Great idea, and hilarious choice of currencies (the last four).  I donated 25 XMR on July 11th.

Got it.  And how does XMR compare with BTC on a per confirmation basis?  Could sweat it took much longer that one minute per confirmation when I transferred BTC between exchanges recently.  Assuming XMR is faster on a per confirmation basis, this is another thing that should be conveyed more plainly to the computer-illiterate public at large.

Wow, it went through fast!  Is XMR designed to be faster than BTC for basic transactions such as this one?

Lets party begins with Mr. Ricardo!

Done!

That is not quite true: I know exactly where my bottom is, and with any luck will know exactly where Juanitas' is too, as I lie back in my hamaca and watch whales from my beach hut on the Pacific coast of Mexico.  But as for knowing market bottoms in advance, this is a fool's game.  The point is to find something worth investing in and then INVEST and HOLD.  There is no getting to the bottom of market irrationality.

To which address should I send some of my XMR?

Like I said, nobody buys at the bottom...

Somehow perverse to quote Keynes in a bitcoin forum, but really he got it right, at least in this instance: 'The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.'  The good news is that if you believe in XMR and have some spare funds you can just buy and hold until the irrationality comes to an end - which it always does, eventually.  The worst that can happen is that you lose 100 percent of your presumably already disposable investment, since there is no need for leverage here (the sky is literally the limit for real potential profit). Finally, if you buy some XMR and then the price drops, keep in mind (a) that there really was no way of knowing what was going to happen before it happened, and (b) with the market still far from being liquid, there is a reasonably high chance that it was your own purchase that set the wheels in motion for the subsequent drop (in ways that even a clairvoyant with PhDs in psychology and economics would be unable to figure out).  Finally number 2: if you are a serious XMR investor, for Pete's sake don't obsess over getting the perfect entry price: (a) nobody buys at the bottom, which can only be known in retrospect, (b) if the coin really takes off then you will have plenty of opportunity to hang on that much longer before selling (or better still, spending with) it, and thus secure the same ROI overall.  Finally number 3: personally I would worry much more about not getting in the game right now and missing a huge and permanent spike in the near to medium future than about the price dropping after you make your purchase.

Who said anything about cashing out?  Why would I want to do that?  I just don't want my sweet Juanita's gangster cousin Carlos to be able to trace my latest online purchase (for which I will be happy to pay all taxes, including capital gains) back to my XMR hoard. 

Call me stupid, but I actually like the Monero website: no bullshit bling, just the facts, very easy to use, and the logo looks both serious and cool.

But that's amazing!  I'm in.  What are people waiting for?

And if the latter, will my XMR anonymity be preserved?

So let's say I get stinking rich with XMR next week, and move immediately to the Pacific coast of Mexico with the intention of sipping margaritas and watching whales from my beach hut with a chica at my side so hot I know it's only because I'm rich but I don't care because I'm just so stinking rich: will I have to wait for businesses to accept XMR directly before I can order refills (of the drinks, and possibly also the chica, if she misbehaves) online, or is there some way to tap into the already existing BTC marketplace while enjoying XMR anonymity?

Beautiful.  And so is Mexico - don't believe what you hear in the gringo news.  For my wealthy Mexican friends, anonymity in their banking business is something they have so far only been able to dream of (they can't even trust their local, poorly paid bank tellers - kidnapping is a very real, day to day fear as a consequence).  I'm in, and I'm sure they will be too.

OK, so there is no such thing as a completely anonymous crypto coin.  I get it.  Also, like most people, I accept that if the US govt. really wants to find out what I am up to financially or otherwise, they will be able to do this.  Call me a traitor to the crypto movement, but I really don't give a rat's ass about the NSA, wikileaks, Snowden, etc.  If the state really wants to come down on our freedoms, it will, sorry. That said, would one of you crypto nerds please answer the following question: If I become stinking rich buying XMR at current prices and decide to retire down in good old Mexico in two years (or less - more likely) with chicas and tequila, will the anonymity it does provide at least protect me from Mexican gangsters?  If you can assure me that it will, then of course I'm in.