbabura and the coast we can help you organize a tour for this.

A recent article entitled “Building a charming destination”  by Paola Vellejo in the Bienes Raices Clave (Key Real Estate), Ecuador’s leading real estate magazine shows how experienced we are in Ecuador real estate.

You can see this article below.

Organizing the tour is a three step process.

#1:  This is a service unique to our Ecuador Living Club members.  To begin, become a member here.

If you are already a member please go to your password protected page at the link below.

#2: Once you have enrolled please use the real estate tour page to describe your real estate needs and email to us.

#3: We will research the trip… airfare and internal travel costs… hotel… food… guide and time required for each aspect of the trip.

To begin the set up of your tour please join the Ecuador Living Club here.  

Existing members please go to your password protected page.

The article entitled “Building a charming destination”  by Paola Vellejo in the Bienes Raices Clave (Key Real Estate), Ecuador’s leading real estate magazine shows how experienced we are in Ecuador real estate.

A translation of the article says:    In conversation with Britain’s Steve Marchant, familiar with the housing boom of Cotacachi, you can see the origin of the phenomenon of its growing popularity as a destination for retirees is the result of the sum of a series of coincidences that inevitably arise from one person: Gary Scott.    Scott was the spark that ignited the housing boom of Cotacachi for retirees.

You can read that article in Spanish here.

See a Google translation to English of the article here.

Cuenca, Ecuador Real Estate for Sale:

New Cuenca Townhouse in Misicata area.

The home is bordered by the Yanuncay River so enjoys the microclimate created by the river and is a short distance to downtown.

The townhouse has three nice size bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms, 1550 sq. ft.

The price is $76,000. See details here.

Cuenca Penthouse for Sale

This Cuenca penthouse for sale is only one block from the Yanuncay River and minutes from downtown. It offers 3 bedrooms and 2 baths in 1205 sq ft. Hardwood floors throughout.

A modern open kitchen with granite counter tops and ceramic tile. A laundry room with a view.

Speaking of views… here is the scenery from this Cuenca penthouse.

The price is $75,000 which includes two parking spaces.

New Listing Cuenca Condo

This is a project which is under construction and is only a few months from completion. The developer has funded the entire project out of pocket and wants to sell two units before completion.

Every side of this building has a fantastic view and it’s located in a peaceful and quiet area close to the river as well as close to downtown.

Price: $124,950.

Ecuador Living Club members can get details at their password protected club site.

Not an Ecuador Living club member? Learn how to get a password here.

Cuenca B & B and/or business listing.

Perfect for apartments, condos or a hostal right in the heart of downtown Cuenca. The space is “open at this time for easy redevelopment”. This building currently has 15 possible bedrooms.

Price $290,000. See Cuenca B&B Potential details here.

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell Business Courses.

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

during…

its annual arts festival. 

2013

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 14-15-16    Super Thinking  Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC   (Gary & Merri Scott)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish  Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

August 31-September 1-2  Super Thinking Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC  (Gary & Merri Scott)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

October 4-5-6  Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999 (Gary & Merri Scott)

November 15-16-17   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

 

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

February 14-15-16   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999  (Gary & Merri Scott)

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Attend all seminars and courses and more FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

 

Some statistics say we do not have inflation in the cost of living.  This is statistical deceit because most of us find increases in the cost of living where the pinch hurts most… food and energy.

Many people say we do not have inflation in the US cost of living.  Yet most of us find increases in the cost of living where the pinch hurts most… food and energy.

First, those who say we do not have inflation are probably not looking at the 2011 data.    Inflation was very low in 2009 (-.035%) and 2010 (+ 1.65%),  but according to www.inflationdata.com  the average inflation rate for 2011 was up 3.16%. That 2011 rate is the 4th highest inflation since 2000.

Yet look at this report from the Department of Labor regarding the cost of energy and food.

Food prices have increased a whopping 5.3% and the energy costs that count (gas and fuel oil) are up in the unsustainable 10% range!

There are several ways to beat inflation.

#1: Earn more. This is a great solution… if you can… and if it does not cause a deterioration of lifestyle.

#2: Spend less.  Not such a good solution but this works if you had more than “just enough” to spend before.

#3: Shop Better.  This is really a sub category to #2.  Most of us CAN shop better.

#4: Suffer.  Let’s not go there.

#5: Move to a less expensive places to live.

This is why we are investigating Cuba now.   This is also why we have been so active in Ecuador for 15 years. Ecuador is a really great country with a really low cost of living.

There is inflation in Ecuador also so each year or two we double check the cost of living in Ecuador.

First the cost of gas is subsidized so a gallon remains at around $1.50.  Propane in the home is subsidized as well so the cost of travel, heating and cooking at home are very low.

Let’s have a food price review.

Cotacachi organic farm.

Ecuador prices have risen but food costs are still low and food quality really high.  For example one American who lives in Cotacachi asked about the Saturday night get together pasta meal.

We are wondering if the pasta this Sat. night will be made of quinoa (as it was the last time) ? It was soooo delicious that we want to come back with a group if it’s going to be quinoa pasta.  Please put me on your email list.  Thank you.

That meal offered on Saturday nights at Inn Land of the Sun offers a great quinoa (gluten free and high protein) pasta, with meat or vegetarian sauce, plus fresh vegetables and dessert (pineapple pie last week) plus service and tax is just $6.

The Friday night  Pizza meal (meat or vegetarian) is just $5 including dessert (Coconut Pudding last week), service and tax.

The menu for Friday March 2, 2012: Hamburgers or Pollo Sandwiches, & Dessert  $5.00 including tax.
Saturday March 3, 2012: Quinoa Pasta w/Shrimp & Dessert  $6.00 including tax.

Ecuador prices have risen. Ecuador has a tendency toward inflation because the government has been pumping a lot of money into the economy. In recent years it gained extra revenue by defaulting on bond obligations plus through oil revenues and through selling future oil to China.  This money has been spent in many cases without increasing productivity.  Such spending creates inflation.

In addition the government has welcomed expats.  A recent Jan 28th 2012 Economist article entitled  “Ecuador’s retirement capital – Going gently” says:

An “anti-imperialist” country welcomes American pensioners.

American diplomats say some 5,000 expatriates from the United States, mostly over 55, now live in Cuenca, which has enough colonial and 19th-century architecture to qualify as a UNESCO world heritage site.

The city offers a packed schedule of events, including an international art biennale and the national hockey tournament. Its private health clinics are well-regarded and cheap: a doctor’s visit runs to $30 and insurance costs $100 a month.

Its public spaces, like the El Vado walk on a bluff overlooking the Tomebamba river, are being renovated, and many stately homes have been converted into smart restaurants and boutique hotels. People still feel safe walking Cuenca’s cobblestone streets at night—as they seldom do in Quito, the capital.

The inequality between foreigners and locals can be jarring, and may lead to social tensions. Elderly native women still carry loads to market on their bent backs, and ageing cobblers toil in dark adobe workshops. Although most Cuencans ignore the anti-American rhetoric of Rafael Correa, the president, they resent being priced out of the property market.

Cuenca owes some of its growth to liberal immigration policies. Ecuador grants residency to any retiree over 65 whose pension exceeds $800 a month, just $255 above the poverty line. Since older people pay a mere $50 a month for health care from the social-security system, a new influx of retired people could strain budgets to breaking point. Mr Correa will have to be careful not to let one of Ecuador’s biggest draws become a victim of its own success.

Years ago we wrote one could live well for $600 a month. Now $1,500 is more appropriate.

Housing prices have risen.  Houses in parts of Florida now cost less than in cities like Ecuador… though Ecuador’s coast still remains an enormous bargain.

Taxes are still really low… almost unimaginable to the average Westerner compared with taxes in the USA… especially for property.

Food costs remain low and quality really high.

Cotacachi market…

at night.

The last time we checked food prices was in 2009 so we asked Jeff and Lin Neal who head up Ateam Ecuador in the Imbabura Province to check current food prices in the Cotacachi market.

They updated our 2009 pricing (Bold)  on February 19, 2012:

In 2009 Lomo fino, the best beef for one kilo was $5.28 ($2.40 a pound).  The beef is now $2.50 per lb.

Chicken was $2.64 a kilo ($1.20 a pound).  The price now is lower at $2.50 per kilo.

One kilo of apples is $1.25 (8 apples) for a kilo. This was 56 cents a pound.  The price is now $1.40 per kilo.

One kilo of pears was $1.25 (8 pears – 56 cents a pound).  Now the price is $2.50 per kilo (these pears are from Chile).

A liter of fresh milk (appx. quart) was 40 cents.  Now it is $.63.

A pineapple ranged, based upon size, from 80 cents  to $1.25. Now the price is $1.00 reg. size

A batch of 20 bananas was between 25 and 50 cents. The price remains at .50.

Lin also priced the following:

Large Tomatoes are 4 for $1.00.

Strawberries $1.00 per kilo

Avocados…depending on ripeness 3 for $1.00 or 4 for $1.00

Lin also wrote:  I hope this helps…we can check on other items if you like. We have  noticed that some of the produce comes from other countries. Examples: Oranges from California (4 for a $1.00), Grapes from Peru, Pears from Chili. You have to really check to see the origin of the produce.

Warmly,

Lin and Jeff

Inflation has not hit food prices much at all.

Cotacachi bean field.

Because agriculture is everywhere in Ecuador. Because transport costs are low (gas prices are subsidized and labor is low) there is not the need of early picking found in the North American national food distribution system.

Ecuador food market.

This means food can actually be vine ripened before it is picked and brought to the market.

Fresh food of every type plus

dried beans  and pastas.

One can also find organic growers and get to know the source.

Organic section at Cotacachi market.

This is one reason Ecuador living and having an Ecuador agricultural business makes sense.

Delegates viewing an organic Ecuador farm.

See details of the March Ecuador agricultural expedition here.

Inflation is everywhere especially for food and water.  Yet the cost of living in Ecuador remains low and as the numbers above show inflation has not affected the price nor quality of fresh food in Ecuador.

Gary

Learn Spanish in four days before going to Spanish speaking countries.

Learn Spanish in Three Days

Learn how to speak Spanish in just three days using Frequency Modulation.

Super Thinking tactics help us absorb… retain and recall information better and faster.  We prove this in our Super Thinking + Spanish course which teaches delegates to communicate on Spanish in just three days.

Delegates at a 2012 Mt. Dora Super Thinking + Spanish course… a Doctor attendee wrote:  Merri,

We want to thank you and Gary plus all the others for making the class such a fun and rewarding experience.   I took Spanish as an undergraduate and lasted two days before dropping the class due to my own anxieties.  Over the years I have tried to learn French, Italian, and Spanish yet again using a variety of methods such as Rosetta Stone, Berlitz etc. and was never successful.  I finally feel like I can be successful at learning to converse at Spanish–in fact already feel successful!  Thanks so much for teaching an old dog some new tricks.  We’re both looking forward to continuing the learning process, having fun doing so, and taking more classes.

Enroll here.

Here is our Super Thinking + Spanish schedule below.

2013

May 17-18-19  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO   Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

May 18-19-20  Super Thinking + Spanish Oshawa, Ontario, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Rick Brown)

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)   

June 14-15-16    Super Thinking  Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC   (Gary & Merri Scott)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 5-6-7  Super Thinking + Spanish  Sarasota, Florida  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish  Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

August 31-September 1-2  Super Thinking Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC  (Gary & Merri Scott)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

October 4-5-6  Super Thinking International Investing & Business Seminar  West Jefferson, NC  

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999 (Gary & Merri Scott)

November 15-16-17   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott) 

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

February 14-15-16  Super Thinking International Investing & Business Seminar  Mt. Dora, Florida  

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999  (Gary & Merri Scott)

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Attend all seminars and courses and more FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

Our Super Thinking + Spanish courses are Spanish course that goes way beyond just learning to speak Spanish.

See how after just one weekend a delegate became an accidental Spanish translator.

Spanish is the second largest language in the world. Chances are a huge Spanish speaking population lives near you. Yet our language system did not teach us how to communicate with or understand this culture.

Learning Spanish is valuable and important.  Now there is way, to enjoy a long weekend as you learn Spanish at a very affordable price.

Unlock the power of your untapped knowledge.

There are numerous little known, but scientifically proven ways to enhance the speed, accuracy and efficiency of your decision making process for greater wealth, health and happiness. In just three days you can gain almost amazing learning skills.  Plus you become skilled in Spanish as a bonus.

In just three days?

Sound too good to be true?

This is not a gimmick nor a trick. At least three best selling books, Superlearning, the Mozart Effect and Superlearning 2000 have revealed insights about how we can learn and think more powerfully based on systems drawn from the Bulgarian, Dr. Georgi Lozanov.

In 1980 Superlearning sold over two million copies and showed how the Lozanov learning system blended long-tested sciences of yoga with contemporary physiology and psychology so people could learn faster and better.

This book exposed this fact and made the system so popular that Dr. Lozanov was allowed to visit the US from Bulgaria to teach this system to just a very few people so they could pass on this vital information on how to learn and think in a more natural, powerful way so we can enjoy life and enhanced memory more.

Merri was among those few who learned how and is licensed to teach the Lozanov system from this Bulgarian master. She has organized a practical course on how to learn faster and better.

With her modified system, you will learn how to think and learn more powerfully in just three days. To prove how good you will be with this process, you learn Spanish as a side benefit.

The learning system you gain expands on Dr. Lozanov’s original work and offers new insights into tapping human potential, drawing from ancient and modern tactics for quick learning such as subliminal memory, music, nutrition, and productivity.

There are three scientific reasons why this course will change your learning capacity forever (and help you speak Spanish in just four days).

This system uses music to integrate brain waves so the process of absorbing, processing and recalling information is vastly accelerated.  This brings forth the three C’s:  Calm, Clarity and Coherence.

Don Childs, our pronunciation coach & Merri. A delegate just created a great Spanish sentence on the second day. Congratulations!

The Super Thinking system works by focusing on the learner first… the data second.  The system “grows the learner” rather than just expands the information.  The explosion of data we must all process everyday means there is too much information to process already.    Let’s view this learning in terms of plumbing to outline what “Growing the Learner”  means.

If you have 4.5 inches of information flowing through a 4 inch learning pipe, the solution is not to add another inch of information.  The answer is to first create a six inch pipe and then an even larger pipe…a never ending expansion of abilities!

You learn how to evoke the power of the senses thus super-charging memory. Ever hear a song from twenty, thirty or forty years past and in a snap know all the words, the tune and remember with who and where your heard it decades ago? Learn how to use ten cycle music to gain almost super human thinking powers.

Dr. Lozanov was totally committed to learning without stress, to enjoy the thrill of relaxed, leisurely learning. These are just two, whole learning, super-thinking tactics you gain at this course.

What is your desire? Do you want to speak Spanish, French, German, Chinese or any language? Would you like to golf better or accomplish more in school? Would you like to easily, quickly zip through projects, chores, reports? Merri’s “Super Thinking” course can help you learn any subject two-to-five times faster, in exciting and innovative ways.

The techniques you gain will help unlock the quantum potential we all possess. This evolutionary program shows how certain types of music can enhance learning and how even altered nutrition can make you a startling 25 percent smarter, how subliminal messages can increase your energy and thinking process, plus much, much more.

Merri’s system follows and builds upon what was taught in the Superlearning, the Mozart Effect and Superlearning 2000 books plus includes techniques and strategies that she has gained in her 42 years of global travel and study with educational masters around the world.

This is a course that shows you how to increase your mental power to better succeed in the 21st century when we can otherwise be overwhelmed by information.

The system you gain is built from old and new sources ranging from yoga to contemporary Russian science, and ultimate zone training already used by many Olympic champions.

“Super Thinking plus Spanish” presents new ways to use music to supercharge your mind. The knowledge you gain about smart food and super nutrition allows you to enhance productivity and creativity.

The tactics you gain enhance your ability to absorb… retain and recall information.

Once these concepts of enhancing your mental powers with music are understood, you will know how to create your own program and build new skills at work in study and play.

Second you gain seventeen, easy to use learning techniques that can help you gain any romantic language in much less time than traditional learning techniques.

Rick Brown will teach next in Toronto.

Here is our Super Thinking + Spanish schedule below.

2013

May 17-18-19  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO   Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

May 18-19-20  Super Thinking + Spanish Oshawa, Ontario, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Rick Brown) 

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 14-15-16    Super Thinking  Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC   (Gary & Merri Scott)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 5-6-7  Super Thinking + Spanish  Sarasota, Florida  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish  Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

August 31-September 1-2  Super Thinking Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC  (Gary & Merri Scott)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

October 4-5-6  Super Thinking International Investing & Business Seminar  West Jefferson, NC  

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999 (Gary & Merri Scott)

November 15-16-17   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott) 

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

February 14-15-16  Super Thinking International Investing & Business Seminar  Mt. Dora, Florida  

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999  (Gary & Merri Scott)

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Attend all seminars and courses and more FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

Spiro Michas teaching in Motevideo.

Fluency in a language is considered to come when you know 1,200 words. To prove that it is possible to gain this and much more, let me share just one of the 17 tactics Merri taught me that gives you thousands of Spanish words in less than three minutes.

Here are the thousands of Spanish words lesson #1:

All words in Spanish and English that end in ION are almost identical,  just pronounced differently. For example action is accion, education educacion, manipulation, manipulacion, etc.

Now you already literally know hundreds of Spanish nouns. This is just one of seventeen Spanish lessons you gain. The next lesson teaches you how to pronounce each of these nouns. Then you learn in a third lesson almost as many verbs, almost as quickly.

Third, you learn how to avoid conjugating verbs by sticking with the infinitive (far easier than it sounds). This simple lesson leaves you sounding like a Spanish professor (believe me I know as I use this tactic every day when in Ecuador).

There are many other lessons. For example lesson five shows how to sound infinitely polite and yet get almost anything you want in Spanish. Lesson six gives you the valuable connectors and the seventh lesson triples your Spanish capacity with yesterday, now and tomorrow.

By the end of the three day course you will feel quite comfortable speaking Spanish without stress!

A delegate who learned Super Spanish outlined how this course can help you.   After three days, I can speak Spanish in complete sentences. In simple conversations, such as buying groceries or ordering a meal, I can make myself understood. I think that’s incredible!  Although I am far from the competence level of a native speaker, I feel I’ve taken a giant step forward in learning Spanish so that I can experience the people and culture of Ecuador.  The foregoing benefits would have more than justified the time and money I invested in Super Thinking Super Spanish. And learning Spanish was not the most important benefit I got from the course.  In recent years, I’ve rarely relaxed (No wonder I have had high blood pressure!) .   In class, the past three days, I’ve been introduced to the calming effects of Baroque music.  What a blessing! I’m inclined to make this a daily part of my life.   Rob Christi

The Super Spanish helps you start speaking and understanding Spanish right away.  This can help you speak Spanish faster and make your traditional Spanish course easier and more effective. 

A Livescience.com article helps explain why this course works and how delegates are creating Spanish sentences by the first lunch break and can communicate well in Spanish after just three days.   This article by Jeremy Hsu, LiveScience Senior Writer, is entitled “CIA Seeks Anyone, Anyone Who Can Speak 2 Languages”

Four important points in the article are shown in excerpts below with my comments to show what has been wrong with traditional Spanish courses and why the Super Thinking tactic is perfect for this program.

The article says: WASHINGTON, D.C. — Many Americans don’t learn a second or a third language from birth, let alone a language that the CIA or U.S. Foreign Service might want. The situation has forced U.S. government agencies to learn how to cultivate the most talented second-language speakers from among college students with little to no other-language expertise.

“In U.S. education, we don’t develop early bilinguals,” said Catherine Doughty, a language expert at the University of Maryland.

Doughty spoke as part of a panel on Feb. 19 during the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Washington, D.C. Finding the best.  Government agencies aren’t alone in trying to recruit multilingual speakers; U.S. corporations covet such skills for doing business in the era of globalization.

The article explained how Doughty and her colleagues used tests to train up cognitive processes related to language learning, such as the ability to hold information in the brain while using it for learning.  The tests sought to predict those who can succeed despite everything stacked against them.

The article reviewed changes in the brain.  Lee Osterhout is a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Washington in Seattle.  His lab used electrodes placed on the scalp to measure the electrical activity created by the signals of brain cells. That allowed the researchers to see differences in the brain patterns among language learners and fluent speakers. They found some surprising results.

The article pointed out: Repeated studies of French language students showed that their brains responded differently to real French words compared with fake words after just two weeks of classes, even if the students themselves could not tell such words apart.   

“From knowing nothing to a little bit, [there are] huge changes in the brain,” Osterhout pointed out.”[From] knowing a little to knowing a lot, [it is] much more subtle.”  Another surprise came from studies of Spanish-speaking immigrants, because neither age nor language proficiency seemed to predict how quickly the immigrants picked up English. Instead, the fastest learners showed both the greatest motivation to learn and a willingness to use English at every opportunity despite being bad at it (at first).

MY COMMENT: This is the other reason why Super Thinking plus Spanish works. This three day course gets the delegates speaking and thinking Spanish all the time so they can use and/or think Spanish every day… and communicating even from the beginning. In this way the education grows even when Spanish is not being spoken.

The Super Thinking course first integrates the brain.  Students learn better with relaxed concentration. Then the course teaches them 17 simple lessons so they know 4005 words in Spanish and can use them to create sentences. In this way, you can communicate in just three days.

Travel, accommodations and food are not included.

Gary

Shawn and Suzanne Bandick teaching Super Spanish together in Vernon BC.

Yet your Spanish will just be one result from learning how to think better!  You will be able to use your new learning powers in amazing ways.

Here are what delegates wrote about a Super Thinking + Spanish seminar. 

“Hi Gary & Merri, You two are the BEST!!! Your Seminar was fantastic! I am so excited. I had procrastinated fulfilling my continuing education for my Broker’s License and then just before my surgeries, I realized by expiration date isn’t Nov. 12th – it is Sept 12th. Well, as you can see prior to taking your course I had only completed 3 units of the required 45 units. I thought I would take your course and then complete my remaining 42 units over the next 2 weeks. However, I took one class exam on Saturday night, August 27th. I didn’t even take the cellophane off the required Course manuals until after I saw the two of you today less than 5 hours ago! I used your techniques and completed 39 units of continuing education today. I have now completed all 45 units. All of my test scores were in the 90.6-96% range. My course exam information is listed below. I just wanted to let you know how valuable your course was to me. Thanks again!” Suzy Kurinsky

Another wrote: Hi Gary & Merri -  First, Merri, thanks for the great home made chili dinner. It was some of the best I have ever tasted. Also, thanks for the Spanish course. Merri’s technique is truly a breakthrough in learning.  I believe I learned more Spanish in four days than I learned in four weeks in a previously attended Costa Rica language school.  The Costa Rica school taught a very limited number of memorized words and phrases. Ted.

Another delegate at a Super thinking plus Spanish seminar wrote: Merri’s approach exposed us to a broad variety of works and the technique needed to expand the language.  Again, Thanks for the experience.

One attendee wrote: Thank you very much Gary! And I just wanted to say thank you and Merri so much for everything during the seminar. You guys are indeed a shining example of having a business that truly serves others. And thanks for the extra time spent and good things taught to me personally. I have begun to implement them already and will continue to apply them. And you might be interested that waiting for my flight home I ended up sitting next to a woman from Quito and could understand some of what she said in a cell phone conversation. We talked a little and she said that I should visit Ecuador!  Thank you again for your real graciousness and acceptance! I will also write to Merri and thank her as well. And I wish that I could do something for you two!

Another wrote: Thank you!  We  always look forward to spending time and learning about so many fascinating things. Like Minded people and Vivaldi! What could be better?  You and Merri are very special to us!

Another sent this note: Hello Merri,  Thank you for the wonderful workshop on Super Learning + Spanish!  I really enjoyed the workshop and getting to know you and Gary.  I am definitely going to take more of the courses that you and Gary are teaching.  I can see several ways to apply what I learned in the classes I teach.

Since I returned home, I have purchased some of the CDs of Baroque music and thought about which specific pieces will work best in different parts of my classes.  I am also reading Perfect Health by Deepak Chopra.  I found your discussion of this book to be very helpful in showing how to balance one’s life.  I have adjusted my daily schedule, and I can already notice a difference in my productivity.

Thank you for sending the file of the 4005 Spanish words.  This will be very helpful in my daily review of Spanish.

Another emailed this: Every day I’m becoming more proficient in Spanish.  As I get ready to do something, I think about how I would say it in Spanish.  Thank you again for a Super Workshop!  With love and blessings,

Another: Gary and Merri,  It certainly was an interesting and intriguing four days for me.  I enjoyed the Spanish but even more so, all the tentacles that extended during those four days that went into so many different directions.

I grew up in a very SQUARE box with loving  and intelligent parents but my world remained within this box, unable to see beyond those walls, as I was never encouraged to “think outside the box”..  Mike has been opening doors and leading me outside this box but because of my upbringing I have not completely embraced or understood what was beyond those doors he opened for me.  As I have gotten older I have become more open to the world outside those doors yet those old tapes continue to play and I have not been able to completely release myself and experience all that can be.

Another shared this: Listening to the two of you during our time together has suddenly got me to thinking, and although some of the ideas still seem foreign to me,  I am at a point in my life now where I can say, “anything is possible” and I am now willing to embrace and allow myself to experience the world of possibility and let it take me in directions I may have in the past resisted.  I really don’t know where all this is going to lead me but I am now willing to explore, develop and grow.

I found all the information you offered on healing, realigning the body, nutrition, etc. so fascinating, have you ever thought about doing a course on just that?  With the aging population and the health care issues I think it would be not only an interesting course but one that would be very beneficial to so many.  I, personally, would love to learn more about what you talked about and plan on purchasing the book, “Body Renewal, the Lost Art of Self Healing” for my Kindle.

Thank you again for a wonderful four days!!

Another: Hola Merri Y Gary, I was thinking about you this Remembrance Day, and I went to check emails and there you are!  We had fun at Disney World on Monday and sat beside several Personnes Espaniol.  We could understand them however I couldn’t make sentences quickly, but could say one or two word phrases that were understood.  We arrived home at 3am yesterday – the airlines were very late in Denver due to a crew incident.

I found myself making up sentences all day yesterday as I was running errands.  John knows more vocabulary than I at this point as he has studied Spanish previously.  Today I will begin to review the lessons and construct sentences to send to you and the group – as you suggested below.  Es en BUENO sugestion!!!  I also received the email Merri sent with the 4005 words and started to scroll through those yesterday.

Another: Thank YOU Merri, Gary, Don and Richard for everything you have done to create and bring this wonderful experience to all of us.  It takes a well sychronized team of people to put on an effective, change producing seminar!  I have given many seminars and enjoyed the experience immensely.  The outcome is even better!  Estoy une infantil de Super Thinking and Spanish, y es possible aprender en tiempo.

John and I both thank all of you for the wonderful experience – we are working now to clear up things so we can leave for the Galapagos and Ecuador November 25th – December 20th.  Nosotros tiene muchos appreciacion!  Gracias y Abrazos,

Another: Hello Gary,  Muchas gracias para la informacion!  I had a wonderful time at the Super Learning + Spanish weekend!… excelente!

I was impressed with your depth of knowledge on numerous subjects and your ability to speak about them with exceptional recall.  Con mucho apriciar,  P.S. Yo estoy enteresado en Espanol #2.

One delegate even explained how after our course they ended up as the accidental translator: Gary,  I have sent Merri a couple of messages, and  a story of Mike being able to translate yesterday for a Spanish person  who couldn’t understand what a man was trying to tell him!

We loved the seminar, and are excited to put the super learning to practice, and especially the great company of like-minded people (especially G & M!)  Muchas Gracias!  Tiene an excellante dias.

Another was able to write part of his thanks in Spanish. Gary Thanks so much for sending the course and the extra one ( that was an unexpected and delightful surprise!)  It was great seeing you and Merri again and we are looking forward to returning to Mt. Dora next year.  usted y Meri tengo un fantastico celabracion de la dar gracia y navidad

Finally another…. communicated entirely in Spanish…. after just our Super Thinking + Spanish seminar: Buenas dias nuestra maestra perfectamente, Merri!   Muchas gracias por la lista espanol.

Claro, David y yo aprendemous mucho espanol el fine de semana pasada. Gary y usted nos hacen espanol muy facil aprender. Es importante continuar a practicar espanol cada dia. Gracias tambien!  Buenas suerte…hasta la vista! Con mucho amor,

Comments from another delegate: I wanted you to know that the Spanish course has proven incredibly helpful. Dealing with internet service providers and shopping for appliances, etc., normally would have required me hiring a translator to follow me around. While it may not be pretty or 100% grammatically correct, I am understood. Thank you!  Saludos!

Whether your goal is to reduce your cost of living… increase your income… enhance the return on your investments or all, being able to speak Spanish… enhances your opportunity and does the world good.

Lose Weight and Inches With Frequency Modulation

See an example from a Super Thinking + Spanish delegate who lost 55 pounds after taking our course.   See how Jim Reed used our Super Thinking + Spanish course to enhance his health and wealth as well as speak Spanish.

The ability to speak Spanish… even if you never leave the US is valuable in this day and age.   Spanish opens access to a good labor force and helps you communicate with a useful part of the American population.

Beyond Spanish… knowledge is bliss. Ignorance is dangerous in these times of rapid change.  The more knowledge we can absorb, retain and recall… the better our chances of success… higher income… less stress…. better health and more fulfillment.

So it’s little wonder that the attendance at our Super Thinking + Spanish and Quantum Wealth courses have grown dramatically.   Our changing world not only reinforces the need to speak Spanish but also requires us to be smarter.

Ernest Neuman and pronunciation coach teaching in Vancouver.

Here is our Super Thinking + Spanish schedule below.

2013

May 17-18-19  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO   Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

May 18-19-20  Super Thinking + Spanish Oshawa, Ontario, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Rick Brown) 

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 14-15-16    Super Thinking  Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC   (Gary & Merri Scott)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 5-6-7  Super Thinking + Spanish  Sarasota, Florida  Single $699  /  Couple $899  (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish  Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

August 31-September 1-2  Super Thinking Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC  (Gary & Merri Scott)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

October 4-5-6  Super Thinking International Investing & Business Seminar  West Jefferson, NC  

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999 (Gary & Merri Scott)

November 15-16-17   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott) 

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

February 14-15-16  Super Thinking International Investing & Business Seminar  Mt. Dora, Florida  

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999  (Gary & Merri Scott)

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Attend all seminars and courses and more FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.

Super Thinking plus Spanish courses are among the few I know that not only share valuable information but help the delegates become smarter so they absorb, retain and recall the education more effectively.  The course does this through the power of music… a power we all already have within. Let’s see some examples.   Meet Jim Reed.

Jim is a retired airline pilot who moved to Ecuador a year ago and lived in our Casa Blanca condos for a year.  He has become an Ecuador resident and built a house.   I interviewed him on one of our trips to Cotacachi.

Like so many others I have spoken with who have attended our Super Thinking + Spanish course… he claims to be much happier… more relaxed and has become healthier, shedding medication and weight.

Jim lost 55 pounds in the last year and, as reported by so many… without trying… without eating less… without any feeling of deprivation.

One fact that many who enjoyed wonderful positive changes when they have attended our Super Thinking course is they learned to use music in a very specific way to reach the quantum states of their intellect.

Here are more raves from delegates of this course:

Gary & Merri, Mike and I have so enjoyed attending your seminars.  I look at is as a place to gain  “tools for life” as well as  receiving a plethera of information on the topics at hand.

(So far we attended  Spanish and investing.) I get equally as much value out of the tools, and mindset in viewing the information that can be applied to life in general as well as the topic at hand. So thanks for enjoying what you do… it definitely shows up in real world application.

At each seminar we meet many interesting and unique folk – I think the audience you draw  can think out of the box at least a little bit! So again thanks for gathering such a wonderful array of resources for us.

Another emailed:  Dear Gary and Merrie,  We so enjoyed the language class last weekend at Mt Dora!

Carolyn came back with your simple, common sense approach and the new tools to start speaking.

Most remarkable is that she feels comfortable putting together sentences and ‘communicating.’ Somehow many of us seem to get caught in the trap of thinking we have to say it ‘right,’ and so we don’t even try. It is interesting that we do not see ourselves ‘creating’ communication in our native tongue; each saying it a little different than the other, and yet still all getting the ‘communication’ across the bridge in our own manner.

We delighted to know you both better, and greatly admire your passion for life and generosity sharing what you have learned.

We are planning to attend the next business seminar you offer. Carolyn is talking about returning for the Fall Spanish Super Thinking class with a girlfriend.

We are excited by the many new challenges we have found through your offerings.

Another a dentist said: I was so delighted with my experience at the Spanish training.  I felt more confident of ability to pronounce Spanish than I ever was of French or German.  Funny… I did not think I remembered any French or German but when I cannot remember the Spanish words the German and French popped up.  Practicing my pronunciation made my trip home go faster. I never enjoyed pronouncing either of the other two, but this was fun. It is hard to fall asleep at the wheel when you are moving your mouth to speak Spanish. It does work your mouth in a different way.  I realized that you have to say each syllable slowly and correctly(until you get it perfectly) and when you do it is impressive.

It was amazing to see us all writing such advanced sentences after a few days and so much more enjoyable than having to go through the alphabet to build the words to build the sentences.

Another Wrote: Dear Gary,  I intended to give it a few days before I wrote to you about my experience in the Spanish + SuperThinking  Course. However, I had such dramatic results today, in the physical rather than the cognitive realm, that I had to share this immediately.

I started my day with Baroque music. Before I began my Spanish lesson, I went through the Mayan Waves Brain Refresher (Brain Sync). I also played an alpha wave composition while I completed a lesson in the morning. I repeated the process this afternoon. Before my high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout in the evening, I put on a gamma brain wave video from you tube faster reading gamma waves help with exercise. I preformed the “Halo Of Sweat” workout from an online fitness site. Around the world, people complete the workout and posts their scores, striving to meet or beat the personal trainer. Frankly, my reps have rarely come close to the reps of the woman featured in the video nor have I ever beat her. Until today.

Not only did I come close to her performance, I surpassed her quite significantly with several exercises. I performed my best in the last exercise, Abs Burn Out. Her scores were 38, 34 and 33 and mine were 60, 40 and 47!

I believe several factors allowed me to achieve this acceleration in athletic ability today:

1. My left and right hemispheres are now harmonizing.
2. The meditation and relaxed concentration techniques I learned are coming more easily to me and effective.
3. My focus and concentration are greatly enhanced.

I am a Pilates professional so to have my exercise regimen improve so swiftly is remarkable. Not only am I now able speak Spanish but I am experiencing optimal health as well. I am deeply grateful to you and Merri for your SuperLearning instruction.  Be well,

Mark Frakes with a Super Spanish class in the St. Louis area.

Here is our Super Thinking + Spanish schedule below.

Read the Economist  article Ecuador’s retirement capital

See USA Inflation rates since 2000

Here is a Brand New Cuenca penthouse for sale.

Located right on the Tomebamba River in a great neighborhood only minutes from shopping and downtown, this unit features 2 Master Suites and a guest bedroom  with its own bath plus a powder room. It is easily one of the nicest properties in Cuenca with lots of upgrades.

You enter the main living area through a glass enclosed greenhouse. The floor plan is open and spacious. Access to the over 1000 sq ft of outdoor patios is available from multiple points throughout.

The kitchen is finished with a unique Spanish marble seen above and is looking directly at a wrap around terrace…

… with fantastic views of the Andes

The lower floor is accessed by a graceful winding staircase made of local hardwood.

There is also a roof top terrace shared by the residents.

As well as another terrace right above the penthouse which, due to its access, is almost a private area for the lucky owners of this unit with gorgeous views of the Cajas National Park.

There is 2300 sq feet of living area and 1000 sq ft of terraces with an asking price of $250,000.

For details contact Stephen Milden at stephen@stephenmilden.com

We DO NOT investigate properties when they are advertised so be sure to complete your due diligence and always use an independent Ecuador attorney who represents you (not the seller) when you buy real estate in Ecuador. We also recommend that you rent before you buy and become familiar with Ecuador.

Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Cuenca real estate offers excellent quality and value for expats in Ecuador.  Here is a shot of downtown Cuenca.

Downtown Cuenca.

Ecuadorliving.com was the first website to recommend Ecuador real estate nearly two decades ago and we continue to assist Ecuador Living Club members in arranging Ecuador tours as the most efficient way to learn about Ecuador’s real estate market.

Ecuador real estate markets have evolved to the point that group tours are counter productive. When Ecuador Living began,  there was not enough property… easily reached… for sale.   Little English was spoken and the properties were often hard to reach and spread far apart.

Ecuador real estate group tours helped readers reach these properties.

Today there are many properties and group tours can inhibit zeroing in on specific wants and needs.

Ecuador Living’s Real Estate Tour service helps its members create custom tours that fit each person’s schedule and particular desires.

The personalized tours are like AAA Trip Tics and help in three ways.

#1: The dates of your tour can be set to fit your schedule.  Ecuador Living makes sure you don’t book a tour on holidays or times when you would not be able to see property.

#2:  The tour service helps you zero in on your particular needs in real estate so you do not want to spend time viewing properties that are not of interest to you.   Once we have your tour dates and specifications, we contact brokers, developers and sellers of real estate in advance to help focus your search.

#3: You can turn these tours into adventures and overall Ecuador introductory tours so you see many different areas of Ecuador as you wish.

Ecuador Personalized Real Estate Tours are the most efficient and inexpensive way to get an overall view of Ecuador real estate.

Because we are publishers who owe our loyalty to our readers and not real estate agents, you can be assured that the tours are based on your wishes, not on any broker’s desire to sell a specific property.   Ecuador Living does not participate in any proceeds, commissions etc. from real estate sales.

For example if you only want to view farms with acreage and want to see farms in three areas… such as Cuenca, Imbabura and the coast we can help you organize a tour for this.

A recent article entitled “Building a charming destination”  by Paola Vellejo in the Bienes Raices Clave (Key Real Estate), Ecuador’s leading real estate magazine shows how experienced we are in Ecuador real estate.

You can see this article below.

Organizing the tour is a three step process.

#1:  This is a service unique to our Ecuador Living Club members.  To begin, become a member here.

If you are already a member please go to your password protected page at the link below.

#2: Once you have enrolled please use the real estate tour page to describe your real estate needs and email to us.

#3: We will research the trip… airfare and internal travel costs… hotel… food… guide and time required for each aspect of the trip.

To begin the set up of your tour please join the Ecuador Living Club here.  

Existing members please go to your password protected page.

The article entitled “Building a charming destination”  by Paola Vellejo in the Bienes Raices Clave (Key Real Estate), Ecuador’s leading real estate magazine shows how experienced we are in Ecuador real estate.

A translation of the article says:    In conversation with Britain’s Steve Marchant, familiar with the housing boom of Cotacachi, you can see the origin of the phenomenon of its growing popularity as a destination for retirees is the result of the sum of a series of coincidences that inevitably arise from one person: Gary Scott.    Scott was the spark that ignited the housing boom of Cotacachi for retirees.

You can read that article in Spanish here.

See a Google translation to English of the article here.

Alternative incomes are important in this time of change.  One good way to earn extra income is with an Ecuador rental. I know I have five rentals myself plus our foundation has a small hotel.

Ecuador rentals are in short supply in Ecuador and rents are good.  Do not be sucked in by ads saying you can rent a place in Ecuador for $150 a month. You can… but you can rent a place in the USA for $150 a month as well.  You will not want to live in either!

Cuenca rentals for expats are especially in demand. Here is a good value top end Cuenca rental next door to Villa Nova on the Rio Tomebamba within walking distance of Old Town and New Town in an ideal location.

Rio Tomebamba

The owner writes:  Pricing is about the cost of a 4-star hotel, about $50/day, but we rent by the week and month, and have 3500sq.ft on two
floors, with master suites on each floor along with two other bedroom and another bathroom and 2nd living room on the upper floor.    We had a family
of 5 adults staying with us over Christmas, and they were very comfortable upstairs; while Carolyn and I were downstairs in the Master Suite there.
All sharing the kitchen, laundry room, dining room and living room

Here are full details: Condo, 4 Bedrooms, 3.5+ Baths (Sleeps 6-8)

Nearby stone steps lead up from the river to the city center’s cathedrals, restaurants, museums, and markets. A bridge leads across the river to parks, supermarkets, modern hospitals, and a movie complex; all within four or five blocks of the apartment.

Casa-Rio is modern and spacious, especially suitable for families or groups, and less expensive than a hotel. It has all the conveniences and comforts of home in the midst of a vibrant native culture.

You can surf the internet, watch DirecTV with many English-language channels, do your laundry, cook your favorite foods, or just sip coffee on your private balcony overlooking the river.

Casa-Rio is a two story, 3500 square feet home with two master suites with queen beds and en suite baths. One bath has a jetted tub in addition to a separate shower. The third bedroom has twin beds and opens onto a large balcony. The fourth bedroom is set up as an office with a double sofabed. The third bath has a bathtub and separate shower.

Located on the fourth and fifth floor of a secure six-unit building, Casa-Rio has views of the river, mountains, and Parque de la Madre from three balconies. There is a guard who will also help you carry your luggage up the stairs.

From the balcony you can watch daily life in a different culture. See kids walking to school and folks getting on and off the bus. In the park across the river, watch families playing soccer, jogging on the path, or just eating ice cream. Listen to concerts and events. Observe parades and maybe even demonstrations. Watch women doing laundry in the river and sweethearts sitting in the sun. All without leaving the balcony!

When you arrive you will be met at the airport and taken to the condo. Your driver will give you the keys and explain how things work. He is also available for hire to help with translation or to take you anywhere you want to go, such as the mineral baths or the Inca ruins at Ingapirca.

In the condo is information on local places of interest. There are directions to markets, restaurants, and an English bookstore with helpful owners. We have included the phone number of a good doctor who speaks English and will come to the house in the middle of the night if you need him.

The owners have set up Casa-Rio to make your vacation relaxed and interesting as they  want you to be comfortable while you enjoy Ecuador!

Get access to the website calendar that show dates available.

Ecuador Living Club members can get full details at their password protected site. Click here.

Learn how to get an Ecuador Living Club password here.

Gary

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell Business Courses.

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

during…

its annual arts festival. 

2013

May 30-31 & June 1  Super Thinking + Spanish  Atlantic City, NJ   (Teacher Rick Brown)

June 14-15-16    Super Thinking  Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC   (Gary & Merri Scott)

June 21-22-23  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

July 12-13-14  Super Thinking + Spanish  Kelowna, BC, Canada  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teachers Shawn & Suzanne Bandick)

August 16-17-18  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

August 31-September 1-2  Super Thinking Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC  (Gary & Merri Scott)

September 27-28-29  Super Thinking + Spanish  St. Charles, MO  Single $699  /  Couple $899 (Teacher Mark Frakes)

October 4-5-6  Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  West Jefferson, NC

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999 (Gary & Merri Scott)

November 15-16-17   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

 

2014

January 10-11-12   Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida  (Gary & Merri Scott)

February 14-15-16   Super Thinking + Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida

Enroll here $799.   Couple $999  (Gary & Merri Scott)

For information more contact Cheri Hall at cheri@garyascott.com

Attend all seminars and courses and more FREE or at a discount as an International club member.  See details here.