#596 – The Expat Files: Cost of Living, Markets, and Coconut Culture 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 up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you expat 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 Okay, how about a little cost of living report from way off the gringo tourist trail kind of an update haven't done this in a while Well, I went to one of those massive outdoor markets a couple days ago. You know, some of them are so big You could get lost in them. I mean scary lost too

[00:48] By the way There's always little guys walking around with a little rope coiled around their shoulder and a little square sponge pad or cushion About the size of a smartphone. So what's that for tell you in a second? Anyway, when one of these guys spots you he'll walk right up to you and say you have a tooth cosa's Meaning can I carry your stuff? Of course, that's their job. That's what they do all day That's the moment you asked them what they're gonna charge you to carry all your stuff through the market and back to your car In the parking lot now if you go to the market the way I do about twice a month You're carrying a lot of stuff each times. And of course, I've got four or five very heavy-duty reusable bags Yep, those things last forever You can buy them right there in the market for around 50 cents each

[01:33] And you know when they get monged up and they will because you're setting them down and putting produce in and out Stuff does spills get smashed leaks all part of going to the market, you know, no problem We get home you could throw them in your washing machine. They last forever So like I said those little guys are around to carry your stuff back and forth for you And I do recommend you use them because look if you're carrying three or four pineapples or five or six melons or a couple watermelons Take it from me. You will be miserable. You tote that around for a while. It'll put a nasty groove in your shoulders It happened to me when I first started shopping at these places and it'll happen to you, too So do hire a porter. So how do they do it so easily when you can't well They're used to it for one thing and it's not that you can't but you'll suffer and besides they've got that little sponge pad thing

[02:19] And you don't so what's that for? Well, that's what they put on their forehead when they've got a really really heavy package or two They wrap the rope around the heavy bag and forehead they stoop forward and actually use their head to counterbalance all that weight And man, it looks weird even painful, but they do it and that's life for them It's a job, you know In fact, if you're watching YouTube right now, you'll see one of those little guys hauling a hundred pound tank of propane gas Using the forehead method and remember a hundred pound tank of gas weighs about a hundred and thirty five pounds because it's a hundred pounds Not counting the metal tank itself So these little guys routinely carry more than their own body weight Try that sometime and see how far you get anyway

[03:04] Like I said, they'll come walking up to you and say you have a suscosis and you'll say yes And that's when you make the deal with them now, of course, we're way off the gringo tourist trail So these guys don't know a word of English and you'll say cuanto which means how much or cuanto questa which means what's it gonna cost and Nine out of ten times the guy will say whatever you want to pay me como le gusta but you see that's not a good answer that won't work because I Found out if you leave it at that after you have made your big walk through the market and probably gone back to the parking Lot two or three times to load up your trunk now Remember I'm talking about shopping for a couple of weeks at a time now chances are you'll be working the guy more than he's used Oh and on that subject make sure when you pick out papayas and melons and avocados You hand select them for that two or three week period

[03:51] Because you see if you let the person you're buying the produce from select the stuff They'll pick out some very nice stuff for you But chances are it will ripen on the same day or nearly so and you don't want that I mean, how would you like four honeydew melons and eight avocados come and do on the same day? That will happen if you let the seller at the little kiosk pick your fruit for you Of course, that's not an issue or a problem if you shop every day or so like most Latins do then you just pick What's ripe at the moment now? Maybe if you too live within walking distance of one of those big markets You can go down every couple days and pick your stuff like the Latins do right been ready But if you only do it a couple times a month like me, you'll want to stagger the ripeness factor When you get down here, you'll figure it out But at first I guarantee you'll overbuy and a lot of stuff will go to waste now

[04:40] Of course, there are a lot of smaller markets around to seems like every neighborhood has one They've got pretty much everything the big markets have except the prices are a little higher not much But me I prefer the big market even if it's 20 miles away Why because that's where all the action is believe me. There's so much action Besides that those big markets they have practically anything and everything you might need in the way of household supplies at any given moment For example the other day I had to get one of those little flat lithium batteries for a bathroom scale It's a very common little flat battery 3 volts called a CR 2032 I'm sure you've got a few around the house So anyway a couple days before I went to the market. I checked out those batteries at a local strip mall anyway at the little

[05:26] electronics kiosk at the mall They wanted six bucks for one of those batteries a day later. I was in the city walk past a radio shack Yes, they still have them down here and the battery was ten bucks in the end I didn't buy one in either of those places I was in no hurry just a bathroom scale and I thought I'd check out the big market There are always little guys running around trying to sell you watches and batteries and earbuds and phone chargers that kind of stuff And I thought I'd wait and check that out sure enough in the big market I ran into a guy selling batteries right away And what do you think he wanted for the exact same battery? I could buy at a mall or electronic store ranging from five to ten bucks Well, would you believe two bucks probably could have got him down to a buck and a half They do expect you to haggle You know then it was a brand name maxell to in the original package not a pirate job at all

[06:16] So just know that whatever small stuff you can buy in a strip mall many times They'll have it in the big markets to at half price or less, but I digress where were we oh, yeah We were negotiating with the little porter guy to carry our stuff in the market And he just said pay me whatever you feel like paying me and that's when I usually say how about 75 cent That's when they change their tune 75 cents oh no, and that's when I say well you just said pay me anything you like now Don't get me wrong This guy's not trying to stiff me for what you might call crinkle prices because like I said before many times in these big Markets you're gonna be the only gringo there and probably the only gringo he's ever spoken to in his life So what happens then well generally he reluctantly agrees to 75 cents or a buck whatever you've tossed out at him

[07:04] But here's the catch once it's all over and he's done his two or three loads back to your car That's when you tip him you give him a bit more by the way at one big market I go to once in a while There's a guy there who's missing an eye on top of that He's got a huge scar on his face must have been a bad accident He's a porter and I always look to use that guy when he's around you know life is tough in a third world as It is but to have just one eye well Let's just say when you run into guys like that who are actually working and not begging You really want to give him a hand and by the way you really have to park in a parking lot There's no way you should park on the streets because well anything could happen Not that you're gonna get ripped off or anything But you could come back and find out the hoodier cars being used as a baby diaper changing station Or just kind of a universal lean to or makeshift

[07:52] Not to mention guys with push carts and wheelbarrows and dollies are everywhere and the fact is if you're parked on the street It's just a matter of time before one of those guys bashes your car without so much as an apology since every car or truck you see parked in those markets is Sort of a wreck and has had a million dings and bashes just because it's parked at the market So what came first the beater or the egg hmm now? There's a good t-shirt Bottom line if you don't want your car to soon turn into a beater park in a parking lot pay the buck Since that's about what they charge an hour and your car will be safe and secure the whole time kind of what do I mean by? Kinda do be careful where you park in that parking lot too Because there'll be quite a number of beaters going in and out of that parking lot all day

[08:39] Meaning even if you park in a nice open area with not a single car within 10 feet of you when you return There's always a good chance. There'll be a beater wedged up nearly against your car And you practically need a shoehorn to slip into the driver's seat in fact I can't tell you how many times I've returned to a parking spot Only to realize that my side view mirror or mirrors has been sprung inward or outward Meaning either someone with a beater kissed them and sprung them forward or backward or someone parked so close that people walking through Simply pushed the mirrors out of position to slip on through yes It's all about Latin's diminished personal space Something us gringos and expats just can't get used to which is again why I repeat It's not good to have an expensive or high-end late-model car unless of course you don't care about those things

[09:30] However, most gringos don't take that advice and they truly suffer for every new scratch and ding So anyway get used to retrieving your car and finding that your mirrors have been popped this way in that Meanwhile back at the huge chaotic outdoor market just a few days ago. I bought five Haas Avocados for a buck now. I don't much know what produce goes for up in the states I guess it varies all over the place too Especially when you're talking about pre-digested food outlets in just-in-time Supermarkets like Walmart versus mom and pop corner stores if there are any left and organic farmers markets I know a lot of you take advantage of however just yesterday I was talking to a young lady who came down to one of my expat insider seminars well back And she's back down again on her own getting her plan being together

[10:18] I asked her about produce prices in Texas where she's from she said two Haas Avocados are around two dollars and fifty cents in Texas now You probably know the Haas variety are the most expensive type and are shaped like a pair now I don't know about up in the states, but down here in Latin America There are many other different kinds of avocados most of them perfectly round that are much cheaper and less tasty than Haas Yes down here. They even have avocado trees growing wild So anyway Laurie says in Texas a Haas avocados around a buck and a quarter again You heard me right at the local market. I bought five for a buck However note that you could drive just a couple of miles away to a Walmart and pay around 50 or 60 cents apiece for them Still half of what you'd pay in Texas

[11:04] But you can see why it's a huge advantage if you can come down and shop at these big outdoor markets believe me There's nothing like it, and it's a lot of fun too and be sure to bring your camera They don't mind if you take pictures in fact they love gringos You will see things in that market that you'll never see up north crazy chaotic and wonderful things too nope Don't worry nothing dangerous about those markets at all even though there's a thousand people walking around and you're the only gringo Which is often the case off the gringo tourist trail however the first few times you go to one of these things you will feel Like you're in a goldfish bowl, so you'll probably feel more comfortable if you bring someone along So what else did I get well two big honeydew melons for a buck as well as ten of the best Tangerines I've ever eaten two for a buck now down here. They don't call them tangerines. They call them

[11:54] Mandarinas mandarinas sounds like mandarin orange But they're not and you know they're one of the best traveling fruits that there is So if you're in the car or just walking around you can just peel them with your fingers the outside peels right away with ease You don't need a knife, and it's not at all like fighting it out with an orange forget about oranges when you're on the road They're way too messy You don't want some sugary fruit to be dripping on your fingers or your clothes when you're traveling That's not a good look or feel we've all been there right and it's no fun Which is why they invented wipe ease another great traveling aid so for me my favorite three traveling fruits are number one Mandarinas number two leeches which some people call rambutan Which look like little red hairy testicles you can pop the fruit right out of its little hairy container with ease without spilling a drop

[12:42] Of juice and my number three traveling fruit a papaya though to work that out on the road You'll need a metal spoon So you buy a small papaya when you're ready to eat it cut it in half And you treat each half of the papaya like a fruit cup you'll take your spoon scoop the seeds out Hold the papaya like a cup and start eating it from the inside out easy as that other great filling healthy non-messy foods when you're on the road nuts of all kinds and you can get those at all the big markets too and Do try the many many different varieties of nuts that you've never come across before either And here's something else that's very worthwhile You go to the big market you buy two or three pounds of shelled unsalted peanuts for a buck a pound or less Take them home put them in a strainer Agitate them a bit wash them pretty good take a clean bath towel spread them out put them in the Sun

[13:33] Indoors of course so the bugs aren't tempted after a couple hours They're bone dry ready to go in the food blender and I recommend you get a queasy night or kitchen aid one of the big Tough models with a big-ass motor so you won't fry it Don't get a cheap flimsy plastic one like an oaster or black and Decker though. I'm sure they have some high-end models I haven't seen any yet down here anyway So you throw those peanuts in a heavy-duty food processor and in no time you have your own homemade all natural peanut butter No additives no preservatives no sugar no salt So you listeners out there who need that special organic peanut butter from the states that cost ten bucks a pound well Come on down and make your own Takes all of about 20 minutes sure if you're like me the kitchen and the food processor is kind of a mess after that

[14:19] But that's what maids and cleaning ladies are for right what you say you don't have one is that right? Well come on down, but where were we oh? Yeah shopping at the market? What else did I get well buy big sweet potatoes for 60 cents each one bigger than my fist? Oh, yeah, and get this everyone loves cinnamon right? It's supposed to be really good for you take a little bit of it every day myself But a pound of powdered cinnamon for two and a half bucks sure you can buy it in stick form too There's always little guys walking around holding a bunch of sticks wrapped in twine or paper Which I guess are good for tea and other hot drinks, but give me the powder anytime So I'm looking up cinnamon on the internet now And it looks like you can get a cheapo stuff for about eight bucks a pound so down here anyway about a third of that Price when pineapples not giant ones, but good-sized pineapples three for a buck guaranteed the best you'll ever taste to

[15:12] Carrots about a dozen foot long jobs for 60 cents Then I picked up three pounds of the biggest freshest strawberries You've ever seen for around 40 cents a pound same for blackberries 40 cents a pound and they're huge Now of course prices fluctuate quite a bit they go up and down depending what time of the season it is So at the beginning of a season when a certain kind of vegetable or fruit is just trickling in you might pay twice the price Or more compared to if you bought the same thing a few weeks later when the market gets absolutely saturated with that kind of thing Sometimes for weeks or months on end. It's that good old Adam Smith supply-and-demand thing right down here They call it Ofer to eat demanda meaning literally offer and demand now

[15:59] There are some fruits and vegetables that are in season all year round remember There's four growing seasons in most of Latin America because of the many varieties of certain fruits like tangerines and bananas When the season is pretty much over for one type There's always another type or two still in the season overlapping or coming online now while we're at it Let's talk about coconuts for a minute about two weeks ago I took a nice little trip to the Pacific Coast to check out the beach side Anyway motoring towards the beach on a big four-lane highway around 20 minutes from our beachfront destination, and it's hot I mean we're not in the Alti Plano anymore all of a sudden right out in the middle of nowhere All sorts of little vegetable and fruit stands start popping up all over the place Bananas platinos water melons and yes

[16:46] Coconuts and I mean each of these stands had hundreds of coconuts piled up all over the place now If you've never had a nice cold fresh Coconut water right out the coconut well That's a treat it really hits the spot and when you buy them at a roadside stand where the coconuts are Right alongside you in fact every once in a while you actually hear one crashing to the ground somewhere nearby man That's fresh, so I pulled over and asked him how much for a nice cold coconut I think I said 25 cents and he stuck his hand in an old beat-up Coleman cooler and pulled one out and That was right out of the 50s pure aluminum They don't make them like that anymore, and I said 25 cents, huh thinking about how many I wanted and apparently he must have taken My hesitation for thinking maybe they were too expensive

[17:33] Then he said if you want coconut water, that's not cold. You know room temperature, which is probably 95 on the coast He said I can give you two for 25 cents, but there's nothing like a cold one, so I bought a few Okay flash ahead 20 minutes And now I'm maybe about a mile from the beach and the roadside fruit stands along with the piles of coconuts are getting thick and heavy So I pulled over to one of them and said how much for a cold coconut the guy said? 50 cents and a room temperature one 25 cents suddenly prices have doubled Hmm moving towards the beach where the Sun and fun and the action is and suddenly prices are up flash forward another half hour I'm at a restaurant right on the beach ordered a coconut water with lunch and there

[18:18] Typically you could see clearly in the back room a young lady with a two and a half foot long machete Lapping off the tops of coconuts dead flat with one blow what a pro always a sight to see you never get tired of that Especially when it's a lady in a dress and high heels Suddenly whipping out the machete and cutting it up to make coconut water for you I've seen that fact if you're watching the YouTube you're probably gonna see that picture right now So what next well then the next night off to a restaurant owned by a gringo right on the beach Had another coconut water the cost this time three bucks. So then what's the markup on coconuts in Latin America? Well, you live at sea level or on the coast They're dropping off the trees all over and they're free for the locals living around there most of the year anyway however, if you're actually in the business of selling coconuts as you've seen they go anywhere from 12 cents to two dollars and 50 cents in

[19:11] My examples anyway, again, I'm talking about off the gringo tourist trail when on the gringo tourist trail However, like for example in Playa del Carmen Cancun Costa Rica even the resorts of the Dominican Republic I remember seeing cold coconut water in the coconut for five bucks or more Even little guys strolling down the streets with their wheel barrels full of coconuts selling them for five bucks a crack Meanwhile off the gringo tourist trail, you could get 50 coconuts for that price However, Latins have learned the big monies where the gringos hang, right? So again, it's all about what the market will bear Yep supply and demand and when the Latins have the supply and the demand is coming from gringos Well, that's where the real money is for the locals. A ferta da manda is what they call it here

[19:57] Remember? Oh and related to that you've probably heard me mention a few times in previous shows that this is a bartering and bargaining Latin businessmen expect a little haggling to go down before they make a final deal However, as the gringos have moved in with their first world franchises You'll find there's less and less haggling the more gringo eyes an area is so when you're on the gringo tourist trail There'll be much less haggling mostly because gringos are almost always prepared to pay the sticker price except when at a rummage sale an auction Or buying something used so while haggling is absolutely alive And well in those big chaotic produce markets and most every other retail shop That's off the tourist trail and off the books and we're talking about 20 to 40 percent of the latin economy here

[20:44] Meanwhile when you're talking about businesses that are on the books that is they give out legitimate receipts and pay taxes, etc Those businesses are slowly but surely less inclined to haggle with you However, if it's a mom-and-pop shop and mom or pop around you can almost always cut a deal with them Whereas if you're just dealing with the hired help and mom and pop aren't there They'll be much less flexible because they don't have the power to do the haggling But wait a minute. We were talking about coconuts weren't we? All right Well, there is kind of bad news in the coconut world Just recently it says here in a New York Times article that coconut water and coconut oil prices have soared 20% in just the last month largely because of the growing popularity of Specialty products produced from coconuts such as coconut water and coconut oil and here's an excerpt from an article that came out

[21:36] Just yesterday. It says from coconut water to Starbucks drinks The US is having a love affair with coconuts like never before all market incorporated Which owns vitacoco estimates that the US market for coconut oil and cocoa water is 1.2 billion dollars a year Expected to be double that by 2020 However, even now there are not enough coconuts to meet the demand By the way, the Philippines is the world's biggest coconut supplier now So as the Caribbean runs out of coconuts, so are other coconut producing parts of the world For example, Vilma de Silva who has been exporting coconuts from Guyana, South America has seen this first hand She says we want to get into international markets and export, but we just don't have enough coconut farms to buy from

[22:24] Okay, that's just a bit now You've heard me talk about coconuts for a long long time and that off the gringo tourist trail Anyway, many of them just drop off the trees and lay on the ground and rot for the longest time I just didn't get why some Enterprises gringo just didn't get a small business going doing the coconut water and coconut oil thing sure It would take time and effort, but it seems like a no-brainer even more So now that there's a confirmed coconut shortage worldwide However recently on my trip to the Pacific I ran into a bunch of gringos hanging around the beach bars Five new expats living off the gringo tourist trail for two or three years now and loving it and believe it or not All they had on their minds Business-wise was to open a bar restaurant or a B&B the usual suspects

[23:09] And when I mentioned the coconut oil and coconut water business to them all of them said pretty much the same thing Johnny too much work. They'd have to learn about the process and coconuts They'd have to organize people and body equipment man They had a million excuses the fact is they were young guys in their late 20s They just wanted to sit back and party and have a business that kicked out some cash with little or no effort Well, don't we all want to have that huh? Anyway, they came up with a big list of negatives But most of all they just thought it was too much work. Oh, they all agreed there's money to be made But here's the thing None of these guys seemed all that serious about doing anything at all In fact, I kind of wondered how they came down and did the expat thing in the first place not to mention They all had nice expensive Apple gadgets and cool hip expensive beach paraphernalia and a nice late model 4x4 Jeep

[24:02] How about that? I could only think they were IT guys Maybe because you never can tell with them or maybe it was mommy and daddy back home financing their little expeditions To me these guys seemed a little bit out of place They belong more on the gringo tourist trail where the party action is like Costa Rica Cancun, etc Then after a while finally they admitted they ended up off the gringo tourist trail by mistake They were surfers and some of the best surfing in Latin America is on the Pacific side in tiny little one horse beach Towns way off the tourist trail and lo and behold after someone say discovered the gringo advantage Of course, they didn't know what to call it. And when they started talking about this and that I said, that's the gringo advantage He said yeah. Yeah, that's right. So they never left so in the end

[24:51] You can't blame them for following their dream. They want to have some kind of a beach bar that would be linked in with surfing Hey, you know, whatever works for you, right? Meanwhile, the coconuts are falling everywhere. They're rotting alongside the road and when I want coconut oil I go to Costco and buy a few jars a product that comes from the Philippines Processed there sent to Costco in the States and then shipped down to Latin America. Now if that is an ass backwards I don't know what is By the way, I've met a few gringos over the years down here who don't like air conditioning At least they say they don't in fact two of those gringo surfers were such guys Then again, I've met a few expat gringos here and there that don't bathe regularly either that often can happen when a gringo goes Native and my nose told me that at least two of those guys were well on their way and generally when gringos go native

[25:42] They're not motivated to do much of anything But hang around the beach drink party hook up with a native girl and have a brood of kids So yes a kind of gringo white trash does exist down here in Latin America Usually in the form of a middle-class gringo who came down in his mid to late 20s and after finding he could get by on Almost nothing with the booze and the drugs being ridiculously cheap, too Well, that's what you call going native. All right We're near the end of the show now And I just like to mention once again that I do get emails out of time from people saying they'd love to come to my expat Insider seminar, but they haven't got the time or the money not yet Anyway, and of course, I understand that times are tough for a lot of people up north and getting worse But that doesn't mean you can't get started on your plan B

[26:27] Which is why you really have to check out my new expat essentials course It's an excellent way to get your plan B started if you just can't come down and get boots on the ground yourself in the course I could talk about a lot of things I just don't talk about on the show So it really is the next best thing to coming down to the seminar yourself and to get you started I've got three free videos for you. Just go to www Expat plan B comm check it out and I'm sure you'll like it. That's www dot Expat plan B comm and for those of you who can make it down to my January 2017 expat insider seminar just go to www The new expat comm and click on Johnny's 2017 seminar link at the top of the page

[27:13] We're three quarters filled already. So there are still some spots available Finally, don't forget to check out my youtube channel. That's youtube slash the expat files all one word See the slides and photos and all the fun stuff that goes along with the show do subscribe. It's free south of the border You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border Email me the expat files at gmail.com And if you want me to help you sort out your own Latin American plans schedule a one-on-one Los vemos