Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller recounts his experience during a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Guatemala, emphasizing the contrast between the structural safety of his modern, earthquake-resistant home and the vulnerability of local residents. He discusses the aftermath, including a broken water pipe and the broader context of disaster resilience in Latin America, using the analogy of the Three Pigs to highlight the disparity in construction quality and land use between expats and local populations.
Johnny also discusses construction practices in Latin America, particularly focusing on the risks associated with poor-quality, makeshift buildings in poorer areas and the more secure, first-world construction standards in wealthier regions. He highlights the dangers of substandard materials and the lack of enforcement of zoning laws in poorer neighborhoods, which often result in buildings that resemble 'white trash housing' in garbage dumps. He also explains how commercial buildings in older, middle-class areas are often built haphazardly, making them vulnerable to earthquakes, while newer, unified commercial centers are more resilient.
He shares a personal anecdote about surviving a 7.2 earthquake in Guatemala and expresses a preference for living closer to the ground despite the presence of high-quality, first-world construction. He concludes by emphasizing the cyclical nature of earthquakes in Latin America and the need for expats to be prepared for frequent, smaller tremors.
The episode also touches on the frequency and impact of earthquakes in Latin America, emphasizing that expats should expect them as part of life. Johnny highlights the recurring pattern of major earthquakes every 20 to 50 years and the tendency of people to forget past disasters. He notes that poorer communities suffer more due to substandard construction, while wealthier individuals have better infrastructure. Additionally, he touches on the historical impact of earthquakes on colonial Spanish architecture and the use of adobe bricks in traditional homes, which are prone to collapse during earthquakes.
The segment ends with a transition to a discussion about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their prevalence in food products. Johnny highlights that while many products in the region use real cane sugar, imported products often contain high fructose corn syrup, which is worse for health. He also mentions that GMOs are common in products like soy, cotton, canola oil, and certain fruits like Hawaiian papayas, which are not typically found in Latin America. He warns about the potential for olive oil to be adulterated with canola oil, which may contain GMOs, and suggests switching to 100% cold-pressed oils like coconut oil.
He then shifts to discussing product recalls, noting that in Latin America, consumers are often not notified about recalls, unlike in the United States. Finally, he mentions the upcoming installation of black boxes in U.S. cars to track driving data, which he believes could be used by government agencies, and notes that such technology is unlikely to be implemented in Latin America.
The episode also covers car pollution regulations, consumer safety in Latin America, and car theft statistics. Johnny explains how car companies in the first world are forced to meet pollution regulations, leading to the installation of expensive catalytic converters and other pollution control measures. He contrasts this with the situation in Latin America, where such regulations are not enforced, allowing car dealerships to sell stripped-down cars without these features. He also highlights the lack of consumer safety regulations in the region, making it common for airbags to be absent or not properly installed after an accident.
Additionally, he shares statistics on car theft in Latin America, noting that Japanese brands are most frequently stolen, and that white cars are the most targeted. He also mentions that cars are most often stolen during lunchtime at fast food parking lots, suggesting that expats should avoid parking there during that time.
Topics
Earthquake experience, Disaster resilience in Latin America, Construction quality and land use, Media portrayal of natural disasters, Construction practices in Latin America, Earthquake risks and preparedness, Zoning and enforcement in poorer areas, Personal experiences with earthquakes, Cyclical nature of earthquakes in Latin America, Earthquakes in Latin America, Impact on poor communities, Historical damage to colonial architecture
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:34 Earthquake Experience and Aftermath 00:04:51 The Three Pigs Analogy for Disaster Resilience 00:06:04 The Dangers of Poor Construction in Poorer Areas 00:06:58 Anti-Seismic Construction and Material Standards 00:09:31 The Role of Foreign Construction Companies in Seismic Safety 00:10:36 The Frequency and Predictability of Earthquakes in Latin America 00:12:29 Big Earthquakes in Latin America and Their Frequency 00:14:51 Short Memories of Earthquakes and the Impact on Poor Communities 00:16:19 Historical Damage to Colonial Architecture from Earthquakes 00:17:59 GMOs in Food Products in Latin America 00:19:46 Product Recall Issues in Latin America 00:22:20 Black Box Technology in U.S. Cars 00:23:47 Introduction to the topic of car regulations and pollution control in the first world 00:23:49 Johnny shares his friends' experiences with car dealerships in Latin America 00:23:53 Johnny discusses the impact of pollution regulations on car companies in the first world 00:24:00 Johnny explains how car companies had to employ tricks to meet pollution standards 00:24:07 Johnny mentions the installation of expensive catalytic converters as part of pollution control 00:24:12 Johnny shares how car dealerships in Latin America sell stripped-down cars 00:24:19 Johnny discusses the lack of regulation on car features in Latin America 00:24:23 Johnny mentions the absence of a morality issue in car companies' decisions
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 up to play and now as I wonder My thoughts ever straight Hi everybody I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files Living in Latin America the show that tells you what it's really like to live work play and or retire in Latin America I tell it just like it is so let's get started I'm recording this show today a few days after that massive earthquake in Guatemala They killed at least a hundred people and left at least five thousand people homeless and I understand about twenty thousand are displaced
[00:46] now I was about a hundred miles from the epicenter when everything started shake rattling and rolling and if you're a hundred miles away from A 7.2 like I was it's like being hit with a 6 or a 6.5 from that distance In fact in the local papers the next day the seismologist had drawn a diagram of concentric circles radiating out from the epicenter showing just that and I've been through earthquakes before at least 30 that I remember mostly just threes and fours that gently sway the Room a little bit and nothing at all to worry about especially if you were in a building like I was in when it hit But I have to say this was probably the second biggest one I've ever experienced I was sitting at my computer on the second floor of a modern gringo designed and constructed building when suddenly it got
[01:31] Absolutely quiet outside and about ten seconds later it hit It seems like animals birds especially pick up on that stuff way before we do Anyway, the gringo that owned this place made sure it was truly an earthquake resistant structure I'm talking about thick block and concrete walls with plenty of rebar reinforcement And yes, it did sway quite a bit and there was some window rattling But nothing fell off the shelves or hit the floor and you know since that earthquake Which was a 7.2 on Eddie's ex-mother-in-law scale and yes, her name was really Richter. No lie Anyway, since the big earthquake, I've been getting tons of emails from people wondering if I've been swallowed up by a fisher or something well, no such luck and really besides the shaken rattling and rolling and some spotty internet service and a broken water pipe outside and
[02:25] Even that was only brought to my attention about a day and a half later when the gardener said Johnny Look, there's a big wet spot on the grass. Actually. He said Don Johnny There's a big wet spot on the grass since like I said in a past show everyone who works for you slips the word Don Don in front of your name when they address you just like they call Marlon Brando in the godfather Don Carleone a term of respect. So all you wannabes up there That's another thing you're gonna have to get used to when you come down Think of the famous name Don Juan or Don Quixote Those are just two Spanish guys named Juan and Quixote and because they were noblemen or landowners The working class is obliged to stick that Don term in front of their names Which is exactly how the common folk address us gringos and expats down here. So get used to it
[03:15] Anyway, there was a broken water pipe and the total cost for that repair Four bucks for a new brass shutoff valve and my gardener slash maintenance, man Well, it took him about two hours to dig around it clear it out and fix it and his labor didn't cost anything He was there on the job anyway as the gardener and he gets 12 bucks a day. No matter what he does Gardening electricity plumbing plastering roofing. It doesn't matter. He gets 12 bucks a day and By the way down here that use plastic PVC plumbing tube for everything naturally because it's modern It's easy and much cheaper than the older method with copper and galvanized pipe But the main value of it is that it's flexible. So during an earthquake you rarely ever have any serious damage
[04:01] Maybe just a leak or a crack here and there like I had But if it's a really big quake in your near ground zero all bets are off So what else happened around me when that seven pointer hit nothing? Just 30 seconds of white knuckling it and about 25 much smaller aftershocks that followed it up for the next few hours Which is kind of strange because every other time I was in an earthquake that was a five or near a six There'd only be two or three perceptive aftershocks in the next couple hours But in this case it was like they just kept on coming no nothing near the intensity of the first big shock Anyway, just to give you guys the lowdown on what's happening down here in earthquake alley Specifically in regards to the dead people the destroyed homes and the displaced persons
[04:48] You're seeing all over the internet and in the first world media Well, you have to look at the whole thing like the story of the three pigs. Remember that's expat Eddie's analogy And I think it's a pretty good one. Remember what the big bad wolf said to the three pigs I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down well, like expat Eddie says us gringos and expats are like the pig that built his house out of bricks and concrete and mortar and The poor folks down here that are just scraping by they like the other pig with the tin shack and the wood and the dirt floor They just can't afford good solid long-term construction Not to mention they nearly always build their houses on the most precarious pieces of land Meaning the cheapest land like land on mountainsides cliffs ravines ledges and in flood plains
[05:37] That's why when earthquakes and hurricanes come these things collectively Disintegrate and fall down the sides of hills and mountains Those are the photo ops you see on the six o'clock news up in the first world You see those poor folks and the wailing and the gnashing of teeth If you look close on the six o'clock news The only gringos you see in those disaster zones are with the UN or church groups or charity organizations They don't live there. They came down to help out not to mention in the cities. Anyway That's where all the destruction is because these guys build right on top of each other Violating all the zoning rules. That is if they have any zoning at all, which in crappier sections of town are never enforced anyway But since these guys are all packed into the Undesirable areas of town and this is the third world the government always looks the other way and leaves the poor folks alone
[06:26] That's why from the air and from a distance They look an awful lot like white trash housing situated right in the middle of a garbage dump Which is not so far from the truth, really and if you don't believe me just go on the internet and look up favolas of Brazil and When natural disaster strikes those are the people you see in the international news crying in front of a house That's been demolished You just don't see that kind of stuff in the wealthier areas of town where they actually have zoning and construction Regulations that are actually enforced Now just one more thing about anti seismic construction I'm talking about the adequate use of concrete block mortar brick and rebar as opposed to wood masonite and drywall Capped off with a tin roof or laminated panels the kind of crappy
[07:13] makeshift construction you see in the poor sections of town in what they call the Ascenta mientos or the favolas the slums now you might notice on the news after a disaster like this the real destruction Where it looks like it's been bombed out almost always occurs in the poor residential sections of big cities But sometimes you'll see what looks like a big commercial center with half the building ripped off like Godzilla was in town Now if you know anything about the way people construct their commercial buildings down here It turns out in the older middle class and lower middle class business sections of town What usually happens is one little commercial building will pop up then another then another all independently and eventually after some years They're wall to wall and back to back and soon they look like one big ugly commercial building or commercial center
[08:05] But actually they might be six or seven little buildings that are just smooshed together and not Connected to each other by any means kind of like a haphazard set of kids building blocks you push one the right way the whole Thing falls over. So even though it looks like one complete big commercial center building when a decent-sized earthquake hits The weakest parts crack and fall away But in the newer sections of town where you've got commercial centers that are built as solid unified structures It would take a six or a seven at ground zero to do any substantial damage Now I talked to a good friend of mine who was on the 16th floor of a 20-story medical complex when a 7.2 Guatemala earthquake hit and he told me everybody panicked, but there was no place to run now
[08:52] This structure is very modern and only about three or four years old with a lot of glass And he said when he looked out the window He actually saw the ground heave up and down ever so slightly like a wave coming in on a beach Now to me that would be scary and as far as I'm concerned That's one of the reasons I don't want to live in a high-rise tower not that I don't trust how they're constructed That's not the issue at all because nearly all these high-rise residential towers and commercial buildings are built by foreign first world Construction companies that specialize in that kind of thing. They absolutely know what they're doing and build for local seismic conditions These are transnational companies that are first world after all Luckily for us Latin construction companies aren't big enough they don't have multi-million dollar cranes and earth movers and
[09:38] Specialized excavation equipment to do that kind of work So when a commercial or residential building is over four or five stories tall They got to call in the foreign experts which for us expats is a very good thing So if you move your business your office or you decide to live in one of these big high-rises Have a look at the blueprints or ask the manager or maintenance guys to confirm that a foreign first world Contractor built that building or at least had partnered up with a local architect That way you can be sure that it's been built to local seismic standards But still in my case I prefer not to live or have a business in one of those high-rise towers Even if it's first-class first world standards all the way Why well, I tell you I'm not afraid of too much
[10:24] But I know the earthquake frequency statistics So I prefer to live closer to the ground though I admit I've never heard of a single high-rise in Latin America that's ever toppled or even crumbled in a quake But still it's not for me. Let me explain it turns out all throughout Latin America no matter where you happen to be in whatever city town or locale you select if you do a little internet searching you'll find That every 25 to 50 years a seven-pointer or so on the Richter scale will hit and anything that's seven or over or even a 6.5 and over are pretty scary and none of the Latin American countries are immune from that none For example, you might recall in September Costa Rica got hit with a 7.9
[11:09] Now that's huge if one of that magnitude would hit Los Angeles or San Francisco That would be the big one that everyone's been predicting for the last 50 years, you know So of all the great reasons to become an expat and move down to Latin America You'll still have those damn earthquakes to contend with and though they're not exactly predictable They're more or less cyclic and do have a certain Periodicity you can count on so wherever you move in Latin America You can pretty much expect a few small ones each year in the range of generally a three or a four and they do Freak out green expats at first, especially guys like me from the Midwest From Chicago, Minnesota or Cleveland who've never experienced such things But soon enough that slight swaying feeling becomes old hat
[11:57] So much so that after a while you don't even mention them to your friends or family Seems like only green expats will say things like hey Did you feel that earthquake last night and for those of us who've been down here a while? we just shrug it off and when you get one of those threes or fours you can feel your house sway just a tiny little bit and sometimes you'll get a little door or window rattling but never any damage a Three or a four is not even enough to cause a plate to drop or a picture to shift on the wall But still you can feel it But then there's those big ones the terry motos They're called when they're over six on the Richter scale now. They have a certain frequency, too for example in Peru in 1970 they had a 7.9 in
[12:43] 1972 in Managua, Nicaragua, there was a 6.5 in 1976 Guatemala had their last big one which was a 7.5 and the one a few days ago a 7.2 Puts those two big ones 36 years apart, which is right in that 25 to 50 year range I just spoke about for really big earthquakes or terry motos then in 1979 Columbia had an 8.0 then in 1985 Chile had a 7.4 then again in March of 2010 Chile had an 8.8 You remember that that was one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded and those big ones in Chile were exactly 25 years apart Again falling within that range of 25 to 50 years. I mentioned then in
[13:31] 1985 Mexico City has an 8.1 another one for the Guinness Book then in 1986 El Salvador has a 7.5 then in 87 Ecuador gets hit with a 7.0 in 1992 Nicaragua gets a 7 just 20 years after the last big one which was a 6.5 then in 2001 Salvador gets a double whammy a 7.6 followed by a 6.6 just 15 years after the last big one a 7.5 in 1986 then in 2007 Peru gets another 7.9 huge which is 37 years since the last monster they had which was a 7.9 And I can go on and on believe me So what's all this tell you it tells you that when you come down to Latin America as an expat you just have to expect
[14:20] Earthquakes and one big one every 20 to 50 years and here's the thing about those really big ones as usual people have very Short memories about disasters like that. Let's take that Guatemala example. The last huge one was in 1976 basically that means the only people that really remember that thing are people who are 45 years old or more and Since only about 20% of the people in all of Guatemala are over 45 years old Four out of five people down there have no living memory of it It's like in the US four out of five people there have no living memory of the Vietnam War either They weren't born yet, or we're too young at the time to remember now because very few people in Latin America Remember the last big earthquake in their area their poor keep building those rickety
[15:09] Chacks with tin roofs on precarious slopes, and they keep going to church every Sunday and praying the God that it'll never happen again But it always does Meanwhile the people with money keep building their structures out of concrete block rebar and brick So in the end, it's always the poor folks that suffer Those are the people you see dazed and confused walking the streets like zombies on the 6 o'clock news and the rest of us We suffer a bit too, but it's more just an inconvenience for us The roads crack the plumbing and the power go out for a while But again because people live a lot closer to the earth down here even the poorest people do cope and there's generally never a serious Food and water shortage not for long not for more than a couple of days now think how bad the aftermath of Katrina was and New York today and
[16:00] One more thing I'd like to mention a lot of the old historic colonial Spanish towns down here Latin America have been hit repeatedly with big earthquakes over the past few centuries That's why when you tour these places you see so many ruined monasteries churches cathedrals and palaces Because you see back then when the Spanish built these great edifices They didn't have steel sub structures and rebar no matter how tall and gigantic these structures were They were just basically stone and mortar and after a while those things just couldn't take it anymore And they crumbled and toppled the same is true for so many of the common folk down here Especially many poor people in small out-of-the-way towns in the boonies They don't build low-class wooden tin shacks But they build their houses out of traditional adobe bricks, which can look very elegant and classy
[16:48] But they never hold up during a big earthquake Adobe bricks are made out of a kind of mud That's not fired in a kill like a standard brick is their son dried So they're not near as strong, but it's really cheap construction because dirt and mud are everywhere So a lot of times when you're in a beautiful little rustic Spanish colonial house underneath all that nice plaster are adobe blocks Adobe structures in Arizona and the rest of a southwestern United States might be just fine That's not considered earthquake territory, but down here in Latin America Forget about it enough about that. Let's motivate on to a different subject now in the last few shows I've talked a little bit about GMOs genetically modified foods now I have gotten a few emails from people asking me just what is genetically modified in this world?
[17:36] And how fast is that crap spreading to Latin America? Basically, what should they keep an eye out for so they can avoid it if they can well if you live up in the first world I've got bad news for you Everything and anything that's a corn product is GMO Except popcorn somehow they haven't gotten around to that yet and everything that's got that poison called high fructose corn syrup in it is GMO modified too, which is pretty much contained in all your pre-packaged food junk food and sodas But the good news is down here in Latin America Anything that has sugar in it has real cane sugar in it if it's made down here If it's imported from the first world, it's gonna have that high fructose corn syrup And as you know refined cane sugar is still bad for you
[18:22] But it doesn't suck near as much as high fructose corn syrup So anyway these days the majority of white and yellow corn products are GMOs So what are the other GMO products? Well, you got soy cotton and cottonseed oil nearly all canola oil Alfalfa zucchini squash and Hawaiian papayas now down here in Latin America You have about five or six kinds of papayas and the only place you're gonna get a GMO Hawaiian papaya is in a first world grocery store So you don't have to worry about that down here and about that GMO canola oil I bet a lot of you are thinking I don't buy that stuff. I buy olive oil extra virgin Well, guess what? It's been reported in some of the big European newspapers that a high percentage of olive oil even extra virgin olive oil is being cut
[19:10] illegally with canola oil Which it mixes quite well with olive oil and doesn't separate so you can't tell it's been adulterated without an expensive chemical analysis So you purists out there who think your olive oil is virgin You just might be getting polluted with GMOs on the side and you don't even know it my advice switch to 100% cold-pressed Coconut oil there's a lot of good reasons for that But for one thing it does not degrade at high temperatures like olive oil Okay, let's move on to something else one thing that's always bothered me about living down here in Latin America Is that you never ever know if there's a product recall like for example an auto recall? I've yet to meet anyone who's bought a new vehicle including myself
[19:56] Who's ever been notified by the dealership that there is a product recall going on and you'd think that dealers? Worldwide would be passing that information along to everyone, but they don't and I know that in the u.s Oftentimes you'll read in your local newspaper that there's a Honda or a Plymouth recall Did I say Plymouth man? Am I showing my age or what? Anyway, so often you find out about your recall by reading it in a local newspaper or by letter or email from the dealer But down here in Latin America I've been reading local newspapers for some 20 years now and I've never seen a recall notice Though you'll sometimes read it as a news item when a really dangerous problem exists in a certain car model a problem That's got legs with the media up in the first world
[20:43] Like when there's been a few high-profile deaths or injuries associated with the defect now I don't know if you knew this but this year alone in 2012 which isn't even over yet Already oddy Buick Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Honda Zuzu Jeep Nissan Porsche Volkswagen and Volvo have had factory recalls and all the owners of those products have been notified by email or snail mail in the first world and They're supposed to bring their vehicle down to the dealer and get the problem fixed So that's a third world problem. You have to deal with you just don't get notified and the best thing you can do as far as I see is not to go down to the dealership and Ask them because more than likely you'll get a blank deer in the headlights kind of look from them instead Maybe once a year you should go to this website called auto
[21:32] Recalls org and check your car model and see if it's been pulled for a recall Otherwise, you're just never gonna know and the same is true about general product recalls You're never notified about that and you never read about it in the paper Unless it's a real shocking news item like kids getting strangled in a certain kind of car seat or a stroller I mean, come on every year There's thousands of product recalls and you hear about them all the time up in the first world And you know, I'm not really paranoid about this myself, but it is buyer beware So just know that the same products up in the states have flooded down here to Latin America, too And all those dozens even hundreds of defective products you read about the ones that have been pulled from the shelves up in the states Well, they don't pull them from the shelves down here. Oh, and since we're discussing cars
[22:20] I'd like to point out something I think will shock you. Did you know that after the year? 2015 just two short years away all new cars in the US will be equipped with a black box like a small version of an airplane black box and that black box Is there to record your mileage your GPS data all of your destinations your driving habits and all the routes? You've ever taken in fact, what it's there for is to track everything you've ever done in any place You've ever gone in that car. Well, you might think okay Well, I've got a GPS trip tracking device and it's pretty cool I've got my Google Earth and Google Maps going and I just punch in a location and there it is in real time Simply a godsend for men since we hate to ask for directions Well, think about this for a second
[23:08] If after 2015 your car will track every route you've ever driven and place you've ever stopped at What's that information for and who's gonna get it? Probably insurance companies and government alphabet soup agencies, of course What if the NSA or Homeland Security finds out from your black box that you make regular trips to a gun store or a Riffler shooting range or maybe you've gone to some third-party political rallies or prepper meetings So why am I mentioning this because in Latin America? There will be no such black boxes car companies are not gonna spend money to install things like that in countries where they're not Required and how do I know that? Well, I know a couple of guys that work at new car dealerships down here
[23:53] And they told me the story that back in the 80s and 90s when pollution regulations got really tough up in the first world Especially California when car companies had to employ all kinds of tricks under the hood to meet those new pollution Standards as well as installing those expensive catalytic converters Well, my friends from the new car dealerships down here told me the dealership received identical models without those expensive Add-ons and whether you agree with that policy or not I mean without getting into the morality issue about polluting the planet Car companies won't spend the extra money unless they're forced to another great example of this is airbags Of course up in the first world United States and Europe airbags have been legislated for many years
[24:40] But down here in Latin America in the third world There are no laws saying that cars have to be sold with airbags The fact is you can go into any new car dealership and buy a brand new car off the floor With no airbags at all if you so choose Down here stripped down versions of basic cars often don't have any airbags at all or just a driver's side airbag And another thing after a car has been in an accident and the airbags have blown if it has them almost No one ever gets them reinstalled they're just too damn expensive like a thousand bucks apiece and I've found out that even if you do have car insurance and it Covers your accident. There's absolutely no guarantee when you get that car back from the shop That a new airbag has actually been installed or if it has that it even works because you know down here in Latin America
[25:31] They don't have consumer product safety commissions. In other words, no one's minding the store So it's always a case of buyer beware and while I'm on the subject of cars I just got some information from one of the biggest car insurers in Latin America and these are compiled statistics of Car thefts that I'm sure are gonna interest you. Let's talk about brands first The number one brand stolen is Toyota number two Mazda number three Mitsubishi number four Nissan number five Honda now that in itself is very informative What does that tell us all of those brands are Japanese brands not Korean not us not European?
[26:17] Obviously thieves prefer their cars made in Japan So let that be a lesson to you when you buy one down here buy anything but Japanese and you're automatically beating the odds And here's some more interesting car robbery stats thieves down here Prefer to steal cars of a certain color too and white is the color more stolen second gray third blue fourth red So if you pick boring beige or vomit yellow or even puke green That's another way to beat the odds and they've even got it broken down to the time of day when cars are most stolen Down here in Latin America. The vast majority of cars are stolen between 11 o'clock and 1 in the afternoon That's lunchtime and most are stolen from fast food parking lots like McDonald's Wendy's Kentucky Fried and Burger King
[27:09] So what's that? Tell us well at lunchtime you beat the odds by going home bringing a sack lunch or going to a restaurant that serves real food and Here's a quick update find me and Robert Culpepper the expat wisdom guys at expat wisdom calm Of course and on Twitter the Twitter handle is at expat wisdom south of the border down Mexico way That's listening to the expat files living in Latin America Coming to you each week from somewhere south of the border and don't forget you can email me on anything at all about Latin America The expat files at gmail.com See you next time