#1442 – The Expat Files: Life in Latin America, Cooking, and Cultural Shifts

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to The Exped Files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started The other day I ran into a very old expat 96 years old a guy called hemp. No jokes, please hemp. Yeah, H EMP a Nickname of sorts. That's all anyone knows him by hemp. Anyway still does his daily walks

[00:47] Grinds his own coffee beans because he doesn't like to buy the so-called pre ground Cafe Molido, you know how you can buy coffee all ground up or the beans Well down here, of course, you could do that and buy green beans that aren't roasted yet, too Then roast him yourself or have him roasted to your liking anyway He's been down here mostly in Costa Rica Panama and Guatemala since the 80s By the way, he used to love Costa Rica in the 80s and 90s and like a lot of expats has grown to hate it Now not that he hates the country. He just hates what the influx of gringos has done to it He said Johnny I got to correct you on something. You've been mentioning over the years on your show He said when he first came down in the 70s to check it out. He didn't move down permanently till the 80s

[01:32] He said you'd run into the odd aimless deadbeat gringo here and there But no one called him gringos who've gone native like I do me Johnny Maybe I coined that term because that's what I've always called them Anyway, he said when you'd run into a gringo or expat that was sort of deteriorating Kind of greasy and unkempt stinko and such we'd use the term tropical tramp Double T's or T squared. That's what he and his old-time buddies would call him double T's tropical tramps Ma'am says that's what they used to call him tropical tramps. I like it He said there are always a couple of guys you could close your eyes and smell them coming T squared Same clothes same grungy very loose fitting unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt Often with a sweaty imprint of a wife beater t-shirt popping through and of course most would wear a hat beat up

[02:24] Panama hat or baseball cap not even salvation army or goodwill material and you know when hemp mentioned that Hawaiian t-shirt bit He nailed it man. Why is that the default gringo gone native uniform baggy Hawaiian print shirt with Multicolored tropical birds and flowers and boats and anchors or turtles man gringo is gone native Just love those nautical themed clothes most are parrot heads, too You know Jimmy Buffett fans you might remember Jimmy Buffett, right? He's like the poster child for gringo scone native I always thought gringo scone native her tropical tramps as ever says War those things because you could spill almost anything on and it all blends right in Hell you could wear a shirt like that every day for a month

[03:09] It'd be awful ripe alright, but the spills and grease and gravy stains you just wouldn't notice oh and 96 year old hemp Yeah, he's got a smartphone, too Why wouldn't he fact I said hemp I see you have a late model Samsung there. He said yeah, it's a double-edged sword I love it, and I hate it hate the pop-up windows and all the announcements, but I really really love the camera He said I realized how much I love that thing a couple months ago. He said back at my house I've got boxes full of old photos Real photos not digital ones. He said the other day I was looking at some real photos on photographic paper You know when you actually took photos and had to have him developed He said I was going through a box of photos taken back in Panama in the 90s and everybody man Everyone had red eyes. I said hemp you're right all my old flash photos have red eyes, too

[03:58] He said I'm particularly sensitive to that because one of my hobbies was photography He said right around 2005 things completely changed That's when the iPhone came out the Android guys soon followed and no more red eyes and a man He set the way back machine for me I remember back in the old days when those first cameras came out that guaranteed no more red eyes You remember that you guys and gals over 40 probably had one of those little palm-sized mini cameras I did I think was a samsung or LG You know when cell phones took really shitty pictures with red eyes back in the blackberry days When everyone had a phone and one of those palm cameras By the way, just for grins. Do you know how they got rid of that red eye thing? I mean the technology behind it Well, of course, no one thinks about it now

[04:44] Especially no one under 40 because he never experienced it The problem was solved around the turn of the century when someone figured out that the persistence of red eyes in nighttime photos Was the reflection of the flash off the retina and what you're seeing is the red color from the blood vessels nourishing the eye Some techie guy figured out if you let the flash go off twice really fast in succession One a split second before the picture is actually taken then that second flash for the real picture it turns out that first fake flash causes the subject's pupils to contract significantly as pupils do with some delay with all bright light so when the next flash comes the one they actually take the picture the subject's pupil is 95% close a tiny little dot so that's no reflection

[05:30] So before they figure that out, you know at night pictures with people with the red eyes was a real problem Your pupils are wide open trying to gather as much light as possible That's why the darker the night or the darker the setting when you take that photo That's when the subjects pupils are widest and most open That's why in the old days you get much more red eye in a dark night or a dark place like a bar disco So did you know that well if you're over 40, maybe funny how back then that happened everyone We didn't like it, but we got used to it in some cases, especially with close-ups some people's eyes were so spooky red They looked absolutely demonic. Thankfully those days are gone. But what about all those old photos up in the attic? Hmm, by the way, the vast majority of Latino homes do not have attics nor do they have basements either So when you come down here to Latin America, where are you gonna put all your junk?

[06:18] You know all that junk sitting up in your attic you think is so valuable, but it isn't my advice before you come down Have a huge rummage sale scale back streamline start over. That's the name of the game. All right Let's take an email on a completely different subject. This one's from Danny a lady named Danny Daniella I imagine she says Johnny I'm worried. I can't get my plan be underway fast enough She says I've just got to get the hell out of Dodge and I think finally I've gotten the final push She says I live in Arizona and I'm reading now that my state government is presently having discussions about eliminating Gas appliances like gas stoves gas dryers Gas hot water heaters, etc Their main point being that newer homes that are well sealed and insulated pose a danger When using a gas stove or a gas anything especially in states like Arizona that are very warm and everyone runs their air conditioners like crazy

[07:11] And everyone has double and triple sealed window. Well, there's more to the email, but just a comment now She's right, you know municipal and state level gas bands are coming Of course, we're talking about the first world now Some communities up by you have already shifted away from natural gas and gas stoves Because they see the writing on the wall, especially in California where they've banned natural gas in new buildings starting in 2019 with Berkeley, California Wouldn't you know it become the first city in the US to do so since then many large cities like San Francisco and New York City have passed similar bands with 80 other cities across the nation following suit No more gas appliances to be sold now I don't know about you But if you live in a cold state like my mother and my relatives do

[08:01] Chicago, Illinois where they've got terrible winters almost everyone's got central heating in the house That's gas as well as gas stoves and gas hot water heaters because gas is a lot cheaper Than running pure electric appliances By the way, a lot of the states and regions that are announcing those bands are getting sued For example, when Berkeley, California announced its natural gas appliance, man The California Restaurant Association sued the city over the ruling and lost By the way The attorneys for the state said in court that California's chefs should start learning how to cook with electric or find another profession Because there will be no gas stoves sold in California That's the law by the way chefs across the United States and in Europe and Canada like it or not

[08:48] Are gonna have to learn to cook with electric Fortunately, though from what I've been hearing for a couple of guys I know who are chefs. I'm not talking about Latinos now. I'm talking about friends of mine up in the states I've got a couple of friends who own restaurants up there They mostly hated the idea of cooking with electric but said it's not a momentous change and they've discovered Induction electric, you know what that is, right? It's not your typical electric burner coil that glows red when it's hot or one of those electric ceramic Stoves that came out. I think it was in the 90s In fact, one of my high school buddies who now owns a German restaurant in Chicago He's the owner and of course the chef. He said there's huge resistance from his chef buddies But when they go to classes and learn how to cook with induction burners, most of them reluctantly say, you know

[09:35] It's not so bad. It gets so damn hot in kitchens with gas burners induction stoves and ovens run a lot cooler They don't heat up the air around them just the pot and even when you're really busy and all the burners are smoking You don't get doused in sweat like you do and all the gas burners are going and he said because induction stoves are so much More efficient when he compares his old gas bill to his electric bill It actually in the end turns out to be cheaper to cook with the induction electric Cheaper than cooking with gas problem is he said though you have to buy all new cookware, which is very expensive Induction cookware has to have a certain amount of ferric or iron metal in him In other words, he says you can throw away all your aluminum stuff because it won't heat up Hmm. Isn't that a good thing getting rid of aluminum?

[10:23] Of course it is but most chefs still have lots of aluminum pots around have a look at any restaurant kitchen sometime Anyway, my high school buddy Gerhard who owns that German restaurant He says I don't say this in front of my chef friends But I think once you work on an induction cooktop or get an induction oven You'll never go back to gas But he says you'll never convince a housewife who's been used to cooking with gas all their life Plus he said induction stoves are high-end. They cost a lot more than a conventional gas or Coil type electric stove. So it is a movement that's coming slow but sure but it's coming Are you guys and gals up in the States Canada and Europe ready for that? Well, if you're not thinking about that authoritarian move by your government

[11:09] Your first world government that is as an extra push to get your plan be gone because down here in Latin America That's never gonna happen. Well might happen in 100 years Latin America absolutely runs on natural gas. Oh, and I'm not talking about your piped-in natural gas Like you guys have it up in the States. I'm talking about propane gas, you know in tanks called gas Propano I'm telling you everyone down here in Latin America except the super poor cook with natural gas or gas propane Now the very poor the extreme poor that'd be ten maybe fifteen percent of the Latin population. They cook with wood You know, they go out and gather wood out in the boonies causes terrible pollution inside of homes Respiratory problems, etc. It's like smoking a couple packs of cigarettes a day Luckily though most Latin American homes leak like sieves and that's another reason why cooking with the natural or gas propano down here

[12:00] Latin America doesn't seem to bother or harm anyone's health because almost everyone has their windows open all day sometimes all night and even when they're closed the doors and the windows leak like sieves and the only homes and buildings that are halfway sealed are the new construction residential towers and gringo eyes Subdivisions and neighborhoods on the tourist trail because you know gringles and expats They all like air conditioning and they generally get pissed off when their windows and doors leak like sieves So they insist a nice windows that seal properly especially in the bedroom where most people have their air conditioning So again, almost everyone except the ultra poor cook with propane gas or natural gas Oddly enough very few Latinos have a range hood in their kitchen and when they do I'd say 95% of them don't have a duct to the outside

[12:48] So if the kitchen stove does have a range hood by the way they sell those things in all hardware and appliance stores and it's a bit of a luxury item a Gringle wannabe thing because most of them are never ducted properly They all come with a light that you can switch on and off and most people think that's all they're for In fact, I remember some time ago when my cleaning lady was cooking breakfast for me It was getting kind of smoky in the kitchen. So I clicked on the button for the range hood She was surprised to see that a fan kicked in. Oh nice She said I'll have to remember that she said and this is after a couple of years of working for me up till then She'd never once used the range hood fan. Anyway, like I said, 95% of all range hoods are not ducted to the outside They're basically just for sure they look good, but don't do a thing However, there are some gringles and expats like me when they build or move into a new house

[13:37] Absolutely insists on a ducted range hood. Yes, of course mine is ducted By the way, I once had a very nice apartment in a high-rise tower The place was around eight years old when I moved in had a pretty modern kitchen Nice stainless steel stove stainless range hood Not ducted to the outside now since that high-rise had very thick concrete and block walls And I had the penthouse on the seventh and eighth floor I thought for a minute I could punch a hole in the wall and duct it myself I have the tools I could do it then I thought again I realized if I punched a hole through the wall Naturally pieces of concrete small and large will fall through that hole on to the sidewalk below The sidewalk was seven floors down could be dangerous not good

[14:23] So I phoned up a contractor I knew he came over with a guy who had a wet saw with a rotating diamond blade made by a Milwaukee tool You know good stuff. It was constantly cooled by water and drilled very slowly The cool part is it cut a round hole 10 inches thick in one piece It didn't let it fall to the ground It pulled it right back in and once the hole was drilled cost me a hundred bucks to get the guy over there and drill That hole but hey was worth it But think about it a hundred bucks The average Latino is never gonna dish out that kind of money just to have a stove or dryer vent By the way, I thought about that guy who drilled those holes hundred bucks a hole Even if he drilled just one hole a day a hundred bucks a hole. He'd be living like a king He'd make in a week with the average Latino makes in a month great niche, huh? Anyway, in fact every apartment and Airbnb

[15:10] I've rented here in Latin America even very recently built ones that seem to be to gringo standards modern kitchens and all that with Range hoods I can't think of any that had an exhaust vent to the outside by the way same thing with gas or electric Clothes dryers, which most people don't have they hang their stuff outside, which is good But that small percentage of people who do have a gas or electric dryer I'd say maybe 10% of the people down here 9 out of 10 don't vent the exhaust to the outside either They just let that vent blow from the backside right into the room Not smart because it gets very humid and in time the floors the ceilings the lights the window seals accumulate a fine little coating of lint But back to that email we started with from Danny Daniella who says she's fast-tracking her plan B because in Arizona, they're talking about eliminating appliances that use natural gas

[16:02] Just another nail in the coffin for those who choose to remain in the States Anyway, she says knowing that Arizona is going that way I decided to bite one of those cute little induction cooktops. Have you seen them Johnny? Do they have them in Latin America? Mine's just a one single portable burner I bought it out of curiosity just to check it out She said to my surprise that little induction cooktop is very efficient and I use it a lot She says my house is very sealed and my kitchen gets very hot when I use my gas stove And I discovered that little $60 induction cooktop. I was sort of tricked into buying Keeps my kitchen much cooler and heats things up very quickly Still that doesn't give the state the right to take away my choice my choice is gas

[16:52] Not because I can't cook with electric the induction cooktop shows you can But I just don't like my choice being taken away from me. Plus I have to get all new appliances Which of course I have to pay for then she says even though my house is very well sealed I'm in very good health despite using gas stoves most of my life The combustion products water vapor and co2 are not health hazards Though I agree that benzene is a problem and there are small amounts of benzene coming off of gas burner But I'm not a restaurant. I don't keep my stove running 24-7 and Of course, I use my range hood anyhow Johnny That's what's been happening lately that plan B decision is looking better all the time Yeah, she says Johnny when I move south of the border. I'm bringing that little induction plate with me

[17:41] Kind of getting used to it. Not a bad little invention. She says All right. Thanks for that Danny and you were wondering is that gonna happen here in Latin America? Are they gonna outlaw the sale of gas appliances? Well, as you heard me say before not in my life for your life The entire Latin American economy sort of runs on propane gas In fact, you can hardly make a short trip to the local market and not see some guy on a motorcycle Total one of those propane tanks around. Yep. They do door-to-door delivery Now, of course a lot of the tanks and regulators are in terrible condition Some look like they're about to explode any second But oddly enough they almost never do and when there's a gas propane tank fire in a house or apartment It's almost never because the tank leaked or went bad It was from human error like for example someone dropping a tank of gas down a flight of stairs

[18:32] In that case, you got to hope the valve doesn't get whacked against a piece of concrete because then you're gonna have an accident Even so with an accident like that. It's not gonna explode It's just gonna spray all its gas into the atmosphere and it'll evaporate right away There will be no puddle of liquid it immediately turns into gas Oh and when there is some kind of propane gas accident It's almost always the case that the hose that's going from the tank to the stove or whatever is too close to the burner Or is in bad condition and that thing can catch fire. Most of them are made out of plastic which is against US code It's supposed to be copper piping But almost no one down here in Latin America has copper piping coming from their propane gas. Nope It's all plastic not permitted up in the States, but down here. Well, hell, this is Latin America

[19:18] That's why they call it the third world So then what about all the concern about gas stoves, etc up in the States? Well, I grew up in Chicago and almost everyone I knew had a gas stove Very few people had electric everyone had gas furnaces gas hot water heaters and gas dryers, too Now I'd say prior to maybe 1980 or 1990 homes were not well insulated in the States Of course, they've got all kinds of coats now and some homes are too well sealed. They've got almost no air turnover anyway Before I'd say 1980 1990 Almost every American home had enough air leakage to prevent any buildup of toxic gases from gas stoves But these days there's no denying there are harmful gases that collect in your house. If your house is too tight

[20:05] I also remember way back when in Chicago lots of people I knew Would use a gas stove to heat their house when the power went out not a good idea at any time But even worse now your stove is not designed to be a furnace now about induction cooking Have any of you guys and gals out there have induction stoves? I hear they're becoming all the region expensive high-end homes again induction cooking heats because there's a coil and Your AC your alternating current switches back and forth between it Producing a magnetic field that heats up any pan that's got iron or steel in So copper and aluminum pans will not work unless they have additional layers added to the bottom that are magnetic The thing is throughout the world now induction cooking is becoming so popular

[20:53] You can tell by looking at the bottom of your pan if it's even suited for an induction stove if it is if it's got Enough iron in it. There's a little wavy symbol Embossed in the bottom of the pan so you can tell right away now Here's the part I think you should understand the energy transfer to the food or the pot with an induction coil is 84% Compared to 74% for gas or ceramic electric stoves So if you've got an induction burner, you're saving at least 10% in your electric bill now My chef buddy from Chicago says a pan of water will boil in half the time that it would take With a normal gas stove flame He says his pans last longer because they have no contact with flame Now the thing is I'm not trying to sell you on induction cooking

[21:39] But here's the thing if you're going solar you're going off the grid Wherever you are up in the states down here in Latin America Why in the world would you cook with gas or have a gas hot water heater or gas clothes dryer? If you're going solar all your electric energy is gonna be free However, if you're insistent or stuck on cooking with gas because you love it and still want to go solar go ahead You'll save money Especially if you're using its charging electric car But why buy there with a gas stove just because you're used to it if you're unsure about cooking with electric or think you just won't Like it do what Danny did spend 60 bucks get one of those portable single burner induction stoves Try it out. See if you can learn to like it If not, you could always cook with gas that is if you're living down here in Latin America They're never gonna take that right away from you like they are up in the states

[22:27] Speaking of those little portable induction burner units just the other day I was in a big appliance store and my eye caught a little display that had those induction units I thought man that's novel Probably a very good idea too because down here as mentioned lots of very poor people cook with wood Even so most all of them in their house somewhere Have one of those traditional single burner electric hot plate Which they do use occasionally during the rainy season When the gathered sticks and pieces of wood are too wet So for them a cheap little induction burner hot plate is just a ticket Except for the fact that almost all poor folks down here in Latin America cook with aluminum pots and pans Hmm. So then what? Oh, and did you know this almost all I mean ninety nine point nine percent of middle and lower middle-class Latin Americans

[23:16] Use those cheap Teflon coated frying pans. Isn't that nice? Hmm. Isn't it funny to how when you rent an Airbnb? Which are always furnished and they come with pots and pans and utensils, etc, right? Isn't it funny and sad they always come equipped with aluminum pots and pans and Teflon coated frying pans Spatulas and cooking utensils. Oh and when you rent an Airbnb have a look at those pans and see how much Teflon is missing Now, where did that go? Where do you think it went? I think you know the answer. Oh And one last thing about switching to electric everything up in the states How does that make sense when every day you see in the news that something's wrong with the American power grid? It's outdated. It's antiquated. It's inadequate and getting worse day by day Hmm. So what are you supposed to do about that? Well again, if you go solar off the grid

[24:06] You'll deal with none of that. It won't matter. Of course, you will feel a little funny if at night You're the only house in the neighborhood who's got lights Alright, you know, I subscribe to lots of Latin American news services in Spanish online newspapers in Spanish and Latin American media outlets in Spanish I get news sources direct from Guatemala Mexico Panama Salvador Argentina Peru Columbia Ecuador, etc, etc Every day I see local and national news out of different Latin American countries that never makes it up to the states Because you know the old saying if it bleeds it leads So unless there's a big disaster down here in Latin America, it almost never makes the wire in the news services up in the states

[24:52] Anyway, in just the last few days I've noticed in almost every Latin American news and media service that I subscribe to they're pushing one story big Stories coming out of the US seems all Latin American countries are pushing the panic button So then what US story am I talking about the story that's getting tremendous traction down here But almost none of you up in states care about in fact, most of you have probably not heard of it at all Well, here's that story and it's a short one. I read it directly out of a Columbia newspaper It says US passes law to tax remittances Man, have you heard about that? Let me read out It says the US House of Representatives has approved legislation that if approved by the US Senate next month Would place a 3.5 percent tax on all money sent overseas by foreign nationals

[25:43] That tax would apply to all immigrants living in the United States with permanent residents in the United States or work visas, but not apply to US citizens sending money overseas It says during the House of Representatives debate on the issue The proposed tax was reduced to 3.5 percent from 5 percent Then it says Latin American countries are united in saying the tanks will punish Legal migrants who are helping their families back home with for example Ecuador Receiving remittances totaling 4.8 billion dollars in 2024 with countries like Mexico and El Salvador Counting on remisses from the US for up to 25 percent of their per capita income

[26:29] So then why am I bringing this up? Well, because if you remember during the last show, I mentioned that someone wrote in claiming that one of the easiest and fastest ways to eliminate illegal immigration to the United States would be to put a 100% tax on remisses flown out to foreign countries That said just think about it. All the Latin American countries are up in arms because the US Congress is about to pass a bill Taxing remisses at just three and a half percent You know the old saying there's no better way to motivate a person than to hit him in their pocketbook Oh, and by the way about my upcoming August 2025 expat insider seminar Today's show first goes out on June 1st 2025 So if you haven't signed up by now for the seminar on June 1st, that's today when this first goes out

[27:17] It's your last day to sign up and still get in on the $500 early bird discount if you missed out on the discounted prices That's okay. You can still sign up. Just go to expat plan B comm click on the seminar link for all the info and sign up details So you've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan B We can schedule a one-on-one phone or Skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in Central America Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan B Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com