#1531 – Episode 1531: Noise, Culture, and the Expat Experience in Latin America

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

[00:00] South of the border Down Mexico way Hello all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller, and I've been living continuously here in Latin America for over 30 years And I'm here to give you the good the bad the ugly and the great from the gringo perspective Yep, I talk about the real-life experiences and the things nobody believes until you come down and see it for yourself You'll get it all here at expat plan B.com that includes my full show archives over 1500 shows So just relax and take a breath because here comes today's show South of the border Down Mexico way all right Let's dive right in with an email from a gringo expat who's been living down here in Latin America for eight years He says Johnny Dale here

[00:47] Divorced single guy reporting in after living in three different Latin American countries for the past eight years he says today I'd like to explain to you and your audience if you choose to read this on your show The things that have worn me out while living here in Latin America for the past year Okay, so I say these things have worn me out, but they have not deterred me enough to leave back to the states I've found living down here with Latinos you just have to learn to slow down be very flexible and very patient But alas most successful Americans do not have those qualities Those are the traits that drive many successful people to succeed in the first place That's why I think such a high percentage of gringo expats end up going back to the states

[01:32] He says number one on my irritation list is noise pollution Maybe it's just because of the type of person. I am he says I like quiet and the general noise levels in Latin America Really started to bother me after a couple of months It would be just the simple things to like going into a coffee shop and the music's way too loud You can't hardly converse with another person when that stuff's blasting and the street noise Of course the constant honking of horns people blaring their radios the corner tienes with the tables outside Ragga ton blasting and at night if you happen to live on a fairly busy street people will be partying loudly Well past midnight then there's the dogs and the mufflers or lack thereof and of course the chickens and the roosters

[02:19] So after my initial honeymoon period about three months Where really none of the annoying stuff actually registers because everything looks so new and different the palm trees the flowers the tropical air Seems to mask all that annoying stuff at least in the first couple months and even the Latinos themselves in general talk and laugh Quite loud much louder than a spring goes and often super loud in restaurants and even in Elevators when they answer their phones, they're at full volume and in waiting rooms and banks as well I've been privy to many a very private conversation Just standing in line in a bank and I'm thinking all the time people speaking loudly on their phones really shouldn't bother me I'm glad they're glad they're having a great time doing it And if an outsider was analyzing what I'm saying right now

[03:07] Like a psychologist, maybe they just might say I'm the one who has a problem. They'd say it is what it is Alright, wait a minute. Wait a minute me John here. You know when people say it is what it is I hate that saying that phrase was never in anyone's vocabulary five or ten years ago It just seems to have popped up as an annoying filler phrase in the last couple of years Anyone who knows me will admit I never use that phrase It is what it is. Well, what if it isn't if it isn't what it isn't to me It's almost as annoying as the a word awesome, which thankfully seems to be fading out of our lexicon though Not fast enough for me. Anyway, Dale says I'm glad Latinos are happy and enjoy life But that's not really the issue when you've got roosters crowing in the house right next door

[03:55] Even in your nice upscale neighborhood those kinds of auditory irritants tend to irritate then just wear me down I'm one of those people who appreciates quiet and even in my condo or my last condo which I was paying 750 US dollars a month for which is very high rent here in Latin America for a two-bedroom Even in more or less a high-end area I could hear the chicken buses and ambulances at all hour though None of that seemed to bother my upper-middle class Latino neighbors Yep, even in nice gated communities You can hear loud mufflers or no mufflers on the motorbikes going by at day and night Where's yet every hour or so some guy with a bit more money than the next guy will show off with his modified Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic that's been modified to look cool Complete with chrome wheels and a spoiler. Yeah spoilers on Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas. Can you believe it?

[04:47] Reinforcing the fact that cool Latin style is not even in the same universe as cool gringo style It's more like a bad joke. Anyway, the guys with a little more money, which does not equal good taste Will modify their motors and mufflers to break the sound barrier so everyone can see the guy's got extra dough when he whips by Latinos who can afford a little extra just love to stand out ridiculous Really, I know like you say Johnny the brain of the average Latino male never seems to mature past 18 years old Their brains are stuck in an adolescent loop What I'm saying Johnny is at night Especially you can hear these fools and their modified cars coming in your direction from miles away So even at one or two in the morning, you might have dead silence for 20 or 30 minutes

[05:33] And then some fool with modified mufflers will floor it and rip through your section of town Never mind the signs that say quiet hospital zone just another useless sign. That's Unenforceable. Thank God though that many condo complexes and residential towers have a rule of no karaoke or loud noise after a certain time But that won't stop the street noise or if the condo owner or apartment owner next door decides to convert it into an Airbnb Then as far as random noise, you're screwed since the term Airbnb is often a synonym for a party palace So I know this might sound picky to some but my number one irritant the one I wasn't prepared for was noise pollution It really like I said, I'm kind of a person who likes to go to a coffee shop and sit quietly

[06:19] I like to scroll on my phone Maybe check emails the news stuff like that and I could never seem to find a coffee shop where I could have real peace For any extended length of time. I tried I made the rounds to various coffee shops certain ones I liked going to at first I would always ask him to turn down the music please and they didn't seem to like that In fact, I don't even think they play that loud music for the customer's pleasure It's more like the workers have the music crank for themselves. It's like hey We work here all day and you just pop in for 30 minutes for a cafe latte You don't like this music but you'll be gone in 30 minutes and we love this music. So screw you So Johnny sticking to the point of things irritating me after eight years here Number one being noise pollution number two being those gringo expats

[07:07] Especially older gringo expats living in their gringo bubbles Now I've lived in a few of these expat bottles myself one in Panama City one in Medellin, Colombia And one in Cartagena, Colombia, and you know once you get outside that bubble You've got real poverty It's not nice to think about that There's a whole city out there within walking distance with people living on the edge And you'll have to go there sometimes for the markets for shopping banks for immigration residency and legal stuff And that's when you instantly know you're not in your protected gringo bubble anymore I'm not trying to scare people just letting you know there are things that wear you down and one for me was always constantly Being in a sort of synthetic expat bubble for example in Cartagena, Colombia My house was basically a gated main house with five apartments

[07:54] And it was all metal bars and barbed wire on the perimeter So when you're living in that little bubble with the pool the tennis court the gymnasium You tend to forget directly over the wall within a stone's throw poverty That's the reality of life for all the workers in your little gated community, and that's not what really bothers me It's not like I need to be separated away from the poor people I don't really care, but living in neighborhoods like that you become a bit of a target You're known as one of those foreigners with money I found in Colombia more than anywhere else I've been there were some break-ins during my time also Some violent crime against expats who like to go out at night drinking and partying But generally older expats don't go out drinking and partying much, so it's young foreigners mostly tourists who get targeted

[08:39] So the statistics on robberies and assault aren't quite accurate They seem scary, but they're quite skewed expats living here A while are much wiser than the occasional tourists. It's the tourists that overwhelmingly get targeted I'll tell you something else that grinds on an expat after you've been down here a while You know it's things like just going to the grocery store and standing forever in a line that should really be moving It's infuriating when there's 10 cashier stations and only two lines available those places are always Overstaffed but no one seems to have the organizational skills to focus in on where that Manpower should be allotted and when you're out shopping or in any kind of tanda There's no sense of urgency whatsoever seems the customer is somewhat of an afterthought

[09:25] I don't know why but the cashiers just take their good old time They're not paying attention to the customers needs every spare second They're looking around talking on the phone or gabbing with another worker So you have to have a lot of patience or you're gonna be frustrated every time you go out shopping And that's a problem because I'd say the majority of us gringo expats don't have much patience We never did not those of us who had businesses or were career professionals back in the States Most of us were successes back home That's what enabled us so many of us anyway to move to Latin America with a nice nest egg To be a success in the States one has to be orderly motivated efficient well organized detail oriented and even a bit pushy Sometimes that's how you get ahead of your competition in the States and that sort of aggressive

[10:12] Personality does not mesh well with the Latin American way of doing things now, of course if you're one of those types You know, there's always a way around inefficiencies wherever you are and especially down here in Latin America things that will make for fewer Disappointments, for example, if you just plan on doing one major task each day Instead of five like you were used to doing up in the States There'll be a lot less stress and apprehension in your life If you have a bunch of different errands, for example, don't do them all in one day As you would do in the States or you'll set yourself up for a disappointment Then Dale goes on to say I learned to do my grocery shopping in one day figure out when the best times to avoid the rest hour traffic and Those days with the least amount of people at the grocery store So maybe you go right at 9 a.m. On Tuesday when the mall or grocery store first opens or go an hour before it closes

[11:04] So plan it out. Don't just head out the door doing errands haphazardly Don't shop like Latino shop. He says realize that in Latin America There are stores first world franchises like Costco or price Mart or Walmart They look exactly like their counterparts in the States, but there are some differences here in Latin America You'll find they don't always have the same things in stock So if you're used to buying a certain food product, let's say When it's out of stock, it'll drive you nuts because it won't be in stock quite possibly for months or Never yep for a while that out-of-stock thing drove me nuts Even restaurants will have a bunch of things on the menu that aren't available Sometimes for weeks at a time and much of the time they won't tell you about it when you order the item

[11:50] They won't say it's not available The waiter will take your order and 20 minutes later come back and say sorry The Dorado is not available then it's back to the drawing board. But why should it be that way? Oh and none that restaurant thing you'll get your meal and your friend or wife or girlfriend Doesn't get hers for 15 minutes Then the appetizer comes out 10 minutes late as well that happens even in the very nice and expensive restaurants On top of that the drink you ordered when you first sat down may or may not come He says I remember many times when I'd wave down the waitress and say hey remember when I first sat down 20 minutes ago I ordered a drink now. I repeat as a newly arrived expat None of these things might seem like a big deal You're still taking in all those fresh and new sites

[12:36] So at first you don't pick up on that stuff, but let's continue Dale says another thing that really bugs me trash Don't get me wrong Johnny There are beautiful beautiful places some of the most beautiful places on the planet here in Latin America hands down with some of the most beautiful beaches jungles landscapes mountains waterfalls Volcanoes ancient ruins just never-ending natural wonders Then you take a road trip to a beach or ruin and you see as you drive even way out in the boonies Where there are practically no towns or people around you see a big mound on the edge of the road a giant pile of trash You're thinking how'd that happen in the middle of nowhere sometimes with the beat up old sign stuck right in the middle of it saying No trash dumping allowed worse yet

[13:22] You see people tossing trash right in front of you people in nice cars and suvs, too. That should know better Try to wrap your head around that one when tourism in many Latin American countries is their top source of income So you shouldn't wonder why Latino neighborhoods in the states are trash dumping grounds, too Oh and burning trash in neighborhoods is commonplace as well funny How in wealthier gated communities there really is no trash problem and in those nice gated communities There still may be a level of ambient noise. There won't be any music blasting so you can hear yourself think and Now Johnny, I want to talk about condos for a minute because lots and lots of expats

[14:07] including myself After we've stayed a few months in hotels and Airbnbs when we first get down We look around for something more permanent a condo often a brand new condo and they're beautiful when new What people might not know is there's lots and lots of new construction going on here in Latin America all over the place Brand new condo complexes everywhere. It's the tourism thing and more and more expats moving down permanently And of course when you first move into a new condo, it's beautiful, but two years later five years later It's a totally different place 90% of the places here just kind of fall into disrepair two or three or five years in they just don't look so great anymore mold mildew faded paint water damage rusty metal gates that hardly function and

[14:54] Normally a nice residential tower has two elevators But after a year or two or three you'll find that normally one of those elevators is always on the blink Oh and these new residential towers and condo complexes always have a gymnasium Beautiful when new but after a couple of years there's rust and zero maintenance and a lot of that gym equipment is either Ratty looking or out of order and that pool in your complex is very nice when new but soon enough It develops an algae scum in a few years The walkways are heaving and cracking and the lawn chairs are crumbling in the Sun and as you've said in past shows Johnny You can bet the farm that water damage will eventually show up in your nice new ceilings and window frames Seems Latin American builders and architects never learned to manage the rainy season and the bathrooms

[15:43] Don't get me started on the bathrooms and the busted crumbling sidewalks everywhere I see it happen over and over again What started out as a beautiful complex when new after a few years begins to look a bit disappointing And it's much worse when you talk about things with public access like public walkways bridges and railings Quite nice when they're new and fresh, but after a few years, they're falling apart And there's no municipal upkeep unless there's a terrible accident or somebody dies That's how maintenance gets done on infrastructure projects here in Latin America It takes a death or two to get the road crews out to fix a long-standing problem Then Dale goes on to say he's seen hundreds of bridges heavily traveled bridges that would never pass a structural inspection

[16:28] But no one cares and no one bothers to inspect them again until there's a bad accident or someone dies Now that's not to say you don't see crews fixing stuff all the time But that's private sector maintenance in nice neighborhoods Nice neighborhoods are kept nice because the owners pay for the upkeep. That's your condo maintenance fee at work In fact Johnny the condo I just moved out of in Cartagena, Colombia They're painting it and redoing the stucco walls and the tile floors getting it ready for the next tenant So in the very expensive districts everything gets repaired and worked on and maintained Adequately as it should be and in expensive districts the gardening can be absolutely spectacular By the way when you see a residential tower or condo complex with a tremendous garden

[17:17] You can almost count on the fact that they're up on all maintenance issues In other words, it's a very good sign that management is taking care of the details In fact a Cartagena realtor told me if your condo maintenance fee is a hundred bucks or more per month They're most certainly doing the proper building maintenance So if you're checking out a condo whose maintenance fee is 30 40 or 50 bucks a month That's a red flag for maintenance. So that's it Johnny. That's my take I hope I'm not sounding too negative here because I love Latin American people. That's what keeps me here. I absolutely love them They're so friendly the warmth of the culture is a huge positive for me. There's nothing like it where I came from No question about it. And as a divorced 50-something guy I came to Latin America looking for love as well in the last eight years

[18:06] I've had a few Latina girlfriends some bad ones, too Partially my fault because I jumped in too quickly, but there's plenty of real good girls I've met through the years that would have been great life partners It's only that most of us gringo expats are such trusting and gullible types when we first arrived Not to mention lonely and many of us after being first burned a few times by a few gold diggers We can often be too stupid to recognize the really good ones when they come along All right. All right me Johnny here. I have to stop to take a breath That was a hello a long email from Dale and I didn't even read it all there's more but that's enough for now So anyway, thanks for that Dale and I'll be sure to file your rent under the things

[18:51] I don't like about Latin America folder Alright, let's keep this train rolling except to say something that ties into Dale's line of thinking is the fact and most gringles and expats Learn this the hard way that Latin American culture is not a high-trust Society whereas up in the first world United States Canada Australia many European countries to considered high-trust Countries for example in Latin America a handshake or an oral agreement means nothing Putting your faith in a handshake or an oral agreement. That's how gringles and expats get taken or gouged For example, I've known plenty gringo expats who've been renting a place condo apartment Even a house something goes wrong plumbing breaks, whatever. They can't even get ahold of the landlord

[19:37] Well, it's not that they can't get ahold of them. He just won't answer the what's up message I know cases where expats don't get a response from the landlord for days or weeks So you better be prepared if something happens to call the plumber or electrician yourself and pay for the repairs yourself as well Even if your rental contract says otherwise, like I said Latin America is not a high-trust society Oh, and here's a crazy email from dr. Singh. I say NG He says Johnny in a previous show when he real listeners wrote in talking about how hard it was to find an American woman Who was thin? physically active and health conscious I just want to say if you took any heat for reading that on your podcast, I have some data for you to back it up I just got the latest CDC report that shows that the weight of an average American adult woman is

[20:29] 171 point eight pounds. I'll repeat that the average American adult woman weighs 171 point eight pounds and John since your focus is Latin America the best estimate for the average weight of a Latin American adult woman is 145 pounds that's 145 pounds that's about 27 pounds lighter than the average American adult woman. Oh and it's interesting to note the average weight of an adult Mexican woman is 161 pounds that's 16 pounds over the Latin American average and since they're part of the Latin American average. They skew the numbers upwards that 145 pound number for the average Latin American adult woman and the two Latin American countries with the lowest adult female average weight

[21:20] Guatemala at 129 pounds and Columbia at 140 pounds now, of course, Guatemalan women, especially Indigenous women are quite short. So how does height figure into this weight thing? You might be thinking North American women are much taller than Latin American girls. So it stands to reason they're heavier Well, here's the data the average height for an adult American woman is five foot three and a half inches average Latin American woman height Five foot two and a half inches only one inch shorter than the average North American lady turns out the biggest height Discrepancies are with North American men and Latino men big difference there We'll hit on that and the weight of Latin American men versus American men in an upcoming show So stay tuned for that. All right, let's check out some Latin American news

[22:08] You never get to hear about up in the first world. Here's an interesting little report out of Ecuador It says they've got a National Assembly Committee on government corruption and they've announced some preliminary results after doing a deep dive into the finances of 256 mayors and prefects in the country of Ecuador turns out 190 of the 256 mayors Triggered a red alert because their assets Absolutely did not match their incomes. In other words, they have way too many properties and toys For the amount of income they receive as mayors of their cities districts and counties So in light of that investigation, they're saying their lifestyles heavily exceed the capacity of their salaries

[22:56] in other words only 25% of the mayors in Ecuador came out completely clean in this investigation with 75% of them being pretty much lard ass scumbag crooks, but you knew that already, right? According to the investigative analysis unit, they're now reviewing those 190 mayors for possible schemes with frontmen straw men and the use of tax havens and third persons to hide and launder money So those are just results from a recent review of mayors in Ecuador Gotta wonder when are the high-ranking police and military officers judges and bankers when will they be investigated probably never and What will the officials do with those hundred ninety mayors? Most likely nothing the worst of them will probably resign and live happily ever after in their beachfront haven or in their ocean view

[23:49] My jammy apartment I mean look you gotta wonder what those results would be if the same investigation were done to each member of the US Congress They'd all be in a country club prison or under house arrest, which for them is really no punishment at all Speaking of Ecuador and why I'd never want to live there Did you know they've got continuous power outages every week and not just for a minute? Or ten minutes or a half an hour. Just listen to this and I'll translate this is from October 12th 2026 from the biggest Ecuadorian news service. It says Ecuador business leaders are telling President Daniel, Nuevo enough is enough as 9,000 large electricity users almost all of them commercial operations began a week faced with three days of power blackouts

[24:34] According to President Aboa He says it's time for the entire country not just industry in the commercial sector to share the burden of our blackouts We have no alternative given the circumstances now remember Ecuador runs mostly on hydroelectric power And and they've got very low water in their reservoirs and thus many days of intermittent power So right now you've got dozens of Ecuadorian businesses complaining about the unscheduled blackouts that have continued up to three Continuous days these are not brownouts. These are full power outages It says most of these big commercial businesses have backup generators But they're not sufficient to run more than 24 hours Because that's the extent of the amount of diesel they have on hand

[25:20] Then we have a quote here from their central power plant electrical engineer Juan Carlos Flores Who says even with changes in government strategy? It's too late to protect households from severe blackouts without new and renewed heavy rains in the mountains especially around Cuenca We will have continued general blackouts now Here's the thing many homes and businesses many residential commercial and industrial buildings to use rooftop solar panels with a certain percentage of homes And businesses completely off the grid the problem is even if you want to go solar and off the grid if you live in a condo Complex or residential tower only the apartment or penthouse on the top floor Can get off the grid with solar panels anyone living in the lower levels? Let's say you've got a five-story apartment complex

[26:05] That means four stories can never have solar only the top floor the fifth floor and you know almost everywhere in Latin America There's strong daily solar radiation Making solar power a perfect way they get off the grid and out from under any government dependency But then again, you can only do it if you own a free-standing house or have an apartment at the top floor of your condo complex or a residential tower So as usual the government in this case the government of Ecuador has no foresight no plan and worst of all absolutely no concern For the welfare and lives of the 18 and a half million Ecuadorians who have been suffering daily Blackouts for the past month so in the end all that great sunlight is just going the waste So Ecuador doesn't matter if in the first world is highly ranked as a great expat retirement destination

[26:55] There are some very important things the media is just not telling you Alright rolling along you might remember last show. I think was last show we were talking about how some of those ledger crypto wallets were open and Altered and made hackable by putting a little implant inside of them and reselling them Well, I've got some more bad crypto news for you though. It's coming from a country. That's already Completely lost and down the drain. We're talking about France. Did you know? that France passed a crypto reporting provision act as Part of its 2025 finance act the law is part of what they call the EU's da C8 crypto tax transparency framework it all sounds crazy stupid and complicated, but here's what happened on January 1st

[27:41] 2026 about 10 months ago every crypto service provider and exchange were required to report all Crypto activity to French tax authorities now. Here's the kicker France's crypto reporting requirements began in 2026 and in 2026 French police have reported that there were more than 70 crypto linked kidnapping and extortion cases in the country a huge increase in criminals targeting cryptocurrency holders and their families for ransoms French police believe that government data links government data links Were breached and used by criminals to identify crypto holders and their home addresses So police are saying that big concern is that government database?

[28:30] Identifying who owns cryptocurrency and how much is or was not secure with police reporting a suspected leak of French tax Records and a separate breach involving crypto tax software Proving once again that anything and everything that government touches turns to shit Speaking of France and expats and getting the hell out of Dodge. Here's an email from Harvey. I think you'll like it Hey Johnny Harvey here expat gonna be from Flagstaff Long time listener first time a renter I'm 51 recently divorced and have been weighing my get out of Dodge Plan B options Looking around for the best country that would fit my budget and temperament took one year of Spanish in high school, too It was a long time ago, but I do remember 10 or 20 words at that. So naturally looking towards Latin America

[29:17] However, things changed recently with me when I finally decided to become a permanent expat I found I no longer need to be on a strict budget since I just came into some real dough and Inheritance I wasn't expecting and so I thought before settling down permanently in Latin America I would see the world starting with an extended trip to Europe to see historic places I always wanted to explore like Paris but with the Iran-roar raging nearby and the flow of illegals and the French riots and suddenly European countries are issuing travel advisories telling their own citizens to travel with extreme caution due to the deteriorating security situation Is that not crazy Johnny European countries are warning their own citizens against non-essential travel to French Belgium?

[30:02] Italy Spain Portugal and recommending postponing or canceling any trips if possible So much for all those expat sites promoting Portugal Italy and Spain as the perfect expat relocation plan Maybe that's why you can buy a house in Italy for a hundred bucks. Who knows? Anyway, what's happening in Europe? Why aren't the policemen stepping in and doing their jobs in France and Spain? They're on the streets All right, but just stand there and riot outfits and shields and let the burning and looting continue if I were in control there I would do a buccal a though Here's the rest of my story if you go to the Eiffel Tower now as I just did a month ago It's France's premier Monument and tourist attraction. Well, guess what's happening you get surrounded by scammers

[30:50] If you're an innocent tourist star struck by the amazing monuments, you're gonna get scammed Why do all the cops let these sub-saharan African guys mull around the Eiffel Tower selling you fake Gucci bags t-shirts and plastic Eiffel towers you see videos of these creeps everywhere and they won't let you alone They get right in your face and it's interesting because France has about the highest taxes in the world yet None of these street urchins obviously pays the tax on anything Everything's cash and they're in the most visible place in the world right in front of the Eiffel Tower and they themselves stand out as Absolutely non-french in every way and there are cops walking around everywhere, too And no one does anything. However, if you're a Frenchman and you don't pay your taxes for some reason

[31:40] They're gonna shut your doors and you're gonna be in jail very fast Meanwhile, it was African guys mulling around targeting tourists and selling fake Chanel and Rolexes and plastic Eiffel towers They pay no tax and contribute nothing What has happened to Europe man? As I said earlier if it was me I would do a book a lay get all the Africans and the ala Akbar dudes out and Clean the garbage in the streets because you know, you come to Paris you want to see clean with no graffiti Nobody sticking their face in your business to hit on you to buy stuff again You want clean with no graffiti to experience the glory of French architecture? You want to experience the culture the literature the monuments to history without the garbage and without the African and Muslim hordes

[32:26] Targeting you and without the horrible graffiti Oh and John these foreigners roaming the streets and packs and selling all that crap and the physical damage in the writing They've kind of killed the entire vibe that used to say come to France and experience the Belle Epoch I mean look you come to see the architecture to feel the spirit of the past great You want to experience walking along the Seine seeing Notre Dame the Louvre the Mona Lisa Victor Hugo's grave and Jim Morrison's grave too, but truthfully tourists don't want to go to a place and be scared to walk around I for one don't want to experience the heart of darkness If I wanted that I'd go to Africa on safari. Nope I want to see France as it was preserved until the recent chaos I want to see the buildings as they were built in the 1800s the Enlightenment

[33:14] I want to experience the world of Napoleon and the architecture of artists and painters and I feel for those Americans who have been persuaded or fooled or believe the internet Propaganda or podcast hype about how great it would be to become expats in places like Portugal Italy Spain and France I feel for people who bought that line, but you know the old saying You made your bed you sleep in it signed Harvey. Hmm. Okay have thanks for that little boots on the ground report And my take well I'm happy to say there are no hordes of Africans selling Gucci bags fake Rolexes and cheap Eiffel towers here in Latin America Not yet anyway, and I hope never but still anything could happen. The world is crumbling at the edges

[34:06] you You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America. Thanks for tuning in You know, there's a whole community of people out there like you thinking of getting the hell out of dodge If you go to expat plan B comm you'll see the full show archive It's the home base for the show by the way, if you need to do a one-on-one Consultation with me just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com Oh and for another uncensored take on life down here in Latin America from business to relationships and everything in between Including the scheduling of my kind of hand-holding Unconventional tours through Latin America. Just check out Rico unchained.com. See you next time and stay sharp