As for which cities to live in, I would suggest Bismarck/Mandan, Fargo/West Fargo/Moorhead, or Grand Forks/East Grand Forks.

• Bismarck is a very nice town, especially if you want to raise a family, but has very little in the way of a night life. Bismarck was also rated the least stressful city in the nation.
• Fargo is a larger city, and has a better job market than Bismarck - however, the cost of living there is higher. It does have a nightlife, due to the three fairly large colleges in town. It is, however, the ugliest city in the state (IMHO).
• Grand Forks is still recovering from the flood of a few years ago, but is a very nice town with a large college and a decent job market.

I have to say that I definitely can relate to the situation you are currently experiencing in Guatemala. I lived in southern USA for the best part of 4 years while getting my BS in CS. Then I came to Guatemala and landed a Telecom job (in which I have been for the past year). Getting used to living again in Guatemala was somewhat difficult. I dont know if people in the US realize this, but the violence issue is a big one in here. 3 different people from my close circle of friends have been mugged in the past year, including me. Poverty can also be pretty severe in some circles. Leaving Guatemala does seem like a pretty good option. It almost seems that we are in the same position.

However, when thinking about leaving Guatemala, I think there are a couple of things that you should consider. First of all, in Guatemala, you are a big fish in a small pond. You can land pretty important jobs without having much experience (due to the lack of skilled people). Second, Guatemala really needs you, in Guatemala you can really make a difference. I was tempted to also list the girls here, however, I dont think we fare very well in that department. :)

Anyhow, if you still choose to leave, good luck, and hope to have you back sometime. And if it serves as some sort of advice, some friends of mine have left to France recently, to teach Spanish of all things.

I lived in Edmonton until I was 18 and then for a few years later as well.  It is not the most exciting city by any means but it's reasonably prosperous.  You wouldn't have much trouble getting work or finding ways to spend your free time there.  There isn't much culture or flavour to the city really, it's more or less a generic North American city.  I'm going back in a few years when my girfriend transfers universities.  I'm not thrilled about the prospect but not really upset or anything either.

I live in Calgary now and have been here for 6 years.  It's a much more cosmopolitan kind of place, much more multi-cultural as well.  There are many more immigrants here and much of the workforce is people from other parts of Canada.  There is stupid amounts of money flowing around because it is so strong in the oil sector right now, you shouldn't have any trouble finding IT work.  Housing is crazy but becuase of it the rental market is pretty decent.  There's lots of clubs here if that's your thing but there is also lots of other things to do as well.

Both Edmonton and Calgary are some of the largest cities in the world in term of land area, suburbs as far as the eye can see.  In Edmonton you will need a vehicle to get around, the transit system is weak.  Calgary is better in that regard but not great.  The cold thing would take a bit of getting used to.  Edmonton is colder than Calgary on average but both cities are mostly bearable outside of a couple of weeks a year, then it gets ugly.  I used to work with a woman from Columbia she didn't have too much trouble adjusting.

Vancouver is a neat place, very unique.  Others have commented on all the great things about it.  There was one thing that I couldn't handle and that was the winters.  It's not cold but it is cloudy for weeks on end.  You could go a month without a sunny day, I hated that.

Montreal is a fantasic city.  You don't need much french to get by but it does help.  It's also a very multicultral type of place and there is a ton of stuff to do.  I loved it there, easy to get around and a fun city to just go exploring in.  This city gets cold though, there is so much more humidity in the air that when it gets cold and windy you realy feel it.  I also found the summers to be nasty because of the hummidity but I doubt you'd have any problems with that.

All the ups of the US with out annoying Americans :)

China is a pretty cool place to visit right now. There's a high demand for English teachers, the big cities are technicially modern, and the food is great. Plus there's plenty of culture shock to go around. Although it's not strictly required to teach English in Asia, if you're serious I'd recommend that you acquire a TESL/TEFOL qualification if you can. I don't know anything about it, but being Guatemalan, you might get a less enthusiastic response than a USian/Brit/Aussie/Canadian might in some places.

You might want to consider Australia or New Zealand as well. (Well, maybe not New Zealand.) The social order is intact, there's a points-based immigration system you ought to do well at, and the tech sector is doing very well. The climate is great. Although we suck up to the U.S. at every opportunity, we aren't quite as bad yet.

While there are a couple places where violence is a problem (Rio de Janeiro comes to mind) most of the country is actually quite pacific. If you stay out of RJ you probably won't ever be afraid to walk through downtown of any city at night. You won't have to worry about freezing your ass either.  

And here's a tip for you: highly qualified technical people are in shortage in both Manaus and Recife. Manaus has bundles of high tech factories which went there largely due to tax incentives. The only catch is, it's in the middle of the jungle. Literally, the only way in or out is either by boat or by plane. Recife OTOH is a tourist town which is only recently experiencing an influx of high tech companies (again due to tax breaks) so it's a "normal" city, and a very beautiful one too.

If you're into more temperate climates then the south of Brazil is appealing. In the summer temperatures in the three southern states reach 30 C or so but in the winter they rarely drop below 10 C. This portion of the country is also highly developed technologically and you probably wouldn't be long without a job. If I were to choose, I'd move to Florianopolis, which has the advantadge of being by the ocean and therefore close to countless beaches. The immigration to the south was mostly european so that comprises most of the gene stock around here. Actually many small cities closely resemble old european towns.

First off, protect yourself! I don't know what the laws are where you are concerning firearm posession, but I say get a gun regardless. Yes, I'm a red-blooded American. It doesn't matter. The reason that things like death threats and extortion are occuring is because the prey is easy. If your dad had just said, "Come and try it, motherfucker," with the knowledge in the back of his head that he could arm his family members, he would be safer. Of course, local laws greatly impact this outcome; here in the US it isn't really an issue.

Failing that... well.

I don't know how the US fares when it comes to the immigration of skilled Central American workers. You'd have to look into it, and I wouldn't personally accept what I hear on the news; chances are its probably disinformation anyway. There are some very pleasant areas in the US, and you'd have the rights of a citizen instead of a subject.

Also, the political atmosphere of the US is very turmoltuous right now: I personally think that things like cannibis will be legal within too many years here.

I've got a friend in British Columbia, CA, where the crime rate is pretty low, and he says around 50F throughout the winter, on average. You'd not freeze your ass off, but it might be a bit cool to get used to at first - and the summers wouldn't be as hot.

In San Antonio, Latins nearly outnumber whites (They may actualy outnumber, but I'm not sure), and just about everybody speaks at least some Spanish, with many being fluent. Most people toss in Spanish words in conversation, it's pretty much been integrated. Houston is good, too. I live there, and most people really don't care if you're Latin or not; you just have to get used to being referred to as "Hispanic" or "Mexican", evene though very few are actually from Mexico.

You'd have to deal with the altered Latin culture, though. It's kind of an offshoot, various types mixed together and left to simmer for a few generations. Imagine a hodgepodge of the traditions and attitudes of Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Guatemala tossed in together. Most direct immgrants from Central America say it has an echo of what they are used to, but just enough to make it kind of weird.

i only think of her now because when i dated her, i saw that zorro movie with banderas with her, and now they have posters for zorro 2 all over new york, so i'm always reminded of her

but to get to your predicament, as someone currently dating a filipina, i am very familiar with the concept of all the smart people fleeing a poor country

to the detriment of said small country

so i say stick it out

seriously, your homeland needs you

plus, i know filipinos with terrible career changes from coming to the usa: one guy was a bank manager in the phil, now he's a janitor! another guy was a videographer, now he works at dunkin donuts!

of course, they are making more money doing that than they were back home, but that's not the point, at least to me it's not the point

so why leave guatemala, where in a few years you can probably run the entire IT department of a major organization, to much social prestige and local admiration, when if you go to germany or the usa, you'll probably be coding web pages in a cubicle for more money, but as a complete nobody nobody cares about?