#1180 – The Expat Files: Challenges, Identity, and Cultural Insights

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

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you 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. Let's begin with some news about the seminar. Unfortunately, we're gonna have to postpone it Remember it was initially set up for the first week in November November 4th Well as I've been warning you guys all along since about maybe three or four seminars ago

[00:46] Everyone could be my last or at least last until further notice, you know since about 2012 I was doing two seminars a year then Covid hit the vaccine and the off-and-on lockdowns with various countries are still going on Anyway, it's getting tougher and tougher to get the logistics to work out for putting on one of these things The fact is I don't have to or need to do these things So they better be fun for me and not just loaded with stress and unknowns For example, we always do lots of boots on the ground trips And since the Covid it thing some places won't let you bring in a big group anymore So what was easy before is no longer a piece of cake arranging boots on the ground trips to doctors offices hospitals and clinics is Getting harder to do it's not a sure thing. They don't want crowds even small ones because the plague is everywhere, right? Oh

[01:34] Scary so anyway the crazy logistics plus the fact that just a couple days ago September 15th the seminar early bird discounts ended People signed up. All right, but not enough to actually predict how many people are coming to make proper room reservations That's the tough part reserving the rooms way ahead of time cuz you're gonna put down deposits Usually by the day the discounts expire I have a nice solid number of people who've already paid so I can give that information to the hotels Because 90% of the people pay before the early bird discount expires But in this case if I got a whole bunch of people who've expressed interest but have not signed up yet So that means I have no idea how many hotel rooms to reserve you get the idea, right? So in this particular case, I've got a whole bunch of people saying they're going to sign up, but they haven't So anyway, we're postponing the seminar till later next year or maybe never you regular listeners know that for a long time

[02:25] I've been saying since about 2018 anyway I've been saying if you're thinking about coming to one of my expat insider seminars and you're a procrastinator You better jump on it now because this might be my last well, you thought I was fooling, huh? Now that's not to say I won't be doing anymore in the future But you already know that the windows of opportunity are closing It's getting harder and harder to get out of the country to get your passports in residency and get your dough transferred out of the country Too it's all getting more and more difficult. So anyway, that's the late breaking news on the seminar Not to mention it's getting worse and worse with the airlines, too You know that if you've been traveling lately or in any time during the covid you think in fact at the last seminar At least a third of people's flights were late by hours some by days That means there were lots of times when my people were hanging around the airport just waiting and waiting

[03:13] Waiting till the last person got off the plane and then nothing So then what do you do that almost never happened before with previous seminars if you've been traveling You know what a nightmare airports are and now they think nothing of canceling flights when you're already at the airport and waiting the board That happened with people who came to the last seminar and it's happened to me this year a couple of times Talk about throwing a wrench into the works when you've got some plan Especially a big event like a seminar. So anyway, once again, the seminar has been postponed We'll keep you posted if and when we have another but it won't be this year All right on with the show Speaking of getting out of Dodge or wanting to get out of Dodge or not being able to get out of Dodge Comes this email from Adam. He says hey Johnny. Hope you're doing well I'm doing some work on my house and was considering a water purification system

[03:58] I remember that you had mentioned your custom water filtration system in previous shows I believe you said that if we wanted to know the design you could send one to us by email Would you mind sending that to me? Thanks, man. Keep up the great work. Yes now for the sad part of this email This is completely unrelated But I thought you might be interested to hear a personal anecdote about the clown world up here in the US and why it's time To get the hell out of Dodge as for me I was raised to live in a conservative religious state of Utah My parents brought us up as Mormons even though many of us no longer practice We all generally ascribe to very traditional values He says believe it or not One of my sisters is raising her family here and chose to homeschool her children to protect from the negative social pressures of the government

[04:45] school system Even after going to those lengths one of their teenage sons a six foot one 230 pound obese 15 year old somehow got it into his head that he's not a boy But a girl my sister and her husband not knowing what to do Trusted the system and took him to a doctor Well the doctor confirmed that the medical science is clear and settled if the boy thinks he's a girl Then he is indeed a girl now in my sister's mind She has to follow doctor's orders after all what kind of mother doesn't listen to a medical professional Her son is telling her he's a girl and the doctor is confirming it. What choice does she have? So her son is now on testosterone blockers being given estrogen growing long hair and now he's even forcing his voice to speak three

[05:33] Octaves higher in order to sound highly feminized in a ridiculous sort of way And of course we the family have to refer to my nephew by his new female name and use female pronouns I'm sure that at some point within the next couple of years They'll perform the surgery and cut off his penis and insert some breasts He can't legally drink smoke or even go to an R-rated movie without his parents consent But somehow he knows that permanent life-altering changes to his body are necessary if it weren't so horribly tragic It would sound like a very bad joke now This kid's entire life is being completely wrecked because of the extremist ideology infecting our society Then he says the insidious tentacles of the woke agenda have found their way even to the home school nuclear family

[06:19] All the way to the Mormons of Utah with their traditional Christian values It's just one more sad piece of evidence that the once great American society is crumbling at an ever-increasing pace How long though Johnny until this reaches Latin America? That's what I want to know. Well, we then need a plan C. Anyway, Johnny Thanks again. Take care of yourself Signed Adam from the quote conservative state of Utah Well, thanks for that little personal anecdote Adam Sorry to hear about if that isn't a reason to get the hell out of Dodge get that plan B going I don't know. What is you know, you read about that stuff and you say to yourself What the hell's going on with the world? But when it happens right in your own backyard with your own family That's when it's no longer idle chatter. It gets dead serious Man, am I glad I don't live north of the border Best thing I ever did was get the hell out of Dodge moved to Latin America and sometimes not a day goes by when I don't

[07:09] Tell myself that I'm serious, especially when I check the daily news reports I almost think you guys up north are living in a bizarro world on another planet. In fact, Adam I don't know how I would act for example If I went to a family get-together and my 15 year old six foot something obese nephew All of a sudden showed up sat down next to me completely transitioned You know, I wouldn't even know what to say to the guy the girl How could that situation be comfortable for anybody in the room think of the life this guy girl is gonna have? At least as a tall fat guy male that is if he excels becomes a success That's what sociologists will tell you most ladies are interested in in a long-term mate Successful nice honest guy a good provider When a guy's achieved some kind of status looks aren't all that important in the mating and dating game

[07:58] But on the other side if you're a she who is proportionally way out of the norm Well seems to be she's looking at a world of constant ridicule pain and hurting the mating dating game for her is gonna Be extremely difficult and heartbreaking to say the least not to mention here. She is looking at a lifetime of therapy But you knew that already, right? So then there's all that craziness coming to Latin America or coming eventually because of that lag time thing Well, Adam, I have to say the woke wave of destruction has not rolled over Latin America Not yet. Anyway, except it's trying to grab a toehold in guess where? Gringo expat areas because a certain class of socially retarded expats are bringing it down with them You've heard me mention that before but I'll tell you when you're off the green with tourist trail, you see none of that

[08:44] However, when you're on the tourist trail You'll always be able to find one or two even a handful of woke expat fake book sites The question is what about transgender people in Latin America? Are there many down here and how does society treat them? Well, you know what even though it's a very macho society Transgender people are here. Of course, they have to survive so they work in traditional sort of female role type jobs at clothing stores boutiques at hair beauty and aesthetic salons as Waitresses nurses, you know people helping professions I've noticed you'll never see a transgender cop or a transgender person working on a construction site They seem to stay away from those physical manly professions Of course, there's always a few closeted ones, but they're usually very easy to spot at least in my experience

[09:32] And that's what I've been told by many other people, too Of course the average Latino thinks it's quite odd the whole transgender thing and how it's blown up into such a big deal up in the states They think it's a kind of contagion whose flames have been fanned in the US though Latinos in general Don't seem to have anything against the trans thing They still think it's pretty hot because 20 or 30 years ago that stuff never really appeared down here. Sure There's always been transvestites. They're called travesties here, but they weren't into actual transition with hormones implants and surgery They just loved, you know dressing up and looking like girls In more or less extreme sort of way But that whole thing with the hormones and surgery is very new down here. Now what I've been hearing from some of my gay Latino friends I know some gay guys, but I don't know any Latino lesbians though. I've seen a few I've never really sat down and talked to any

[10:20] I don't know any however my Latino gay buddies tell me for Latino guys that transition into girls They're hyper sexualized always seem to go way too far with it way overboard on the makeup The sexy clothes the high heels and the feminization thing in general. That's a word, right? Feminization can hardly say it a funny thing to the Latino gay guys that I know and I know three of them pretty well Not that well, and you know, we talked about that particular culture clash They all know a few guys that have transitioned from men into female But they know of no one who's done it in reverse going from a woman to a guy with hormones and surgery and all that They say that's very rare. Oh and another thing they tell me that in 99.9% of the cases where a guy transitions to a female he gets the booty work done

[11:09] But not all of it gets the boobs to butt lift the lipo, you know to get the curves the estrogen hormones, etc They go quite a ways but not a hundred percent They don't go through with the ultimate step and get that peepee lopped off Now is it that they're scared or don't have the money because it's a very expensive operation Well from what they've told me going most of the way is enough for them and as for the money Yeah, it's expensive just like up in the states and they don't have it but somehow most of them swing the boobs the butts and Hormone treatment and sometimes even the laryngectomy, you know getting that voice box Adams Apple protrusion knocked down a bit man That's got a hurt and it's surprising to that in this very macho society and it is The local macho guys don't seem to mock the gays or the trans guys or call them out on the street

[11:55] Not like they used to anyway 2030 years ago used to see that but not anymore I mean look there are certainly many transvestites in Latin America and every small medium and large town The ones in the sex trade have their street corners to hang out on and I believe Latino men have learned at least by Word of mouth you don't mess with them The word has been out for a long time that most transvestites at least the ones that hang out on the corners in red Light districts can kick ass. You know what I mean by that, right? They grew up different in a macho society and early on they took a lot of abuse and learned how to fight back Now I'm talking about transvestites here You know, they got their street corners and such and the clients that pick these guys up They're usually upscaled married guys. By the way, that's what my gay buddies tell me their clients

[12:42] No, these guys aren't fully transitioned. If you know what I mean, they tell me everyone kind of knows that They've had some stuff done but still have the main boy part So that's the story at least from what I can see and what my gay buddies have told me They've also informed me that transvestites and people who transition just part of the way What do they call them now lady boys, right? They get at least a small measure of respect because being that it's a macho society They came up the hard way and had to express themselves sometimes physically Though it is up in the states and in the first world in general much easier to be gay Transition or go and drag or be a transvestite because the first world society has become much more wide open and woke It seems to me and a lot of my gringo and gringo buddies down here The pendulum has really swung practically off its gimbal because it seems if you're gay or transitioning up in the states

[13:32] It's something to rejoice about it's a badge of honor But down here in Latin America at least for the man on the street life is tough and being gay or transitioning Whatever limits your options in the job market, etc. So life is all that much tougher However, I got to say when you're walking around on the tourist trail or even slightly off the tourist trail You see lots of gay and lesbian couples who are tourists. They've got that gringo advantage, too It was the same 20 or 30 years ago when I see a gay or lesbian couple walking down the street foreigners tourists They weren't treated differently No, I never bothered them because you know The tourist trade is the lifeblood of a lot of these communities now for a young adolescent Latino or Latina coming out as gay Here in Latin America or LGBT WTF XYZ It's still pretty tough because of the macho male members in the family

[14:19] Tougher than coming out as a young gay person up in the states Anyway, and I got that from the horse's mouth to my gay buddies down here Tell me their mothers accepted it quite well their brothers and sisters too But their dads in each case all three of my buddies their dads disowned him and that trauma you carry with you all your life That goes back to the macho society thing. Of course part of the lag time thing, too Which reminds me back in Chicago a long time ago when I went to my 10-year high school reunion I ran into two my buddies there who we kind of knew were gay in high school But they had girlfriends and all that, you know covering it up not quite out of the closet yet And both of them told me at that reunion that their mothers took it well But their fathers took it pretty hard picked one of them who was a hundred percent Italian He mentioned that after his dad found out he'd hear a noise in the kitchen at one or two in the morning

[15:08] It was his dad hitting the bottle all by his lonesome and sometimes even lightly sobbing But that was then a long time ago in the 1980s But now up in the states in the first world from what I can see now that the Woksters are in control of society Hollywood social media and the IT companies. It's a badge of honor now as for me I've always said live and let live and I've always had gay friends. What a cliche, huh? I mean real friends that I hung around with tell you this they're all older now over 50 But each one of them has told me to a man that the Woksters and the lgbgt WTF XYZ people have gone overboard. They've pushed things too far I guess that's to be expected as you get older. You become more rational. Anyway, that's my two cents again And remember you get what you pay for. Oh and one last thing about the gay and transgender thing here in Latin America

[15:57] It's not a dangerous topic to discuss with practically anyone down here except that small disgusting Contingent of gringo expat Woksters There's no walking on eggshells like it is up in the states where you could get canceled or fired or worse for using the wrong Pronoun speaking of pronouns. There are no pronoun issues at all here in Latin America. The language has genders You know most nouns have a male or female gender and since the language has genders It's completely unwoke and can't be altered. Otherwise, you'd have to alter the whole dictionary although there are lots of idiot Latinos up in the states who are trying to Neutralize the genders like for example the second generation the Latin X crowd you've heard me mention that before Well, I ain't going over down here and not at all only up by you

[16:43] Especially in the LA area if you don't believe it just pick up the LA times They've got a section at it now called the Latin X times. It's pure Castro and Venezuelan socialism at its worst Oh and another thing Latino women are not turning away from motherhood or dissing it Like many so-called liberated woke ladies that are doing up in the states Latinas want a husband and kids even though they know it's sort of a bad bet because of their Latin husbands cheating ways The disillusionment comes after the wedding Sound familiar. Oh and another thing Latinas are not looking to get more masculine eyes like so many feminists seem to advocate in the states In fact, they are very proud of their femininity Oh, and they'll never have a meltdown if you open the door for him or try to pay for something They appreciate it and a Latino or a Latina transgender

[17:31] Person would never have a meltdown if you called them by the wrong gender. What do they call it in the states dead naming, right? Oh, no, he mustn't call a person by the name. They have on their actual birth certificate now, huh, man Such BS you guys have to put up with in the states You must be biting your lip and rolling your eyes all the time by the way in Adams email that last email He was asking for my water treatment system Man, I'll tell you it couldn't come at a better time. How you've been reading about all that water pollution up in the states Entire city water supply is contaminated. Imagine that getting a boiling water. That's absolutely medieval Well third world anyway, plus you have all those micro and nano plastic particles in there, too The stuff people with a half a brain kind of thought existed in there But no one ever talked about it till maybe this year the studies are out. They're not good

[18:18] You're not even supposed to drink rainwater anymore How about that even supposed pure rainwater in pristine parts of the world is filled with nano plastic particles And bottled water. That's no good either. Just do a search You'll see in many cases that stuff's no better than tap water yet in some places a 500 milliliter of bottled water will cost more Than its equivalent in milk. And if you look milk up, you'll find that's not good for you Either good for newborns and babies, but that's about it after that you're supposed to get weaned off the stuff Why does that happen to every single mammal in the world except humans something's wrong with that picture? But I digress as usual where we oh, yeah, we've got this email from dr. Maria She says hello John. I love your shows and want to give you an experts view on language accent Since on a previous show you spoke regarding different languages and accents as you guessed

[19:07] I'm a dentist who does orthodontics as well I learned from one of my orthodontics professors that there's a part of the middle ear that closes Around 13 or 14 years of age and that part allows a person to hear and mimic any specific language pronunciation For example, she says if let's say two brothers immigrate to the US one is 13 and the other 16 at the time of arrival Then they enroll in high school and later they both attend university regardless of the level of education or intelligence The younger one will speak English without an accent and the older guy will have an accent It might be a major or minor accent, but he will have an accent when speaking English Okay, thanks for that. Dr. M very interesting by the way, dr. M your email reminds me of a couple of conversations

[19:54] I've gotten into with some expats, you know the part-time kind They've got one foot in the US or Canada and the other foot in some Latin American country So they go back and forth now and then some are snowbirds like quite a few Canadians who spend half the year in Canada and half the year in Costa Rica, Mexico, whatever anyway over the years I've heard quite a few stories that go something like this Johnny. I went to my dentist in Toronto or Chicago He told me I needed a crown or a bridge or a root canal Whatever maybe even two or three crowns in a bridge in a root canal By the way, did you know the jury's out on root canals sure dentists have been doing those things for a hundred years But guess what they're discovering. There's nothing really sterile or clean about him In other words, there's some seepage between the root and the periodontal ligament turns out There's tiny little tubules with stagnant liquid in them

[20:40] You'd think once the nerves dead has been pulled out and replaced with an inert material It'd be sterile or at least super clean right turns out you can look it up There's always a tiny microscopic locus of infection around any tooth with the traditional root canal That means your immune system is always trying to keep that inflammation down no matter how slight it is And you know There have been many many even thousands of cases where people's general health has been improved when they've had a tooth or two Or ten with a root canal extract it does that mean don't have a root canal just pull it and leave a space there No, you got to fill it with something right or the ether shift and it looks ugly, too That's what bridges and titanium implants are for neither of them are perfect solutions, but hey having a hole they're not good either So then what about root canals? Well, there are ways to do root canals with ozone homeopathic style, but not a lot of dentists are trained to do that

[21:27] Now about root canals. I have a few and I'm not happy reading about the downside Anyway, just for your information lots of dentists whose mindset is in the 21st century They're starting to read that root canals are not the inert harmless things. They thought they were years ago They're finding if you've got some chronic disease that just doesn't responding to other treatments Sometimes you take those teeth out and replace them with something else. You see various degrees of improvement But hey, don't go yanking those root canals out yet But as a last resort if you have some issues that won't resolve Maybe just read up at it and do check on those holistic dentists in your area. There is always a few they're everywhere Anyway, we were mentioning how some expats who go back and forth from Latin America to the States or Canada They'll go to their dentist in Canada or Chicago for a checkup and you'll say you need a certain number of fillings or crowns bridges

[22:14] Whatever then they'll get a second opinion with a dentist in Latin America because they've heard how much cheaper things are And lo and behold when the dentist in Latin America gives you a treatment plan You say wait a minute the dentist up in the state says I need a crown here and a bridge here And you said no just here and here in other words, and it's kind of a shock It turns out that the Latin American dentist is always much more conservative than his treatment plan So for example, your dentist up in the states might say you need three crowns and four fillings and your dentist in Costa Rica says you Need two crowns and two fillings. So at first glance, you might wonder is my dentist up in the states gouging me Is he padding that treatment plan just to cash in a little more? Well, not only is it not Necessarily, so it's probably not true at all Latin American dentists have a very different approach to their treatment plan based on two things

[23:00] Almost no one in Latin America has dental insurance and almost no one in Latin America can afford the Cadillac treatment Now what a lot of people don't know is that in dentistry? There's good better and best same thing with cars appliances computers These are physical material things right and when a dentist is fixing your teeth He's putting in physical material things some materials and techniques cost a lot more than others It's just that you see in the US and Canada and the rest of the first world Except in the UK where they're somehow known for their gnarly teeth Funny thing too even wealthy British families have a number of members with terrible teeth The Brits don't seem to care or notice, but boy do a screen goes and expats notice a bad rack of teeth Yes, we do and we sign a certain social economic status to people with bad teeth Don't we point is in dentistry?

[23:47] There's good better and best and people with insurance like most people in the states in Canada Are used to having the best or very high quality something that'll last a long long time For example, you go to a dentist in the states because you got a big chip out of your molar He says look if we put a crown on it at last 20 years or so Well as long as you floss it'll cost for example 600 bucks and your insurance will pay for 450 That's 150 out of your pocket or we could put a big old filling on that thing It might last five or ten years or break off tomorrow Then you'll definitely need that crown and maybe a root canal too and that big old filling will cost you 250 bucks Your insurance will pay 200. That's 50 out of your pocket. Now. What do you think the patient's gonna say? 150 bucks out of my pocket and I get 20 or so years out of the thing or 50 bucks in my pocket and might break tomorrow That's how it'll go in the United States and Canada

[24:33] But down here in Latin America the same guy goes to a dentist He too chipped the chunk out of his molar. Guess what? You'll probably never have that good better best discussion with your dentist He'll just start working on it and you'll walk out of there with a filling probably a hundred bucks Maybe less though. He might say down the line. You might need a crown on that But right now you're good. In other words There's a whole different treatment plan attitude in Latin America because dentists in Latin America are absolutely aware that people don't have much money They make do and patch they've got lots of experience Now, of course, if a tooth is beyond repair with a regular filling they're gonna offer your crown But if there's a cheaper way to keep that thing going extend its life. That's the route they'll usually take That's why so many Latinos even young Latinos and Latinas have a couple of teeth missing Usually in the back because front ones get fixed right because the teeth have failed and they can't afford a crown now

[25:20] Of course things are a little bit different on the gringo tourist trail as the gringos are piling in with their insurance plans Dentists only have to look in their mouths and see they're used to having Cadillac work done I suppose these days we should call it Tesla or Lamborghini work since the Cadillac brands been slipping It's out of favor now and more from the Frank Sinatra era So dentists on the gringo tourist trail realize gringos maintain their teeth and they have Cadillac work done They see what kind of work they come down with from the states So they're adapting to that higher end kind of work, too So bottom line, it's up to you You can tell your dentist to fix what's necessary do the usual in customary or tell them to give you the works gringo style It's once again good better best your choice The problem is as I see it in Latin America There are three kinds of dentists as well good better best and I'm sure it's the same in the states

[26:08] But the thing is how can you know good from better from best after all if you're at a party whether it's up in The states are down in Colombia. If someone says I broke a tooth. I have to go to the O don't dollar go That's dentist in Spanish also dentista. They'll always be one or two people around who will say hey go to mine He's the best. Well, you know what? He's really telling you. He's not telling you whether the guy's good better or best He's just telling you the guy has a good personality and he doesn't hurt not much That's the only criteria that general public has for whether they think a dentist is good or not Unless of course you've had a front tooth worked on it It looks terrible, you know people don't mention that stuff But they sure notice when someone's got an ugly dark twisted or screwed up front tooth, man That's a lasting first impression, isn't it especially on a female though? I have to say as a rule Latinos and Latinas have pretty nice looking front teeth

[26:55] Funny thing to the latest research in that department shows that when kids eat a lot of fresh natural crunchy things like fruits Vegetables and nuts like most Latin American kids that extra biting pressure Widen the arch and give more space for the teeth to come in nice and straight and kids We'd processed mushy diets bread cookies Cheetos fruit loops They chew more softly and their jaws don't expand to accommodate the size of the teeth thus more American kids need braces I've got a great book that explains all that and more if you want to copy send me an email the expat files at Gmail.com. It's called breathe. B-R-E-A-T-H-E 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

[27:41] 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