#1060 – The Expat Files: Nursing Homes, Cultural Identity, and Justice in Latin America

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 out to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat 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 All right. Should we start right out of the box with a rant or save it for later? I think we'll hold off to later. All right, first off if you remember last show or the show before The discussion was about shoving old folks into nursing homes in the States. It's an important topic

[00:47] You shouldn't slough it off because sooner or later it could be you Well, I have to tell you more than one listener pointed out the fact that I'm way behind the times because I mentioned that Just the act of wasting away in deaths waiting room up in the States will cost you from 50 to 60,000 bucks a year And that only gets you government style sub mediocre care And of course, we all know there isn't a single thing that government does efficiently is cost-effective or even right So anyway, a number of listeners have pointed out the fact that me Johnny am way behind the times Particularly about nursing home fees though They all agree that most all nursing homes up in the States unless you're paying more than a hundred grand or so a year Then you will be treated like a human being you'll even get the country club kind of treatment and who could afford that? Two to five percent of people maybe so anyway when you heard me mention that figure of 50 to 60 grand a year

[01:37] Well, I was way off and that's probably because I haven't been back to the States since 1999 that's right. I haven't stepped foot on US territory since 1999 other than going to of course a few US embassies and consulates along the way in different countries They're considered US territory You know same with any consulate or embassy for diplomatic reasons that little plot of land They're built on is considered to be a piece of the homeland of whatever country that embassy or consulate represents So anyway in this week's email bag. I've been corrected a few times. Let me read one of these to you, dear Johnny I happen to live in Westchester County, New York and my mother and father were in two different nursing homes here Try 12 grand a month. That's a hundred and forty four grand a year plus

[02:23] Every single five-minute doctor visit is charged separately Oh and Medicare covers 80% but just for 60 days in the end My parents both passed away at home. He says I quit my job to take care of my mom at home Then he says even as a lapsed Catholic I will consider suicide if I ever reached that point signed bill from New York. All right, Bill Thanks for that. And I'm sure that strikes a nerve with almost all of us I mean really who doesn't have some family member that's been shoved into a nursing home or on their way there And you know considering how bad nursing homes are up in the States I just can't see why more people don't look into and take advantage of the fact that for 10 to 20 percent of that cost In any town or city here in Latin America, they could rent a nice place hire a full-time living nurse hire an ambulance service

[03:13] Like alert to Medica. I've talked about that many times before that's two or three hundred bucks a year a year Not a month You could even make a deal with a doctor to pop in once a week or so to check on mom dad grandpa Whoever because remember here in Latin America doctors still make house calls. That's pretty normal in the cost You won't believe it 25 to 35 bucks complete Yep, they'll come to your house and check out anything you need to have checked out and in this day and age if you opt for That sort of a plan and you're feeling guilty about packing them up and sending them so far away Remember you can what's up or zoom with mom or grandpa every day now I'm talking mostly about Central America not South America sure South America will work fine, too But if you're popping back and forth from the States Let's say the flights to Central America are only about three to five hundred bucks

[04:01] So you can make the trip down every month or so or whenever you can swing it and have virtually no extra added expenses whilst visiting Your loved one. That's why I recommend you rent a two or three bedroom place So there's a room for granddad the live-in nurse and maybe a height of bed to crash on or another guest room now I know one of the biggest hang-ups regarding that option is that natural feeling of guilt and abandonment But in the end, what's the difference you'll have that too If you shove the family geezer into a nursing home up in the States and up there every time you go for a visit just seeing and smelling the kind of conditions your loved ones exposed to Will dredge up those same feelings of guilt and abandonment all over again So if you're gonna suffer that whether grandma's in a nursing home in Detroit or down here in Latin America

[04:47] The choice is simple for me that is but for you I know it'll take some convincing But if you choose that Latin American senior care option and when you visit you see just how much better it really is You can't help but feel eventually that you did the right thing And that's why I say if you're gonna choose that option forget about South America unless you're gonna live in the vicinity Too not that you're gonna do exactly the same thing in a perfectly Satisfactory way problem is a flight from the state's gonna be five to eight hours and cost twice as much as you'd pay For a flight to Central America However, it's a no-brainer if you're actually living in South America yourself By the way If you're in that situation right now with a particular loved one and you're really thinking about that Latin American option But you're not living down here yet yourself. I know you'll have pending guilt and abandonment issues

[05:35] Especially since you'll be putting your loved one in the hands of people you don't even know or have never met But there's good news too If for example you choose Guatemala my seminar logistics lady Rita can make all the arrangements I mean all better yet her dad's a well-known Guatemalan physician exactly the kind of contacts and network you want to have Of course, you could search the net and find any number of nursing home facilities throughout Latin America And I assure you there are some private nursing homes here in Latin America that are a plus. There's some garbagey ones, too It's all about the money So for example if up in the States you're paying 50 or 60 grand a year for a private nursing home and it's a garbage You could easily hook up with much the same thing here in Latin America for around a tenth of the cost That'd be about five or six grand a year for an equally crappy nursing home

[06:23] Though certainly with better food a better view and the residents much less medicated most not medicated at all You know, that's often common in low-end nursing homes up in the States They medicate the hell out of people so they're nice and calm and docile Well, that doesn't happen down here unless a patient is obviously psychotic or scientifically speaking off their nut though I don't personally recommend the nursing home option whether up in the States or down here either My recommendation is to always get a private nurse to live in with said geezer or gee-set Is that a word gee-set? Well, it is now because then your loved one will have one-on-one care all the time So again, the bottom line is if you can get over the abandonment and guilt issues You just can't do better than selecting a senior care option here in Latin America

[07:10] In fact many a time I've been at a Sunday brunch at a nice restaurant where I've seen an entire Latino extended family out for lunch along with a geezer in a wheelchair often with a bottle of oxygen Strapped to it attended to of course by a uniformed personal nurse Yep, they generally wear blue or white uniforms and when I see that I'm always thinking Yeah, that's the way I want to fade into the sunset Oh, and I gotta tell you one of my longtime gringo expat buddies actually met his future wife at a wedding here in Latin America under very much the same circumstances, you know how at big weddings They have a lot of tables and they seat you with people that you don't know sometimes Well, he and his brother got seated at a big round table So they sat with seven people they didn't know including a geezer in a wheelchair

[07:56] Accompanied by his beautiful young uniformed nurse So my buddy ended up right across from her at the table He asked her to dance a few times and well the rest is history So naturally she quit that job and he just got another nurse Oh, and my buddy told me she didn't much like working for that family though. She said the old geezer was fine It's just that she ended up being the nurse to the old guy and the cleaning lady for the extended family But she said she was happy to get the job Because you see she had a kid back in nicaragua living with her mom And even though she only made 300 bucks a month She was able to send back half of that because you know when you're a live-in nurse you get room and board and you got Almost no expenses except for that all-important cell phone plan Oh and for you woke listeners out there

[08:41] It might strike you as dastardly even evil that the nursing profession is completely female dominated here in latin america Yep, it's beyond sexist. Where's yet? There's no one to sue picket or protest to Boo, hoo So just realize if you're looking for a male nurse forget about it though at hospitals and clinics You'll often see a male orderly, you know a guy that moves around a lot of the big equipment and transfers patients But they're not nurses. They're just orderly grunts in nurse uniforms All right enough said about that except to say if I was sending down a geezer family member of mine for elderly care I wouldn't go on the internet searching for latin american nursing homes That'd be like picking a dentist or plastic surgeon based solely on their listing at craigslist That would be figuratively speaking like throwing a dart at the yellow pages

[09:29] That's not a good way to pick a surgeon or a live-in nurse What you want to have is a network to lean on referrals from people you trust because let's face it when you're searching the net Everyone I mean everyone puts on their best face and their best foot forward. Hey, just check out any linkedin post How's it possible that everyone there seems to be the most brilliant entrepreneur from success to success? No failures in the bunch. That's just bs. No one ever gets to the top without a few failures But they don't list them do they anyway, I want to tell you what happened to me last week I ran into a bunch of argentinos I was with a gringo friend of mine who knew him though. I hadn't met them before myself We were at this outdoor cafe when the argentines pulled up on expensive mountain bikes four guys all decked out designer Riding gear, you know the type you seem in little clusters on weekends in upscale neighborhoods. They're weekend greenies

[10:21] Nothing wrong with that except that every school day morning They fire up the Porsche Cayenne to haul their kids to private school just three blocks away. Hmm We're not just talking about denver portland or seattle either they've got them down here in latin america, too So anyway, my buddy and the four argentine mountain bikers sat down at one of my favorite outdoor cafes And we shot the breeze for a while and sure enough It didn't take long before those argentines started complaining about other latin american countries and the people in them I've heard them drone on about that stuff before they say other latinos have no class their litter bugs No style no culture their accents are terrible And if you visit argentina, you'll see the locals will double down They really consider themselves the best and brightest of all latin countries and practically every last one of them Especially the ones that have a little money

[11:08] They claim they're just europeans living in latin america denying the indigenous blood that has to be in every argentine's family If the family's been there more than four or five generations though, it is true at least 80 of argentine's look purely european Some of them even have natural blonde and red hair That's of course due to the mass migration of about seven million europeans mostly spanish, italian and german between 1850 and 1950 Hey, the argentine government gave free land and other perks. So there was a very big inflow of europeans In fact the argentines have a saying they say the mexicans come from aztecs Peruvians from incas, but argentines come from boats Boats yep almost all argentines see themselves as a nation of transplanted white europeans

[11:56] And they're oh so proud of that And really it's strange to admit that i've never met an argentine yet Who was a gringo wannabe because you know as transplanted europeans least they think they are why would they ever aspire to be gringos? And you know most europeans truly look down on americans. Oh, they love our movies our tech and our music But american people not so much. They won't say that to your face They're more diplomatic than that But by the looks on their faces you can sure tell it especially when you're in france Though i've been to a few parties in the uk where college kids come up to me and go on the attack They try to nail me on u.s policy imperialism wars military bases all over the world, etc, etc Sure, those accusations are completely true. I tell them I hate my government too But I also tell them when it comes to imperialism you brits wrote the book

[12:44] I tell them don't be hypocrites I mention india hong kong africa china and the opium wars that tends to shut them up in a hurry The truth is college kids these days no matter what country they're from don't learn much history at all Except they've all had it drummed into their heads that all the evils in the world were perpetuated by racist sexist white males And they want their pound of flesh their reparations And of course that's going on right now in europe and in the states But man if reparations were ever legislated in latin america It would bankrupt virtually every western european country because when you think about it the atrocities they committed to colonialize the continent Man, there isn't enough money in the world to make up for that kind of genocide Hey, i'm not suggesting any of that because none of us were alive back then, you know

[13:31] Even the bible says we're not responsible for the sins of our fathers But back to argentina by the way genome studies have recently concluded that about nine percent of today's argentines Have ancestry from africa and though there's a spattering of short dark indigenous people Pure black people are rare in argentina The fact is you can't say argentines are racist solely against blacks They're racist against indigenous and persons from all the other 19 latin american countries, too need proof Well, here's some for you. You got a famous argentine university professor patricia gomez She's quoted this month in a big argentine newspaper as saying all my life. I was told there were no blacks in argentina Therefore there was no one to be racist with and hence there was no racism here

[14:19] She said but new genome studies paint a far different picture from argentines accepted european history She says argentines are unlikely to admit the simple fact that between the 18th and 19th century Long before the wave of european migration the millions who came from italy spain in germany She said more than 200 000 african slaves arrived in buenas arez and monta video the nearby uruguan capital In fact the number arriving to just those two cities was equal to half of all the slaves that ever arrived in the us Meanwhile worldwide the us takes all the heat for slavery and all the calls for reparations And then you have brazil who received 10 times as many slaves as the us Yet the us takes all the media heat for slavery and all the calls for reparations now argentines don't like to talk about this either

[15:07] But in 1778 blacks of african descent made up more than a third That's 37 percent of the population of what is now argentina That according to an official colonial census and in some major provinces in argentine The proportion of blacks was more than 50 percent and by 18 16 30 of the population of buenos arez was black But after 18 16 there's no more data because the official argentine census bureau stopped collecting racial information Then professor gomez goes on to say at the end of the 19th century The argentine state purposely began to present argentina to the world as a country and culture of nearly pure european descent She calls it argentina's systemic whitening process So that means today if you meet an argentine on the street

[15:54] Ask him about their culture and origins The idea that an argentine could be a descendant of a slave is met with a look that says you must be joking So it's no surprise that most all argentines believe in a strict european origin story an idea that's passed on from Generation to generation even argentine president morissio mccree said at the 2018 world economic forum in davos Quote we argentines are all descendants from europe and no one contested the president's word In fact, it wasn't till 11 years ago in the 2010 argentine census. There was for the first time an option Allowing argentines to self-identify as non-european. By the way, this is very interesting Remember I mentioned about nine percent of argentines have black descendants Well, according to the most recent census when you could mark something other than european

[16:45] Argentines are still in denial about it because only a half of one percent of the population Self-identifies as having non-european blood. That means only one out of 20 argentines with black or non-european blood Are willing to admit it. So then how was the argentine government able to hide all that? How'd they pull it off? Well, you see argentina's pro-european immigration policy was initiated under its 1853 constitution when the country's president at that time domingo sarmiento wrote a book in 1845 stating africans and descendants of africans were barbaric and europeans were cultured and civilized and though it was not possible to Physically eliminate argentines of black or non-european descent. The government decided to at least eliminate them

[17:31] symbolically Creating a discourse even in school books that argentina had no blacks and that brazil Was a country that had that problem. So there is structural racism in argentina You can see by the fact there's no black journalists or politicians and in buenos ares You'll see almost no black people on the streets But in barrio's outside of big cities in argentina You'll see people of color and the prisons just like in the us are filled with black people So as professor gomez says in the us a drop of black blood will make you black But in argentina a drop of white blood will make you white She also says many in argentine family will have ripped up old photos and denied The existence of any black or non-european relatives. Otherwise, you'd be marginalized in such a pure white society

[18:17] Now, I don't know how many of you listeners have been to argentina And if you have you've probably been to buenos ares That's the biggest tourist destination now if you're in buenos ares and you're walking around and you keep your eyes open You'll notice there are almost no black people and i've even asked a few argentines have met along the way what happened To the black population here and the most common response I get is there are no blacks here Except the odd tourists and brazilian and when I say yeah But you know a few hundred years ago a third of your country was black What happened and they shrug and say who knows there are no blacks now They just disappeared and that's the end of the conversation. You get no more response. So you're thinking how can that happen? How can a whole population a third of the country just disappear? What's up with that?

[19:03] Well, the truth is that even a hundred years ago people believe the black population had pretty much disappeared But in reality according to the argentine newspaper publisher Juan jose soisa riley on his last name riley is irish figures, huh? Anyway, he says in an article about black culture in argentina That the african tree is now producing white flowers. The black community he says was slowly Fading in such a way even a hundred years ago that the children of blacks mixing with whites became whiter and whiter But that doesn't fully solve the mystery as to why there are almost no black people in buenas ares a city of something like 20 million people that's a larger population than many entire countries have oh and by the way If you're in buenas ares and you see a black person the local argentines simply regard them as brazilian or a tourist

[19:54] Or another extranjero, which means foreigner? Oh, and by the way argentines are so proud of that european heritage They feel so intellectually and culturally superior to all the latin countries That is until you bring up this object of their economy They hold the dubious honor of being the only country in latin america That's gone bankrupt four times in the last 30 years. The government's a complete disaster They've got 50 inflation year over year Which kills investment on top of that if you're a gringo or expat or anyone with a dollar account You can only move or change 200 a month at an atm or from your bank account And so you have the dichotomy or hypocrisy of a country whose heritage makes them feel so superior yet The white guys in charge and they've always been in charge are nothing but shit for brains and income poops

[20:44] So there you have it a latin american history and sociology lesson. You probably were never exposed to before speaking of latin american history and those spanish colonial invasions seeking gold Land and everything else they could lay their hands on now The modern subject of police brutality might seem far from that issue But it's all over the news and penetrates the internet Some cities are defunding their police which will come back to haunt them In fact first world high school and college counselors are reporting students. No longer want careers in law enforcement Do you blame them? It's beyond a thankless job Well, the fact is if you think that cops up in the first world have a heavy hand and are too abusive You must pay attention to the following In fact after you hear this you might not believe it So send me an email the expert files at gmail.com and i'll send you a copy of this article

[21:32] Here goes and i'll paraphrase because it's a long article on september 10th 1783 Cuenca ecuador resident melchor de valle was convicted by the spanish royal court of murdering his brother sylvester the sentence 200 lashes in the public square then hanging on the gallows till death That's right. You kick the hell out of the guy first and then you kill him. No easy death But get this the spanish royal court further ordered that when the body was removed from the gallows It was to be stuffed in a leather bag with a live dog rooster snake and a monkey and the bag was then to be Sown shut and thrown into the river tomah baba But that's not all the court also said in a decree if anyone retrieves the bag from the river

[22:17] He will receive 200 lashes If he's a commoner and be fined a hundred pesos if he's a nobleman Which reminds me of a story that happened to my favorite latin lawyer You know almost all latin countries at one time had a mandatory draft They don't have them any longer except venezuela and cuba Anyway, when his number came up he paid an indigenous guy I think it was two or three hundred bucks to take his place in the army forum Of course, that doesn't happen anymore But it was part of the very recent past the same thing happened in the u.s In europe and the 18th and 19th centuries if you had money you could pay someone to take your place in the draft But back to that body and all those animals in the bag in the river Turns out quenca ecuador spanish governor at the time jose antonio vallejo Took his duty of punishing criminals very seriously

[23:05] Fact is he punished and hung so many victims that he ordered permanent hanging towers Be erected in three different quenca neighborhoods and because they were brick mortar and cement The one in el vicino still stands you can visit it It's outfitted with four concrete hanging pegs below an obelisk topped with the line of castile at the time the royal coat of arms So in other words, he set up permanent hanging posts Where on each one of them you could hang four guys at a time Obviously that guy did not believe in manana time now according to the governor's spanish biographer He was a very strict disciplinarian and was credited with introducing to latin america popular spanish custom of cat roasting Turns out every sunday the governor encouraged families to come to the central plaza now parquet called around in quenca ecuador

[23:53] To watch live cats in wire mesh cages lowered into a bonfire according to his eyewitness biographer gonzales suarez The catter walling I wonder where that word came from and writhing of the burning felines always delighted and amused The hundreds of spectators, but that's not all according to the custom of the times Those found guilty of murder theft adultery or insulting the spanish crown were marched to the gallows in what they call Humiliation robes robes smeared with calves blood however technology prevailed and in 1822 hangings gave way to death by firing squad and back then public Executions were accompanied by a legal order forcing wives and children to witness the death of their husbands and fathers

[24:38] But all that changed in 1897 when the death penalty was eliminated in ecuador That was when ecuador had a revolution and a guy named eloi alfaro was the revolutionary in charge But because no good deed goes unpunished apparently after the revolution and when eloi was in charge He was so disliked and made so many enemies He was finally overthrown in 1912 by a mob led by two catholic priests After they shot him his body was dragged through the streets of keto ecuador his arms and legs severed along the way And what was left of him was thrown on a bonfire at the end of a procession and as far as crimes for commoners Until the middle of the 20th century public punishment in ecuador and most of south america was a weekly spectacle

[25:25] The sweaty masses could look forward to in fact up to about the middle of the 20th century Petty criminals would be on display tied to Humiliation crosses at the entrances to the city as well as in certain central parks where they were kept for as long as two days Which allowed citizens with claims and grudges against the offenders to apply their own personal versions of justice With whips sticks rocks fists, whatever they thought was appropriate punishment for the crime By the way, if you're visiting quenca ecuador, you can see one of those marble humiliation crosses It still stands in front of once, you know it the catholic church iglesias on sebastian On the corner of calle simon boulevard and corral el talbot street So back then in the not too distant past here in latin america justice was swift

[26:14] Humiliating and painful. Hmm. What a good idea No postponements or legal maneuvering allowed when someone was accused of a crime They were usually tried by the colonial magistrate the next day So think about that next time you get all hot and bothered about what you perceive as police brutality up in the states It's all relative and actually I think the indigenous people of latin america have the right idea For a thief a good public beating in a central park or a town square could very well redeem a guy in a hurry You know that still goes on in certain small indigenous communities out in the boonies Sometimes they even show a bit of it on local tv stations Of course, you know the NGOs and do-gooders from the states get their panties all in a twist when they see that But you know you talk to any indigenous community leader and he'll tell you man it works

[26:59] In fact, I know of one particular very successful indigenous car dealership owner who admitted to me that when he was an adolescent Some 40 years ago. He and an accomplice had their own asses publicly whooped He said he still thinks about it when he passes the public square turned him right around He said and the fate of his buddy according to him. He's a success story, too Turns out he's an illegal up in texas somewhere sending remisses back to his family Yep, I know what you're thinking if that's someone's idea of a success story. All I can see is what the 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

[27:44] 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