Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller explores various aspects of life in Latin America, from the cultural phenomenon of fireworks to the unique status of Mormons and the growing presence of first-world entertainment. He begins by discussing the widespread use of fireworks during holidays, highlighting their legal accessibility, the risks they pose, and the cultural significance they hold, especially in lower-income communities. He contrasts this with the stricter regulations in the United States, noting the irony of gun ownership being more accepted there than fireworks.
Johnny then shifts to a personal anecdote about his own purchase of fireworks, explaining that he buys the largest ones not for enjoyment but to demonstrate their size to newcomers. He also responds to an email from a listener named Querno de Chivo, who shares a humorous story about being asked to be a godparent in a Latin American family and avoiding the request by claiming to be a Mormon. Johnny reflects on his own views on Mormonism and the benefits of the lifestyle.
The episode continues with a discussion on the unique status of Mormons in Latin America, noting that they are rarely targeted for crime, which could be beneficial for expats in unsafe areas. He suggests that expats might adopt a similar appearance, such as wearing a Roman collar, to avoid trouble, though he points out the flaw in this idea due to the prevalence of Catholicism in the region. He also highlights the cleanliness and well-maintained condition of Mormon churches, contrasting them with the often deteriorated state of older colonial churches.
Johnny then transitions to discussing Latin American entertainment, particularly lucha libre wrestling, which he describes as a poorly staged, low-quality form of entertainment that is nonetheless popular. He criticizes the overall entertainment standards in the region, suggesting that it contributes to the region's reputation as the 'third world.'
The episode concludes with a discussion on the 'gringo advantage' in Latin America, where first-world rock bands and musicians find a second lease on their careers by touring in the region. Johnny highlights how these bands, often seen as has-beens in the U.S., can achieve massive success in Latin America due to the region's unique cultural and economic conditions. He also explains the role of classic American rock radio stations in Latin America, which play a continuous rotation of 60s, 70s, and 80s hits, making it possible for many Latin Americans to lip-sync to these songs even if they don't understand the lyrics. He further notes that this phenomenon has led to a kind of 'gringo disadvantage' for expats, who often find the ubiquitous presence of American rock music in Latin American settings annoying or outdated.
Johnny concludes by emphasizing that the cost-effectiveness and availability of large venues in Latin America make it an attractive destination for first-world musicians, allowing them to perform for large audiences at a fraction of the cost compared to the U.S.
Topics
Fireworks in Latin America, Cultural traditions and their risks, Legal and social differences between Latin America and the U.S., Impact of fireworks on lower-income communities, Cultural traditions, Language and wordplay, Godparent traditions in Latin America, Mormonism and cultural identity, Mormons in Latin America, Expats and safety, Churches in Latin America, Lucha libre wrestling
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:01:03 Fireworks and Their Timing in Latin America 00:01:49 The Legal and Cultural Significance of Fireworks 00:02:55 The Risk of Fireworks Among Expats and Locals 00:05:37 Fireworks and Law Enforcement in Latin America 00:06:52 Emails and Bookstore Wordplay 00:10:19 Johnny's Response to the Email 00:11:09 Mormons in Latin America and Expats' Safety 00:11:47 The Flaw in Pretending to Be a Priest 00:12:38 Mormon Churches in Latin America 00:14:14 Lucha Libre Wrestling and Latin Entertainment 00:16:20 Entertainment Standards in Latin America 00:16:58 Gringo Advantage and Early Discoveries of Rock Bands in Latin America 00:17:45 Latin America's Lag Time Effect and the Resurgence of First-World Rock Stars 00:18:43 The Role of Classic Rock Radio Stations in Latin America 00:21:25 The Rise of First-World Bands in Latin America and the Cost-Effectiveness of Touring 00:22:38 Introduction to the Presence of First-World Entertainment in Latin America 00:23:21 Historical Context of First-World Bands Touring in Latin America 00:25:05 Religious and Cultural Context of Latin America 00:27:16 Current Trends and Changes in the Latin American Music Market
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 Hello there all you expat 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 Now I know Christmas is over for all you guys and gals up in the States, but down here in Latin America They celebrate it for about two weeks Just like birthdays down here one day is never enough including Easter week Which they call Samana Santa down here that ends up not being a week, but about a month
[00:48] So what does that mean? Well stores are open, of course, but now during so-called Christmas week Which turns out like I said to be a month don't expect to get any real business work done And expect to hear massive amounts of fireworks going off at all hours of the day Starting at exactly midnight on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas Day at 6 p.m In fact, it gets so loud It's absolutely deafening if you're living in the city any city big or small because you see down here Every type of fireworks is legal. In fact, the other day I went down to one of the local fireworks stands which turns out to be about a block long And I told the guy I wanted the biggest firecracker possible and he looked at me and he said are you sure? You know, they're a dollar a piece Like that's gonna stop a gringo from buying something that's totally legal down here
[01:34] But so illegal up in Cleveland that you'd end up with a thousand dollar fine and in jail for a month Probably more because up there having any kind of explosive Which certainly gets you labeled as a terrorist and the SWAT teams would be tearing your house apart in the New York minute So anyway, the little guy at the kiosk handed me one big ass firecracker Then he showed me a huge plastic shrink wrap bag with about 20 of these things in there Then he winked and said i'll give you all 20 for 15 bucks And I know I could have got him down to 10, but I really only wanted one Well, maybe two and i'm telling you these things are about the size of a big tv remote control Just to give you a little idea and when you blow them off They're like a quarter stick of dynamite meaning if you're not careful
[02:21] You'll get your hands and your private parts blown off Which means there's got to be a lot of lame latin sterile guys walking around or I should say limping around, right? Well, yes The fact is every latin you talk to knows somebody a friend or a relative who's had such an accident many not quite recovering 100 percent In fact, my maintenance guy is half deaf in one ear from such an incident when he was like 12 years old and expat eddie's got A maintenance guy who's got a finger that hasn't worked, right? Since she was about 10 and as you might have mentioned 95 percent of those who mess around with big fireworks down here Are adolescent boys and immature male adults like me and expat eddie and that includes almost every expat gringo male too Since having been deprived of these things for so many years up in the states
[03:07] That the first time we see massive amounts of these things for sale Were like kids in a candy store at least for a short insane moment in time. Anyway And here's some irony for you up in chicago even sparklers are illegal But everyone's got a gun go figure, huh? And just for full disclosure when I was up there I had guns too Anyway, you male wannabes up there It's probably going to happen to you too when you get here most of us are tempted and revert back to our childhood When you've got such an amazing variety of huge fireworks available at a buck a crack for us guys It's very hard to resist especially this time of year when there's a kiosk on practically every street corner And you know every gringo that makes it down here eventually asks the question Why don't they make these things illegal?
[03:53] Look you read the paper about kids getting their fingers blown off and around this time of year whole city blocks in the poor sections of big towns go up in flames because they can't afford concrete construction and therefore use a lot of wood Basically cheap pine and those lower middle class and poor families have a lot of kids That aren't well supervised and what do kids do? They play with matches and fireworks, right? And that's why when you watch the local evening news right around this time of year There's always nice film footage of a great big blaze in some poor neighborhood And I know exactly how a lot of these young kids get these injuries I've seen it in action now these middle class lower middle class and poor kids They don't have any money and that little stash of fireworks
[04:38] They've been accumulating for months is a precious thing to them They save their pennies and nickels all year round for that little stash Now if you know anything about fireworks in general, you know that maybe 10 percent of the stuff never goes off. They're duds I'm sure you know what i'm talking about the fuse poops out before it actually ignites the thing Now for you and me if we light some firecrackers and the fuse dies before it goes off Okay, we give up or go on to the next batch, but for a poor kid Who's counting on his sacred stash to make some real noise when the fuse burns down and to us? It's a dud for him. It's not over. He never gives up Instead he peels back the wrapper to expose what's little left of the fuse and he lights it again Even though it's no long fuse now It's a tiny little stub which means he's got very little time to drop the thing or get away before it explodes
[05:29] Kids down here do that all the time. So they have hearing loss and nerve damage, etc So then the question is why don't they ban the things? Well, first of all, it's a huge tradition and secondly It'd just be another law that the cops would never enforce Like driving at night without any headlights or tail lights or driving with a shattered windshield Not to mention passing on a curve or passing a school bus with these lights flashing or running a red light If they don't enforce those laws you think they're going to enforce some kind of fireworks law. No way But back to my own fireworks purchase And why you might ask do I want the biggest firecracker possible? Well, not because I like blowing them off. My high school rebel days are long gone It's that I want to have one on hand that I can produce when people doubt how big these things really get
[06:16] And I don't blame fresh gringos who come down and just don't believe it because if you come down at the wrong time You can't find that stuff anywhere. It turns out that stuff's very seasonal a few days after new year's all those fireworks kiosks Disappear for about a half a year and it's back to normal business as usual And you just can't buy that big stuff anymore till the next holiday season rolls around And they pretty much blow off all of that stuff or sell it right after the new year because if whoever's stuck with it Stores it through the rainy season which comes up a few months after that There's a really good chance that the humidity will affect it and you'll get a lot of duds Okay. Now let's move on to some emails and first i'll refresh your memory a bit about a show I did a couple of weeks ago where I had an email from a guy in nicaragua Who told me he went against the grain and started a bookshop fully knowing that latin's rarely read books
[07:07] Not to mention reading books for first world people is becoming a dying art, too Anyway, if you recall his bookshops do it All right And just to refresh your memory the name of the bookshop is lucha libro and in the show I mentioned that I didn't know quite why he named it that since lucha libro means the fighting book Well, as it turns out that title should have meant something more to me But it went right over my head which just goes to show even though i've been down here more than 20 years I don't know everything about latin america and that's why i'm going to read this email to you right now And this email comes from a listener named querno de chivo And by the way querno means horns and chivo means goat. So this one comes from mr goat horn However, just to show you that I do know the street meanings of these things
[07:52] Cuerno de chivo is also slang for the clip on an ak-47 Because that ak-47 clip has a nice curve on it like a horn And by the way, you have to be down here some years before you pick up on things like that Anyway, here's his email. He starts. Hey, johnny, just getting caught up on your shows I imagine someone has already mentioned this but just in case nobody has I will Basically that bookstore you're talking about lucha libro is a latin play on words or pun In most latin american countries. There is a common term lucha libre, which means free wrestling in english Which has become the de facto term for what we know as all-star wrestling up in the first world
[08:38] so your bookstore buddy your lucha libro buddy is just a bit of a joker or knows someone who is And then he adds this little bit he says oh and ps There was another thing I was going to tell you I know I have told you before that my wife is a latina and we are very well loved and everyone Wants us to be a padrino Madrina compadres and all of that stuff just like you mentioned on your previous show Everyone wants the gringos to be their godfathers and godmothers Which is a huge feather in the head for any latin family And now i'll paraphrase this a bit so it's easier for you to get the drift He goes on to say that in your show you say that every latin family You know is going to want you to be the godfather to one or more of their kids
[09:25] And it's a difficult thing to get out of without hurting anyone's feelings After all you don't want to insult them by saying no and in general if you don't seem that keen on the idea The parents are going to pick up on that too, which could sour your relationship with the family a bit. Anyway in our case And like I said, my wife is a latina. We found an easy and simple way to get out of it We've solved that problem without hurting anyone's feelings We just tell everyone who wants us to be a godfather or godmother that we're mormons And since the whole godparent thing is all catholic, there are no questions asked after that No begging no pressure It's dropped and then he goes on to say you know what? That just might be the best and the only thing that the mormon church has going for it Then he adds you're mentioning of the amish to avoid obamacare reminded me of that then he signs off. Merry christmas johnny
[10:19] Okay, and now my comments on that first of all He mentioned if you say you're a mormon you can get out of the godmother and godfather thing And then he says that might be just the best and only good thing about being a mormon Well, I have to disagree to me. There are three great things about being a mormon that he failed to mention One you don't have to worry about your wardrobe black pants white shirts suspenders. You just can't go wrong You can't be a clothes horse and you can't blow a wad on the latest fashion because that is the fashion number two Mormons have kind of an invisible protective force watching over them. No, i'm not saying it's supernatural or anything I'm, just saying the bad guys don't mess with them Mormons reach the far corners of everywhere in latin america including the worst most terrible slums like those favolas and Ascenta mientos where people have just kind of squatted on mountain sides and stuff and they live in crime and filth
[11:08] You know what i'm talking about? I mentioned quite a bit about that when I spoke about brazil and living around rio And when I talk about places that gringles and expats should try their best to stay out of Anyway, mormons no matter where they are almost never get attacked assaulted or robbed Which could mean that black pants white shirt and suspender outfit could come in handy for any expat who might have to travel in dodgy areas in the big cities of latin america and of course I don't recommend that but if for example, you're a low budget fleabag hotel backpacker A lot of times you are going to end up in very crappy sections of town That could be your cue to do the clark can't thing I mean hell if there's an unwritten code that there's hands off the mormons Why not now expat eddie and I have talked about this so-called mormon invulnerability thing and eddie says well
[11:54] Then why not just get yourself a roman collar and walk around as a priest in that case It doesn't matter what kind of clothes you wear You just slap the collar on when you're feeling kind of threatened since in latin america Mormons and priests enjoy the same kind of immunity when they're in crappier sections of town Well, it's easy to point out the flaw in eddie's argument there because since 80 to 90 percent of latins are catholic If you're masquerading as a priest every place you go Old ladies are going to talk to you and young ladies are going to try to get you to bless their kids But mormons well, they aren't catholic so people can't get a blessing out of them So people just don't bother them. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot There's one more very positive thing about mormons and other churches and sects should really take a hint, but they won't Anyway, mormons by far have the absolute cleanest nicest and best manicured churches in all of latin america
[12:46] Even though all the churches are relatively new. I don't think i've ever seen one over 40 or 50 years old Even so they never let them go to seed. They're always in perfect condition first world details all the way There's one in every town and the big cities have quite a few and in no way are they extravagant They're very basic but built with the finest materials and the craftsmanship is first class and their gardens and landscaping are just Meticulous. So if you're ever out looking for a mormon church And I don't know why you would just ask anyone to point you to the nicest most well-kept church in town Now that's not to say there aren't some fantastically beautiful old colonial churches and cathedrals that were built a few hundred years ago That are still in use and are amazing in their detail
[13:32] But most of those big old historic things were built by the spanish and when these latin countries got their independence They pretty much went to seed because the local latins like I said are not big on details So just have a look around when you're in one of these big cathedrals and you'll see wood rot water stains plaster damage broken windows That's pretty much your status quo for all churches down here Except mormon churches now the other thing in that email from goat horns or if you prefer ak47 clip He was talking about that play on words with the bookstore a play on words that I missed it went right over my head Libro which means book fight or fighting book which at the time didn't make sense to me But now since i've been informed it's a play on the words lucha libre, which is the fantastically popular latin american all-star wrestling
[14:23] Now I get it. But in my defense, I have to plead total boredom and disinterest in latin sports Especially this lucha libre wrestling, which is not really a sport, but just terribly bad. In fact embarrassingly bad theater It's really the most pathetically staged junk you've ever seen but latins love it Now you might have flicked through one of your 300 cable channels up north and come across the latin station Probably mexican and have seen two overweight guys wrestling in shiny spandex outfits wearing full masks And if you look close enough sporting girdles and trusses to hold in their potbellies now That's lucha libre now at least in championship wrestling in the first world The guys are very muscular and cut up at least they are these days and they really do know how to put on a show
[15:11] well, in fact lucha libre down here in latin america is like championship wrestling was back in the 1950s and 60s in the states when potbellied out of shape fat guys like the crusher Obviously pulled their punches used fake blood and tried their best not to hurt their opponent Well, that's exactly what lucha libre is today in latin america again It's the lag time effect this time by about 30 years yet. It's super popular down here, especially with kids and adolescents Now if you've been listening to this show for any length of time, you know by now This is latin america and the people have very low entertainment standards I mean face it 99 of the movies they produce are so packed with amateurs. They're laughable Not to mention latin rock and roll, which is oh so popular here is nothing
[15:57] But a bad copy of first world rock and their soap operas which are even more popular Are bad copies of our bad soap operas and this lucha libre wrestling is a bad copy of our own staged bad wrestling Now don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be a jerk here I'm just trying to tell it like it is To say that latins are easily amused would be the understatement of the year Why do you think they call it the third world and if you disagree with me on this here's a little quiz for you Name one gringo or expat who came down to latin america? Simply because he couldn't get enough of that second-rate latin entertainment enough said about that, huh? Now earlier I was talking about catholic and mormon churches and I even mentioned bad latin rock and roll. Come on Is there any other kind now? Here's a little tidbit that strangely mixes both of those items together
[16:47] Now I should preface this by saying that 20 some years ago when I first came down every so often A north american rock and roll has been banned would make it down to latin america Mostly to the biggest cities and in gringoized places like panama and costa rica In fact back then I actually saw jethro tull in costa rica and I could have seen kenny g in america But I would have rather preferred having my toenails pulled out with the hot pliers That said back then in those early days some lucky has been first world rock bands discovered that gringo advantage And by sheer luck stumbled into a second lease on their rock star lives But that was the case only if they toured down here in latin america and wouldn't you know it slowly But surely former big-name bands that couldn't get a lounge gig at holiday inn
[17:34] Were suddenly playing in huge stadiums in brazil and argentina for crowds of a hundred thousand people again just like the hey days back in the states in the 60s 70s and 80s And latin's because of that lag time effect treat has been first world rock stars like for example america yellow ario speedwagon Casey and the sunshine band and christopher cross like the superstar visiting dignitaries They once were years ago And god only knows when they toured down here if they've even got any original members left in the band at all Not that it would matter their latin audience would never know the difference. That's for sure They sure didn't when creden's clearwater toured down here about 10 years ago without john fogerty who was their leader
[18:20] Sang all their songs wrote all their songs and played lead guitar, too And still they sold out huge venues talk about lowering your critical standards, huh? So you might wonder how do latin americans 95 percent of which don't even speak english How do they even know who these bands are to even plunk down their hard-earned dough for the concerts? Well, it's because like I mentioned in a past show Every medium and large city in latin america has at least one sometimes two or three classic american english rock stations That have a continuous rotation of 60s 70s and 80s top 40 hits 24 7 now that means a radio station down here in latin america Doesn't even have to have a real staff of disc jockeys news guys or a production team They can buy a direct radio feed like that from up in the first world and have basically an automated station
[19:10] And all they have to do is have an engineer plug in local advertisers and commercials every quarter hour or when necessary Like for example a station called kiss fm Kiss fm It's a classic english rock station that's syndicated out of the us in practically every big city down here in latin america And that's why every middle class to upscale latin can lip-sync the words to hotel california I just called to say I love you and stairway to heaven even though they have no idea at all what the words mean If you think that's crazy get this All the karaoke machines and all the bars and discos and restaurants in latin america are loaded with those same 50 or so songs That are rotated over and over again on those classic rock oldie stations
[20:00] And as the karaoke star you can pick the words in english or translate it into spanish Just come on down and go to karaoke night at chili's tgi of fridays the sizzler tony roma's Any mediocre american franchise restaurant like that and many local latin bars and restaurants, too And you'll see what I mean So what i'm saying is sure you're gonna hear a lot of spanish music But you're gonna hear that old english small c classic junk, too In fact if you live in a big city, especially you're gonna hear it until you can't stand it anymore And every time you walk into a professional's office like a doctor an accountant a lawyer Or a modern business office trying to impress you with what they think is the modern coolness factor That's the music that's always playing even though the vast majority of the people in the office
[20:49] Don't speak english and have no idea what the words are It's just a disappointing secondary effect of the gringo advantage kind of a gringo disadvantage if you ask me So latin's think it's cool, but us gringos and expats roll their eyes and think Oh, no, not the freaking bg's again Which only goes to prove the latin's that own those buildings and latin professionals think that if they play that music They're somehow not third world anymore, but gringoized But what it says to us gringos and long-term expats is well, you know what it says Now I got off on a little bit of a tangent there But what else is new what I really wanted to stress is that in the last five or so years a lot of big time First world bands and musical groups have come down here
[21:35] Some very good ones too Not just the has-beens because you see what they've all found is that it's very cheap to do a tour down here And even though the ticket prices can be half or less of what they'd get up in the states in a big coliseum Let's say down here. They could pack them in like wood stock In fact, like I said, some of these big gigantic amphitheaters and soccer stadiums can hold up to 200,000 people and those kind of gigantic venues just don't exist anymore up in the states for one thing They're just too damn expensive to put on with the first world union and labor costs Not to mention the security and insurance costs when you try to do that kind of thing up in the first world Just don't make sense anymore besides nowadays in the states many counties prohibit big rock shows because of the so-called crowds They attract the violence and the drugs
[22:21] Whereas i've been told that doing a big gig like that down here in latin america can be done for what were once 1960s and 70 prices up in the states So the good news is that all us gringos and expats down here in latin america that are fairly close to a medium or large sized city Some of our favorite entertainers bands and groups come in three or four times a year Which means even if we're off the tourist track we're not completely out of touch with what's happening there up in the first world And by the way, what I mean by other kinds of entertainment is for example The circ de soleil just did a big sweeping tour all through latin america about four months ago And also in the last couple of months some very big popular bands have made a sweep through latin america, too As well as the not quite hasbends like arrow smith
[23:07] Metallica the red hot chili peppers and a ton of famous Millennium bands who I don't keep up with and really don't give a damn about but they are coming down here with regularity now because well It's a financial boon for them now That's a lot different than five or so years ago when only real desperate first world hasbends came through like america and kenny gee Which back then totally made sense since the common word about traveling through latin america was that it was dangerous I mean look at the state department website It still says that and probably always will not to mention back then a band doing the tour Never knew if it was going to sell out or not since their catalog was in english and down here. Everyone speaks spanish Obviously, they knew nothing of the gringo advantage, right? But they found out in a hurry now regarding first world music entertainment and concerts coming down here to latin america
[23:58] In the last two or three years there's kind of been a touring breakthrough or renaissance down here until very recently only bland Non-controversial milk toast kind of first world bands did any kind of extensive touring here? For example, the better known ones like sting and mccartney stevie wonder rod stewart elton john The rolling stones who once were controversial but are now just over the hill classic mainstream They'd all come down once in a while and fill huge stadiums These were all bands that were safe bets for latin america But for anyone who was keeping their eye on who was coming down and who wasn't there was a definite lack of heavy metal Bands coming down especially certain notorious ones noted for their wild antics And any bands that were perceived as disrespectful to christ or christianity
[24:47] Either in their songs or the name of the band itself And that of course included any bands that had any connection real or perceived to satanism the occult or devil worship Even though us first world, there's no damn. Well, anytime a band or group was linked to any of that stuff It was just pr to sell more records But the thing to remember here is that latin america is totally christian about 80 to 90 percent catholic and the rest mostly evangelical christian So what that meant is that for years and years bands like mega death maryland manson judas priest god speed rob zombie iron maiden and black sabbath and of course the blizzard of oz himself Never had the chance to tour latin america
[25:33] Even though over the years first world promoters had tried to set up any number of concert venues with the deals All signed and sealed and they knew they'd be huge successes Only to find out at the 11th hour that the actual concert locations and stadiums would back out of the deal Now a case in point is black sabbath some years ago They were set to do some huge gigs in mexico brazil argentina costa rica, etc Only to find out at the last minute that their shows were canceled and get this The excuse given was that at the same string of stadiums that they were to perform at The pope had appeared on the same venue at the same stadiums just two weeks earlier And by the way, that must have meant the guy with the funny head has the same promoter as ozzy
[26:21] Which makes me wonder what kind of cut the pope gets on the t-shirt and the hot dog concession But no one's talking about that, right? Anyway, the local promoters backed down thinking would be sacrilegious To have ozzy osborne and black sabbath play in the same venue that the pope just graced In fact ozzy and sabbath actually started off on the tour and were only able to do one city gig in brazil It was a huge soccer stadium that held two or three hundred thousand and they packed it Twice and funny enough since it was the last gig on the pope's tour The pope's pa was still on the stage when black sabbath came to set up And in the end when the attendance numbers came in black sabbath beat out the pope by three or four thousand How's that for irony, huh? But a black sabbath spokesman also said the pope's pa which was magnificent
[27:12] Beat theirs by about three or four thousand watts now All of that happened quite a few years ago and these days things have changed today in latin america There's a thriving latin heavy metal band scene too bad copies of first world heavy metal bands, of course And finally big first world heavy metal bands are touring. There's been a lag time, but they're finally breaking the ice You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border Email me the expat files at gmail.com And don't forget to check out expatwisdom.com to sign up for your free reports on latin america See you next time nos vemos