Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller discusses a variety of topics related to expat life in Latin America. He begins by introducing himself and the podcast, which focuses on life in the region. Johnny shares a personal anecdote about his current setup, including an ergonomic chair he purchased, and humorously discusses the idea of buying a chair for a thousand dollars. He also touches on the topic of police response in Latin America, advising expats to call the police with exaggerated reasons like a shooting or a death to ensure a prompt response.
Johnny then shifts to discussing snakes in the region, reassuring listeners that while snakes are present, they are generally not a significant threat to humans, and that most incidents involve local workers rather than expats. He concludes by mentioning his neighbor, expat Eddie, and his experiences with snakes and other pests in the region.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the challenges expats face in Latin America, including the prevalence of snakes, landmines (as a joke), and the inefficiency of the police system. He also shares his current location, describing his comfortable setting in a cabana in the mountains of Honduras near Copán, and comments on the lack of energy-efficient construction practices in the region.
Johnny explains that many Latin American homes are built in stages, with families planning to add stories over time, resulting in visible infrastructure like rebar and plumbing tubes sticking out of the first floor. This is considered normal in Latin neighborhoods, but it's viewed as unsightly and potentially dangerous by expats and gringos, who prefer gated communities with stricter zoning laws. He contrasts this with first-world standards, where houses must be completed before occupancy.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the cost of living in Latin America, focusing on the high cost of electricity compared to other goods. He highlights that while most items are inexpensive, electricity is significantly more expensive, often three to four times higher than in the United States. He also addresses the construction industry, noting that local builders and architects do not use first-world window brands like Pella or Anderson due to their high cost. Instead, they opt for cheaper Latin American-made windows.
Johnny warns against vinyl window frames due to their susceptibility to sun damage and recommends aluminum frames with anodized finishes for durability. He also advises against asphalt or fiberglass shingles, which degrade quickly under the intense sun in Latin America.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses the challenges of living in Latin America, particularly focusing on the issues with aluminum and wood framed windows. He explains that aluminum windows offer no insulation value and are not recommended due to the lack of double or triple paned options. He then shifts to wood framed windows, noting that while they have been the standard for centuries, they are prone to deterioration in the tropical climate and require significant maintenance.
Johnny emphasizes that maintaining wood framed windows is a lifetime commitment, and many locals opt for no maintenance at all, even if it means eventual decay. He then transitions to a discussion about avocados, explaining the variety of types available in Central America, the difference between the common 'hoss' avocado and a rarer, more flavorful variety, and the challenges of transporting and ripening avocados. The segment concludes with Johnny describing his current location and the presence of various birds around his avocado trees.
Topics
Introduction to the podcast and its focus on expat life in Latin America, Personal anecdotes about living in Latin America, Humor and self-deprecating remarks about expat life, Discussion on police response in Latin America, Snake and pest-related fears among expats, Cultural and practical insights into life in the tropics, Expat experiences in Latin America, Challenges with local police, Construction practices in Latin America, Safety concerns for expats, Latin American architecture, Building practices in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:16 Introduction to the Show and Host 00:00:26 Overview of Life in Latin America 00:01:56 Police Response in Latin America 00:02:43 Snakes and Safety in the Tropics 00:05:34 Eddie's Snake Problem and the Gardener's Joke 00:07:37 The Police System and Exaggeration 00:08:35 Johnny's Location and the Cabana Setting 00:11:00 Construction Practices and Insect Resistance 00:11:33 Why Latin American Houses Are Built in Stages 00:12:25 Zoning Laws and Expats' Preferences 00:14:50 First-World vs. Latin American Building Standards 00:16:54 Electricity Costs in Latin America 00:17:15 Local Window Manufacturing in Latin America 00:19:10 Recommendations Against Vinyl Window Frames 00:22:20 Aluminum Windows and Insulation Issues 00:23:07 Wood Framed Windows and Maintenance Challenges 00:25:38 Avocado Varieties in Central America
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 You know right now. I'm looking at an email, and it's like a lot of emails I receive and the person is asking me to explain where I am right now and where I'm doing the show Okay, why not? I'll do that right now. I'm sitting in a very comfortable
[00:46] Ergonomic chair that I think cost around a thousand bucks. It's not mine I don't need the latest and greatest kush for my tush I could do this show sitting on a beach on top of a volcano or even a wooden crate and believe me I have but hey this magnificent chair is here and no one else is around so why not use it fact is I didn't even know You could buy an office chair for a thousand bucks for a grand It should come with a flat screen something or other or even a GPS Wait a minute. Maybe it does there is this little compartment here That's got a lock on it, but alas it needs a key, and I don't have one and why am I so sure it costs that much? Well, that's because it's so comfortable. I just had to look it up on the internet thinking I might want to get one myself I mean, I like to pamper my posterior as much as the next guy, but a thousand bucks
[01:32] I thought there was a decimal point off no such luck So I figure I better enjoy the ride while no one's around right so anyway I flipped the thing upside down it says on the label under the seat that it was made in Australia And it also says do not remove this label under penalty of law Yeah, and since it's still attached surely the owner hasn't torn it off fearing the heavy hand of the Honduran police force Oh And by the way about the Honduran police force and by the way what I'm gonna say now goes for any police force in Latin America Except for maybe Cuba so take note if you do happen to need them for anything at all And you phone up the local precinct and somebody actually answers I guarantee it'll take a day or two for them to get to your house if they come at all And that's why I always recommend to gringos and expats that if they really need a patrol to come to their house for any
[02:21] Reason when you phone up always tell them there were shots fired or someone's been killed Then you've got about a 75% chance that they'll show up within an hour or two Then when they show up tell them why you're really called you know to help you remove that 10-foot boa constrictor that set up Housekeeping in your pool pump shed Now don't laugh that's exactly what happened to expat Eddie's neighbor about a year ago And yes since this is the tropics there are snakes down here sometimes big ones But you really shouldn't get all rattled about it bad pun, huh? If you ever run into a big ugly constrictor like that it'll give you the willies alright But it won't make a move believe me it will keep its distance and mind its own business And if you think you're gonna see one with every nature walk you take or in every garden That's not gonna happen in fact in my nearly two dozen years down here
[03:09] I've only seen two big ones that is and one was freshly dead hit by a car crossing the road They're pretty slow, and they won't lunge or bite unless you actually step on one and the only place There's the slimmest chance of that happening is if you like taking walks in the jungle off the trails and in the thick brush That is and still I've never heard that happening to a gringo or expat though I'll tell you every gardener and maintenance man does have a snake story or two And that's why if you have a place with a big garden or spread out in the boonies your gardener will keep the place trimmed And the brush low speaking of snakes sure they are down here alright They're really only dangerous if you happen to be a small animal like a squirrel or rat or a very small dog You know the ones that yipe and pester humans and other animals they come in contact with like one vet down here told me
[03:58] When a dog gets bit by a snake it's usually because he deserved it since dog is not on the snakes menu And in regards to poisonous snakes They're down here too and though they're greatly in the minority in the general snake population that is nevertheless All the hospitals have anti-venom as one gardener told me only about one out of 20 snakes is poisonous And if you ask any of the doctors in the hospital emergency rooms They'll tell you they never see gringos and expats coming in with snake bite It's always the gardeners the farmers and the agricultural workers the ones that are stomping through the brush Hacking down weeds and harvesting the crops now expat Eddie who's always good for a story He told me that over 10 years ago when he first got down to El Salvador He asked his gardener that same question because he too was concerned about snakes
[04:47] And I doubt this will surprise you seems all gringos and expats Especially women gringas and expats have snakes on the brain when they first get down here not to mention various degrees of panic When those super-sized insects and spiders inevitably find their way indoors Yep, there was a time when they'd give me the creeps too, and it used to be kill kill kill, but now well It's more live and let live you know and though you eventually take that attitude None of us gringos and expats are totally benevolent when it comes to cockroaches flies rats and scorpions in that case It's still kill kill kill For the vast majority of us long-term expats and as for gringos and long-term lady expats well They'll get a guy to do it Anyway, when expat Eddie first got down to El Salvador
[05:34] He had snakes on the brain too now Eddie's got about two acres of brush and trees and weeds behind his house And first thing he did was he asked his gardener if I go back there and take a walk What are my chances of stepping on a snake and the gardener replied hefe which means boss in Spanish? Hefe I wouldn't worry about the snakes so much It's the landmines now because there's a dairy farm adjacent to Eddie's backyard and quite a few cows He thought he was talking about cow pies since some folks refer to cow pies as landmines But you see the gardener was half serious when he said that because remember El Salvador back in the 80s was a notorious civil war zone and when Eddie finally figured out the joke some joke, huh? He said are you serious landmines and the guy laughed and said you see any three-legged cows out there?
[06:25] So anyway, if you're a nervous Nellie Just get yourself some good solid hiking boots that extend past your ankles and it's always a good idea not to wear shorts If you're trampling through the brush and you know down here in Latin America only clueless gringos when not at the beach wear shorts Latins seem to know better and it's not because they think shorts are uncool They know all about their own super-sized insects and bugs. That's why let's see where were we? Oh, yeah We were talking about trying to get Latin American cops over to your house when you really need them Meaning when you call for assistance, you'll just have to exaggerate the situation quite a bit In other words, you'll probably have to lie or chances are they just won't show up at all And if they ask about the gunshots or the dead guy or whatever You're told the dispatcher on the phone if they actually picked up when you called just play the smiling dumb gringo act
[07:15] You know, no hablo good espanol So am I telling you to lie to these guys in a word? Yes, sometimes that's the only way you have half a chance of them Showing up just remember the name of this show is the expat files living in Latin America And I'm here to tell you how things really work down here in Latin America So if you have the need to call the cops for a family dispute or a break-in or whatever Well, the fact is those kind of things are so far down on the priority list. Well, you get the idea So the original question was where am I doing this show from today? Well for starters, I'm sitting in what just might be the world's most comfortable office chair that I know now is definitely worth stealing However, I'm not that kind of guy though I'm sure only the owner an expert gringo by the way And I know the true value of this thing or maybe he doesn't anyway
[08:04] I'll be trying to work out a deal with him when he gets back from his little vacation in Roatan So here I am in a boutique cabana setting with six other nicely appointed cabanas All of them perched on a mountainside with two of them just barely visible from my window And by the way down here, they call cabins cabanas easy enough to remember since they sound so much the same, right? Now I happen to be in the owners cabin thus the thousand-dollar chair So where am I right now GPS wise? I'm in the mountains quite close to Copan Honduras looking through a gigantic picture window about 10 foot tall by 15 feet wide It's so big that it's joined in three pieces They probably don't make glass sheets that big and if they do I'm sure they'd have needed a helicopter to set that thing in place
[08:51] And even though these cabanas are quite upscale the glass and all these big windows is only single pane Which I'm sure you realize is not energy efficient at all If you have air conditioning which this place has though I can't see when you'd ever need to use it since we are at about 2,500 feet above sea level just starting into the Altiplano and by the way double or triple pane windows here in Latin America are almost Unheard of even though if installed in houses that have air conditioning anyway They'd save untold amounts of money on electric bills Apparently Latin architects construction engineers and contractors are completely brain dead about maximizing energy savings with tried-and-true First-world techniques like fiberglass and foam wall and roof insulation double and triple pane windows or even using weather stripping
[09:38] They just don't seem to have a clue in fact just in the last three or four months I've walked through a number of brand new housing developments And I know you're gonna find this hard to believe but in most cases the doors and windows do not have a weather stripping at all Which by the way is why so many super-sized spiders and bugs find their way into living spaces makes sense, right? Again, it's our gringo advantage that I've even talking about this because the locals sure don't and you know most hardware stores except for First-world franchises like Ace Hardware don't even carry weather stripping and if they even have a roll or two of it Nobody knows what the hell it's for I'm not joking now do remember that almost all middle-class upper middle-class and better housing is made with concrete block Construction they do not use the wooden 2x4 stud technique down here
[10:28] That's so commonly used up in the states though You do see that once in a while, but only in cheap low-end housing and I have seen some metal stud construction down here But mostly with interior walls in shopping centers and strip malls I haven't seen it done yet in single-family housing units And there's three reasons why they use so much block and concrete construction here one because most of Latin America is in earthquake zones and metal reinforced concrete construction is ideal to counter that and the second reason they use concrete and block is because it's Completely insect and vermin proof and down here in the tropics and semi tropics If you use any of the common woods as construction materials like pine Eventually the insects will move in and take over and in the poor and lower classes
[11:13] You see that all the time people with dirt floors and tin roofs living symbiotically with their chickens dogs cats insects and other pests and the third reason for concrete and block construction and I'll give you a second here to try to guess but You'll never get it Okay, time's up Believe it or not in as strange as it seems Here's the reason because nearly everyone who builds a house down here at least in the city Builds on a very small lot and it's always their plan to keep building stories onto a house The idea is to build up and up to the sky in as many levels as they possibly can That's why most families move in after the first story is done yet The house looks totally unfinished from the outside since there's rebar and plumbing tubes and electrical conduits sticking up out of the first floor
[11:59] walls and that dangling stuff looks like it's part of what's supposed to be inside a Non-existent second story now, I gotta say it's extremely ugly if you live in a house or a neighborhood like that But Latins aren't much on maintenance or detail so they don't seem to care However, we gringos and expats wins at the site of that stuff That's why we like to live in the guarded gated communities where our condo and housing committees can make our own zoning laws and other Regulations like you can't move in till your house has a real bonafide roof on it So anyway when you see hideous looking crap like that and you see it all over the place That means the owner someday is planning to add another story to the house And that's why long-term expats down here will tell you when you go visit a latin body Oh in a big city in the United States like Cleveland
[12:46] That's why houses in first world body O's can be so scruffy lacking in maintenance and detail too because when latin's move up to the states Illegally or not they bring along their cultural habits now of course That's not to say all latin houses look half-built and scruffy But down here that's how the middle class lives and most of the upper middle class so to them It's just a natural everyday neighborhood thing and for your information I just have to mention this at every single seminar I've given down here in Latin America while we're doing our boots on the ground portion visiting businesses and neighborhoods It never fails. I always get at least a couple of attendees who ask me say Johnny What's going on with all those ugly rusted pipes and tubes sticking out of those houses? What's up with that they don't get it. It's a mystery just like it was to me when I first got here
[13:33] They're curious not only because it's so damn unsightly But because it's obviously dangerous if a kid or two happen to be up there playing in fact at my last seminar just a month And a half ago one guy seriously asked me if a hurricane had just been through and he was dead serious about it And I said nope that's just your average middle-class latin neighborhood So anyway in every middle-class neighborhood You've got all these rusted pipes and tubes Sticking out of the tops of the walls of the houses and the buildings and then a year or two later though It may be wishful thinking if the family has enough money the workers will be back And you'll suddenly see block and cement walls going up for a second story And when that's all walled in you'll see metal rebar and tubes and plumbing pipes sticking through the top of that too Into an imaginary third story on the house so take it from me a lot of latin american houses
[14:22] Never really look finished from the outside, and that's why so many latin american middle-class neighborhoods Especially look like unfinished undesirable places for gringles and expats to live like that gringo aptly described The aftermath of a hurricane we all know that could never happen in a city in the first world Our zoning laws would never let families move in until the house is complete with a real bona fide Final roof on it because you know up north in the first world You'll need to have the building inspectors sign off on your finished project Before you can start moving in and as you might already know down here in latin america It's often the case that when you start a construction project the building inspectors Never ever come around ever and that's why almost all middle-class and lower middle-class latin neighborhoods
[15:11] Look like they've had no planning or zoning whatsoever like another seminar attendee described It's like a lot of lower and middle-class latin neighborhoods were constructed by a manic depressive Schizophrenic city planner on acid or more likely tequila, and that's about it. You got to see it to believe it You can't make this stuff up But I digress as usual where was I oh yeah I was trying to explain where I'm sitting right now doing this show though. I might never finish this bit Anyway, I'm in a beautiful cabin on the side of a mountain looking through a huge pane of glass Actually, it's three joined panes of glass that should be double or triple glaze But they're not since you just don't see double and triple pane glass down here at all now
[15:58] I have noticed that in some of the bigger cities in Latin America American window franchises like Pella windows have arrived and a few well-known European window franchises, too And of course being from the first world they sell single double triple and even quadruple pane windows and various versions of what they call Smart windows layered with high-tech films and such so they are available But it seems no one's using them and when you talk about double and triple panes and smart windows even the builders and architects Don't seem to have a clue even with the huge real estate building bubble That's going on in almost every medium and large-sized city here in Latin America Along with all those hundreds and hundreds of big glass residential and industrial towers still from what I see
[16:43] They all have single panes which makes a building very inexpensive in the short run But very expensive in the long run if you're gonna air condition it and you think they'd have figured that out being that electric Rates are three to four times higher than they are in the states And by the way, that's the big exception to the cost of living rule down here in Latin America Everything produced down here is very inexpensive compared to where you come from except electricity And by the way speaking of home and building construction and windows in particular from the architects and builders I've spoken with down here None of them as of yet use Pella or Anderson or any of the first world brands because they're just too damn expensive Since down here, there are plenty of Latin American window makers who'll charge a quarter of the gringo franchise price It looks to me like first world window manufacturers and retail outlets like Pella and Anderson are in that small handful of first world
[17:35] franchises that just aren't gonna make it and you might say well They've got the gringo advantage going for them They're pure first world and they're a well-known product and marketed heavily up there and thus latins down here have been exposed to them Through cable TV and such. Well, you see if you've been listening to the expat file show for a while You'll know that architects and building contractors down here are notorious for cutting costs and skimping on projects So why in the world would they pay four times as much for windows when to the average Latin windows are windows They're just frames with glass in them and one last thing about windows the choice for a new construction these days whether commercial or residential are windows with vinyl frames or Aluminum extruded frames meaning once you've got your block and concrete house built The window company will come over and measure your openings and install very nice aluminum custom frames
[18:25] But do have a look at the previous jobs They've done to make sure they're good with the details and do first world style work Some do some don't so if you're gonna build or put in new windows do check references So anyway in nearly all Latin American new construction window frames are custom made right on the job site Then once the frames are installed They'll measure the area for the glass and come back a few weeks later and install the panes So like I said since no one ever installs double pane windows or smart windows That means you're stuck with the usual choice of either extruded aluminum frames or vinyl framed windows Now of course you could go with wood framed windows too, but I'll get to that later Okay, here's a very important tip
[19:10] I strongly recommend against vinyl window frames, even though they seem to be the latest construction fashion And why do you think all of a sudden in the past year or two? They've been showing up everywhere Well, that's because they cost a little less than the aluminum ones. And like I said Architects and contractors will try to cut corners everywhere They can and those corners they cut many times you won't even know it until you've moved in which is why you have to be At the job site regularly and check things out And here's another tip one of the best ways to keep your contractors on their toes is to bring your camera when you show up and Take a lot of photos every time you get the picture bad fun, huh? So even if you don't know dick about construction and building techniques Anyone snapping photos always seems to keep people on their toes
[19:56] Wait a minute. Did I hear the D word? Yep, what about it? Sometimes it just needs to be said So anyway, just in the last maybe three to five years Vinyl windows have arrived before that it was strictly wood and aluminum So you'll see vinyl now all over the place And if you don't take my advice and do end up with vinyl framed windows Please don't get the white vinyl frames No matter how nice they look on the model house or in the building supply showroom Don't do it because remember the Sun is so hot and Merciless down here after a few years your plastic frames will look like crap Not to mention the Sun will help etch that grime and dust right into that formerly beautiful white finish
[20:42] Permanently, so if you're gonna go with vinyl frames, which I don't recommend go with a coffee or dark brown color At least then you won't see the dirt and grime though. I guarantee you in five or six years They'll start looking bleached and parched like all plastic does after it's been exposed to the Sun for an extended period of time And if you don't believe me just have a look at what the Sun does to a used cars Dashboard after a while and I'm talking about the Sun up in Boise or Cleveland You can't even imagine how quickly the Sun down here degrades plastic any kind of plastic Anyway, if you get vinyl you'll regret it and that's why I never recommend asphalt or fiberglass shingles either They may be okay in Jersey, Chicago, Milwaukee and Seattle, but the Sun down here Absolutely destroys them and even though some of them come with a 10 or 15 year warranty
[21:28] That's just a stupid marketing ploy and a joke I guarantee if you get asphalt or fiberglass shingles in five years, they'll look worse than Bruce Jenner's face So then what about the more standard aluminum framed windows? Here's a good tip though I highly suggest you get aluminum framed windows Don't get the plain standard aluminum frames the kind they use in hospitals and commercial buildings up north You know what I'm talking about and they get dull and pit and stain and look like hell after a while Don't they get the anodized colored ones either brown or gray and believe me those things can still look new after 10 or 20 years Even more if you wash them once in a while Now if you get the ones that are pure aluminum and not colored at all, you know, they look like well aluminum
[22:14] Anyway, they won't stand up like the anodized ones and after five or ten years, you'll be sorry now It's true aluminum windows offer no insulation value at all But since it's very unlikely you're going to have double or triple paned windows Anyway, the lack of insulation with aluminum frames won't matter much. So now you might ask what about wood framed windows? Good question because wood framed windows have been the standard down here for 500 years And though latins are very excellent carpenters and craftsmen in time tropical weather destroys all wood framed windows No matter how nicely they're made or how waterproof they are And you know, there are a lot of wood framed windows down here Especially in old restored colonial buildings and in all old churches and cathedrals and government buildings, too
[23:02] Unfortunately the windows in those buildings are the first things to deteriorate and look like crap Which is why in new construction wooden window frames are not recommended So what happens if you're interested in buying or living in a colonial building with beautiful hand carved beams and doors and windows? Down here those kind of places are available and even if you pick one up cheap It'll generally need a hell of a lot of restoration work Well, then you'd be ruining the whole effect if you didn't stick with wooden frames Which means of course you'll be looking at a lifetime of upkeep and maintenance So just be prepared for that or you can do what 99 percent of latin folks do who own colonial buildings like that and live in them Which is basically no maintenance at all until the doors and windows happen to rot and fall right off the hinges
[23:48] You think i'm joking, right? Well, i'm not so like I said a long time ago I'm doing this show today looking down a mountain through a giant single pane window at a group of about a half dozen avocado trees they're called agua cate trees in spanish and by the way, the first syllable in that word agua cate is agua agua meaning water. So they say agua cate instead of avocado Now i've asked a few latin gardeners and farmers why the word agua is in agua cate I mean avocados are no way saturated with liquid like let's say a lemon or an orange or a tangerine, right? And farmers and gardeners they just shrug and say they don't know So anyway, i'm looking at this group of avocado trees right now
[24:34] And there's three or four birds that keep coming by to peck at the fruit and they're not just hitting them all scattershot They're picking at one particular avocado that's hanging low Now I don't know much about birds though I like to watch the colorful ones so where I am is a very good place to sit And for you bird watchers out there, i'm sure you'd be jealous Since just in the past hour i've seen two brilliant orange ones bigger than your average robin and robins by the way Don't get down this far Anyway, along with those guys I see a pair of smaller birds that are bright red and they're not into the avocados But more into pecking insects off a big old tree trunk And there's four or five big blue birds with black heads that are really into taking a whack at that avocado
[25:19] Which makes me wonder why that one particular avocado is so interesting to them And then there's a pair of medium sized toucans that have been hanging around all day They've been sitting on the same branch for hours not doing much of anything at all They must be lovebirds newly in love since they're not fighting Now about avocados Once you're down here the first time you go to a big market you realize there aren't one or two kinds of avocados In fact, there are about a dozen kind of avocados in central america alone And i've personally tried about five or six different kinds already And the one you guys are all used to up in cleveland is called the hoss h-a-s-s Which of course grows down here like crazy and there's huge plantations of them They're a very big export item and in fact a very easy and lucrative crop for a gringo to get into who wants to go
[26:07] Into farming the only downside being it takes about four or five years to get the first harvest But the ones you know up north are not the best avocados of all the best one I don't even know the name of it But when it's ripe It's half blackish green on one side and the other half pinkish red and that's how it differs from all the others The outside part that's pinkish red And i'm telling you if you close your eyes and eat this thing it tastes like cashew butter So what's not to love about that? Now it turns out that hoss avocado you're used to up north if you pick it while it's green and hard It'll take about a week or two to ripen or unfortunately as they do in the states with most of them these days They hit them with ethylene gas to ripen them the same way. They artificially ripen green tomatoes in the states. Yuck, huh?
[26:53] So the hoss avocado transports well and it's pretty tough whereas the one i'm talking about that's pinkish red on one side Well, once you pick it you've got about a day or two to eat it or it spoils So unless you happen to be down here and in the lowlands where these things grow You'll never get the chance to taste what most latins will tell you is the best avocado in the world So anyway, that should give you a little bit of an idea of where i'm doing my show from today Oh, and now come the hummingbirds looks like two or three different kinds They just drop down below the window to hit on those red and yellow flowers think i'll go over to the window and get a better Look, oh crap. I'm stuck. I can't get out of this damn chair You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border
[27:43] 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