#148 – The Expat Files: Real Stories from Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:03] Hi everybody, I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America. The show that tells you what it's really like to live, work, play and or retire in Latin America. I tell it just like it is, not the version they give you in those glossy travel magazines or the picture they paint for you in those international traveler websites where they're only trying to sell you something. What's it really like for expats living in Latin America? Well if you stick around a while you'll find out. So, let's get started. Before I get started today I'd like to talk about my Latin American insider seminar that's going on in the last week of June. Like I said in my last show, we're all sold out. All 24 seats are taken and we've got a waiting list now. In fact there's enough people on that waiting list to have another seminar, which of course

[00:48] I'm not going to do anytime soon. I mean it's not even June and I haven't done this one yet. But I'd like to mention just one thing to people who have been emailing me, and man I'm getting a lot of emails on this, believe me. Now the seminar ends on a Friday and most people are going to be going back home the following Saturday. I assume the majority of people are going to fly right back. But I've got a special treat for those who want to stay on a few more days. After a day of rest on Sunday, on Monday and Tuesday, my favorite Latin American lawyer and I will be chartering a little van and taking no more than 10 people on a special two day business tour. We'll be concentrating on the business, technology and farming sectors. And that little side trip I promise is going to be a real eye opener to anyone who wants to do business down here. And don't worry, I'll be sending out emails to everyone concerned on that. Now I'm going to hit on a very interesting email.

[01:35] I'm sure you're going to get a kick out of this one. And it confirms what I've been saying all along about so-called educated people in Latin America. And why the gringo advantage is alive and well, and even why a common gringo with not too much education at all coming down here, often becomes a great success in business even if he didn't have much on the ball up in the first world. Just listen to this one. Dear Johnny, just came across your show a couple weeks ago via podcast and I'm catching up on all your previous episodes. I am married to an Ecuadorian and we live in Northern Ireland. My main experience has been with Ecuador and more precisely in the Guayaquil area. I have a love-hate relationship with that city. I love the weather, the life, the vibrancy in the city, but I hate the traffic and the utter rudeness from many people. Even my wife who lived all her life in Guayaquil till about 10 years ago, when she moved to

[02:20] Northern Ireland, sees the increase in rudeness every time she goes back. The two questions I wish to ask you are, number one, about reading. The majority of Ecuadorians that have come across, even university graduates like my wife, don't like reading at all and will only read if it's absolutely necessary or required. Yes, I understand that books are very expensive there, but I would have expected to find some who were interested in reading not just to pass an exam, but for pleasure. And the other issue, number two, is over history. Every time I go to Ecuador, there's always some kind of street celebration going on, whether it's about the local or national history or a historic figure or whatever. It seems there are big street events like that every week or two, but when I ask some people to tell me the history of those events themselves, just why is the city or town having

[03:09] that celebration, I find the average guy in the street doesn't know anything at all about them. It's just a party to them. They're just there for a good time. I usually find I know more about the facts than they do. The fact is in Northern Ireland, everyone, everywhere, knows their history, and you'd be laughed at if you couldn't answer some simple questions about your own history. And for his last question, the emailer asks, hey, I thought he only had two, well, anyway, he's got three. He says, my last point is about clothes and more precisely, football or soccer t-shirts. Every time I go to Ecuador, I usually buy a few, but I usually have to go to the Mercado and buy the fakes. That's because in the proper shops, they are so very expensive, even for a first-worlder like me. Some of the shirts are selling for as much as $100, which I think is just ridiculous.

[03:55] The average price in the UK for the very same thing is about 30 pounds or 50 bucks. How can the locals ever be expected to pay prices like that? I just don't get it. How could that be? All right, those are all very good questions, and let's start with the first one. First let's talk about the route instead he and his wife seem to be experiencing every time they go back down to Guayaquil, Ecuador. Well first of all, I have to say that I haven't experienced rudeness from the locals in any of the cities in Latin America, except when I'm on the tourist trail, where many of the locals have been jaded by the gringo dollar. But I have to say this, when you're in a smaller town, the people are extremely friendly. Again, I'm talking off the tourist trail. They even have a phrase for it. They say, muy amable. When a person is muy amable, he's very friendly, very amiable.

[04:40] The word amably even sounds and looks like the word amiable. And by contrast, I've also found in some of the very big Latin American cities, people are definitely a lot more standoffish and even can be a bit cold. And that's what big cities do to people. Look at Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, versus Danville, or Gurney, Illinois, or La Crosse, Wisconsin. There's just no comparison between people who live in a city of 4 or 5 million people versus people who live in a town of 25 to 100,000. And Guayaquil, that's the largest city in Ecuador and it's got 4 million plus people. And I can tell you this, in all the big cities in Latin America, they have a huge transportation problem. And the everyday trials and tribulations of just getting from place to place could even make Bozo the clown irritable. And I'll tell you why.

[05:26] Although they do have public transportation and it's very cheap, about 90% of the working people can't afford a car, so they all pile on to public transportation till they're absolutely packed in like sardines and even hanging out the windows and the doors. I've seen buses filled with triple their overload capacity, with people riding the outside bumpers and even people on the top of the bus. That makes for a pretty nerve-wracking experience, yet it's absolutely a common and everyday thing down here. And imagine a young girl going to work at a bank or a bakery everyday let's say. After making herself up at home for 20 minutes or a half an hour, then having to wedge herself between that packed mass of sweaty humanity. Now imagine you have to do that every single day of the week. Ride an hour or so to work and an hour or so back under those conditions.

[06:13] What kind of disposition would you have? Would that make you irritable or in fact sometimes even a bit rude? Now contrast that with a guy who lives in a small town who might walk or take his bike to work. There's really no comparison. Compared to the big cities, small town folks have about zero stress levels. In fact the other day I was talking to a woman who has a job in one of the commercial and business districts in Guayaquil and she goes to her job every day and at night she goes to university night school. Now her job starts at 7.30 in the morning, but of course she doesn't have a car. So she gets up at 4.30 every day, leaves the house at 5.30 and it takes just a little under two hours for her to take the bus to her job. And along the way she's got to make four transfers. And then at night she has to take two more transfers to get to the university and she

[06:59] never makes it in the door before 10 o'clock at night. And she wakes up the next morning and goes through the same routine. And that's the way it is for 90% of the people that live in big Latin American cities. If you don't have a car, you're at the mercy of the public transportation system which no matter what you've heard really sucks. And believe me, it's no way to live. But that's life for the poor and middle classes down here in Latin America and you gotta feel sorry for them. But you ride the bus to work or you don't eat. And back to that email about rudeness. Now I ask you, would you be a rude kind of person if you had to go through that every day of your life for let's say 15 or 20 years? The fact is I'm surprised the common man just doesn't go postal down here. But they don't. And that's why the majority of these guys just simply live for the weekend. The guys do anyway, but the women not so much at all.

[07:47] Because during the week they're stuck in a pretty miserable rut. But even under the circumstances, I'd have to say that the average Latin American that has to go through that is really much friendlier and much less rude than any first world person going through half of that kind of torture. And the fact is I don't think any first world person would ever put up with that more than a couple of weeks. They absolutely would go postal. I know I would. So you have to think about what kind of conditions these people are living under. In fact I think the common man does remarkably well down here and really keeps a cool stool considering the conditions that they live under. So yes maybe you will find some rude people. But compared to big city first world dwellers, I think if you really studied the situation you'd give the Latins much better marks every time. And I think Goyasil just might be that exception to the rule about rudeness.

[08:35] Because I've been all over Latin America and I just don't see it. Maybe there's something I'm missing about Ecuador. Who knows. Anyway in regards to that transportation problem, that's why I mentioned on a past show that your average latin woman has only a few very basic and simple ones. One, she wants a nice faithful guy that doesn't drink too much and smack her around and she wants a guy that's a good provider which means a guy with a car. It doesn't matter what kind of car as long as she never has to ride that bus again. But unfortunately those are unfulfilled dreams for most middle class latin women. And that's why latinas look at gringos and first worlders as knights in shining armor. We don't come home drunk and beat our women. At least the expats I know don't do that. And we all have cars so we never make our ladies ride the bus. Yep, the gringo advantage rides again.

[09:22] Because you see a lifestyle that's absolutely normal to every expat and gringo is nothing but a dream for the average latin american. But now let's move on to point two in that email. Latin Americans don't read. And specifically he talks about Ecuadorians but I can tell you it's true. All over latin america latins just don't read. I don't care if they're dirt poor latins with a tin roof, cooking with wood or latins with college degrees or even advanced degrees. It's just not a culture of reading. I mean it's obvious. Just go into a bank or a cell phone company office and look at all the people waiting their turn in line. In those places you see all classes of people. Everybody uses a bank and pays their bills right? Well I can tell you this. The only people that actually have a book in their hands are gringos, tourists and expats. And I'm not kidding. And when you go into the average latin americans house, the ones like I said who take the

[10:11] bus? Chances are you won't see any books around the house at all except a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica somewhere on a shelf in a place of honor in the living room. Because you see not so long ago all throughout latin america there were still door to door encyclopedia salesmen. On the payment plan of course because those damn things were expensive weren't they? A few hundred bucks at least. And down here in latin america a set of these in spanish of course was every mothers dream for her kid and a point of pride when on display in the living room when friends come over. And after the set arrived they always lay dormant just collecting dust. So middle class families would go into debt over these things stuck on a 5 year payment plan at high interest. I mean it's not as if us gringos are any smarter when we make our impulse purchases. I mean hell the clapper, chia pets and ginsu knives sold millions now didn't they?

[11:00] But at least we didn't buy them on the payment plan. So anyway you go into the average latin americans house and you're going to see that set of encyclopedia botanica somewhere. And I know it's hard to believe but there are still people down here selling those things door to door and making a living at it. And if that doesn't prove my assertion that latin america is living 20 or even 30 years in the past nothing does. Okay so you might be thinking people don't have books down here because they're too expensive. Hardcover books are even expensive in the states. Even soft covered ones. But they are twice as expensive down here in latin america. I mean take that famous book every parent ran out and bought rich dad poor dad some years back. Well yes down here in latin america you can find it in all the bookstores translated into spanish of course. And it's exactly twice as much as the english version. Now there could be a lot of reasons for that.

[11:46] But I think it just basically boils down to supply and demand. With such little demand bookstores only order a few and when you only order a few the price is higher. Then you don't get that discount when you ship in bulk either. And in most cases best sellers at least are printed in other countries. So you got extra shipping costs and tariffs between borders. But the fact is it doesn't really matter if the books were free. People still wouldn't read them. And the fact is I've been in many homes of so called educated latins. Even men and women with masters and doctorates. And of course every educated college person throughout the world has a little bookshelf somewhere around the house. And educated latins have theirs too. But it's no lie when I tell you that 95% of those books never get cracked open. But they're very impressive when they're on display. And how do I know that? Because a lot of times I'll pick a book off one of those shelves and open it.

[12:34] And nearly every time that book opens with a fresh crack. Like it's never been opened before. I mean you can tell when someone's read a book at least once. When I read one by the time I'm done with it it's got gravy stains and earmarks and dog ears and dents and bruises on it. Just from one reading. But you rarely see that down here in Latin America. No matter how many books a so called educated person has got stuffed in his book rack. And yes they do have bookstores down here in Latin America. And they carry all the first world best sellers translated into Spanish. But where do you find these bookstores? Always on college campuses because college students need to buy books. And in the sections of town where the wealthier people hang out. Because like I said before, wealthier college educated types will stock their bookshelves with the latest and the greatest. Oh and by the way I talked to one of my educated latin friends about this very subject.

[13:21] And he's a guy with a master's degree and he's noticed the same thing about his fellow countrymen. He said the only time even educated latins read books is when they're on vacation and sitting on a beach. Because that's what people do when they're laying around lounging on the beach. They read books. Or at least they appear to be reading books. Because this guy told me that only the women are really reading their books. The men are using their book as a prop or a pretext while they're actually stealthily watching bikini clad women as they walk by. And like my friend said there's kind of an art to that. To get away with it without your wife or girlfriend catching on. Anyway the bottom line is latins don't read, even the educated don't read. And that's a huge component of the gringo advantage within itself. Because you see, most of us international travelers and expats are readers.

[14:06] That just seems to be an innate part of every first worlder with an adventurous streak like you and me. And as you know people who read a lot have a lot of information stored in their brains on many different topics. We might not have any common sense but we have a lot of information and facts on hand and a pretty deep well to pull them from. Stuff that really comes in handy when dealing with people starting a business, building, or whatever you're going to do down here in Latin America. Which means we're all like 10 giant steps ahead of the average latin. Even the so called educated latins as soon as we get down here. And expats realize that quite soon. When we run into an educated latin or two at a party let's say. People that are on the same or similar university path that you or I were on. You'd think that people like that should be your intellectual equal because they're in the same career.

[14:52] For example me. I was trained as an electrical and biomedical engineer and every time I've crossed paths with an electrical engineer down here it's been in fact pretty underwhelming. And I've gotten into this discussion with many long term expats before. And they all agree. When we're at parties or events and we have conversations with first world people, most times the breadth of knowledge is quite wide. Because most of these people are avid readers and they've got all kinds of hobbies and outside interests. Now you add a few so called educated latins into the mix. And sometimes I hate to say you have to dumb down the conversation a bit. Even if they have a perfect command of English. Though I admit that some latins bring an energy and verve to a conversation. Which is a good thing. Intellectually they don't add much. But like I said because they're not readers they have a limited breadth of knowledge.

[15:39] That's not to say back in my hometown of Chicago I wasn't at a lot of parties where I ran into the same roadblock. So called educated gringos who you'd get into conversations with too. Who haven't read a thing since their university days either. And are almost proud to admit it. We all know a lot of first world people like that. I have a few in my own family. The universities up north spill out tons of graduates who will never really read a book again unless it's about their favorite sports hero. And generally people like that aren't world travelers. So I don't run into too many expats with tunnel vision down here. It seems like they're all a bit brighter than I am but I'm the guy with the experience. So I got that going for me. But honestly when I find myself in a conversation with an average latin person it's always pretty superficial. You have to keep it that way or you're going to lose them. I mean you're not going to talk about economics, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, North Korea and

[16:28] Ron Paul with these guys. And you're not going to be able to have a conversation in any detail about that stuff even with a latin american college graduate. The only thing they know is what they see on TV and read in a newspaper. Sound familiar? And you know I'm not trying to paint myself as any hot shakes down here believe me. But you see their disinterest in reading and their lack of curiosity about the world in general is a big part of what gives us our gringo advantage. Enough said about that. Oh and by the way can you tell me the last book that you read? I mean a real book. Not the secret or some stupid self help book. I'd be interested. Go ahead and tell me what you've been reading lately. Shoot me an email. While you're at it give me the names of the books that you've read in the last year. Here's a partial list of what I can remember I've read from the last year. I'm big on biography so I read Andrew Jackson, Truman, DiMaggio, Hitch, the Christopher Hitchens

[17:16] biography. I read a biography on Dick Van Dyke, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Bismarck and a book called You're Not So Smart. And I guess I'm not so smart because I do read the occasional Hollywood fluff like that Dick Van Dyke thing and that Clint Eastwood one. Call me a lightweight but I still read. But like I said, latin people don't and that's to our advantage. But once in a while it does leave you craving for contact with other expats at embassy and gringo parties. Sometimes you just need that kind of stimulation after conversing with average latins, even so called educated latins for too long a period of time. Sometimes you just need an injection of that first world mindset. So as much as I don't like those embassy parties and stuff that I get invited to all the time, I do make an appearance a couple of times a year where I know there will be some good expat talent so I can get my fix and get caught up to speed on what's happening

[18:02] in the world. And if that makes me sound like a pompous jerk, I guess I'm guilty. Oh well. So let's get to the third part of that email where the writer says, he just can't understand that down in Ecuador, the prices for quality, legitimate sports clothing like t-shirts is about double what it is in the first world and even up to a hundred bucks for a jersey with your favorite soccer team logo on it. Yeah and guess what, when I first got down here to Latin America, I didn't get it either. I noticed it too. And the same thing happens if you want to buy designer jeans for example, Jordash or Guess, Tommy Hilfiger or whatever. You could easily go to one of those specialty shops in a high end mall and pay a hundred bucks for a pair of jeans or even more. And yes they're the bonafide registered label. But you can also get out of the big shopping center, walk a few blocks away and buy a pretty

[18:49] good clone of the same thing for 15 to 25 bucks. So it boils down to this, the 80 or 90% of Latin Americans that would never pay a hundred bucks for jeans. I mean that's like a week's pay for most of the people down here you know. But you see the average latin gets bombarded with all the fashion media hype. And they want designer labels too. And that's why piracy is so big down here and it'll never go away. And who's buying those hundred or a hundred fifty dollar Jordash jeans, the real thing? Well you'll only find those available in little boutiques in some of the high end shopping malls and only in the bigger cities where there is enough wealthy people to come in once in a while and buy that stuff. And by wealthy people I mean the ones that are driving those nice SUVs and who go to Miami once or twice a year shopping themselves. Now admittedly that's a very small percent of the population, maybe one to two percent.

[19:36] But if you're in a city of a million people let's say, that means that there's ten or twenty thousand people who have that kind of money and the desire to buy real honest to goodness first world items that aren't clones. To keep up with the Joneses and impress their other wealthy friends of course. And as for me and every other expat I know, no matter how much money he has, including expat Eddie, none of us, and I mean none of us, buy the real designer label clothes, even though they are available down here. You think we're going to spend a hundred or a hundred fifty dollars on a pair of jeans when we can buy the same thing for fifteen or twenty bucks? And there's something else about the clothing market down here in Latin America, especially in Central America, where they have all those maquilas known as sweatshops, where they make all that stuff. Every one of these Latin American countries, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Salvador,

[20:24] they've all got dozens if not hundreds of these maquilas. And here's how they work, Jordash for example, orders up jeans from one of the maquilas down here, they make them and send them up to New York or someplace in the states where they put the labels on them, the real Jordash labels, and all the stickers and tags and doodads that you get every time you buy expensive designer clothes. There's like seven or eight labels stuck on every which way, inside and out, and some of those labels are in Boston pretty fancy. Well then Jordash up in the states sends a certain quantity of every style of their jeans to all the high end stores and boutiques that handle that product throughout the world, including down here in Latin America. Now those jeans have made a trip from Latin America where they were made up to New York where they got tagged and then they got repackaged and sent out again. Now all those added extras and the shipping from continent to continent adds a lot of

[21:13] extra markup to the product, besides the fact that it is a designer label already and is at least double the price simply by virtue of its intrinsic value in the market, the Jordash reputation. But when you're talking about Jordash clones for example, or football jersey clones in the case of the sports jerseys in that email, well those maquilas down here just copy those Jordash jeans or those football jerseys, hell they were probably made in the very same maquila and they've got all the patterns and the cut outs and the stencil work available already and they slap on some fake labels too. And sure those labels on those clones don't look quite as nice or as spiffy as those high quality embossed ones that they put on up in New York, but they pass and they end up in the local markets down here and never make that trip to a first world countries distribution center.

[21:59] So like I said, the pirating is alive and well down here and it's not gonna go away. Not when 90% of the population can't afford the real thing, but for a quarter or less of the price it can get something pretty damn close. And under those dim Friday night disco lights, they sure look like Jordash to me. And how can you tell if they're really Jordash or not? Well if a girl's wearing Jordash or Adidas or Tommy Hilfiger and she's standing at the bus stop, take a guess. Now I want to switch gears for a second again and talk about doing business down here in Latin America, because I'm getting emails all the time asking me for tips and secrets. And a lot of emails specifically talk about expat Eddie, they want to know more about how he turned $5,000 of his mother's money into millions. The fact is he once told me his mother wouldn't give him the $5,000 unless he did leave the

[22:46] country. I guess she wanted him far enough away so that he wouldn't show up at her house at three in the morning passed out on her porch. But right now I want to mention a great expat business opportunity that's completely untouched down here. Now I know a lot of you first world people in expat wannabes are antiquers. You like picking up old things at garage and yard sales, refurbishing them a little bit, but displaying them yourself or perhaps even selling them on the site in your own occasional yard sales or flea markets. It's a mighty popular hobby in the first world and they've even got a lot of shows on television. I've seen that antique hunter show myself on the learning channel. You know down here most people are quite poor, with three quarters of them or more making three or four hundred bucks a month. And what that fosters in a society in the long run is a kind of a mentality where people just don't throw anything away.

[23:33] Which means if you go into the average latin americans house, a guy making three or four hundred dollars a month, you'll find mixed in with all the modern stuff that they've collected over the years, the plastic cheap junk. Mixed with that stuff you'll find really nice pieces of wood and metal furniture that have been handed down for generations and generations that never got tossed. Because they don't have the money to recycle furniture or buy new stuff every time the fashions change. That's the farthest thing from their mind. All they like to have is tables and chairs and dressers and mirrors and pictures on the wall. The kind of things that everyone wants to have around the house. But in the case of the average latin american, they'll always have a couple of pieces that are absolute gems from the past. Sometimes as far back as the colonial era. In fact, when you're talking about people who are cut above the middle class, people

[24:19] with a little bit extra money, people making five or six hundred to fifteen hundred dollars or even two thousand dollars a month, sometimes these families with a little bit bigger houses will have nice big collections of antique furniture that they don't consider antiques at all by any means. They're just stuff that was handed down from grandma, great grandma and great great grandma. And you know, back then things were built so well and made with that rain forest hardwood that never rots down here, that a lot of times the stuff is absolutely beautiful and would certainly go for tremendous amounts of money if it was brought back up to the states. And of course after fifty, a hundred or even two hundred years, this stuff's not pristine at all. But it's still very serviceable and restorable for anyone who's got the knack and the patience

[25:05] for it. Now I'm not saying you go from door to door and you buy up this stuff and start a little shop down here in latin america. Then you restore this stuff and try to sell it here. That wouldn't work well at all. What I'm saying is this, you start buying up some of that stuff, do the restorations down here in latin america where the labor is dirt cheap and they have great craftsmen that will work for three or four hundred bucks a month. Then you can either sell them piece by piece over the internet from down here and ship them one at a time or load them in a twenty or forty foot container, ship them up to the first world and sell them up there, both on the internet and at antique retail outlets. And here's another thing, you just take a nice leisurely ride in the countryside any friday or saturday outside of a big city and once you're a few miles out and into the monies, you almost always come across a guy or two with a pickup truck parked on the

[25:52] side of the road with his truck all loaded up with old antiques and stuff. A lot of them spread out on the dirt around his truck and he's just selling them as furniture. Those kind of roadside antique sales seem to be quite common down here in latin america. And I'm telling you, you'll be just shocked at the unbelievable low prices these guys have on that stuff. For example, just last week I pulled over to the side of the road to check out one guy's stuff. And in his case, he had some furniture but he also had a lot of very old musical instruments made out of wood. Like a beautiful double bass fiddle made out of a blonde type of hardwood, a wooden xylophone and a pump organ that must have been 120 years old. And I could have easily bought the whole truckload of stuff he had for 150 bucks. And I'm not saying this stuff didn't need some restoration, it really did.

[26:38] But who cares, this stuff was worth real money up north, I'm telling you. And you know, some of these are homemade items but a lot of them are brand names that were shipped over from Spain or other countries in Europe way back when. And manufactured by big companies in the old country because back then products like that just couldn't be bought easily down here in latin america. So you get the idea, there are tons of great antiques floating around in every country down here in latin america. Nearly every middle and upper middle class family has a few gems laying around. So I'm just giving you guys a heads up on a great business opportunity. Now I'm not into antiquing myself, so it's not a business I'm going to jump on. But for you expats up north who are into antiques and restorations, you just gotta come on down and see for yourself. But once again I have to warn you, if you're on the tourist trail, like in Panama or Costa

[27:24] Rica, you'll find those antiques alright, but you're not going to get the deal that you will when you're outside of those places saturated by the gringo dollar. You've been listening to The Expat Files, living in latin america, coming to you each week from somewhere south of the border, and don't forget you can email me on anything at all about latin america, theexpatfiles at gmail.com. Once again, theexpatfiles at gmail.com. See you next time, nos vemos.