Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller provides an overview of the show's focus on life in Latin America, highlighting the mix of positive and negative experiences expats face. He announces an upcoming seminar on expat life, emphasizing a 'boots on the ground' approach that involves visiting places not typically accessible to tourists, such as businesses, hospitals, and factories. Johnny also discusses the growing challenges expats face with passports, documents, and airport security, noting that these issues are becoming more severe. He encourages listeners to attend the limited-seats seminar and provides a link for registration.
Johnny addresses an email from a listener in Texas who is concerned about the possibility of terrorists like Al Qaeda and ISIS entering the U.S. through the southern border. He explains the presence of Middle Eastern communities in Latin America, noting that they are often integrated into the local population rather than forming distinct neighborhoods.
He then discusses the general lack of knowledge and awareness among Latin Americans regarding current events, international issues, and even basic economic concepts. He highlights how the average Latin, even those from the upper middle class, are often unworldly and uninformed, with a tendency to believe everything they see on TV. Johnny also touches on how Latin Americans often conflate different ethnic groups, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, into a single category called 'chinos,' and how they are generally unaware of global issues like the Middle Eastern situation or the Federal Reserve's role in the U.S. economy. He also mentions the absurdity of some consumer trends in Latin America, such as the popularity of the Jack Lelane power juicer, which is often bought on credit and ends up unused.
Johnny explores the media consumption habits of Latin Americans, noting that they tend to focus on entertainment and sports rather than news. He also discusses the presence of Middle Eastern expats in Latin America, highlighting how they often blend in and operate in low-rent areas, avoiding overt cultural markers. Johnny mentions the cultural and religious practices of these expats, including their attempts to appear Western and the irony of their adherence to Islamic traditions despite their efforts to assimilate.
He then discusses the cultural integration of Middle Easterners and other non-Latin American individuals in Latin America. He notes that many Middle Easterners in the region wear Western-style clothing, including gringo t-shirts, and often adopt a Western lifestyle, such as driving SUVs and using Western consumer products. He also touches on the topic of smoking habits, noting that many Middle Eastern men in Latin America chain smoke and use strong colognes. Johnny highlights the contrast between the appearance of these individuals and their actual behavior, such as their cleanliness and grooming. He also comments on the fashion sense of Latin women, who are generally very conscious of their appearance, and how they react to Muslim women wearing burkas, often with curiosity or surprise.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses the cultural and social dynamics of Latin America, particularly focusing on the perception of women wearing burkas and the presence of Muslim communities in the region. He highlights the confusion and curiosity among Latin women regarding the practice, noting that it is often seen as contradictory to the more Westernized lifestyle of many Middle Eastern men in the region. Johnny also touches on the lack of media coverage and the potential for hidden radical Islamic cells in Latin America, suggesting that governments may be keeping such information quiet due to political and economic reasons.
Topics
Expat life in Latin America, Boots on the ground seminars, Challenges for expats, Security concerns at borders, Middle Eastern communities in Latin America, Lack of awareness among Latin Americans, Misunderstanding of ethnic groups, Consumer trends in Latin America, Ignorance of economic systems, Media consumption in Latin America, Cultural assimilation of Middle Eastern expats in Latin America, Religious practices and cultural identity of Middle Easterners
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:19 Announcing the Upcoming Seminar on Expat Life 00:00:20 Details of the Seminar's 'Boots on the Ground' Approach 00:00:25 Challenges Expats Face with Passports and Airport Security 00:00:26 Encouragement to Attend the Seminar and Registration Details 00:00:31 Addressing Concerns About Terrorists Entering the U.S. Through the Southern Border 00:00:33 Explanation of Middle Eastern Communities in Latin America 00:05:31 Introduction to the topic of Latin ignorance 00:07:23 The role of the Federal Reserve and its failure 00:10:15 Consumer trends and the Jack Lelane power juicer 00:11:52 Why Latin Americans Don't Care About News 00:16:24 Middle Eastern Expats in Latin America 00:16:33 Cultural and Religious Practices of Middle Easterners 00:16:54 Gringo T-Shirts and Cultural Integration in Latin America 00:18:03 The Impact of Language and Accents on Cultural Perception 00:19:06 The Role of Cologne and Grooming in Middle Eastern Businessmen in Latin America 00:22:33 Confusion Over Burka-Wearing Women in Latin America 00:23:12 Contrast Between Westernized Men and Traditional Women in Muslim Communities 00:25:40 Speculation on the Existence of Islamic Cells in Latin America
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:14] 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, I mentioned on the last show that I'm all set for my next expat wisdom, Latin American off the gringo tourist trail, heavy on the boots on the ground seminar. So if you want to really see what the American dream is like down here in Latin America and for those of you who've been paying attention up there, it's really the only American dream that's left. You certainly won't want to miss this seminar and you know people always ask me how many more I'm going to do and I have to say it's getting harder and harder to organize these
[00:59] things and more and more difficult for all you guys and gals up north regarding passports and documents and privacy and airports and pat downs and cavity searches etc etc. You know the drill and it's getting worse by the week. So I don't know if this is going to be my last seminar or not but I can tell you this, there are definitely going to be fewer and fewer and then none. So do take advantage of it while you can. Just go to expatwisdom.com, click on the latin seminar link on the top left side of the page for the complete details. Do check it out and remember I'm limiting it to 25 people. Now people ask me all the time, what's it going to be like? Well I promise it'll be unlike any seminar you've ever been to. My seminars are very heavy on the boots on the ground part, in fact every morning
[01:47] we have our lectures and right after that we're on the road for lunch at a different place every day and boots on the ground the rest of the afternoon through evening sometimes ending at 10 o'clock at night. And our schedule goes on like that for six days. And understand when we do boots on the ground we do boots on the ground. We go to places, businesses, hospitals, medical centers, factories and plants and such, a great many of them owned and operated by personal long-term expat friends of mine. Which means we'll be going to places that tourists and visitors and even long-term expats never get to see or even step foot in. You'll see what I'm talking about when you get there. And yes this time again it'll be in and around Guatemala. So just go to expatwisdom.com and check out the Latin American seminar link and you'll
[02:33] see what I mean. Now if you remember at the very end of the last show I just started reading an email concerning a very scary subject that is if you live up in the states and believe me I've gotten a number of emails like this on the subject so here goes. Dear Johnny, I live in Texas myself and sometimes think I have to learn Spanish just to get around since all the Latin people down here and there's tons of them don't want to learn the Queen's English. Not that Texans or even the Queen speaks the Queen's English anymore but you know what I mean. Anyway there's something that's bothering me and a lot of my friends here in Texas that you really haven't hit on yet. I've been hearing in the corporate fake news and in the alternative media like PRN that mixed in with all these millions of illegals are the occasional terrorists
[03:22] like Al Qaeda and ISIS. Now I'm not an expert on the subject in fact I don't even know what happened to Al Qaeda they seem to have disappeared lately instead we've got ISIS. Anyway with the whole world knowing that we've got a terrifically porous border. I mean it's on the news every day and I'm sure bad boys and Uncle Sam haters have all got wind of it and have got their plans. After all that would be an easy way for them to slip some of the people into the country and create cells and such. It would seem a logical thing to do if you were a terrorist even a brain-dead terrorist with a moron's IQ must have thought of that. The idea is nothing new you hear hints and references in the media about Middle Eastern people slipping through the southern border all the time. Now I live in a big city myself and I know a few Middle Eastern people.
[04:10] To tell you the truth if they wanted to and they wore the right clothes etc they could easily pass for Latinos so it's not far-fetched with coyotes and all not giving a damn who they take their money from that this could certainly be going on. So my question to you is what do you know about that if anything. Have you heard rumors or seen any actual Middle Easterners around shady or otherwise signed Texas barely hanging on to the American dream. Lenny okay Lenny we'll try to answer that note that in every big city in Latin America they have a Middle Eastern contingent now they don't have their own neighborhoods they're spread around quite a bit unlike in the US where you might have a Chinatown or a Korean town a Latin Quarter and an Arab town etc
[04:58] etc that doesn't seem to fit the demographics down here except in some of those very huge cities like Mexico City and Buenos Aires where they have populations of over 10 million there you definitely do have some ethnic areas but in regular medium and large-sized Latin cities residential ethnic areas don't quite fit that pattern however in medium and large-sized Latin cities ones over a half million people average Latins on the street will tell you that there is a definite Arab business section of town and by the way when I say Arab I'm using their term Latin's called Middle Eastern people at a B's as a generic term for anyone coming from the Middle East that is except for Jews who they call who deos and that's how the average Latin on the street
[05:44] differentiates the Middle Eastern community from the Jews there are ada B's and who deos that's it there's basically no other Middle Eastern distinctions down here the fact is the average Latin even the upper middle class and wealthy ones are quite unworldly and know little about current events and as for the Middle Eastern or Ukrainian situation to Latin's that stuff might as well be happening on another planet in fact they just don't care what's happening in the rest of the world now Americans to might be quite stupid about current events and let's face it they get their news from the corrupted corporate media and in 10 second internet sound bites so that's pretty pathetic but believe it or not that still makes first world morons brainiacs compared to even an upper middle-class latin's knowledge of current
[06:33] affairs the fact is most latin's don't even pay attention to the tiny little 10 second superficial sound bites they get on the nightly TV news now if you remember I gave you an example of just how un-knowledgeable in fact clueless even in upper middle-class educated Latin is about anything happening outside their little sphere of influence when I mentioned how latin's I mean all latin's think the US dollar is as solid as the rocket Gibraltar they actually think it's backed by gold and that inflation and devaluation is something that happens to everyone else's currency not the dollar they have no idea it's lost like ninety seven percent of its purchasing power since the Federal
[07:18] Reserve came into being in 1913 and the Federal Reserve by the way had as its two stated reasons for existing one to curb inflation and two to maintain the integrity of the US dollar and on both counts it's been a miserable failure well you know what you can't even have a conversation about the Federal Reserve with any Latin even educated upper classes they have no idea what it's all about in fact even so-called Latin economists the dimmest people of all I mean after all these are the guys that run Argentina into the ground every 10 years now right anyway I've spoken to Latin economists people with master's degrees and they tell me their own currencies wouldn't be
[08:03] so crappy if they had their own Federal Reserve imagine that yep they love everything gringo even the Fed and you know there's nothing more frustrating than trying to talk sense to an idiot who's got multiple diplomas now I know all you guys and gals living up there in the stagnant rectum of Washington DC you know how true that is you live it 24-7 but I digress anyway you want to talk about the glazed over eyeball look that's what you get when you discuss international current events with Latin people oh and by the way forget about bringing up subjects like Fukushima GMOs and cell phone and cell tower radiation or even hit on the very simple stuff like fracking or fluoride or chlorine in the water instead like expat Eddie said it's better to just talk about the
[08:52] soccer game and have another tequila oh and by the way expat Eddie who owns a chain of sushi restaurants told me that he was thinking about putting a new item on the menu called the Fukushima as a joke of course just to see how many people would order it he says he's sure only gringos and Europeans would get the reference Latins he said we're just think it's a new Chinese dish because get this he said that most of the Latins that come in and order sushi don't know the difference they think sushi is just another kind of Chinese food and you know you might think that's sad but that's part of your gringo advantage what you've got down here is a very uneducated unknowledgeable customer base the fact is whatever Latin see advertised on TV they absolutely believe it and all the claims that go along with it like for example you know
[09:40] it's been a huge seller in the last year down here in Latin America that Jack Lelane power juicer now I ask you when did you first see that come out up in the States 15 20 years ago talk about lag time now that's a perfect example Latins are buying those things up in droves in 12 easy monthly payments and yes in a few months it'll end up in the dustiest part of the garage with the ab cruncher the vegematic the clapper and the pocket circumciser as of course everything eventually does that's advertised as seen on TV so yes I repeat the Jack Lelane power juicer is all the rage down here in Latin America even though we all know or should know that those Jack Lelane power juicer things and all their cheaper clones are just a way of extracting all the juice
[10:29] out of a fruit or vegetable leaving behind a big canister full of fiber which is the best part we all know and that's the part you throw away the I guess 15 or 20 years ago it sounded like a good idea and got more people to eat their vegetables and fruits I guess now where was I oh yeah we were talking about minority groups in Latin America like Muslims and Arabs and Jews and even Chinese when by the way when you talk to a Latin person about the Japanese Vietnamese the Chinese the Koreans or the Indonesians or the Filipinos the collective group we call Asians you'll find that 99% of Latin's down here just blanketly call them Chinese or chinos to Latin's they're all just one big happy ethnic group called chinos and there's no way they
[11:17] could ever point out where those people actually come from on the map or a globe but wait a minute come to think of it my sister's kids up in Chicago can't find those things on a map either oh well where was I oh yeah Latin people no matter what level society are not readers they just scan the pop news if that no when they get the newspapers which are still big down here they instantly flipped to the entertainment and sports sections that is after spending about two seconds scanning the headlines on the front page actually the front page for Latin's is all about seeing if anyone they know gotten a car accident or died the rest of the news doesn't interest them a bit because it's always more the same crimes violence and thieving politicians so in
[12:03] fact the locals know nothing about what makes up the Middle East or Muslim countries and their populations in fact they don't even know that there are Christian Muslims out there I mean I've asked around and Latin's when I bring that up just don't believe it so you could say that Latin's by choice isolate themselves from the bad news that's coming out of the rest of the except of course in regards to sports and entertainment now when you think about it maybe that's why Latin's are so much happier than people from the first world who knows but maybe that's a contributing effect so anyway like I was saying in most medium-sized and large-sized Latin cities there are small business and commercial areas where you'll find a grouping of businesses owned by people from the Middle East Middle Eastern expats so to speak who've
[12:53] come down to try to settle and make their fortune to just like so many first world expats and their businesses are usually located in an older more congested part of a big city or town not an upscale part of town either by any means they're usually in low-rent districts because it suits the type of business they're in nothing more now note it's not obvious that Middle Easterners own these places they don't advertise it you really wouldn't know that unless someone told you ahead of time or you walked in and kept your eyes open from the outside walking and driving by everything looks totally Latin all in Spanish no Arabic lettering on the windows or signage or anything like that but when you walk in sometimes you'll notice while looking into the office area the telltale signs effect is I've been in a few of
[13:40] those offices and they'll have little knickknacks from the Middle East you know photos and trinkets from the old country and that kind of stuff and the dead giveaway of course being that one of the ladies in the office or more than one are wearing a burka but believe me it's all very low-key they're not out to make a statement they don't want to stick out and the ones I've met and I've met a few here and there they're all businessmen usually in the wholesale business and clothing or parts car parts and such their main thing being import export heavy on the import and they always seem to be working all the time and they usually have some money I'm not saying they're rich but they would be called upper middle class down here in Latin America now the Middle Eastern guys they try in every way to appear Western or to appear like gringos
[14:27] basically in fact if you're walking down the street and you see one of these guys in front of you and you're looking at his backside many times you'll think it's a gringo short western style haircut and all and funny enough down here in Latin America practically every single Middle Easterner I've ever met or seen has not been wearing the customary big flowing beard or any facial hair at all except maybe a small mustache and if I remember it strictly states in the Quran that men are not supposed to cut their facial hair so now I know what you're thinking Johnny what the hell you doing reading the Quran well it's like this you know when I was a very young dude in my early 20s before anyone but cowboys used the word dude I took a comparative religion
[15:12] course at university and guess what you hit on all the religious books including the Quran and by the way just as an aside here as if everything I say isn't an aside when I was in that class I was a wise-ass too and I tried to stump my professor and I thought I had him you know once a smart ass always a smart ass so one day I said to him in front of the class you know since Islam is the dominant religion pretty much on the whole planet how come when you go to a hotel there's always a Gideon Bible in the bed stand not the Quran and I told him even when you book a hotel in a Middle Eastern Muslim country there's no Quran on the bed stand either nor Gideon Bible for that matter though that figures now you can hear the morning noon and night whalers but still no Quran in the hotel room and you know I really thought I stumped him there and
[16:00] then he said Johnny that's easy Muslims believe that infidels like you are not allowed to read or even touch the Holy Quran and I looked it up and he was right what he didn't tell me was that in some Middle Eastern countries will cut your arm off for that which is reason number six thousand two hundred fifty six why I think I'll stay here in Latin America thank you very much anyway so my point is that there are low-key groups of Middle Eastern businessmen down here in Latin America who really do try to blend in in fact even at the risk of breaking the rules of the Quran now that's one thing that's always struck me kind of funny because there are women on the other hand are very traditional but back to Middle Eastern men for a second so Middle Eastern men at least the ones
[16:47] that have been down here a while for some years ones that are established businessmen and most of them that I've run into are you know they have their haircuts short and they wear jeans and t-shirts even gringo t-shirts ones with American advertisement and sayings on them I mean these days in Latin America about 80 to 90 percent of all t-shirts are gringo eyes again it's part of the gringo advantage and latin's love everything gringo as you know but what about Arabs Middle Easterners and Muslims why are they wearing gringo eyes t-shirts well maybe because they can't read or write English who knows I've yet to figure that one out myself and by the way just as a thought experiment here but what happened if you took a nice stroll through your local mall or downtown in Philly or Cleveland or wherever you are up there and you were
[17:36] wearing a t-shirt printed totally in the Arabic language I know I know you probably don't think much of that thought experiment but you do get the point don't you anyway like I said most Middle Eastern people who've been down in Latin America for a while from a distance they sometimes look like gringos and up close they look like regular upscale Latins that is of course until they speak then they speak Spanish with a Middle Eastern accent and by the way when you're down here long enough and you learn your Spanish a bit you'll be able to pick out certain accents fairly easily too just like you'll be able to tell a Russian or Italian or Chinese or Australian Spanish accent oh and by the way most Middle Eastern males as well as Russian males and
[18:22] Eastern European males you meet in Latin America these guys they smoke like chimneys and I mean chain smoke many with those very attractive telltale yellow lips and yellow fingernails very sexy huh ladies we've all got an uncle or a cousin in the family like that now don't we now don't get me wrong because these guys chain-smoked that doesn't mean they smell like they fell asleep in the john at a Chicago blues bar the fact is down here in Latin America chain-smoking Middle Eastern businessmen actually smell pretty good if not overpowering and no they don't smell like couscous or hummus or anything like that either the fact is as every gringo and long-term expat down here who knows Middle Eastern business guys will tell you these guys absolutely pile on the men's cologne and I mean 70s lounge lizard style now
[19:13] there's nothing wrong with that I rather like catching the odd whiff of brood or old spice brings back nostalgic memories of the high school days and CYO dances and stuff and yeah I know some of you guys and gals out there are waiting for a camel joke right about now but I'm not gonna oblige anyway like I said Middle Easterners who live down here and do business are in the main heavy chain smokers and don't get me wrong it's an easy thing to do since cigarettes down here are only about a buck 50 to two bucks a pack and from what I understand up in New York right now they're like 15 bucks a pack 10 times as much in fact you can even buy cheap Chinese cigarette knockoffs for 60 cents a pack in some of the big central markets down here now I don't
[19:59] smoke but you know this show is called the expat files living in Latin America so it's my job to clue you in on the good the bad the ugly and the great and as you well know I especially like to touch on subjects you rarely hear people talking about why because they just haven't got big enough boots on the ground that I was gonna say something else didn't ya anyway as far as I can see all the Middle Eastern people I've run into seem to be very hard working and trying their best to fit into Western culture Latin style that is they're super content to live the capitalist lifestyle it's obvious I see him out and about at supermarkets and shopping centers driving SUVs pushing kids inexpensive strollers or as they say in the UK expensive prams and of
[20:48] course with the usual Latin nannies maids and cleaning ladies too though I must say occasionally I am in a big shopping center somewhere and I see a Middle Eastern woman with a burka you know the big flowing garment and headscarf that traditional Muslim women wear and when you see them out and about dress like that don't think all the local lens don't notice especially the Latin women they do in fact I've seen Latin women subtly elbow each other when a woman walks by in a burka because you see Latin women are really into fashion and all about looking good and I'm talking about every Latin woman I've ever met under 60 even poor Latin woman have a certain sense of fashion and style and they do pretty good with what little dough they have so believe me when I tell you that practically every land woman no matter what class she's in
[21:36] really does try to dress sharp when she's out and about the only exceptions I can think of would be nuns and funny enough regarding that and all the time I've been down here in Latin America I've seen very few nuns and being that Latin America is something like 80 to 90 percent Catholic you'd think they'd be everywhere monks too but you don't see them much either don't ask me why maybe it's because they just don't like going out of the house or the convent whatever so like I said before down here in Latin America when a Muslim woman's out in her burka Latin women do suddenly nudge each other in disbelief now don't get me wrong Latin women aren't like a lot of first-world women I know that includes some of the women in my own family in Chicago they're not gonna
[22:21] cut up on her behind her back you'll find if you're down here a while that Latin ladies aren't cruel like that and they could be if they wanted to believe me whatever the comments to each other they'll be awful nice and pleasant about it but they will have a comment or two not about religion or culture they just don't get how a woman could cover herself up like that especially a young woman in fact over the years I've had a few Latin women asked me what's up with that because they just haven't been filled in on the religious or cultural angle the fact is when you're off the tourist trail especially if you're a gringo or a gringo expect Latins to occasionally look to you as the answer man or answer lady it happens to me all the time so get used to it anyway as for Latin women's opinions about ladies walking
[23:08] around in burkas they just can't imagine any Latin woman ever going along with that latinas want to show the world their stuff their style and when Latin ladies find out that women in burkas don't belong to a religious order like Catholic nuns who've made a career out of religion basically a life's vocation Latin ladies are even more shocked or more precisely confused now why down here do Middle Eastern husbands continue to dress and try to look as Western as possible while their wives appear to be very traditional Muslims with the burka on the head shawl and no makeup well who can say but I've been told that men Western eyes because it's better for business anyway like an old Latin guy
[23:54] told me you gringos think us Latins have a macho society you ought to check out those ottabees they've got the right idea they don't even let their women drive we may be macho he said but our women would never stand for that and it is sometimes funny to see these ladies in burkas get out of nice new SUVs and go to the shopping centers the funny part being that they've got a Latin driver slash bodyguard normally a short guy with a pot belly in a badly tailored cheap suit by the way most personal bodyguards down here look like they came out of the same mold so on occasion you see these guys walking the usual 10 paces behind the woman with the burka and her kids and note the businessman husband's almost always at work so he's never out and about like
[24:40] that and if he is he's way too macho to take the bodyguard along with him the chubby guy with the bad cheap suit is strictly for the wife and kids and here's the other thing that doesn't make a lot of sense their kids are being brought up at least it looks that way totally Western style apparently first world capitalists all the way you see him as little kids walking around with their Mickey Mouse t-shirts Justin Bieber backpacks snacking on cheese balls Doritos and Coca-Cola while texting on Facebook of course like good little first world consumers in fact that first glance they look just as pampered as upscale Latin kids and gringo kids meanwhile mom in the burka is pushing the $300 prime so yes in every medium and large city in Latin America you'll
[25:27] find those Muslim or the so-called Middle Eastern contingent and by all measures it just looks like they're trying to make a living working hard and being very much the capitalists so what about the fanatic fundamentalists that surely you have to be filtering in down here at least that's what people say are there Islamic safe houses and cells down here in Latin America well to tell you the truth because Latin governments police etc are such underpaid lazy dead-ass slugs I doubt that a radical Muslim fundamentalist in Central America would even have to hide out and get way under the radar so that said are there suspicious Muslim fanatics walking around freely in Latin America of course rumors abound up in the States and all over the first world but the
[26:16] funny thing is there's been absolutely no news articles or any kind of news media or press coverage at all reporting on any suspected or uncovered radical cell or cells in Latin America though everyone believes they have to exist so it's not been in the media that anyone's been charged or deported based on ties to radical fundamentalist groups though long-term expats down here and people in the know believe that cells have been discovered but US government and alphabet agencies like the CIA have arrangements with certain Latin American governments to keep that stuff quiet I mean think about it suddenly if the average guy is rolling out of bed up in Cleveland and you've flipped on the news and saw they just busted a terrorist cell in Guatemala Mexico
[27:04] Belize or Salvador well I can tell you this suddenly there'd be extreme pressure from all kinds of groups up in the states to completely seal off the Mexican border so that not a single cucaracha could get through and since the rumors abound down here that cells have actually been busted but no one's seen it on TV what that strongly hints at is the people in control up in the states do not want that border sealed 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
[27:58] email.