You do get curation rewards actually. They are just so small Steemit does not list them. https://steemstats.com/ lists your steem power by 4 decimals and I could see my steempower go up by 0.0001 even though they don't get listed in steemit.
There are lots of americans living over here on a very small budget. Life here can be great if you have the right mindset. Check out @retiredinsamar for an american expat living here.
Nice, I was doubting i was getting them. Checked out that blog you mentioned. he is pretty funny. His story about trying to leave the country was a riot, although what a hassle. Guess bureaucracy is slow no matter where one is.