Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller dives into the world of funerals and death planning in Latin America, discussing everything from high-end cemeteries to the cultural significance of traditional burials. He also touches on the practicalities of planning for death, the role of classified ads, and the availability of life insurance. The episode also includes Johnny's thoughts on U.S. military presence, cultural preferences for Western goods, and the state of public transportation and law enforcement in the region.
Johnny begins by discussing the range of funeral services in Latin America, from high-end to low-end options. He highlights the cultural and religious aspects of funerals, including the preference for traditional burials over cremation among Catholics. He also touches on the practicalities of planning for death, such as buying plots or crips in advance, and the sometimes humorous or bizarre nature of classified ads related to these services.
In the next segment, Johnny provides practical advice for expats in Latin America regarding death and funeral arrangements. He highlights the importance of looking for deals in classified ads for services like funeral services, plots, and mausoleums, noting that desperate sellers are often willing to negotiate. He also provides a linguistic note on the Spanish word for cemetery, 'cementario,' which differs from the English word. Johnny then shares examples of classified ads for mausoleums and crypts, emphasizing the cost-effectiveness of these options. He suggests cremation as a more affordable and culturally resonant alternative, offering a humorous take on the idea of being 'one with ancient art.' Additionally, he discusses the process of repatriating a body to the United States, noting that it can be a way to 'make trouble' for relatives. Johnny also highlights the availability of cheap life insurance in Latin America, often included in bank or health insurance policies, and advises expats to ensure they understand the fine print and to share this information with trusted individuals.
The episode then shifts to Johnny's discussion of the U.S. military presence in Latin America, including the presence of U.S. military bases in Colombia and the proximity of U.S. military assets to Venezuela. He also shares a humorous anecdote about a Latin American family's breakfast habits, where the children are shown to prefer Western-style breakfast products over local alternatives, reflecting a cultural preference for 'first-world' goods. Additionally, he comments on the mispronunciations of English words in Latin America and the trend of Latin actors and celebrities receiving stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which he attributes to a shift in standards and the influence of money.
In the final segment, Johnny critiques the Hollywood Walk of Fame, suggesting that it has become a commercial enterprise rather than a tribute to true talent. He reflects on his past experiences in Hollywood, where he once admired the real icons of the film industry, and contrasts that with the current state of the Walk of Fame, which he believes has lowered its standards. He then shifts focus to the public transportation system in Nicaragua, criticizing its poor condition and the lack of enforcement of safety regulations. Johnny highlights the systemic issues, including the lack of inspections, the prevalence of unregistered and unsafe vehicles, and the corruption within the government that allows these problems to persist.
The episode concludes with Johnny discussing the inefficiencies and corruption in public transportation and law enforcement in Latin America. He highlights how smaller bus companies often face fines while larger fleets evade them, and how bus drivers manipulate maximum capacity signs to avoid penalties. He also notes that strict enforcement of these rules only occurs after major bus accidents, leading to temporary public outrage and promises of increased oversight that rarely materialize. Johnny then shifts to discussing the broader issues of underfunded and outdated police forces in Latin America, where many officers receive delayed pay, and government officials are often better compensated. He contrasts the modern, monitored borders in countries like Costa Rica and Panama with the outdated, manual processes still used in most of the region. Finally, he promotes his expat seminar and encourages listeners to sign up for early bird discounts.
Topics
Funeral Services in Latin America, Cultural and Religious Practices, Cemeteries and Burial Options, Classified Ads for Death Planning, Funeral and burial arrangements in Latin America, Life insurance and financial planning for expats, Cultural and linguistic notes on Latin American terms, Repatriation of remains and legal processes, U.S. military presence in Latin America, Cultural preferences for Western goods, Language and pronunciation in Latin America, Hollywood Walk of Fame and its evolving standards
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:48 Funeral Services in Latin America 00:01:17 High-End Cemeteries and Crips 00:01:57 Perpetual Care and Cemetery Costs 00:02:42 Professional Funeral Whalers 00:04:15 Religious Views on Cremation 00:05:06 Classified Ads for Funeral Services 00:05:50 Shopping for Funeral Services and Mausoleums 00:06:09 Linguistic Note on the Spanish Word for Cemetery 00:07:38 Cremation as a More Affordable Option 00:09:06 Cheap Life Insurance in Latin America 00:10:41 The Importance of Understanding Insurance Policies 00:11:30 The Need for Trust in File Management 00:11:35 Expanding on U.S. Military Bases in Colombia 00:11:47 A South American Cruise and U.S. Military Presence 00:12:00 U.S. Carriers and Military Bases in Aruba 00:12:21 Counting U.S. Military Bases and Their Strategic Implications 00:12:30 The Border with Venezuela and U.S. Military Proximity 00:12:58 A Morning Breakfast Scene with a Seven-Year-Old 00:13:26 The Humorous Mispronunciation of 'Quaker Oats' 00:17:31 Critique of Hollywood's Commercialization of the Walk of Fame 00:20:25 Public Transportation Issues in Nicaragua 00:23:33 Corruption in Public Transportation Enforcement 00:24:43 The Illusion of Police Oversight and Funding 00:26:33 The Paradox of Surveillance and Control in Latin America
Transcript
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 as I wander 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 All right, everyone today. Once again, I'm in expat Eddie's neighborhood and there's some construction going on right next door You might be able to hear it. So it's not rat don't see toes, which aren't rats or mice and it's not cuckoo Though we are in Latin America so you can never rule that stuff out
[00:48] Anyway, I wanted to start today by talking about funeral services here in Latin America I get emails on that believe it or not because I guess a lot of expats that come down here are Pushing 50 and beyond senior citizens retirees and all that naturally No one wants to think about funerals or things like wills, but you got to face it anyway There's a lot of different funeral homes and funeral arrangements down here from the very cheap up to the very expensive Now do note that in the high-end cemeteries They have these big crips like you see I guess in Forest Lawn in Hollywood, you know where you walk in It's kind of a little chapel and all that and you've got the different little plaques on the wall and the spaces for individuals They sell those crips complete along with the funeral services to kind of a package deal if you want
[01:34] By the way, those are called tomb buzz or crip does you know tombs and crips? So anyway, if you want to buy one of these high-end above-ground things, usually you can get them for around 5,000 bucks or so and they'll hold somewhere between six and eight people Whereas a regular old family plot with a couple of stones in the ground in a high-end cemetery might run a thousand bucks and up Now that's supposed to include perpetual care. But who knows how long perpetual as in this world By the way an upscale cemetery looks just like an upscale cemetery in the US guarded gated Beautiful landscaping plenty of flowers the whole works now They've got medium-end cemeteries and low-end cemeteries too and horribly decrepit government cemeteries for people with no money
[02:22] And in those boot hill type cemeteries They kind of lose track of the bodies and oftentimes when they run out of room They'll throw bodies in together or take out some old bones to put in the new ones. I'm not kidding Now about the funeral services you can go high budget on those too Pay anywhere from maybe two or three thousand bucks for a funeral With the casket and the whalers and all that no, not bob marley's whalers. I'm talking about professional funeral whalers Well, maybe they're not professionals But there are certain neighborhood ladies that always get invited to local funerals because they carry on like nobody else And that kind of makes for a good funeral down here I mean latins by nature cry at the drop of a hat but so-called neighborhood whalers They carry around this kind of infectious funeral charisma
[03:11] If you could call it that and yes, they are in demand But that's only with the middle and lower middle classes at the funerals of the upper middle classes and wealthier folks The funerals are more classy and formal and subdued with no local whalers in attendance Oh and also note with many middle and lower middle class funerals Most people just don't have cars So they'll have a small neighborhood procession with a statue of a saint or the virgin mary Leading the procession with the coffin following behind usually it's 20 to 50 people in black on foot On a slow sad walk to the cemetery and sure these things block traffic And of course the local latins and cars respect that but as for us x-passing ringos If you've seen one you've seen them all and sometimes when you've got some place
[03:56] You've really got to be you really have to talk yourself down because you could get pretty pissed off So anyway, you could have a high-end funeral in a very nice neighborhood or a low-end job in a scruffy junky kind of neighborhood for only around 300 bucks Oh and about cremation you could get that done for around 300 bucks too But since latin america is very christian about 80 90 percent catholic and the rest evangelical People who do get cremated almost never tell anyone about it It's all about the bible saying you get resurrected from the grave and when you're cremated. Well, there ain't no grave So for that reason catholics especially look down upon cremation I guess they have a point because the reconstitution process could be a bit difficult from what I gather You can't just add water and stir even if it's holy water
[04:43] Now note that in all the big latin american newspapers in the classified ad sections People are always buying and selling funeral plots and crips and such So some latins actually do plan for the future They buy these things on time and then they've got to dump them for some reason Who knows down on the luck lost a job divorce, whatever Anyway today I was looking in the classifiers and here's what I saw This is a typical one and i'll translate funeral service at high quality deluxe funeral home We'll sacrifice ganga, which means cheap in spanish. It says 2500 negotiable the motive for selling going on vacation But get this it says under that we'll trade for car You know that always makes me laugh what people will trade to get a car
[05:33] Now that said you can't imagine how many classified ads where you see we'll trade for vehicle And most of the time it's someone trading a vehicle for a vehicle You know, they're selling a vehicle and it says we'll trade for other vehicle Which means the vehicle they're selling must be a real piece of shit Anyway, just know that if you're shopping around for funeral services or a fixed plot or a mausoleum, whatever It's always a very very good idea to look in the classified ads There are always desperate sellers You can always negotiate Like expat eddy said it's not a deal unless it's half off retail And that goes for the plot or the mausoleum or the funeral services themselves. Oh, and by the way the word cemetery in spanish is Cementario the two words in english and spanish are very similar. However, the spanish word is not
[06:24] Cementario like you might think it's Cementario with an n Cementario the first half the word being cement like, you know concrete cement Very strange but true. So you don't have a cemetery. Oh you have a cementario Now here's another mausoleum for sale in today's classifieds It says there are 12 niches now niches are spaces so you can get 12 people in this one Remember latins may be short but with all those first world burger joints They are getting wider. Oh, and by the way with this ad the plot comes with a small capilla Which is a chapel now this guy wants five grand for the thing Or he like the other guy says he'll receive a vehicle in trade. I mean only in latin america, right?
[07:11] Then in the following ad we've got a crypt with seven spaces for three thousand bucks negotiable Which includes the entire funeral service package for one At the funeral home and it says he'll sell it without that package for two grand So that's what you see in the classifieds every day And of course my recommendation to buy direct from desperate sellers like that But for my money, it's cremation all the way who cares when you're dead you're dead, right? For a cremation you'll spend three or four hundred bucks then buy yourself a nice pre-columbian urn with a mayan head on it Or a turtle or a goat or whatever, you know become one with a piece of ancient art That is skip the real estate that little plot of land that certainly won't be taken care of
[07:59] Perpetually no matter what they say in the contract and put that urn on your fireplace or throw it into a volcano or whatever That said if you're down here in latin america when you die and you won't care about that Anyway, you can kind of make trouble for your relatives and friends up in cleveland by having someone down here Next of kin or friend or whatever notify the us embassy and they'll ship your body back to the states And if you claim poverty or no assets or whoever reports it to the embassy gives them that storyline It's free However, then your family and friends up in cleveland or wherever will have to make arrangements with a local funeral home to pick you Up at the airport then someone up there will get stuck with the bill at premium first world prices Now that might be kind of a mean trick to play on your loved ones up north unless you're on the outs with them
[08:49] Then you'll get the last laugh, right? Which really does give new meaning to that phrase over my dead body, doesn't it? That said here's some really good news on the subject of death and dying in latin america your death and you're dying That is turns out if you have any kind of bank account down here in latin america They'll always offer you an option for very cheap life insurance I mean cheap for something like two or three bucks a month And they'll do an automatic withdrawal on your bank account or on your credit card account Whatever you'll get anywhere from three to ten thousand in life insurance or funeral insurance, whatever And if you don't like that option if you sign up with any kind of latin american health insurance They'll have a life insurance policy attached to that too automatically For pretty much the same amount from three to five thousand bucks
[09:37] Which might be chicken feed up in the states, but it's enough to cover any kind of funeral expenses down here Now here's an option that almost no one knows about if you have a card on here and most gringo expats do Even if you have the cheapest liability policy, which I always recommend by the way costing anywhere from 150 to 200 bucks a year You'll also automatically get some kind of life insurance or funeral insurance policy tacked right on no extra cost It's always included in the package So do make a note of that stuff and don't forget to tell someone around you your lawyer your best friend your wife your husband So they know when you kick the bucket that you're covered now The problem is of course all this stuff's in spanish So when you open a bank account or you get car insurance or health insurance You might not be able to read the fine print
[10:23] So I suggest as soon as you sign up for anything like that To sit down with a bilingual person and suss it out could be your lawyer or someone who works in your lawyer's office A secretary who's bilingual. You're a bilingual bookie or a college kid Whatever and do write this stuff down stick in an envelope and give it to your lawyer in case you do Have some kind of a fatal incident. We can all look forward to that eventuality. Can't we now that said Let me just add that over the years I've known a few expats gringos europeans and such who did die while down here in latin america And they did have bank accounts and car insurance with those extra life insurance policies attached and they never used them Perhaps they didn't understand the fine print either or let's just say their family never used them. Why? Well, this is latin america
[11:10] You know if your friends or family or lawyered does not notify the bank or the insurance company that you're dead The insurance company's sure not going to chase you down to hand over a check. Remember down here There really is no big brother computers aren't interconnected and the internet is spotty So someone's going to have to follow up on that stuff and since you'll be dead It'll have to be someone, you know, you get the picture. Just make a file and give it to someone you trust Okay, that said i'd like to expand a little bit on what I said during the last show about columbia having seven us military bases Etc. Now what I didn't have time to tell you was this a couple of months ago I was down around venezuela just on a little south american cruise and along the way We stopped in the ports of aruba and curaçao both dutch colonies now
[12:00] What I didn't get to tell you was this there were two gigantic us carriers docked in aruba Now let me tell you you can't miss these things They're floating cities and when I was there I spoke with a couple of dutch sailors They have a small dutch military base and guess what the us has a base there, too and the population of that island 100 000 residents something wrong with that picture. So let's count this up again seven us military bases in columbia A country that shares its longest border with guess who venezuela Then you've got a couple of gigantic aircraft carriers stationed in aruba and a us military base Only 18 miles from the coast of venezuela. Hmm. What do you make of that?
[12:50] Oh, and here's something way off the subject the other day I was at a buddy of mine's house a latin friend and he's got two young kids a boy seven and a girl 10 And in the morning for breakfast the young kid came down sat in the kitchen Poured himself a bowl of choco crispies and put about 15 spoons of sugar in it Then after that the maid slash cleaning lady slash cook gave him a bowl of oatmeal He put about 15 spoons of sugar in that too and to drink a half a glass of coke diet coke Makes all the difference, you know now down here oatmeal is very popular and they don't call it oatmeal. They call it marsh mosh Almost like mush, which is what it looks like. That's mosh with an o talk about descriptive, huh? Then the seven-year-old kid bounced off to school got help his teacher and the 10 year old girl came down
[13:39] When she sat at the table the cleaning lady slash maid slash cook Asked her if she wanted some mosh and held up a bag of dry oats Then the girl looked at me and answered in english trying to impress me I guess because she goes to a bilingual school She grabbed the bag of raw oats on the table and looked at it and she said no Not this I want quackers Then I looked at her trying to help and said is that a cereal quackers or is it crackers? Or maybe she wants duck for breakfast. Who knows? She said yes quackers the cereal quackers Then the cleaning lady slash maid cook went into the cupboard and pulled out a box of quaker oats As it turns out the word quaker as in quaker oats is pronounced quacker
[14:25] That's how you sound out those letters in spanish. Yep. That's right. You'll hear a lot of english product mispronunciations down here in latin america when she said she wanted quackers There's an underlying message there because you know, there are an upper middle class family and obviously Love everything and anything first world gringo wannabes The kids have been spoiled into thinking that first world gringo food products are better than the local products in this case Real quaker oatmeal instead of local oatmeal marsh So that and a few other things she did in front of me gave me an impression that she's a spoiled little latin brat And believe me you only see that with the wealthy in the upper middle classes With kids from the middle and lower middle classes. It's not an issue
[15:12] You just don't see that and speaking of odd and screwy latin pronunciations of english words. Get this I was listening to the news the other day and I heard the lady newscasters say airbucks And I thought what's she talking about airbucks? Is that a new coffee chain? Maybe competition for starbucks? Then they're flashed on the screen the pieces of that recently wrecked airbus crash in europe So the word airbus to her was airbucks. Whereas that same day on another latin tv station I heard the male tv announcers say Oh well Now speaking of latin tv, which I Rarely watch it all unless i'm stuck at someone's house and they've got it on the other day when caught in such a situation
[15:57] I was kind of blown away when I saw a short news clip taking place in hollywood usa of an actor Getting his brand new star on the hollywood walk of fame You've probably seen clips when they inaugurate a new star a little ceremony now I might be wrong, but I always thought that it was important and famous international actresses actors directors Cameramen etc that got stars on that walk of fame. Did you ever wonder how that happens how they get selected? I always thought it was a huge honor like an oscar after all that's a sidewalk and it only goes so far Boy was I wrong Did you know that the latest trend down here in latin america is for latin stars of cinema and television etc? People who you and I haven't never ever heard of people that do nothing
[16:48] But spanish tv and movies etc. Therefore people with extremely limited talent. Well, that doesn't seem to matter anymore They are now getting their own stars on the hollywood walk of fame Now I know that things are getting dumbed down in the states and standards are being lowered year over year I mean look at the kardashians, right? They'll probably have a star pretty soon if they don't have 10 already Now as it turns out you have to have someone or some committee nominate you and you pay your 30 grand And if you're in the entertainment industry at all, you can get a star And being that latin's love everything first will then gringo and hollywood is the pinnacle suddenly people who are Completely unknown in the english film and television industry are showing up on that walk of fame And though many many first world movie and tv purists are very pissed off about that
[17:37] Turns out it's all about money for the city of hollywood Now call me superficial call me soft in the head way back when when I was 20 years old I took a walk down the hollywood walk of fame and stopped for a moment to appear at the names of the real creative one-of-a-kind icons like charlie chaplin douglas fairbanks john houston humphrey bogart jimmy kagney Gary cooper sessleby d'amil kirk douglas burt lancaster, you know the real talent powerhouses Anyway, now that the hollywood chamber of commerce has lowered its standards and some say completely sold out I guess it's just another footnote in the decline of the american way of life And you know, it's things like that that make me so glad i'm not living up there anymore Now i'm not saying that previous to this revolt and development in hollywood
[18:25] There weren't some frivolous and unworthy talents that did get a star Sometimes it just depends on the fashion of the moment That said even if they sucked or were flashes in the pan At least their names and faces were somewhat recognizable and we knew who they were. It was all part of hollywood history So I ask you what do these latin american no talents have to do with hollywood history? Why don't they get their own damn latin walk of fame in cancun or mexico city at least the people there will know who they are And if you don't agree with me on that Well, that's okay. But think about it like this What if tomorrow a bunch of latin american rock and roll or heavy metal bands whose hits were all south of the border and in spanish Suddenly were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in cleveland. Would that go down well with you?
[19:16] What do you think bob dillon or the boss would say about that? That said here's something I bet you've never heard discussed before now One of the immediate things that first world people notice when they first get down here is how terrible the public transportation is They look at those smoke belching rattle trap chicken buses and they say how could those things remain on the road? Is everyone in government a mental midget? Do they all have a shit for brains? Worse yet every single day if you turn on the local tv news you'll see buses turned over Buses and ditches buses slammed into embankments and walls, etc. I mean they have police stops here and there and buses do get pulled over so obviously, they're getting checked and ticketed for supposed violations
[20:04] But to no avail because nothing ever seems to change Most of the buses and vans and tuck tucks used for transportation are if not rattle traps death traps So they blow clouds of smoke the brakes are bad and the drivers drink. What else is new? That's the status quo that said let me quote some statistics from a big nicaraguan daily newspaper Listen to this according to recent statistics in the year 2014. There were about 18,000 buses in nicaragua licensed and registered that is and there are around 50,000 micro buses vans and tuck tucks, you know those three wheeled death traps coming from india Also registered and licensed as public transportation vehicles so along with the around
[20:50] 7,000 unregistered vehicles the scabs you've got around a hundred thousand public transportation vehicles in nicaragua And if you're wondering if they ever get inspected well Only when they get pulled over at a routine roadblock and get this in the whole country of nicaragua There are only approximately 25 people in the transit department whose job it is to inspect buses on a full-time basis now in the year 2014 these 25 inspectors issued about a million and a half dollars worth of maltas or fines 90% or more of them not because the buses blew way too much smoke No, not because they were in horse Mechanical condition not because the drivers were drunk or were speeding made dangerous lane changes illegal turns
[21:41] Or went the wrong way down one-way streets ran red lights and stop signs Nor were they given tickets for missing rearview mirrors or windshields cracked and broken Nor were they given maltas for riding on tires so bald that the fiberglass belts were poking through the rubber Nor were the drivers of these buses given tickets because they didn't have spare tires or even jacks I'll tell you what you guess what 95 of those tickets were given out for Time's up. Number one the driver was without a valid license Number two the bus's registration or plates hadn't been paid up to date Number three was the only actual safety violation regularly ticketed Sometimes but only sometimes they do give tickets when buses are heavily overloaded with people but only if they're
[22:30] massively overloaded for example If the little sticker in the bus says a maximum of 86 people The bus driver would only get a ticket if he had half again or more of that amount And still when the inspector wrote that overload ticket the excess passengers wouldn't have to get off and walk The bus could go merrily on its way Still massively overloaded But that's not all in 2014 more than three quarters of that million and a half dollars in fines Were never paid by the owners of the bus company. So in december of last year the government of nicaragua Exonerated 50 percent of all the fines and they still didn't pay So how could the buses keep running then? Well since the owners of the bus companies with big fleets Are heavily connected in government. They're either owned by high government officials themselves through secret essay corporations
[23:24] Or owned by families and friends of high government officials, etc, etc So for example as fines pile up and buses get pulled over It's the smaller guys that own just a couple of buses that end up paying the fines because they've got no pull While the big fleets with a lot of pull just keep evading those fines indefinitely Oh, and by the way one little trick bus drivers often use because they get paid by the amount of fares that ride their bus They'll paint a new maximum capacity sign They'll add about 20 more to it and it's easy to tell because the repaint job is pretty amateurish And as one bus driver said the inspectors really don't care too much They go by that number whether it's real or not Now the only time inspectors are tough on those numbers is after there's been a big recent disaster in the news
[24:14] Where a bus has flipped and a number of people have died then for the next week or so Everyone's suddenly strict about giving overload tickets Then a few weeks later it's business as usual until the next big disaster Now after every big bus accident where 10 or 20 people die There's local public outcry for a couple of weeks in the area where the people croaked Then there's a few town meetings and the usual line from the government is as soon as we collect all those outstanding Fines that are owed we'll use it to hire more inspectors. So is that ever going to happen? Well, not in my lifetime. Anyway, especially when you hear the latest statistics coming from police departments in latin america This is from a multinational latin american study. It says throughout latin america
[25:01] on average 50 of all the police motorcycles do not function And as it stands now, there's one police car in latin america for every 35 police officers And according to this report 40 of all police cruisers do not function either And it says that nearly all latin american countries are behind In paying the salaries and benefits of their police agents In other words almost everyone on the police force gets their check late Now that's a morale builder, isn't it? But the higher ups and the government executives they get their checks on time So now you might sit back and say god, that's terrible. I'd never want to move to a place like that But then again, that's a sure sign
[25:47] That the big brother state is not around the corner in some latin countries. They might give it lip service It might be on the drawing board, but it'll never really get off the ground Now it's true It might seem that latin america is heading that way when you go to airports for example in panama or costa rica Where they do the fingerprints and the iris scans and all that Just know that's so far removed from reality in the rest of latin america that you almost have to laugh at how ridiculous That really is since if you skip the airports and do a lot of traveling by bus and car You can't help but notice that at some land borders The immigration officers are still writing things in a ledger and using typewriters And that's true all over latin america
[26:33] So then why does it seem more and more like the big brother state is taking hold in places like costa rica panama and parts of mexico? That's an easy one 98 percent of the visitors fly in to the international airports The truth is a very very small percentage of first world green girls ever drive through a latin american border The exception of course to that is the us mexican border, which is heavily monitored and electronically surveilled It's about the only one that is However, as some gringos have mentioned in the rest of latin america Most land borders that you cross are pretty much like the us border with mexico was some 30 or 40 years ago Oops, we're getting towards the end. So it's time to mention once again my july 2015 expat wisdom seminar Just go to expat wisdom.com click on the latin seminar link and remember to sign up before me first
[27:24] Because after that prices go up 500 per person So get your ducks lined up now to get in on that early bird discount 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 don't forget to check out expat wisdom.com to sign up for your free reports on latin america See you next time nos vemos