Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller reflects on his experiences living in Latin America, touching on a variety of topics from the challenges of dog ownership to broader cultural and social observations. He begins by introducing the podcast and sharing a story about a minor disaster at an Easter party where his girlfriend's white pants were stained by a dog. This anecdote leads into a discussion about the prevalence of untrained dogs in affluent homes and the cultural acceptance of this issue. Johnny also mentions his own experience with training dogs and recommends a book on dog training, noting that the methods can lead to highly trained or even attack dogs.
He then delves into the challenges of dealing with untrained dogs, particularly in social settings, and addresses the common misconception that sending them to obedience classes will solve behavioral issues. Johnny emphasizes that dogs only obey those who trained them and that owners often fail to maintain control. He offers a practical solution for training dogs not to jump up on people, involving physical restraint and redirection. He also discusses the use of shock collars as an effective, albeit controversial, method for training dogs to avoid destructive behaviors like chewing furniture or barking excessively. Johnny concludes by describing his elaborate setup for managing large dogs, including a secure laundry room and a doggy door system, which prevents them from causing damage in other parts of the house.
The episode continues with Johnny recounting his experience training his dogs to stay on the correct side of an invisible line between the laundry room and the dining room. He describes how he used a two-foot plywood partition to train them not to cross over, and later used shock collars and a camera monitor to reinforce the training. He also shares tips on keeping the house clean by using indoor-outdoor carpet runners to trap dirt and moisture from the dogs' paws. Finally, he shifts to a broader commentary on classism and racism in Latin America, suggesting that expats should write about these issues but face challenges in getting their work read.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses the changing perception of class, culture, and affluence in the first world and Latin America. He highlights how, in the first world, people no longer judge status by material possessions like cars or luxury goods due to the accessibility of credit and loans. Instead, affluent individuals now display their status through more subtle indicators like first-class travel, exclusive memberships, and private education. In contrast, in Latin America, people still largely judge class and affluence by what someone owns, such as cars and homes. Johnny also mentions that reading habits can be an indicator of cultural sophistication, suggesting that reading classics like Marcus Aurelius can be impressive, while reading outdated material is unimpressive.
The episode concludes with Johnny discussing the concept of 'gringo advantage' among affluent Latino families in Latin America, where sending a child to a university in the United States, regardless of its quality, confers elite status. He references NYU professor Scott Galloway, who argues that the strongest brands are institutions like MIT and Oxford, not corporations like Apple or Coca-Cola. Johnny highlights that for many Latin Americans, the mere act of attending a US university is more important than the university's reputation. He shares personal anecdotes about how Latino peers in social settings often show admiration for those who attended US universities, even if the institution is not prestigious. Johnny emphasizes that many Latinos have little knowledge of US university reputations and that the 'gringo advantage' is an imaginary status symbol for affluent Latino families.
Episode Notes
Johnny Mueller shares his experiences as an expat in Latin America, including stories about dog training, cultural observations, and the social dynamics of class and status. This episode offers a mix of personal anecdotes and insightful commentary on life in the region.
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Topics
Introduction to the podcast, Expat life in Latin America, Cultural observations, Dog training and behavior, Personal anecdotes, Untrained dogs and their behavior, Obedience training and misconceptions, Training techniques for dogs, Shock collars as a training tool, Managing large dogs in a home, Dog training, Housekeeping tips
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:14 Introduction to the Podcast and Expat Life in Latin America 00:00:49 A Minor Disaster at an Easter Party 00:01:53 Untrained Dogs in Affluent Homes 00:04:39 Dog Training and Recommendations 00:06:06 The Problem with Untrained Dogs and Visitors 00:09:14 Solving the Annoying Dog Problem 00:09:17 Addressing the Second Most Irritating Dog Problem 00:11:35 The Invisible Line Between Rooms 00:12:31 Using Technology to Reinforce Training 00:14:06 Tips for Keeping the House Clean 00:16:59 Classism and Racism in Latin America 00:17:14 The Decline of Book Reading as a Cultural Indicator 00:17:45 Class and Culture Perceptions in Latin America vs. the First World 00:19:04 The Shift in Affluence and Status Display from the 1980s Onward 00:22:51 The Bullseye of Affluence in the US 00:23:08 Scott Galloway on Branding 00:23:20 The Strongest Brands Are Universities 00:23:43 Aspiration for US Universities 00:24:22 The Psychological Effect of US University Attendance 00:24:55 Social Status and US University Attendance 00:25:27 Lack of Knowledge About US Universities 00:25:45 UFM in Guatemala as an Example
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-pad 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 today I'm a little short of voice power. I've got a little bit of a sore throat, you know horse voice down here They say Ronco our Oh and CEO Ronco That's the way Ronco Let's see how long I last if I can make it to the end today
[00:49] So what's going on? Let's get started. Well, it happened again a sort of a minor disaster and I had to witness it You know, it's Easter time called Samana Santa here. Samana Santa means the week of Saints Samana means weak Santa Saint I have no idea why they call it the week of Saints since it doesn't have much to do with Saints It's Jesus and the resurrection and all it Anyway, besides Christmas now be died. It's the time when Latinas and Latinos celebrate the most they have the most parties so it's dress-up time and the ladies all spiff out in their finest new clothes and Wouldn't you know what the girlfriend and I got invited to a party the other day a dress-up party for the girls? Anyway, I never dress up that much a party at an upper-class Latino South, you know
[01:36] Gated guarded community living maids, which is the same much lots of people have living maids But they've also got a personal driver a permanent 24-7 on call personal driver. That's high class here in Latin America That's considered affluence to have cleaning ladies Not much to have a gardener not much with have a cleaning lady gardener and a personal driver. That's affluence I know lots of Latin Americans and Latin American families who've got a personal 24-7 on call driver I used to think wow, that's really something but not so much anymore Yeah, get used to it. You get used to anything kind of strange considering that when I lived all those years in Chicago I never knew a single person or family who had 24-7 personal driver. That is sure You read about that stuff in novels and magazines and see it in certain Hollywood movies
[02:24] But to know people in real life with that status, uh, I never did anyway Not till I came down here to Latin America anyway at this Easter house party There were some very hoity-toity upscale affluent people never impressed me much In fact, I think it's kind of ridiculous But in Latino culture the middle and lower classes would be in awe That said as soon as my girlfriend and I walked through the front door a happy little dog Jumped up on my girlfriend and pawed her pants. She was wearing white pants brand-new white pants Yep, the dog put some very noticeable gray streaks in those nice white pants of hers I thought oh, this is not starting off. Well, she gave me one of those forlorn looks that said oh no Not again. Yep. I said not again because that happens a lot. Just a little tip here
[03:14] That's why I never wear white pants And I'll rarely wear a white shirt either because I'm really bad at restaurants gravy stains and all that Italian restaurants the worst But girls, you know, they love to wear white. They look good in white However, the fatal flaw is that living here in Latin America 99% of family dogs are not trained up at all That's true with dogs even in the wealthiest of homes their dog or dogs just have the run of the place In fact, there are certain houses houses of very wealthy Latinos that smell like dog But the people there don't know what they live in it 24 7 and have long ago become accustomed to it Like people with BO or bad breath or people who cook a lot of Indian food like chicken masala and chicken tikka
[04:01] You know now when a house smells like wet dog or cat piss How could the owner not know then again my grandma's house had a certain old lady smell but she didn't know so go figure Now as you longtime listeners recall, I've often mentioned that I've had dogs big dogs I just counted them up recently in my life I've had a total of four Dobermans and three rottweilers The saddest thing is the bigger the dog the shorter the lifespan and my dogs only lived about 10 to 13 years at most But let me tell you mine are and were Extremely trained up best friends you could ever have but you gotta trade them up I have an excellent book on training up dogs if you guys want to send me an email the expat files at gmail.com It's the very one I use to train up my dogs by a German guy
[04:49] Wouldn't you know it who's hired by government and police forces to train up attack and guard dogs now before you jump to any Conclusions the way the book is written as you go through the chapters and use his methods After you're through about the first quarter of the book and train them up thus far You will certainly have the most obedient and trained up dog you've ever had and that's where I stop at about a quarter ways Through the book because as you get about halfway through now You're training up a guard dog and that dog will be quite a bit different than a regular just purely trained up dog and obedient Oh, and if you continue on in the book past a halfway mark and keep training up your dog You'll have a nice 100% attack dog You know like those canine dogs that SWAT teams have and some of those dog units they have in the military. I
[05:38] Personally would never go that far, you know to each his own But let's get back to the terrible behavior of household dogs here in Latin America You know, I have had many conversations with wealthy Latinos even wealthy gringos whose dogs are just uncontrollable in the house Yet they don't get it you come over and you get pounced on and they're thinking it's kind of cute like an unruly kid at a Restaurant or in a shopping center, you know the drill everyone else is annoyed, but the parents think it's cute I'm sure you know people with untrained dogs and you just don't feel like visiting much. Do you and with women visitors? It's even worse, especially if it's a big dog ladies could freak out now I'm not talking about someone's dog biting you that generally never happens But it's just that once you get in the door the dogs all over you
[06:24] Sit on the couch the dogs right up there sitting next to you lick in your ankle or drooling on your hand And when that happens, you know when you give the owner a face He'll shush the dog out of the room make a few apologies and say something like and I've heard this a million times I did the right thing. I took them to obedience classes I paid a fortune for the guy to come over and train him, but he still doesn't listen Well, I'll tell you what he'll certainly listen to the trainer till the day he dies But he won't listen to you the owner or anyone in the house Because generally a dog will only take orders from the person or persons who've trained him The problem is every odor I've known who's had a bad dog thinks the dogs bad habits will be cured by dumping him off at the trainers place out of sight out of mind and once dogs home
[07:12] He'll be trained up and perfectly obedient from then on and that's a fallacy By the way when I walk into a house and the dog jumps up on me I know right away that dogs absolutely not trained up at all in any respect Probably still peas and shits around the house occasionally Did you know the easiest bad habit to train out of a dog is that jumping up thing the exact thing that ruined the Samana Santa fiesta for my girlfriend a few days ago Most people don't know a dog jumping up and pawing you is the easiest thing in the world to train out of them And here's how you do it. You let the dog jump up You grab both of his front paws while they're up in the air when he does that, you know He's kind of balancing himself on his hind legs, right? Because his front ends up in the air upon you anyway You grab his two front paws while they're up in the air and you start dancing with him
[08:00] You're holding on tight now and moving around and he's only balancing himself on the back legs and you're clamped on to his paws So he's stuck and he does not like it at all. He's completely lost control of the situation He will start squirming and resisting and eventually he'll howl So anyway, if you've done that for only about ten seconds You let him go by the way You instruct everyone in the house to do that every time he jumps up guess what within two days? He'll never jump up on a person again He'll stop short and look at you But he'll never jump up because dogs hate losing control of their front paws So then you might wonder will the dog bite me while I'm dancing with him Well, we can't have that the dog will certainly try to weasel out of it, but he won't bite ya
[08:46] You're moving back and forth too fast dancing with him And if he ever gets to the point of bearing his teeth, that's when you let him go now some dogs You could cure of that happen in just one day, but it usually takes a day or two sometimes three But man, it'll save you a load of grief The secondary effect being people won't mind coming to your house then again certain gringles and expats don't like company So maybe that's the plan have a pawing annoying dog to deter visitors It works if your house smells like cat piss as well Okay, now that you've solved annoying dog problem number one Let's attack problem number two the second most irritating dog problem is them jumping up on furniture and beds and just Plopping down on any surface they feel like then again Maybe you've allotted your dog a certain chair to sit on that's okay if it's only that chair
[09:34] Easiest way to handle that problem is a shock collar Yeah, I know you're thinking how cruel and inhumane Johnny Well, let me tell you in one of my previous houses I had two shock collars sitting on the kitchen table one day and one of my gay friends came over and he said Johnny you have shock collars me and my friend have matching collars, but we never crank them up past four Mmm. Good to know huh? You know, I wish he wouldn't have mentioned that now I can't unsee it By the way Randy doesn't have a dog So the easiest way to train up your dog is put a shock collar on him Works wonders when he or she does something you don't like for example chew on furniture steal food from the table Sit on your favorite couch dig trenches in the backyard bark endlessly into the night That's a mother far away dog who's barking or maybe you just don't appreciate it when he jumps up on your bed
[10:25] Then you just give him a short zap now, of course, you got to catch him in the act Man, I'll tell you if you catch him in the act you can cure those bad habits in one or two days I was able to with my last batch of dogs because I had 16 cameras around the house Had some cameras outside and in the laundry room where the dog slept now as for me I probably had the perfect setup for having big dogs a nice big spread out in the boonies a nice big laundry room where I Could have three very big dog cages the largest size and I'd leave that door open on those cages at all times So the dogs could go in and out of the house via their big doggy door had larger size doggy door, too I'm sure you've seen those things. They've got a rubber flap door on them dog could go in and out at will I remember one time a lady visitor at my house saw that doggy door and she says Johnny
[11:14] You let those big dogs go in and out of your house at will don't they trash up and knock over things? I Said nope, they're confined to the laundry room They can come in and out of that doggy door all they want But they'll never go past the open door that leads into the dining room and the kitchen And she looked at me in disbelief Yet the door between the laundry room and the dining room was wide open and the dogs Although they could have bolted out of the laundry room and into the main part of the house at any time They did not that's because when they were very young I trained them up so that they never would pass the invisible line where the laundry room met the dining room It was very easy to do too. I cut a short piece of plywood to fit the door opening at the bottom about two feet high
[12:02] Just enough so the dogs could stick their heads over and look into the dining room kitchen living room, etc So early on in their training, they knew they could jump over I was only two feet tall and they'd often try it and as young pups it would take them a while to get over You know, they'd try to climb up and I'd scold them and that was usually enough They dropped back to the other side trouble was when I wasn't there to scold them They'd hop over when no one was looking mess around in the dining room kitchen, etc So I fitted all three of them with shock collars and would go to my office where I had a camera monitor And within five or ten minutes, they'd try to climb over and I'd give them a little jolt They were fast learners though being dogs for the next few evenings It did slip their mind and they tried to cross over in the dead of night
[12:51] Well, I had a camera monitor in my bedroom, too So I saw him when they did it gave him a little shock and they scrambled back over that little plywood partition in a hurry And after a while, maybe a week or two, I removed that plywood partition and they never crossed over that invisible line again From then on I could be sitting in my kitchen living room or dining room having breakfast lunch or dinner And all three of them would be sitting like little soldiers right at the edge of the laundry room door Always left wide open waiting for me to toss them a scrap Though I learned fast that because they're such big dogs Visitors who would seen them before or knew how big they were would tread lightly and not really want to come in Just poke their head through and see if I was between them and the dogs then it would be okay
[13:37] So when first time visitors would show up I'd stick them in their cages called how laws Cages are called how laws in Spanish Then I put up the two-foot plywood partition once again and let them out slowly just to prove to the visitors They were trained up again And they could easily jump over that thing, but they never would oh and I trained up my dog So that they'll never take food from anyone They didn't know anyone that hadn't been around the house like my cleaning lady maintenance guy captain mango and other friends of mine Oh, and here's a little tip You know the bigger the dog the dirtier the dog the more crap he brings into the house through the doggy door You know mud sticks moisture from rain. I pretty much solved that problem, too first off every time I took my dogs for a run in the neighborhood as soon as we got to the door and were
[14:23] Entering back into the house through the garage. They'd automatically sit they were trained to do that Sit as soon as they walk through the door. I'd have a towel there They wouldn't enter they wouldn't go in unless I'd rub their paws with that towel. That was the signal It's okay to go in now as far as keeping your house clean if you've got dogs Here's a great tip. I went to the hardware store and I bought three carpet runners They're about three feet wide about 10 or 15 feet long and they're made out of indoor outdoor carpeting You know the kind you could clean by throwing it out in the driveway and hosing it off with water I'm not talking about regular carpeting. I'm talking about indoor outdoor carpet So anyway, I bought three of those indoor outdoor carpet runners And I laid the first one the full length of the laundry room where the dogs live
[15:13] From the doggy door entrance all the way to the door where the dining room starts So when the dogs come in from outside and they land hard when they come in boom through that big doggy door They land right on that indoor outdoor carpet runner I can always hear them when they're going out late at night to go investigate things boom And then that same boom when they come back in it's a particular sound anyway when they enter The first thing they land on is that indoor outdoor runner the friction of walking on that thing effectively cleans their paws Does a pretty good job, too And once they're in they piece around on that floor runner for a while which further cleans their paws Then they go into their cages their beds or howless which like I said are always left open 24-7
[16:02] So then why do I have three of those indoor outdoor carpet runners? Because every couple of days depending if it's the rainy season or not I'll check that carpet and when it's looking kind of dirty and dingy I'll just roll it up toss it outside and put a fresh one down and My maintenance guy will take the dirty one out in a driveway and hose it down and let it dry in the Sun So with three runners, I've always got a couple spares Just in case there's a couple of heavy rain days and the dogs paws get extra dirty Anyway, just a few tips there Picked up along the way if you've got a homestead and a couple of big dogs or even a small yappy yappy dog Anyway, if you want that Bible of a dog training man, you'll send me an email the expert files at gmail.com You know, I started out this rant today
[16:49] Talking about a party that my girlfriend and I went to a very wealthy in fact rich Latino family Now whether you want to believe this or not? Latin America is a much more classist and racist society than you'll ever experience up in the States Though you'll have to come down here and live a while off the gringo tourist trail to realize it I think it's time for some long-term gringo or expat to write a book about it The problem is no one would read it because no one reads books anymore By the way, that's a great question to ask if you ever get back into the mating and dating game Ask some of those prospective girls or guys on your cupid list ask them to name the last book They read and when they read it That's the only important part because you know, it's pretty impressive if they said they'd read Marcus Aurelius
[17:37] But unimpressive to say the least if they last read it 15 years ago or as a college assignment in their philosophy class That's even worse you know, there's a big difference in Latin America between how Latin Americans think of or perceive class social status and culture and affluence Versus how first world people think about class culture and affluence first worlders and third worlders define those things differently Now why should that be? Let me explain for example in the first world in the past Anyway, when I was growing up people Traditionally displayed their status and membership in the upper middle class or even the upper classes through what they bought material things I Remember when I was a teenager in high school There were a certain clique of kids that were the epitome of class and culture
[18:24] Why because they lived in an upscale neighborhood by the lake and they had their own cars new cars like Corvettes and GTO's and Camaros and their parents drove Mercedes and beamers man for me and 99% of the rest of the school That stuff was so far out of reach and man I never got invited to parties at their parents lake houses and those guys in high school We're playing with finalists and Titleist golf clubs and I had JC pennies So back when I was a kid Those were the people considered the upper classes the elite the people with summer houses whose kids Went to Europe or tennis camp for the summer, etc, etc But that was when I was a kid today It's all changed seems around 1980 or so because of easy credit high-limit charge cards and easy access loans
[19:12] luxury goods are more accessible and never before now practically any first-world person with a job and a credit rating can get a Mercedes or a Rolex if he wants to get on a 10-year payment plan in the States Anyway, having a beamer or Mercedes does not establish a social ranking like it once did the fact is when I was growing up I didn't know a single person or anyone in any family who had a beamer or Mercedes not a late model one Anyway, they were cultured rich people cars now Of course rich folks who are cultured and affluent still want to broadcast their high social position The way they do that is not by showing off with a couple of Ferraris in the garage Though low-class rappers entertainers and sports figures might have driveways full of that stuff old money types and affluent people shy away from
[19:58] those kinds of gaudy displays and since the 1980s Affluent people and highly cultured people do other socially Irrelevant things that the middle and lower middle classes could never afford like for example flying first-class Isn't it true when you get on a plane and you walk back to coach and you go through first class to get there Realizing those tickets are probably twice as much as what you paid maybe more You might notice or maybe think there's something different about these people they're the 1% or 0.1% the elites though one or two of them might be entitled children of the rich or sports figures shit for brains rap or reggaeton stars Most of them have real money class or high social position making them a bit different from you and me or at least me
[20:45] So today in the first world anyway, they're very affluent and cultured by first-class airline tickets exclusive golf club memberships the high-end ones they have big estates and summer houses and They send their kids to expensive private boarding schools and Ivy League colleges That's the big difference between real affluence and wealth and a guy you know in a nice neighborhood who's got a new Mercedes a Rolex and goes on two cruises a Year and thinks he's rich a guy like that no matter how much he brags or tries to put on the dog He could never even think of sending his kid to a hundred thousand dollar a year private boarding school I'm sure you know of restaurants up in the States and in Europe that you'd never go into because you know You'd drop 500 to a thousand bucks. Just walking into the place probably have to wait four months for reservations, too
[21:34] I don't know about you, but I do not go to those kinds of places I don't feel much like mingling with people who highly value that kind of thing So why am I bringing all this up? Because it's very different here in Latin America Latinos today view culture class and affluence much like Americans viewed those things before the 1980s before the explosion of easy credit and easy loans You see Latinos still judge a person's class culture and status and affluence by what he owns You know you are what you drive Which just does not compute if you're living up in the States a key idea in the first world Is that because we can't be certain of the financial standing of other people? That includes trying to guess a person's education family background or affluence in the States
[22:22] It's best not to judge anyone by his or her personal possessions Since any American could have a ton of credit cards and loans in fact if you've got good credit a Ferrari dealership We'll give you a car on a 10-year loan Anyway up in the first world there are still a few ways to easily size up a person's affluence or means For example up in the States if you know someone who's got a personal driver 24-7 You know he's affluent same goes for a first-world person who always flies first class But the real bulls-eye for affluence up in the States as if someone can afford to send his kid to one of those super expensive Private East Coast or Swiss boarding schools or an Ivy League college in fact I was just reading something about product branding
[23:08] According to NYU professor Scott Galloway who is an expert in private marketing and branding He says the strongest brand in the world is not Apple or Mercedes Benz or Coca-Cola or McDonald's The strongest brands are MIT Oxford Stanford, etc But here's the thing bringing it back to Latin America Just the fact that any Latin American parent can afford to send their kids to any School in the USA or Europe It's the same badge of elite status honor in their own social circles as an American being able to send his kid to Harvard or MIT For Latinos it does not have to be Harvard or MIT Oxford or Princeton. It never is Why aspire to send your kid to a super elite school when a mediocre university at a third the cost will have the same
[23:56] Psychological effect on the folks back home the whole point of elite status here in Latin America is to be able to send your kid To a university outside of Latin America preferably in the US The name and the reputation of the school does not matter The fact is ninety nine point nine percent of Latinos and Latinas have no idea about first world University reputations or ratings anyway The whole point is for affluent Latino families to get their kid into a university up in the States It could be the lowest shittiest rated rad hole community college in Cleveland doesn't matter one bit But because it's in the US it'll still confer elite status on that family To instill jealousy and envy in their peer group seems to be part of it And you know, I've seen it myself over and over again I'll be at a party talking with some young college-aged
[24:44] Latinos and Latinas They might be talking about their college experiences and when one of them mentions he went to school in let's say, Texas The others in the group who may just have a degree from a local Latino University You can tell they're super impressed by that all the sudden the kid that went to school in Texas gets raised on a pedestal I've noticed that when local graduates are around Latinos who went to school in the States They feel a bit intimidated as if that guy's some kind of thoroughbred or something Even though they have no idea of the quality or the status of the school that guy went to Go ahead come down here Latin American ask any Latino adult Latino on the street What he thinks is the best college or colleges up in the United States. Guess what? They don't know the name of a single one. Then again, how many Latino universities have you heard of?
[25:34] There are thousands but I bet you can't name one by the way One of the best all-around universities in the world is in Guatemala called UFM I said one of the best in the world not just Latin America the world Oh, and you have to be bilingual and a very special brilliant or extremely intelligent kind of student to get in By the way UFM in Guatemala was the very first university in the world to offer a fully accredited cryptocurrency course taught by none other than our expat alumnus the famous Bitcoin Dan We stopped there for an afternoon during our seminar anyway, one of the main goals of every affluent Latino family is to send their kids to some kind of American University and As for the name or quality of that university, it doesn't seem to matter Just the fact they went to a US University any US University at all is all that counts
[26:23] Sort of like winning the grand prize game on bozos circus I repeat Latin Americans have no idea. What is a good bad ugly or indifferent when it comes to US University They only know they want to go to one I personally have never met a Latino who knew the difference between a community college a state university a private University or an Ivy League University They've got no automatic name recognition or reputation of universities in their heads like we have now Don't tell me that you don't make judgments in your head the second someone tells you what University he graduated from if he tells you Michigan State, what do you think? How about University of Nevada MIT or Oxford? So it all points back to the gringo advantage though. Addly enough
[27:10] It's not a part of the gringo advantage that applies to us gringos It's kind of an imaginary advantage that applies to affluent Latino families Perhaps the strongest effect of that gringo advantage is the fact that any Latino kid that's lucky enough to go to a US University Is automatically in the minds of his peers as sort of a superstar, of course That's pretty laughable. But hey, that's life here in Latin America 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 dot 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
[27:56] Send me an email the expat files at Gmail dot com