Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller explores the multifaceted challenges expats face in Latin America, from legal and bureaucratic hurdles to health concerns and travel restrictions. The episode begins with Johnny welcoming listeners and setting the tone for the show, which delves into the ongoing changes related to the pandemic and the uncertainty of when the situation will end. He then addresses an email from a listener named Hugo, who shares his experiences with the legal system in Mexico, including a bribe paid to avoid a police encounter. Hugo also expresses concerns about the vaccine, citing reports of adverse effects and the lack of animal testing, and asks if he can still travel to Mexico without a vaccine card. Johnny acknowledges the common issue of expats facing legal challenges and the need to navigate local rules, while also addressing the broader context of vaccine hesitancy and the complexities of the situation in Latin America.
Next, Johnny discusses the challenges expats face with expired driver's licenses in Latin America. He highlights that locals often drive without valid licenses and are not fined, while expats struggle to renew their licenses due to residency requirements and language barriers. He explains that even with an expired U.S. license, expats can still drive in many Latin American countries due to lack of enforcement. Johnny also mentions the possibility of obtaining an international driver's license, but notes that it requires a valid license, which many expats may not have. He concludes by suggesting that expats can navigate these issues through informal networks, and that similar informal systems may apply to obtaining vaccine cards in the future.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the gray market availability of vaccine cards and the potential for obtaining them through legitimate and illegitimate means. He warns listeners about the risks of getting vaccinated, especially in the context of government mandates, and suggests that expats might need to rely on Latin American lawyers to navigate legal and bureaucratic challenges. He also touches on the legal system in Latin America, highlighting how it differs from the U.S. in terms of lawsuit frequency, lawyer behavior, and cost. Additionally, he briefly mentions a listener's email about a drug, sumatriptan, and its availability in different countries.
The podcast segment then shifts to the speaker's experience as a Glaxo pharmaceutical sales representative in the 1980s, highlighting the company's aggressive marketing strategies, including personality profiling techniques to sell drugs to doctors. The speaker also touches on the global differences in prescription drug advertising, particularly the U.S. and New Zealand allowing TV ads, while other countries like Latin America do not. The segment further explores the controversy around generic medications, with Glaxo's tactics of selling both the original drug and a generic version with an added inert compound, while other companies offer significantly cheaper generics. The speaker concludes by mentioning an email from Oscar Miner, a crypto and mining expert, about traveling during the pandemic.
In another segment, Johnny Mueller discusses his family's plans to travel after a long period of being restricted due to the pandemic. They initially wanted to visit Brazil but faced issues with the Brazilian embassy being closed in Panama. As an alternative, they decided to travel to Costa Rica, where the embassy was reportedly open. However, upon arrival, they encountered several bureaucratic hurdles, including the need for travel insurance and a health declaration. Despite their efforts, they were denied access to the embassy due to outdated information about its operating hours, highlighting the challenges of navigating bureaucratic systems in Latin America.
Finally, Johnny discusses the challenges of obtaining a visa for Brazil during the pandemic. He describes how the embassy failed to receive his emails because their contact information was outdated, leading to repeated attempts to reach them. He and his wife even went to the embassy to meet in person, but were told there would be no way to meet in the next two days. Despite this, the embassy officer provided some good news, stating that the visa processing time would be about 15 business days. However, the process was further complicated when they had to go back and forth from their Airbnb to the embassy multiple times with no results. The situation was made worse when they tried to pay for the visa in advance at a bank, only to be told they needed to show their passport to verify their identity before paying for the visa.
Episode Notes
Johnny Mueller dives into the real-world challenges expats face in Latin America, from navigating legal systems and vaccine hesitancy to dealing with travel restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles. This episode includes listener stories, insights on vaccine cards, and reflections on the evolving landscape of expat life during the pandemic.
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Related guides: Healthcare in Latin America · Cost of Living in Latin America · Residency in Latin America · Renting and Buying Property
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Topics
The Expat Files podcast, Pandemic-related changes, Bribery in Mexico, Vaccine hesitancy, Travel restrictions and vaccine cards, Expats and driver's licenses in Latin America, Bureaucracy and informal systems in Latin America, Vaccine cards and their registration in Latin America, Vaccine cards and gray market availability, Legal and bureaucratic challenges for expats, Legal system differences between Latin America and the U.S., Drug availability and generic drugs
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:14 Introduction to The Expat Files Podcast 00:00:26 Overview of the Show's Content 00:00:31 New News on the Pandemic 00:00:56 Hugo's Email and Bribery Experience 00:01:45 Hugo's Concerns About the Vaccine 00:04:15 Johnny's Response to Hugo's Questions 00:05:32 Locals Driving Without Licenses in Latin America 00:06:16 Expats Can Still Drive with Expired Licenses 00:10:20 Vaccine Cards and Bureaucracy in Latin America 00:11:14 The Window of Opportunity for Vaccine Cards and Legal Help 00:11:47 The Reality of Vaccination and the Role of Latin Lawyers 00:16:00 Introduction to the Speaker's Experience with Glaxo Pharmaceuticals 00:17:39 The Success of Imitrex and Glaxo's Marketing Strategies 00:20:13 The Controversy Around Generic Medications and Glaxo's Tactics 00:21:35 Excitement for Traveling Again 00:22:13 Decision to Travel to Costa Rica 00:24:50 Embassy Hours and Bureaucratic Hurdles 00:26:35 Initial Communication Issues with the Embassy 00:26:56 Visa Processing Time and Embassy Response 00:27:25 Complications with Visa Payment and Identity Verification
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 out to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started all right new news on the Covid it front here in Latin America as You probably know things are changing all the time which brings to mind that joke I told a while back where a guy walks into the doctor's office and says stock look When is this Covid it stuff gonna be over? When can we get back to normal?
[00:47] When will a virus finally run its course and we have herd immunity and all that and the doc shrugs his shoulders and says I don't know. Don't ask me. I'm not a politician Hmm. Meanwhile, I've got this very interesting email from Hugo He says dear Johnny been listening to your show for over a half year now I've been to a few the tourist cities in Mexico and Costa Rica once too I was also in a situation where I had to bribe the Mexican cops Took place after hours in a bar in Playa del Carmen how it went down was it was bar time And as we rolled out the cops were waiting outside This was right before the Covid thing and the cops claim we violated the bars closing time and it was past hours But we didn't have any drinks in our hands or anything on the street Anyway, 50 bucks solved a problem nicely now
[01:33] I don't know what would have happened if we wouldn't have forked up the dough But you know at 2 in the morning and kind of feeling our oats We just figured what the hell give him the money No sense in arguing and maybe spending the next few hours down at the police station All in all it looked like a setup to me But hey as you say Johnny, this is Latin America where everyone's got an angle and everyone's got a price Which brings me to the point of this email Johnny I absolutely do not want to get that vaccine and if I had any inkling of doing so just to make life easier after Hearing reports that a half a dozen European countries are not Allowing the vaccine to be administered to elderly people anymore and many health care professionals in the states not taking it either We're just now hearing about bad secondary effects like blood clots, etc I really believe that alternative medicine guys are right in saying that since they eliminated that crucial step of animal testing
[02:24] Which takes a couple years, you know when they're proving a drug That means we are the guinea pigs and I don't want to be one However, as you and many people have mentioned there will come a time in six months a year Who knows when but it's coming when everyone needs to have a vaccine card to get around get on buses go on planes Sign up for school, etc. So Johnny my totally inappropriate question to you is since and I've witnessed this myself Rules in Latin America are very flexible and sometimes broken for a small price I have to believe that there will be some doctors and clinics out there who feel the same way about this vaccine and thus We'll give you a valid vaccine card with a nudge and a wink for a smaller maybe medium or even large gratuity Johnny I have to believe that's going on especially in light of the fact that on one of your previous shows you spoke about how in
[03:15] Mexico the narcos have been getting involved in the testing and vaccine business I heard mentioned that there are many reports showing that vaccine packages trucks and shipments have been stolen and that Narcos or their underlings are going around selling Vaccine doses door-to-door and since it's all over the media in Mexico People do line up for them because they're cheap and they do believe they're legit because they believe the news reports And that there are millions of doses stolen and those narcos sly scammers that they are have found It's a great marketing ploy to push counterfeit vaccines that seem to be showing up everywhere in Mexico So long story short Johnny Will I be able to fly down to Mexico or Central America with no mandatory vaccine card for flying yet? I repeat yet then show up at a certain designated clinic or doctor's office and buy
[04:05] One of those legit Vaccine cards with a nudge and a wink but no prick if you read this on the air, please call me Hugo Not my real name All right Hugo. I'm glad you asked that question. You're not the first one by the way Well being down here over 30 years now Let me tell you what it's like when certain situations arise where rules have to be bent or even broken Let me start by telling you about a sticky situation that many gringos and expats get themselves into That can only be solved with a payoff or bribe now Most all expats with a plan B who plan on living in Latin America the rest of their lives are most of their lives They come down with a valid driver's license from whatever state that came from Texas, Wisconsin, New York Whatever and those licenses are absolutely great and good to go when you're down in your Latin country
[04:52] Even though there are some gringoized countries like Costa Rica who say you can only drive for six months on your u.s Canadian or other foreign country license That means you have to apply for a local license after six months, which is completely impossible Legally unless you've got residency which takes sometimes up to two years to get so you're stuck for a while with no license at all Or at least technically you shouldn't be able to drive with your American license We're talking about Costa Rica now Remember that's the oddball case in all the rest of Latin American countries as long as you've got a valid u.s Driver's license you can drive to me that six-month rule in Costa Rica is basically to extort money out of gringos because there are tons of Locals driving around with no licenses at all or completely expired licenses and they never get fined or get a ticket
[05:38] But that's another story, you know, Costa Ricans are out to gouge gringos. It's a way of life for them Then again, we've got no one to blame but ourselves Anyway as for the rest of Latin America if you're down on your plan B and living here permanently your California or Cleveland license Will expire after all they're only good for four five or ten years depending and guess what these days You can't just pop back to your state and renew your license at the driver's station like you used to be able to I understand Now you have to prove residence and bring utility bills in and such in other words It ain't easy like it used to be so let's suppose that your u.s License has expired and you're living in Honduras now 99 percent of time in most all of Latin America If you get pulled over in your license your American license is expired the cops won't even care They'll look at the picture and stare it in a while But you know, it's in English and they don't speak English or read it so they won't scrutinize it at all
[06:28] Even the numbers and the dates though if they recognize the state and have a relative living there They may get really friendly and they'll ask if you know uncle Tulio living in Cleveland But here's the thing a sprinkles and expats come from a first world society And things like not having homeowners insurance car insurance or a valid license that's not expired instills as a kind of first world Anxiety because we've been used to playing by the rules all our lives and when we get to Latin America It could take forever to get used to cultural differences like manana time people constantly running red lights And those occasional little bribes and payoffs necessary to grease the wheels here So I do get this question all the time, johnny My license expired six months ago and I can't go back and get another one because I don't live in texas anymore
[07:13] And i'm not a resident yet here in el salvador and my spanish sucks So I can't go down to the driver's license station and get one Because you know to get a legal driver's license in any latin american country you have to be a resident You have to have that sedula card. Oh, and by the way, if you have that Sedula in your spanish really sucks. Don't worry about it You'll still pass the driver's exam even though it's in spanish All you have to do is take a driver's ed course for 100 bucks or less the very last day your driver's ed classroom instructor Will go through the complete test with you. It's latin america You gotta love it But what if your new york or michigan driver's license has expired and you don't have your residency? Then you really have no valid driver's license, do you? It's a spot a lot of gringos and expats find themselves in because sometimes we're just not paying much attention
[08:00] Now, of course, you can always get one of those international driver's licenses In fact for I think it is 65 bucks You can get one that lasts 10 years But you have to scan a valid license and send it to them before they'll complete the deal So then you're in the same quagmire if your license is expired because you have to send a scan to them However, if you know the basics of photoshop, you can get around that quite easily not recommending anything illegal here But you know I'm just telling you what a lot of gringos and expats do oh and it's been quite a few cases I know personally of gringos up in the states who lost their licenses due to just too many duis So they've got no license at all yet. They own cars and drive around all through latin america. How's that possible? Well again, this is latin america and you can go into your lawyer's office lay out the problem for him And generally he knows a guy who knows a guy
[08:48] You know what? I mean and in no time for a hundred bucks or so you will have a valid driver's license Now is it totally registered and all the government computers with all the proper stamps and seals? Well, that's debatable But i'll tell you this every time i've been stopped by a cop and that's been quite a few times I've never once seen them run the license through any kind of scanner or checker to see if the thing actually is registered And of course, they'll never do that with a us or a foreign country license when they barely have their own computer systems up and running Though I guess there will come a time when things are run smoothly and all the proper checks can be made These days i'm going to show you it ain't happening yet And so far i've only seen it happen when a gringo or expat or even a latino Gets in a car accident and the cops come and the insurance adjusters come because you know
[09:35] Almost all gringos and expats wouldn't be caught dead without car insurance and that's a good thing Thing is the insurance adjuster will make sure you've got a valid license Or they won't pay the claim or they're not obliged to that's in the fine print of every insurance policy worldwide So bottom line hugo and everyone else who's interested in hugo's question as to whether there will be a Sort of gray market answer to getting that vaccine card Well, you know if you can get yourself a driver's license by duke and a guy who knows a guy And that's a document that's registered with various government agencies, right? Well, you can be damn sure you'll be able to get a vaccine card in pretty much the same way And I assure you that's not a new idea. They're doing it up in mexico right now and as far as a central Registration database for those vaccine cards. Well, you can bet that'll happen up in the states in all the first world countries
[10:26] But down here in latin america, it'll be bureaucratic government business as usual There'll be so many thousands of doctor's offices clinics and hospitals involved There'll be just no way for all the separate entities to get their acts together Oh, and by the way, if you do end up with a gray market nudge in a wink vaccine card or pass without the prick It will be registered and certified with that lab doctor or hospital. It'll be from a place. That's a hundred percent legit It's just that it'll be two businesses and one a legit front door business and a backdoor business by invitation only too Hey, i'm not advising again for you to do anything illegal But when it comes to your health, you're the one who's got to decide what's good and bad for you And in my case, well i'm not getting that vaccine unless under knife gunpoint or extreme duress
[11:14] But remember if you're thinking about that route as a possibility yourself, you've got a certain window of opportunity That'll probably be open for half a year or less That is until the us government announces that everyone who flies is going to have to have a vaccine card Then of course, it'll be like the mark of the beast You won't be able to go anywhere without it And if you're stuck in the first world when that edict comes down, you'll probably have to get it But during that little window of opportunity you could head down to your favorite friendly latin american country And if you have the right connections, well, you get the point Oh and by the way, have you been reading lately that lots and lots of people who've gotten the vaccination end up with covid anyway Hey, we're not calling at the age of covid it's for nothing, huh?
[11:59] Don't you think that fools like gates falsie and biden should get two shots just for good measure? Hey two masks two shots two brain cells. Why not? Oh and please don't hammer me with emails Asking me where you can get one of those gray market covid it cards Your best bet is to come on down during that window of opportunity and talk to a latin lawyer They might be coy and deny it at first But if you press them They always seem to know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy Who knows a guy oh and you long-time listeners have heard me say this a thousand times You have to hook up with a good latin lawyer and stick with him You can't go lawyer hopping because if you're asking for a rule breaking favor like that If you're not a regular client and don't have a decent relationship with the guy
[12:45] He's not going to stick his neck out for you Why would he by the way? There are lots of other little sticky situations your latin lawyer can get you out of That you wouldn't even want to mention to your lawyer up in cleveland Like I said, whatever sticky situation you might be in your lawyer will know a guy who knows a guy Even if he doesn't admit it at first need another example in the words of jimmy durante I got a million of them problem is of course here in latin america documents and paperwork can be easily Manipulated for a price i'm talking about things getting backdated and such i've seen it in action That's why you really have to have a lawyer be friends with them and have them on your side you go lawyer hopping and in time You could regret it take the case or the multiple cases. I should say of friends of mine who have got stopped
[13:31] Drinking driving and swerving obviously drinking and driving with open booze in the car Well in most all cases if you've got your lawyer on speed dial He'll get you out of it right there and you might just end up with a police escort home and a smile All right now picture that situation Where you don't have a friendly lawyer on speed dial and what about gringos and expats dealing with the courts and the legal system here If you want to take someone to court or someone wants to take you to court if you've got a friendly lawyer He can postpone that case into infinity or settle the whole thing tomorrow That's one of the reasons why here in latin america very few people sue They don't sue for many reasons and here are three good ones Number one a case can be drawn out and postponed for years And secondly the guy with the most dough
[14:18] Usually wins because he can pay his lawyer to stretch it out into infinity And when there's really long time periods involved the witnesses and principal players in the suit are very hard to round up And number three probably the best reason of all frivolous lawsuits are not tolerated In other words if you initiate a lawsuit and you lose you pay the other guy's legal expenses, too Imagine the damper that would put on lawsuit crazy americans up in the states. Oh and lawyers never work on contingency either You know what? I mean you go into a lawyer's office and say if you sue this guy I'll give you a half or a third or whatever. That's commonly done up in the states, right down here You pay the lawyer up front. He's not gonna wait months or even years for his dough Even simple cases could stretch out months at a time even years. Now, of course, remember we're talking about latin lawyers not gringo lawyers
[15:06] So they're making less than a quarter of what first world lawyers get that means they're unlikely to break the bank Except on the gringo tourist trail where gringos get gouged by lawyers all the time Oh and unlike american lawyers latino lawyers aren't on the clock all the time when you call them up for advice or whatever The clock's not ticking Oh and many times a lawyer will just give you a set price for whatever needs to be done And since everything in latin america is negotiable, so is that price? Do remember that and don't be afraid to open your mouth when the negotiations start Now I don't want to make this more complicated than it really is, but I think you're getting the idea Oh, and how about this email from billy a lady guess her parents wanted a boy, huh? She says johnny on a recent past show you mentioned the drug sumatriptin the first really effective non-opioid Migraine medicine developed first by glaxo called immigrant and in some countries known as imitrix
[15:58] You also spoke about generic drugs Let me tell you johnny. I was knee deep in that controversy because I was a rep for glaxo pharmaceutical When I applied back in the day some 30 years ago now fresh shot at college I knew glaxo spent millions on aids and malaria research And back then all the propaganda was saying what a great thing they were doing for the world malaria being one of the number one It is a huge international company and I came in on the ground floor of the sales force I had my degree in marketing and advertising, but I wasn't prepared for the training I got As a glaxo sales rep specifically johnny and what a coincidence to sell their new drug Imitrix that was the push that was the flavor of the month when I first signed on The job came with a great starting salary a company car and two weeks of training
[16:45] Like a crash course in medicine With an emphasis on headaches and the respiratory system and everything and anything about the different types of migraines It was also a great education and how to sell things to people Even things they don't want or have any use for which was really an eye opener for me And I wasn't marketing and advertising. I was the guy to sell immigrant directly to the doctors And glaxo bless their dirty little hearts taught us all the techniques on how to outwit doctors secretaries to get appointments They also taught us how to evaluate doctor and secretary personality types And how to pitch and hone our sales techniques precisely To which kind of personality types we encountered as we entered a doctor's office We had our quotas too and our goal Was to walk into a doctor's office and get a sale 70 of the time
[17:35] Of course, we handed out boxes of samples and since immigrant actually did work It became such a huge seller that in some years it racked up the sales of one point two billion dollars. Why? Because we were selling it for twenty five dollars a pill now the bulk of our training was not really in medicine or drugs It was in personality profiling if you sense a doctor for example was the authoritarian type You had to keep your pitch short and make it clear how clever you thought he was Just lay on the compliments without making it too obvious You'll let him talk a lot then when you pitch the drug you just pair it back to him some of the very same words He had used now if your doctor was the analytical personality type You don't mention the medication at all at first You went straight into a long discussion of all the different kinds of migraine headaches
[18:23] I could see right away It was all about manipulating and hooking the doctors And so every day me and my sales platoon would descend on doctor's offices like and set a picnic And aggressively pitch that migraine medicine Now what most people don't know is that the u.s And new zealand are the only two countries in the world that allow tv ads about prescription drugs for us sales reps That was icing on the cake. Did you ever notice how happy and animated the people in those ads are young couples Frolicking through fields of flowers lean smiling well groomed geriatric couples on the golf course Attractive well tanned grandparents pushing their cute young grandkids on a backyard swing When I went on vacation for the first time in latin america It was a revelation relief and a pleasant surprise not to see any kind of drug ad at all on tv except
[19:12] Aspirin alka seltzer pepto bismol and toothpaste commercials I felt like I was in a time machine back in the 1980s again and on that very controversial subject of generic medications I can tell you from my own experience everyone in the drug industry knows generics are the same There's no change in the formulation case in point When imitrix immigrant had its patent run out so that other companies could produce generics Glaxo kept selling imitrex and immigrant but also formulated their own generic with an added inert compound The exact drug from the same manufacturing line under a subsidiary brand name at half the price Meanwhile a number of other companies started producing the generic subatriptin for as little as one dollar appeal to the customer Lots of online overseas pharmacies in canada britain and india etc offering that kind of deal
[20:02] But people especially people in first world countries are fooled by marketing ads and doctors and well-placed internet articles That are just marketing articles really dissing generic drugs So glaxo still makes its billions selling imitrix through doctor's prescriptions and they're making millions on the generic too At half the price while other generics out there that are exactly the same are selling for 1 20th the price of the original proprietary drug immigrant We've all got freedom of choice and in many cases It's about what insurance will cover though insiders don't like to talk about it They'll all pretty much agree off the record that generics are exactly the same as proprietary drugs And oftentimes and especially in the case of immigrant and the generic coming out of glaxo from the very same manufacturing plant and packaging lines
[20:50] All right Very interesting. Thanks for that And now since we're talking about covidiot stuff comes an email from the famous oscar miner He's one of the early early crypto and mining guys that came down to one of my very first expat insider seminars And he remained in guadamala ever since a man of many talents and many hobbies Including a room in his house where I think he's got something like 10 drones in various stages of assembly and disassembly He certainly is a masterful techie and he always speaks for Around an hour at my expat insider seminars on the subject of crypto mining and related stuff and he sent me this Entitled the joys of traveling during a pandemic Flight number one entering costa riga i'll condense this a bit because we're getting towards the end of the show He says my family and I are really excited to get back on the road and do some proper traveling again
[21:40] For the last 21 years I visited at least six new countries a year traveling countless times to my favorites That is every year except last year because of the covidiot stuff But finally we'd had enough and decided to pack our bags and take a trip Anyway, you see we want to go to brazil We know people there only problem is my wife is chinese and we need a visa for her to enter brazil And the brazilian embassy has been closed here in panamorayam right now since december We have gone to the brazilian embassy many times to check with them about opening and they can never confirm A proper opening date even when we email or phone them. We don't get a straight answer So we decided to head over to costa rica for a couple of weeks. You know, it's right next door to panama Plus we heard the brazilian embassy in costa rica is apparently open But we just didn't pop over for nothing We had a friend who's staying locally in san jose confirmed that
[22:26] The plan being to go to costa rica on the weekend allow two days to submit the visa application, which is Overly complicated and requires a ton of stuff And then head to one of the costa rica resorts on the pacific coast while we waited for the paperwork to get processed at the brazilian embassy So off we went leaving panama was simple took him an airport in panama was like a ghost town and hardly anybody was there in the lines We learned our lesson though last time when traveling out of panama with our daughter If you're bringing a kid along make sure you bring the birth certificate to show immigration. That is indeed your child Even having the same last name on other documents is not enough. We had to show the paperwork This is important to know throughout latin america Actually, anyway, although the airport was empty our flight to costa rica was full seems panamanians are big on going to costa rica, too
[23:12] It was a short 60 minute flight when we touched down in san jose Here's the hitch at immigration in san jose You must show you have travel insurance from a company that specializes in costa rica insurance And will cover you in case you become ill with the covidiet disease while there you must be covered for at least 50 000 us dollars and a minimum coverage of two thousand dollars for lodging expenses, etc, etc Just in case you test positive now, if you don't have insurance, they give two options ins and sag it core However, I found them very expensive luckily We had full travel insurance with our own particular provider that covers us for a million bucks But does not cover our hotel stay in costa rica in the event. We test positive get sick or Have to spend extra days in quarantine in a hotel. That's something I could easily cover myself
[24:00] But you need insurance so that really does smell like a racket if you ask me So we had to buy it then after you have your insurance sorted out. You must take a health declaration online health questionnaire Which will automatically generate a qr code. They will want to see at immigration when you check through We saw tons of people leaving that line and being refused entry because they didn't know about this step Typical latin america. However, the good thing is that costa rica has dropped at least at the time of this writing The covidiet test on arrival. I personally have zero interest in being lobotomized with those barbaric PCR shish kebab skewer up the nose test so far so good We came in on a sunday and late afternoon We walked down to the brazilian embassy To judge how long the walk would be to make sure we knew we were going the next day
[24:47] So it wasn't any surprise monday morning Then he says from my experience most embassies only work from 8 30 in the morning till noon All right meet johnny with my two cents. He's really being optimistic saying embassies work from 8 30 till noon You know in my experience i've tagged along with many people from different countries to their embassies and the smaller the embassy The more likely they are to have a sign on the door saying we'll be back tomorrow Even though they're hours on the door post that they're open It was like that before the covidiet crap All right, then he says so monday morning came and we arrived at the brazilian embassy to find the front door security guard would not Let us in saying we needed an appointment I pulled up some papers waved him around and somehow he let us in anyway with a confused look on his face Didn't even have to pay him a bribe But our luck did not hold out at the next checkpoint a second security guard informed us that the embassy's not open
[25:36] There weren't any officials around to open it up Then he called someone and he called another and he called another with no luck As you might imagine we were a little pissed and surprised that our friend had confirmed They were indeed open here We took the time the effort and the doe to fly to another country only to get the bums rush So what the hell happened? Anyway, we were given an emergency phone number for the embassy and started a what's up conversation with them All right, me johnny here with two more cents Remember when in latin america you have to have what's up or you won't be able to connect with anyone even though big brother And mark succotard are always listening. You know, of course, what's up is owned by fake book All right Then he says he finally got through on the emergency phone number and it turns out they had not updated their opening hours on their government
[26:22] Website or on the door to reflect their covid at hours Even though we've only been in this pandemic for more than 12 months now Apparently the embassy folks are so busy. They haven't had the time or opportunity to change the numbers on the website It figures lard asses and about my emails They said they didn't receive them because they changed their email address too, which is also not updated on their website We even went so far as to stand in front of their embassy and send selfies to the bureau rats Hoping they'd come down to see us. No luck there either Finally an embassy guy explained there will be no way in the next two days to see them in person However, the good news was he said that the entire processing time for the visa Would take only about 15 business days. That's three weeks So in the end we ended up walking back and forth from our airbnb to the brazil embassy about 20 times with zero results
[27:13] And to top it off when we went to the bank to pay for the visa ahead of time After standing in line for about an hour the teller told my wife she couldn't take the money She had to go back to the airbnb and get her passport and show it to him They wouldn't take the dough without her proving who she was such are the joys and pleasures of traveling latin america in the age of covid You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in central america Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b. Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com No spamos