Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the complexities of expat life in Latin America, covering a range of topics from cultural dynamics to economic conditions and practical solutions for expats. He begins by introducing the show and discussing the popularity of his expat wisdom seminars, which have fully sold out. Johnny shares a story about a long-term expat who solved the problem of locals scavenging his farmland by offering them free wood in exchange for cutting dead wood from his property. This story highlights the cultural and economic dynamics of life in Latin America, including the challenges expats face with local customs and the importance of understanding the local context.
Johnny then discusses the concept of 'aprovachados'—people who take advantage of expats in Latin America. He shares a story about Eddie's girlfriend, whose car was painted by a body shop owner who used her car for personal trips, adding 300 kilometers to the odometer. While the work was cheap, the act of using her car without permission is seen as taking advantage. Johnny notes that expats often overlook such small issues due to the great deals they get, but locals are more aware of these practices. He emphasizes that while expats may not always notice, locals do, and the term 'aprovachado' is more fitting in tourist areas where the exploitation is more severe than 'nickel-and-dime' issues.
The episode also covers the issue of illegal woodcutters invading a gringo farmer's property. To solve this, the farmer negotiates with a local farm worker, offering him a contract that gives him the exclusive right to cut dead wood for free. This arrangement not only protects the farmer's property but also provides the worker with a new business opportunity. Johnny also highlights the broader issue of wood burning in Latin America, noting that many families use firewood instead of gas or electric stoves, leading to health issues and shorter stature in the population. He connects this to the genetic and environmental factors influencing height, explaining that indigenous populations in Central and South America are shorter due to poor nutrition and wood burning, not genetics. He also touches on the relationship between indigenous North American tribes and Latin American tribes, noting that the former are generally taller due to better nutrition and lack of wood burning.
Johnny then discusses the lack of safety nets in Latin America, contrasting it with countries with extensive social welfare systems that also have high taxes and large governments. He notes that many expats moved to Latin America precisely because of these factors. He then shifts to discussing the cultural phenomenon of adolescent boys in Latin America spending a lot of time styling their hair with goop, which is a common sight in cafes and public spaces. He explains that this is more prevalent among middle-class and poor boys who attend public schools, while wealthier boys and adults tend to avoid such styles. Johnny also mentions that young Latin girls often find these styles unattractive, preferring softer, more manageable hair. He concludes by noting that this hair styling trend is a cultural fad that has been popular for several years among young men in lower management and white-collar positions.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses the email he receives from expat Eddie and his girlfriend, addressing the question of whether Eddie gets upset when Johnny talks about him on the show. Johnny notes that Eddie's girlfriend only knows about 50 words of English, so she's unlikely to tune into the show. He also mentions that Eddie is a likable guy who is always popular, and while Eddie initially took issue with the idea that everyone likes him, he later clarified that he left the U.S. because life wasn't as grand there. Johnny also discusses the sale of Facebook data by a company called Social Intelligence Group, highlighting how employers use this data to assess potential employees. Finally, Johnny talks about Eddie's interest in attending the World Cup in Brazil, but Eddie is deterred by the high cost of hotel rooms and the availability of alternative accommodations like trailer parks.
The episode concludes with a discussion on the financial feasibility of buying a trailer in Latin America as a way to fund an extended stay. Johnny outlines the cost of the trailer, compares it to the cost of staying in a hotel, and suggests that selling the trailer later could cover the entire trip. His suggestion is met with skepticism from someone named Eddie, who calls him 'nuts.' The segment ends with a standard podcast outro.
Topics
Expat life in Latin America, Cultural dynamics and customs, Economic conditions in Latin America, Strategies for expats to manage local challenges, Exploitation and scams, Local vs. expat perspectives, Woodcutting and property protection, Health impacts of wood burning, Short stature in Latin America, Genetic and environmental factors influencing height, Indigenous populations and their relationship to North American tribes, Safety nets in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:16 Introduction to The Expat Files 00:00:32 Expat Wisdom Seminars Sold Out 00:00:51 Discussion on Latin Sociology 00:01:00 Economic Conditions in Latin America 00:01:59 Problem of Scavenging on Farmland 00:02:03 Solution: Exchange of Wood for Labor 00:03:45 Lessons from the Expat's Experience 00:05:11 Understanding 'Apravachados' 00:05:39 The Car Accident and the Body Shop 00:06:32 The Odometer Increase and the Body Shop Owner's Behavior 00:07:35 The Concept of 'Aprovachado' and Expats' Perception 00:11:14 The Gringo Farmer's Problem and the Farmhand's Deal 00:12:08 The Economic and Health Impacts of Wood Burning 00:14:43 Short Stature and Environmental Factors in Latin America 00:16:30 Safety Nets in Latin America and Expatriate Migration 00:17:30 Hair Styling Trends Among Adolescents in Latin America 00:21:49 Emails About Eddie and His Girlfriend 00:22:52 Why Expats Come to Latin America 00:24:58 Eddie's Love for Sports 00:27:25 The Financial Feasibility of Buying a Trailer for Travel
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 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? Once again, I'm here to report that my January expat wisdom Latin American seminars fully sold out So those of you are still trying to get in well you missed the boat this time So as of now the seminar link has been removed from the expat wisdom website because it's filled and it's a done deal
[00:47] So if I do have another seminar, I'll let you know now in today's show I'm gonna talk a little bit about Latin sociology again since so many people like to hear about the various different customs and attitudes that the Latin folks have that Gringles and expats have a hard time figuring out now like I mentioned before about 40 to 60 percent of Latin American families live on About 300 bucks a month And that's what a family for which in the states or anywhere in the first world would be misery actually more than a few steps Below abject poverty however down here they get by and they do it by cutting corners Everywhere they can and one of the most common ways of cutting corners is to use firewood for cooking instead of an electric or propane stove and most of those poor folks get that wood by scavenging often on other people's property or government land where they're not supposed to be which means any of you expat wannabes and
[01:36] Gonnabes who are thinking of coming down here and buying some farmland which in some cases could be a very good idea You must remember that if you don't have the thing fenced in and if you don't occasionally have the place and the perimeters monitored whether you do it a guard does it or a maintenance guy does it I will guarantee you that sooner or later the locals will Find a way to get in and scavenge some of your wood your trees your brush Whatever they can get their hands on sounds like a big problem right and how do you solve it? Well one long-term expat I know who's got about a hundred something acres He solved that problem in a very convenient way though It took him a few years to hit on the solution and here's what he did He had a little meeting with the cleaning lady the maintenance guy and a couple of his farm workers and by the way This guy's growing tomatoes and he's got a good thing going. Believe me. The only thing is being a gringo. He uses insecticide
[02:26] Oh, well, you can't have everything right? Anyway, he proposed this deal to his working staff He told them in a little meeting that he was looking for someone to cut all the dead wood out of his property on a regular basis and as you might imagine a guy with a hundred acres like that has a lot of little patches of wooded areas along rivers And streams and ravines where he can't plant his tomatoes and the deal He laid out was that he wanted someone to cut out all the dead wood and just keep those areas thinned out Now he wasn't thinking of paying anyone to do that The pay would be that they get to keep the wood that they cut out He knew there were truckloads and truckloads of the stuff on his land. So he figured why pay someone? It was a valuable commodity. Surely he could get someone to cut it out Anyway at the meeting when he mentioned he wasn't gonna pay anyone to cut the stuff out one of his farm workers shook his head
[03:14] And said I don't think so I don't think anybody's gonna do it for nothing and my gringo friend was a bit discouraged when he heard that However, get this within a week four men came over to his house knocked on his door at four separate times and offered to Accept his deal completely without pay turns out they wanted that wood because not only could they use it themselves But they'd have so much left over they'd be able to sell it those local guys knew it would be a great business for anyone Who could hook up a deal with that gringo? It was an exchange of manpower for free wood And of course the gringo farmer knew that and that wasn't all there was another part to his plan but I'll get to that later and The guy he finally picked for the job turned out to be the brother-in-law of that very farm worker who said the gringo farmer
[03:59] Probably couldn't get anyone to do it without paying him and giving him the wood that he cut too and from this We can learn three lessons number one that the guy who wanted to know how much he was gonna pay would have surely taken the job On himself if there was money involved the fact is he opened his mouth about the money since he was working for the gringo already He had inside information on what was happening on that farm He knew his gringo boss was having trouble with scavengers coming in and stealing his wood Not only his dead wood, but nice big beautiful live trees, too The scavengers were indiscriminate about what they'd cut out as long as they could get away with it And he knew his gringo boss was a bit desperate to straighten out the situation. That's why he brought up the money He figured his boss might bite and the thing is he and the other workers knew damn
[04:47] Well, there'd be plenty of people who'd take that job just for the wood alone. It was a valuable commodity Why do you think scavengers would risk getting caught trespassing on someone's property and stealing the stuff? But if a gringo was stupid enough to pay money, too Well, this farmhand was gonna be on the receiving end of that deal now in Latin America You run into people like that all the time. They're called in Spanish Apravachados, which means someone who takes advantage of you Apravachado now that doesn't mean the guy's a thief or he's gonna rip you off or that he's even a bad guy or untrustworthy in general That just means he'll take advantage of you if the opportunity arises and a lot of times us gringos being the way we are We let these Apravachados take a little bit of advantage of us and we really don't care because it can be such nickel-and-dime stuff that we're really
[05:38] Not bothered that much For example last year expat Eddie's girlfriend had a little car accident and she had to have her car painted now Bodymen and car painters are so damn cheap down here at first You just can't believe it when they give you a prize and by the way No matter how low that first initial price estimate is you can still knock them down by about another 25 to 50% Just thought you might want to know that So anyway, Eddie dropped his girlfriend's car off at the body shop and it was there for about a week and the guy did A fantastic job for like 300 bucks However, Eddie's girlfriend happened to remark that when she got the car back somehow or other there were 300 kilometers more Chalked up on the odometer and how'd she know that because obviously that's something that most women would never pay attention to the odometer Right. Well, it turns out the car had just exactly turned
[06:25] 30,000 kilometers, which is what caught her eye when she handed the car over to Eddie to get painted and when she got it back a week Later, it was 30,300 which means all that week that body shop guy was using her car as the family vehicle for himself or maybe for a trip To the beach or who knows 300 kilometers in one week is a lot of travel, which means this guy was an aprovechado He was taking advantage of a situation So the question is did he take so much advantage of that situation that Eddie should have gone back and reamed him out a bit Well, he's done bodywork for Eddie and he did excellent work on that car for about 20% of what it would have cost him in The states so Eddie isn't about to bring it up But his girlfriend will the next time you better believe it and you can bet next time she needs paint or body work She'll call him an aprovechado to his face
[07:13] Which will surely embarrass the crap out of him and he won't do it again not to her anyway But if it had just happened to Eddie or another gringo, well, we'd just normally give it a pass now Of course, there's a limit as to how much a person could take advantage of you before you get really pissed off But like one wise old expat guru told me once he said in order for someone to be an aprovechado You have to let him take advantage of you. You have to give him permission somehow And he was talking from big-time experience because he's had a lot of Latins try to take advantage of him and most of the time They got away with it too because remember being first-world gringos and not knowing the Spanish language too Well, oftentimes a local Latin will take advantage of us and we won't know it for some time And sometimes it'll happen over and over again until someone like in the case of Eddie's girlfriend points it out to you
[08:03] Which means in my case for example in the first few years that I came down to Latin America And I didn't know the language that well certain Latins took advantage of me, and I didn't even know it of course now I know it years later But it sometimes takes a lot of years to figure these things out if ever Because like in the case of Eddie and the paint and bodywork guy oftentimes we get such Unbelievably great deals down here that we overlook some of the small stuff Whereas an outsider a local Latin outsider would see that we're being taken advantage of unfortunately Most Latins won't butt in when they see that happening not that they like seeing you getting taken advantage of it It's just that they just don't like butting into other people's business Especially a gringos business because they're a bit intimidated by us in the first place after all to them We come from high-class gringo society. We're supposed to know everything
[08:49] So I guess in a way it must be funny to see us being taken a little bit by an opera Vachado and again I want to emphasize the fact that I'm not talking about getting ripped off here ripped off meaning you really got taken and you regret it Every time you think about it, you know what I'm talking about We know the difference up in the states. We all had a friend or two or even a relative like that Somebody you trust but only so far a family member For example, you'd lend a hundred bucks do but never a grand a friend You'd do any kind of favor for it. Except let them drive your car You know what I mean and by the way speaking of this opera Vachado thing Every Latin person knows who the opera Vachado's are in his or her own neighborhood In fact, I know a Latin lady down here who owns a small hole in the wall hardware store And she has a couple of kids and they often mind the store for her when she's out shopping in another part of town
[09:38] But there's one kid who is about 19 who she doesn't let mind the store now He's not a bad kid But things go missing when he and his friends are hanging out there and that's another kind of opera Vachado one That's unfortunately in your own family now You'll find these opera Vachado's mostly off the tourist trail. You got that I said off the tourist trail those kind of folks will take advantage of everyone not just gringos But latin's too though Like I said latin's are much more astute at identifying these guys than we are now It just so happens when you're on the tourist trail like Cancun Costa Rica Panama and most of Mexico The locals don't fit this strict definition of an opera Vachado because opera Vachado is too soft a word when you're on the tourist trail Because when gringos get taken advantage of there, there's nothing small-time or forgivable about it
[10:26] So the word opera Vachado just doesn't fit when you're a gringo and Panama or Costa Rica You're not getting taken advantage of more likely you're getting ripped off or just plain scammed But let's get back to that gringo farmer and the deal He's trying to cut trying to get someone to come on his land and cut out his dead wood now If you recall one of his own farm hands Try to get him to put a price on it plus the free wood Knowing full well that any of the local men would come in and cut out that wood for nothing just for the wood And secondly, he got his family in on the deal. He got his own brother-in-law the gig And by the way, my gringo friend who owned the farm told me later that he found out that the same farm worker Made a deal with his brother-in-law to get free firewood out of the deal himself That was his commission for hooking him up with the gig so that farmhand was taking advantage of his own brother-in-law
[11:14] He was being an opera Vachado. However, the gringo farm owner didn't care about that He had bigger fish to fry his whole idea for this deal was to keep Invaders from coming in and cutting out the good trees from his property So he made a specific deal with a little contract for the guy He'd given permission to cut out that wood in the contract It stated he and only he had permission to cut out the dead wood from the farm And it would be part of his job to make sure that no one else came in to cut out any additional wood In other words, all the dead wood was his he could do whatever he wanted with it And of course this guy wholeheartedly agreed to that since now he had something he never had before his own business Legal too and in a matter of a week He and his two sons could be seen around the farm doing their thing and this guy now having the perfect right to all
[12:05] That dead wood and believe me there was plenty of it It was all sellable. So it was cash money to him and he was not gonna let anyone invade the property So my friend the gringo farmer had his problem solved the guy and his two sons became guards 24-7 and they were more than happy to do it and it didn't cost the gringo a dime and get this for the first six months Of that agreement this guy and his two sons used nothing but machetes to cut through these huge logs Then suddenly one day my gringo friend heard that unmistakable buzz of a chainsaw Yep, business was booming for these guys. All right They had enough money to buy a chainsaw and you should know this only about 1 in 10,000 Latins who burns wood has a chainsaw. That's an extreme extravagance. Try saying extreme extravagance 10 times in a row
[12:51] I dare you. Oh and speaking of wood and wood stoves 40 to 50 percent of the families in Latin America do not even have a proper gas or electric stove instead if they're using firewood Of course, they have a kind of a makeshift grill that many of these families install in their kitchens inside the house And that's why when you pass by a group of poor or middle-class people or get on an elevator with a person like that They've got that distinctive odor of a campfire around them. Of course, they don't notice it But we sure do just like we noticed in the good old bad old days When people could still smoke cigarettes in bars and clubs that when you got home your parents would notice that your clothes and hair Would reek and the next day after your hangover was gone. You'd notice too. Oh and speaking of that. There's one word You'll hear a lot down here. It's Goma G-O-M-A Goma sounds kind of like gum Goma
[13:40] And that's a common word for hangover and since in general Latin men are such big drinkers You'll hear that word a lot now turns out that the world health organization no less has been churning out some very troubling reports About families especially families in Latin America who use wood stoves turns out that respiratory illnesses are Epidemic in families that use wood stoves and wood stoves in the house have been linked directly to shorter stature in the general Population to that and poor nutrition now in recent world health organization studies It's been shown that if you take a child from one of these houses that has a wood stove and put them in a normal environment where they don't have those things and feed him or her a very nutritious diet of 1500 to 2000 calories a day the child will end up two to three inches taller than siblings still living in that home
[14:31] So anyway all you gringos and expats coming down here wondering why the population so damn short with indigenous Populations living out in the barrios and in the boonies a few inches shorter than the already short Latino mixed population if you've been wondering why that's so well poor childhood nutrition and wood burning stoves are the main reasons And what that means is short stature in the general population is more environmental than genetic Now some of the smarter gringos and expats that I've talked to have posed this question They ask if indigenous Latin American people are directly related to Native North American tribes And of course that already was proven years ago by DNA analysis So yes, Central and South American indigenous tribes are directly related to indigenous North American tribes
[15:19] You know the tribes up north in Minnesota Cleveland and the guys running those reservation casinos that take advantage of pale faces Like you and me a provechados, right? Anyway, smarter gringos have been known to comment that indigenous North American tribes are much taller than their kissing cousins down in Central and South America Much taller by four five even six inches on average, so why is that well? It's pretty simple to explain really for one thing Native Americans in the north Either live and work in the first world or live on reservations and are taken care of by the nanny state therefore as children their nutrition Etc. Is monitored and taken care of by Uncle Sam and not that Uncle Sam's nutritionists know what they're doing by any stretch of the imagination I mean look at children's lunches in public schools and hospital menus, right?
[16:07] But they do have their minimum caloric and vitamin standards So that must help at least some and of course Native Americans up north do not cook with wood In fact, they haven't been doing that for 50 years or more which is around two or three generations So basically the indigenous tribes of Central and South America have no safety net no nanny state to look to or depend on for the Basics, but then again most of Latin America doesn't have a safety net either Which actually is a good thing because as you know the countries with the biggest safety net and the most intrusive Nanny states have the highest most punitive taxes and the biggest fattest most bloated governments in the world Which is why so many gringos and Europeans escaped to Latin America in the first place? But I don't have to tell you that right bottom line poor short indigenous Latins are on their own
[16:56] They've got no safety net except like I said before at Election time when the party in power hands out free sacks of rice and beans Ensuring that the most corrupt party will prevail at the polls, but that's another story But worst of all they cook with wood inside their houses and the fire is always smoldering inside which contributes to shortening their stature and Chronic lung problems all right enough said about that now sticking with this Latin American sociology theme one thing you just have to notice When you first get down here to Latin America is that about 25% or more of? Adolescent Latin boys spend a hell of a lot of time doing strange things to their hair now I'm not talking about hair coloring or mohawks or anything or even any of that crazy North American Hip-hop hair you see on the rap and hip-hop videos. I'm talking about hard shiny hair
[17:45] That's not necessarily been plastered down But worked around as swirls on the head or in points or cones or triangles or whatever else they can think of doing with it All I can say is that the hair goop manufacturers are just cleaning up down here in Latin America with the young boys And please don't think any of this relates to the gang thing although I'm sure gang members have their own hairstyles, too I wouldn't know much about that But it's just amazing sitting in an outdoor cafe or a cafe internet to see Just how many of these boys are trying to make some kind of a fashion statement? By troweling on a couple of pounds a hair goop and the question is why of course They're trying to make an individual statement. I guess I mean we're talking mostly about middle-class and poor kids here kids that go to public School and kids that ride the bus because from what I've heard kids who attend private schools that their parents have to pay for
[18:35] Won't put up with it nor will the teachers because you don't see that kind of male Adolescent obsession with hair with the upper middle class and wealthy kids So anyway be prepared to get a good laugh when you first come down Or maybe it better try not to laugh and I know what you're thinking back when you and I were kids Most young boys tried wild and crazy things with their hair if their parents would let them back Then the long hair thing was a way to rebel against your parents and all that but I can tell you this Back then a lot of the girls like guys with long hair, but down here in Latin America I've asked a few young adolescent girls what they think of those hard shiny and sometimes sticky hairdos and Practically every one of them turns up her nose and says yuck. Most just don't get it either They're not into that kind of hair. They like nice soft hair They can run their fingers through not that greasy shiny manicured stuff
[19:22] That's just impossible to touch without feeling like you've grabbed a handful of boogers and no I didn't make that up a young Latin girl actually said that to me and for your edification the Spanish word for booger is moco m-o-c-o Moco, so put that in your pipe and smoke it or better yet and more sanitary put it in your smartphone dictionary Now I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the hairdos of young Latin adult males this time We're talking age 20 to maybe 35 now What I've noticed is that the wealthier an adult Latin male is the less goopy puts on his hair However with the young Latin white collar middle class and junior executives who aren't wealthy but trying to work the way up the ladder Meaning guys who don't ride the bus and actually have cars which are pretty much junks
[20:08] But they do run if you recall having a car even a crappy one puts a guy into a completely different social class down here The fact being Latin women are extremely attracted to guys with cars or more precisely The average Latin girls extremely attracted to what that car can do for her It pulls her up a couple of rungs on the ladder, too Since for a woman riding the bus is a socially and physically depleting thing But I digress I was talking about young white collar Latin men who love that shiny haired goopy look Yes You'll see a lot of hair that seems plastered down with a lot of shiny goop in it that looks like mokos, too However, it will not be teased into funny little styles like young adolescent middle class and lower class boys Do the ones I was talking about before you see it seems to have been the fad down here for the last four or five
[20:55] Years for a good percentage of young adult males in lower management or white collar positions To use that shiny goop on their noggins liberally which makes them look similar to those old-time movie stars in those black and white movies in the 30s 40s and 50s think Cary Grant Clark Gable and George Raft if You're old enough to remember those guys or you watch Turner classic movies and now a disclaimer I really have no idea how young men and adolescent boys up in the states are wearing their hair these days But I doubt they're slathering it with dippity-doo, but I could be wrong to me It sounds like an awful lot of work in a big mess when you have to finally lay your head on the pillow And I bet that stuff mugs up a lot of shirt collars not to mention car headrests But what do I know? I don't have any kids and by the way
[21:41] I thank Buddha every single day that I want that lottery enough said about that Oh, but there's one thing I promised expat Eddie I'd talk about and by the way A lot of people send me emails Asking me if expat Eddie gets pissed off when I talk about him on the show and his girlfriend and sometimes the way he and his Girlfriend do not come off too. Well, hmm as for his girlfriend There's not much to worry about there because she only knows about 50 words of English So she's never gonna tune into this show. But as for Eddie, he's just that kind of guy where everything rolls off his back That's why I said in a past show that everybody likes Eddie. In fact, he's one of those guys. That's instantly likable We've all met people like that You know the life of the party the guy or gal everyone wants to sit next to at a restaurant or a ballgame
[22:26] Well a couple of shows ago when I happen to mention that everybody loves Eddie. He did take issue with that He phoned me up and brought it to my attention, which he almost never does He kind of likes the idea of being somewhat famous but with no face to attach to it now Eddie phoned me up to comment about that remark simply to remind me that 15 or so years ago back when he lived in the States. No one could ever say something like Everyone likes Eddie now I can't go into any detail on that right now But to say why do you think guys like Eddie come down to Latin America in the first place? Like he said if everybody liked and loved him so much and life was so grand up there Why in the hell would he ever leave? So I'll correct that previous statement. I made everyone does Love Eddie south of the Tropic of Cancer. So go ahead and look that up and it's not the novel by Henry Miller. Oh
[23:16] And here's something I forgot to mention last time for those of you out there who send me emails Telling me to get on your Facebook page or wanting to know about my Facebook page, which doesn't exist and for good reason I just like to remind all of you guys and gals that although that social media stuff like LinkedIn and Facebook might seem cool And you might even make some money off it if you know what you're doing Well, there's a company out there called social intelligence group That saves the last seven years of Facebook pages all of them and has them up for sale to anyone who wants them That's all your Facebook data including all the photos and you know who their biggest client is the US government surprise surprise And you know who all the rest of their clients are Human resource departments of large companies and you know what they use that Facebook data for to check out what their employees are doing on
[24:07] Their spare time. In other words, are they loyal stable employees deserving a raise or a promotion or not? And do they tell you about that? No, it's a big secret But not anymore since I just told you about it, right? And this social intelligence companies selling your Facebook page to employers who are interested in hiring you because you sent them your resume So let me ask you do you really need that Facebook page? Oh and knowing that even if you decide to opt out of Facebook Let's say tomorrow everything you've done in the past on your site is owned by that company Social intelligence and yes, it remains for sale So if you got anything on your Facebook page that you're embarrassed about some photo you wish you hadn't put up now Of course, you wouldn't do anything like that
[24:53] But I was talking about expat Eddie now, wasn't I now I must tell you like so many expat Americans down here Eddie still likes his sports. In fact, it's the only thing I hold against him Now he's the kind of guy who can be entertained by any kind of sports It doesn't matter if there's any kind of sports on TV and he walks by the set He'll sit down and take a look at it It doesn't matter if the announcer is speaking in Chinese or Russian He'll watch now as you might be aware the World Cup is being held in Brazil this year So Eddie has been seriously contemplating going So he checked with a few online travel agents and travel agents down here in Latin America and discover it There are just no hotels available for under get this 500 bucks a night. That's right Even the crappiest little mom-and-pop bed and breakfast hallelujah and Howard Johnson's where the rooms would be normally 60 or 70
[25:41] Bucks a night doesn't matter. They got you So it's 500 bucks a night and even Eddie who'd just love to go would never pay prices like that At least that's what I thought then a few days ago. He phoned me up and said Johnny. Come on. Let's go down I'm still buying I said well I'll go down with you and hang out by the beach and do some people watching suck down some daiquiris Check out the nightlife, etc, and I'll go to the opening ceremonies, but I'm not gonna check out the other games He knows I think it's just way too boring. Anyway, I asked him What about those $500 a night rooms and he said Johnny you see that's the hitch now There's no hotel rooms at all for love or money, even though the games don't start till June So where are we gonna stay Eddie? And he said well You've got two options now and you probably won't like option one a big hotel chains renovating some of the slums
[26:32] You know the fabulous and they're rehabbing like 1600 rooms and they're going for only 50 bucks a night and I said, wait a minute Eddie Have you ever been to the favala and Rio and he hadn't I said every kid on the block down there has got an ak-47 You got to wear earplugs every night to go to sleep or the gunshots will keep you awake all night Are you nuts? Anyway, I asked him about option two, which was get this staying in a trailer parked in a big hotel Parking lot right outside Ipanema Beach and apparently along with that you get full use of the hotel and all the facilities Well, that didn't sound too bad, especially since the trailers were brand new So how much a night for that Eddie and he told me well, that's the hitch You have to buy the trailer and they'll sell it for you later when you leave. So how much?
[27:18] 20 grand he said but then he quickly added for 20 grand You could stay at one of those $500 a night hotels for a little over a month And if you buy the trailer and sell it later, technically that could pay for the whole trip and my answer to Eddie You're nuts 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 calm to sign up for your free Reports on Latin America. See you next time nos vemos