#1127 – The Expat Files: Life in Latin America, Cleaning Ladies, and Socialist Governments

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 that 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, we're back as this show goes out We'll be right in the middle of my expat insider seminar Of course, that means we'll be on the road with boots on the ground exploring too So there will not be a new expat file show or Sunday February 20th, but I hope to do the next one or two shows direct from Bitcoin Beach and El Salvador

[00:50] So stay tuned for that By the way, just a comment here regarding something I see all the time Cheapskate gringos. Yeah, cheapskate gringos. They're everywhere. After all, it's the backpackers calling card, right? But don't be confused just because a gringo doesn't tip a waiter or waitress at a restaurant doesn't mean he's a cheapskate It just might mean he's astute and those little Spanish and he looked at the bill and he saw there was a 10 or 15 percent Tip or propena already added to it. You see that all over Latin America, especially at well-known eating establishments So do look at the bottom of your bill if it says propena and 10 or 12 or 15 percent added Well, you know if you had really good service, you can give more it's up to you But just be aware that probably in 70 or 80 percent of the cases the tips already edited

[01:37] Except and look out for this when you're at one of those little mom-and-pop restaurants where they handwrite the receipt instead of getting a printout So when you're at a place like that and it's handwritten the tip is not included. So tip them, please 10 or 15 percent as usual Tell you what? I really hate though when you're on the tourist trail Costa Rica Cancun The resort areas at Dominican Republic many places in Panama, too You go into a restaurant you look at the menu you get the bill and they've slapped an 18 percent tourist tax on you plus 10 or 15 percent tip all of a sudden that $10 meal is 13 or 14 bucks I'll tell you you don't have to be a cheapskate for that to Erkia Yep, you heard that right when you're on the tourist trail in Latin America You could and will most times be nailed for 30 plus percent more than the listed advertised prices And you know that irritates me so much

[02:24] This might seem crappy to say but I never no matter how great the service leave any extra tip Does you know for me that any tip is included in the bill is sort of an irritant? I've always been taught that you should be the one who determines the amount of the tip or technically then it ain't a tip Is it since a tip by definition is voluntary look it up. Oh, and here's a sticky situation Did you ever have bad service and say to the waiter or cashier? You're not paying the tip. That's already included on the bill I've done it, but maybe just two or three times in my life and believe me It was a fight, but the fact that gringoized areas nail you with a tourist tax 15 18 even 25 percent in some cases think about how regressive that is It's more than an insult first of all the tourist town is what brings in all the dough to these countries, right? Yet governments have the balls to punish you with a tourist tax

[03:13] When the truth is most people spend like drunken sailors when they're on vacation By the way, have you ever met a drunken sailor? I met one once and he would even buy me a drink could they be getting a bad rap maybe just saying anyway Those hefty tourist taxes and gringo saturated areas. Well, that's just another good reason I'll never have my plan be on the tourist trail Oh and just to revisit an earlier topic I was talking about how there are plenty of fortune tellers and self-proclaimed clairvoyance you'll find them in every Latin neighborhood But you'll almost never find them on the tourist trail if you want to find one yourself You have to ask around in a scruffy neighborhood Anyway, I was at a little barbecue party at a latino's home the other day in a sort of upscale neighborhood Gated guarded community and all that and as I was taking a little walk through the house checking the doors that were open

[04:00] I like to look around I'm kind of a snoop you longtime listeners have heard me say that if I ever end up at your house someday Make sure you hide this stuff in your bathroom cabinet. You don't want me to see cuz I'm gonna look And you might just hear me talking about it on the show Anyway, I was kind of snooping around and I stuck my head into a room and saw one of those little prayer altars You know with the candles statues open Bible nothing unusual for the typical Latino house Except when I popped my head in the door off the laundry room Turned out to be the quarto de cervecio where the cleaning lady lives and you know what? She had her own little altar in there with her own burning candles Turns out there's kind of a caste system when it comes to prayer altars, too Kind of sad really turns out the Latina lady of the house wouldn't share her upscale altar with the lowly cleaning lady

[04:46] Hey, what can I tell you but the classism that you see in Latin America is extreme I said classism not racism now You've probably heard me say that most all homes in Latin America that aren't shacks, you know That don't have tin roofs and such have some kind of quarto de cervecio maids room That's right. Even an 800 square foot cracker box will have a maids quarters It seems just so weird to us gringles and expats who come from a society where a maids quarters was only found in a very Wealthy person's house certainly in the houses of people. I never had a chance to step foot in I mean really come on How many people do you know that have live-in maids in the old days back in Chicago? I know exactly zero families who did and I knew a couple of very wealthy families won't factories

[05:34] Multi-millionaires that didn't have live-in maids sure they had maids, but no one lived in but here in Latin America You see that all the time Some people have to a live-in nanny and a live-in maid even families considered poor by our standards people who make a thousand bucks a month Let's say most all have a house with a maids quarters with live-in maids to even on that salary because a live-in maid here in Latin America are often paid between a hundred fifty and two hundred bucks a month because they're getting room and board to I know I know that sounds ridiculous and impossible But you see it all the time now as a gringo an expat, of course, you could pay him a lot more than that It's up to you, but tens of thousands of maids and cleaning ladies all over Latin America are only making a hundred fifty to two hundred bucks a week Now all the houses I've lived in have had maids quarters, too

[06:20] Eventually, they always became storage or work rooms for me a couple of times I have torn out the toilet and the shower stall. They'll give myself a little extra shelf space That's what most gringos and expats end up doing we just can't get used to having a maid living in the house And I've always had a maid. Well, maybe not the first six months. I got down here But for the rest of the time, yes, I've had a maid and right now my maid comes in three days a week And when I hired her, I didn't set the price. I asked her what she wanted to get I know the going raid and of course you ask him that question They're gonna highball it and I can tell you she was a little shocked when I said, okay, I'll pay that I paid about 230 bucks a month exactly what she asked for and she works three days a week Monday Wednesday and Friday and she doesn't live in in fact, I've only had that situation once long long time ago

[07:07] I had a living mate for a couple of months. Anyway, I know I told the story before but it's worth repeating She was a young cute humble indigenous girl Maybe 19 who used to get one weekend off a month to go back to her Pueblo, which is a couple hundred miles away She worked about three or four months for me and one day she called me up from her Pueblo on her weekend off and told Me kind of tearfully that she wasn't coming back anymore. Her reason she just got married to the boy She left behind. Well, that was alright with me because I just couldn't get used to having someone live in like that It was an experiment for me and I'm glad she ended it But here's the thing. Let me tell you about my cleaning lady the one I have right now I'd say she's about 35 a single mother living alone kind of pudgy and really short closing in on four foot something But man, can she work? She said it takes an hour to an hour and a half to get in my place every morning and to get home at night

[07:57] She has to do three bus transfers. She lives in a really kind of crappy body Oh, but the rents are really cheap. She says she pays about a hundred bucks a month for her little apartment rent for her and a kid Like I said, she works three days a week comes at 730 and leaves at 630 at night Not because I insisted those were her working hours in all the time She's been working for me a couple of years now. I never once mentioned any kind of strict working hours Those are the hours that work for her 730 to 630 at night Oh and did I tell you she goes shopping for me cooks my breakfast and lunch She'd do dinner for me too, but I eat a late lunch She goes to the bank pays the Internet and utility bills pops off to the hardware store If I need some nails or screws, whatever errands are necessary. I just tell her and she's on it

[08:42] Oh, by the way, many cleaning ladies and maids have their idiosyncrasies mind us She works barefoot all the time. Plus she likes to sing while she works not real loud, but she does sing You know what that means? Don't you she likes her job? And unlike so many discordant Latinas that love to sing too. She actually sings in tune. How about that? Oh and almost every time I ask her a question or we talk a little bit about something She almost always concludes with the phrase gracias ideas or see deals permit day For example, when she goes out the door on Monday, I'll say goodbye Ingrid. See you Wednesday. She won't say okay She'll say see deals permit day if God permits and sometimes I'll say in Spanish cuz she knows zero English

[09:28] I'll say oh, I think he will be on silk AC and she always laughs and get this She hasn't missed a day in two years except of course when I'm traveling been doing a lot of that lately But I still pay her her regular salary if I'm not around in the house is locked up I don't give anybody the key you have to realize girls like her live on the edge from day to day So I still give her her regular amount why make life any harder for and by the way at the end of the day when she's Walking out the door. She always opens up her purse and lets me inspect it now I never asked her to do that But that seems to be the general routine with all cleaning ladies some of them do have sticky fingers You know, I've had a few of those So it seems to be the general routine that all employers expect their cleaning ladies to open up that purse

[10:14] To be inspected when they're leaving for the day though to me That seems pretty weak because if a cleaning lady for example want to steal some money She's not gonna put it in her purse. She's gonna put it in her shoe or bra or pants There are endless places to hide stuff on your person I mean really if you want to be stealthy about stealing stuff, you're not gonna put it in your purse Nevertheless, we do go through that dumb routine every time she leaves Hmm. So what else about the cleaning thing? Oh, yeah, of course, I include her lunch She could have breakfast too, but she only eats lunch I always tell her she could eat anything that's in the house. And if she wants something special She could just buy it when she goes to the store. I'll pay but believe me. There's nothing Extravagant about a cleaning lady's eating habits. They're rice beans and chicken people all the way Of course, I give her a little extra things here and there

[11:00] She scavenges stuff that I throw out like for example I threw out a paint can the other day that had maybe three inches of paint in it That was all kind of lumpy and curdly, you know How old paint gets and when I put it by the door for her to take out to the garbage She said can I have that? I said sure take it and I've given her extra food to take home to the kid and when Christmas and birthdays come around I give her a present and her kid too I buy a nice toy for the kid because I know she can't afford it. Now, of course, she's not the perfect cleaning lady I had to really train her up especially the hygiene part of cooking and Sometimes she goes crazy with the chlorine bleach when she's doing the laundry In fact, she's staying more than a few of my bath towels And I told her if she wrecks another one of my good towels I'm gonna dock her pay though. That just was more or less an idle threat

[11:46] I wouldn't do that, but I can't have her wrecking expensive towels either When by the way, she works the other two days a week at a Latino family I don't know man. I have no idea what kind of neighborhood they're living either However, it's a family. She says with a medium-sized dog That's kind of crazy and it doesn't listen and has no training poops and peas all over the place and gets into everything She says the owners feel training up the dog is not part of the equation since they have a cleaning lady Anyway, I bet she doesn't work barefoot in that house nor does she sing much Anyway, I've had lots of experience with cleaning ladies and they always tell me they'd rather work for gringos and expats than anyone In fact, we're known for spoiling them too Whereas most Latino families are known for treating their cleaning ladies like second-class citizens They yell at them and order them around like slaves not all Latino employers, of course

[12:37] But I've seen enough of it to know it's fairly common. Yep I've seen it and it's embarrassing a couple of times at Latino parties I've seen the Latina matriarch the mama the head of the house insult the cleaning lady in front of people to me That's a big no-no. There's nothing worse than that. In fact up in the States They always teach in those business management courses If you're gonna discipline an employee always do it in private never in front of anyone else And when you're done with that conversation, which could be harsh Should always end on a positive note Maybe compliment something they're doing right so they don't walk out of there all pissed off if they're generally good employees You don't want them to be pissed off or totally deflated because you know one harsh word from an employer can cut pretty deep And it's twice as bad if it's done in front of spectators, but you do that already, right or did you?

[13:27] Yeah, you did. But apparently most Latina boss ladies don't oh and note I said Latina boss ladies because when I've seen cleaning ladies Castigated and I've seen that at least a dozen times every time it was done by the boss lady the lady of the house Not her husband even though he pays her salary because that's the well-established Hierarchy in a Latin household the mother of the house in charge of the cleaning lady a guy in the house dad In charge of the gardener or maintenance guy In other words mothers in charge of the inside of the house and the cleaning lady and father the man of the house Is in charge of the outside the maintenance guy in the gardener's domain? All right, there you have it some tips and advice How gringos and expats and local Latinos deal with their own cleaning ladies? It's a little insight as to why most cleaning ladies maintenance guys and gardeners prefer to work for gringos and expats

[14:19] All right now an email from Marco see he says Johnny I was fortunate to migrate to America in 1969 from Brazil At the time I was in training as an economist a career that was somewhat delayed because my English was terrible when I arrived in the States By the way, he says don't ever let anyone tell you economics is a real science It's a black art at best that directs policies and politics depending on which party is in office A real science is like for example mathematics where two plus two always equals four No matter how many idiot wokesters say it's a white supremacist concept Anyhow math is a real science whereas economists have no such universally agreed upon truisms

[15:05] You can get economists from different political parties to disagree on almost everything. It's really a joke Consider for example, he says the Federal Reserve in the United States has 200 plus economists on the payroll So by that measure it only takes 200 economists to drive the world's biggest economy into the toilet By all measures its mission accomplished But what I really wanted to write about to tell you are my sad Observations about what I've seen going down in America since I landed in 69 It took 50 years of terrible political management to turn the world's greatest economy into the Titanic And like any massive ship even if you pull hard on the rudder It takes a huge amount of time to notice even the smallest change in the course He says I see real evil in US politics disguised as benevolence

[15:54] I've seen the same evil socialist communist fools in my country. They promised people they'll tax the rich It works every time regular working-class people love that refrain tax the rich So they vote for that little by little the socialists take over the government There is a saying in Latin America to get a socialist government You have to vote them in but to get them out it takes a violent uprising because they don't go softly So that's just what the politicians promise tax the rich Increase the debt and to do that they have to roll the money printing presses But the fools in government can't keep that game rolling They always run out of other people's money and if they really succeed in taxing the rich the rich move their corporations offshore and what we see in the u.s Right now is implosion due to money printing which always devalues the money through inflation

[16:43] Meanwhile university economic departments are churning out new wave economists who believe in a new paradigm called MMT modern monetary theory which sanctions unlimited government spending helicopter money endless money printing and the Unimportance of massive government debt. Well, it's deja vu all over again and again and again like Cuba, Venezuela Argentina and my country Brazil In fact, I remember my dad back in the 60s Hurrying from getting his paycheck to convert the soon-to-be devalued Brazilian reales into something else like dollars gold Whatever and once a country's money supply is thoroughly debased and their treasury filled with worthless bonds and I owe use They all end up like Venezuela, but before they completely go off the rails. It gets worse

[17:31] They go to war. It's a last-ditch effort to get people who are pissed off at their failed government Redirected and pissed off at the country. They're going to war with usually a neighbor Stirring up nationalism and patriotism by going to war is a common last move of failed governments Then he says and what always amazes me and I've been studying this a long time is the combination of extreme Ignorance and arrogance in those evil government fools and corporate fascist control freaks Somehow they always believe or at least extol that they can make a never-before successful system like socialism work This time even after 50 plus failed Marxist and socialist experiments worldwide With untold suffering and countless millions dead. They always say they'll get it right this time

[18:20] They've worked out the kinks this time Doesn't it seem odd that no lifer politician who pushes those ideas has ever lived in a socialist country? Like I did in Brazil, but not to worry. They'll get it right because it's different this time And he signs it Marco C. New York, New York PS as I am retired now I've been popping back and forth to Latin America Brazil included naturally since both I and my wife have relatives there However, I'm looking at Guatemala el Salvador and possibly Panama as my plan B exit strategy and people my friends and such say Why not Brazil? After all, we both know Portuguese and have relatives and family there. I tell them no way It's a basket case and when they press me for details

[19:06] I say are you sure you want to hear about it because it makes me sad to talk about it All right. Thanks for that Marco. I guess I've got nothing to add. That's a first, huh? Okay, moving on a couple of shows ago We talked about lard ass traffic cops the trials and tribulations of driving in Latin America the constant battles You'll have with all the idiot drivers the roadblocks police stops your gringo advantage when you get pulled over, etc, etc Well today, let's talk a little bit about radar guns and speed traps Some big Latin American cities have speed traps funny thing though. They seem to show up in upscale neighborhoods I wonder why probably because people with nice cars tend to pay their fines While locals driving junkers are so used to violating traffic rules on a daily basis. They rarely pay their fines

[19:52] They just let them stack up So anyway more and more towns and cities in Latin America are installing photo radars We all know and hate those things Did you ever get a photo radar surprise in your mailbox or maybe they're sending those things by email these days? They're starting to install those things down here in Latin America, too But for now anyway only in upscale neighborhoods and gringo eyes tourist areas I wonder why isn't that funny especially since in the scruffier crappier neighborhoods Drivers practically think it's a human right to violate traffic laws and they do it with impunity But first something you have to know that's very different from up in the states down here in most Latin American countries Anyway, when you buy and register a car in the local municipality and you get a ticket

[20:38] It's assessed not against you, but your car That means if someone else besides the owner is driving the car and they get a ticket doesn't matter It's assessed against the car And if the fines not paid the fees add up and when you go to renew this sticker on your car that comes up Once a year, it's called the cars circulation Circulation if there's been a traffic violation or two They won't issue that new sticker until you pay the fines But here's the thing those few countries like Costa Rica parts of Mexico Panama, etc Who've installed those photo radars have found out. It's a cash cow So you can expect more and more of those things to be popping up Especially again on the gringo tourist trail and in upscale neighborhoods all over Latin America, but believe me There's huge lag time on that and remember There's a terrible Latin American maintenance issue

[21:25] So if you spot one of those photo radars at an intersection unless it's brand-new or had been recently installed Chances are it's on the blink or will be soon We all want the locals to have better driving habits after all and if it takes a bunch of fines to do it Well problem is they're not targeting the really bad and dangerous drivers only the moderately bad ones So then why am I bringing this up right now because I wanted to read you snippets from this article published just this week in Cuenca Ecuador's biggest newspaper as you probably know by now gringles and expats have been piling into Cuenca Ecuador ever since International living started pushing Ecuador is a great expat destination And what did you know it as the gringo started piling in a few years back suddenly came those photo radars coincidence I don't think so and the government likes that cash cow so much. They're installing more listen to this

[22:14] And I'll read some snippets and paraphrase here It says the city of Cuenca is planning on installing 32 four-door radars at 16 urban and rural intersections Ostensibly, I like that word to reduce accidents. Yeah, right Then it says the devices take photos of license plates of vehicles that are speeding or making improper turns Drivers who run stoplights or stop on top of zebra crosswalks. How about that? All right now my two centavos This is not the first time photo radars have been installed in Cuenca Ecuador turns out over the last couple of years They've had a few installed and are addicted to the money. They bring it That's why they've ordered 32 more of them even though it says it's gonna cost them seven million 292,000 bucks for that new group of 32. I know it sounds like an unbelievable price to pay and maybe they'll never be able to

[23:06] Pay it back. Well, that's what I was thinking at first, but I was wrong turns out. This is pretty shocking they've got seven other previously installed photo radars in the city and just for the six months from January to June 2021 they collected 3 million bucks and fines 3 million bucks and that's with just seven of these setups and now they're ordering more than four times as many It's obvious. It's not about making better drivers out of the population It's about collecting dough because they're not installing these things in the neighborhoods where they've got they're really crappy even dangerous Drivers and all those junk cars instead. They're installing them in upscale areas where people have decent cars and who will pay those fines Oh, and then the article says be careful about who you lend your car to since each violation carries a hundred and twenty seven dollar fine

[23:57] You know, that's really funny because some of the really terrible cars and taxis in the really junk neighborhoods are worth less than that 127 bucks now that seems par for the course for a fine up in the States maybe but for Latin America That's steep But just like in places like Cancun in Costa Rica when the gringos pile in the price of everything goes up In fact, I don't think there's a single transit fine in Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua, El Salvador That's over 40 bucks. He had an Ecuador there four times as much Of course you longtime listeners know and visitors to Costa Rica that they really got you there with traffic fines In fact, one of my friends got a speeding ticket there cost him five hundred fifty bucks Gringo prices all the way now he lives there So he knew he'd have to pay it eventually or he wouldn't be able to renew his circulation sticker on his car

[24:47] Well as it turned out a couple weeks later He had to fly to the states for some reason and when he got to the airport, he found his passport was blocked He had to pony up 550 bucks for that fine or miss his flight He found out the hard way all the transit computers are now connected to one Santa Marina International Airport in Costa Rica Yep, that happened because too many gringo tourists rented a car got a transit fine didn't pay up and left the country Yet another negative secondary effective way too many annoying gringos Oh and one last thing about these photo radars. They're installing an Ecuador now they're not installed yet, but they're having a big debate in the city council and that debate is over placement of Those new radar systems throughout the city Where will they go? Where should they put them because you see a couple of city councilmen are pissed

[25:38] They don't want them in their neighborhoods because they see it as the government putting its hands in the pockets of the local citizens So, how do you think that's gonna turn out? You have to believe in the end most of those things will end up in gringo neighborhoods Why because Cuenca Ecuador citizens can vote and gringos can't oh And speaking of Ecuador, you know, I've been reading a lot of cases lately where they've captured an extradited gringos Committed crimes both in the states and internationally. Hey, I'm all for picking up an extraditing pedophiles and such I say lock them up put them in the prison general population and have that word pedophile stenciled in large letters on that orange jumpsuit See how long they last same thing with rapists, but it seems to me by all the stats Ecuador

[26:24] extradites more gringos back to the states than any other Latin country Like for example, this week's gringo extradition poster child's a guy named Ronald G 62 years old a legal resident in Ecuador too How'd that happen who's been charged with swindling the bank accounts and credit cards of more than? 1700 victims turns out to use some of that dota by a couple of bars and restaurants in Ecuador Now I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to get extradited. He probably does My question is if he's been such a big-time swindler How do you end up in Ecuador in the first place and for so long to buy businesses and get his legal residency? The bigger question is how come so many bad boy gringos have ended up in Ecuador so many But it seems every week some high-profile gringos being extradited and you read about it in the papers

[27:10] Imagine all the lesser cases you don't even read about, you know the further you dig into things like this the more questions pop up Why so many gringo swindlers in Ecuador? What drew him there? Why Ecuador? Are they all international living subscribers? Maybe and why does the Ecuador government bow so easily to the US extradition requests? Hmm. We'll have to dig a little deeper into that 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