Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller shares his insights on expat life in Latin America, covering a range of topics from water filtration to travel challenges and cultural observations.
Johnny begins by discussing his DIY under-the-counter ceramic water filter system, which he offers for free. He claims it is more effective and cheaper than bottled water. He also recommends the Sawyer portable water filter for travelers, highlighting its convenience and effectiveness. Johnny criticizes the use of bottled water, especially among the upper-middle class in Latin America, calling it a waste of money and potentially harmful due to plastic contamination. He also comments on the lack of health awareness among some locals, despite their wealth, and highlights the importance of education and awareness about health issues like artificial sweeteners and GMOs.
Next, Johnny talks about the lack of label reading among Latin Americans in grocery stores, noting that ingredient lists might as well be in Chinese. He mentions that only Argentina is considering adding fluoride to salt, but due to economic issues, it's not a priority. He warns about fluoride in salt brands, emphasizing the need to look for the term 'floruro' in Spanish. He recommends importing natural sea salt from places like Israel and avoiding locally produced sugar due to fortification with vitamin A and other additives. He suggests using local honey, which is cheaper and more authentic than imported honey, and advises finding it in local bakeries.
Johnny also discusses the ease of finding natural honey in small bakeries in Latin America, noting that it's often sold without labels but is easily identifiable. He addresses the issue of fluoride in water, explaining that his homemade filter and a Sawyer filter do not remove it, but recommends Berkey filters for those in the U.S. He highlights the high cost and difficulty of obtaining U.S. visas for Latin American citizens, noting that some countries are retaliating by charging U.S. citizens for entry. He concludes by warning that U.S. passports are losing their status and advises expats to consider residency and second passports.
The episode then shifts to the increasing difficulty of traveling for expats, particularly in South America, due to rising visa fees and other bureaucratic hurdles. Johnny highlights the financial burden on expats, such as the cost of visas for countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Bolivia, and notes that these fees are likely to increase further as more countries adopt similar policies. He contrasts this with Central America, where visa fees are lower and the region is becoming a more attractive option for expats. Johnny also mentions the exit taxes imposed by Latin countries, which are often used to siphon money from expats, and shares a story about a U.S. backpacker who was unable to cross into Mexico due to lack of funds for the exit tax. Finally, he promotes his upcoming expat wisdom seminar in Central America, emphasizing the benefits of attending, such as learning about residencies, second passports, and other financial strategies.
Johnny recounts an anecdote about a gringo backpacker who was denied entry into Mexico due to fruit he was carrying, which was deemed a potential source of pests. The border guards cited an official rule about preventing pests and insects from contaminating fruit in adjacent countries. Johnny mocks the logic of this rule, suggesting that the border agents themselves might carry more pests than the fruit. The backpacker was stuck in a catch-22 situation, needing money to pay the exit fee to cross the border but unable to get cash due to faulty ATMs. Johnny, recognizing the man's plight, gave him $10, which allowed the man to cross the border, while Johnny was left with the fruit. He then threw the fruit over the border to poor Mexican children, highlighting the irony that the fruit is allowed to be in the hands of children but not in the hands of border agents. Johnny concludes by noting that in Central America, visa fees are minimal, but South American countries are likely to follow suit due to their neighbors' actions.
Finally, Johnny discusses the cultural significance of names in Latin America, focusing on the name 'Ron' and its connotations. He explains that 'Ron' is associated with 'Rum' and the term for a June bug or beetle, making it an undesirable name. He then shares a story about a man named Ron from Florida who made a good impression, leading to a discussion about the Spanish word 'divertido' and its connection to the English word 'diversion'. Johnny also mentions the term 'muy allegro' as a compliment for being fun and lively.
Topics
Water filtration systems for expats, DIY water purification, Bottled water criticism, Health awareness in Latin America, Label Reading in Grocery Stores, Fluoride in Salt, Imported vs. Local Sea Salt, Sugar Fortification in Latin America, Local Honey as a Healthier Alternative, Natural honey in Latin America, Fluoride removal in water, U.S. visa policies for Latin American citizens
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:32 Introduction to the DIY Water Filter System 00:01:25 Recommendation of the Sawyer Portable Water Filter 00:02:17 Johnny's Personal Recommendation and Non-Commercial Stance 00:03:46 Comparison of DIY System to Bottled Water 00:04:20 Criticism of Upper-Middle Class Bottled Water Use 00:05:11 Comment on Health Awareness and Knowledge in Latin America 00:05:27 Label Reading in Grocery Stores 00:06:05 Fluoride in Salt 00:07:04 Imported vs. Local Sea Salt 00:08:23 Sugar Fortification in Latin America 00:09:05 Local Honey as a Healthier Alternative 00:10:46 Finding Natural Honey in Latin America 00:11:33 Fluoride Removal and Berkey Filters 00:13:28 U.S. Visa Policies and Retaliation 00:15:32 U.S. Passport Status and Expat Considerations 00:15:59 The New Travel Hurdles for Expats 00:16:27 Introducing the Expat Wisdom Seminar in Central America 00:17:19 Visa Fees in South America 00:18:36 Why Central America is Becoming a Better Option 00:20:06 A Story About a Backpacker and Exit Taxes 00:20:55 The Rule Against Pests and Insects in Fruit 00:21:09 The Official Reason for the Rule 00:21:16 The Absurdity of the Rule 00:21:46 The Catch-22 Situation of the Backpacker 00:22:15 The Catch-22 Situation of the Backpacker 00:22:41 The Difficulty of Crossing the Border 00:22:44 Johnny's Help to the Backpacker 00:23:09 The Backpacker's Indifference to His Situation 00:25:20 Strange Name Connotations in Latin America 00:25:42 The Word 'Ron' and Its Cultural Associations 00:26:38 The Spanish Word 'Divertido' and Its Meaning 00:27:06 The Compliment 'Muy Allegro' in Latin America
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:14] 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. Ok, first off I have to start off by saying that I still get emails from people asking me about how to get rid of fluoride in the water. I suppose most of them address that question to me because I offer for free my own personal plans for a very cool and cheap under the counter ceramic water filter kit which will surely give you better pure water by far than any bottled water you can buy. So for all you listeners out there who didn't know it I have my own do it yourself two stage
[01:00] water purification system that's positioned under the counter at the kitchen sink. I just drag it around and reinstall it anytime I settle at a place and stay for an extended period of time. It's just basically two common 9 inch canisters, the kind you can buy at most any hardware store and it's easy to connect and disconnect. I'm not saying that it's portable but once it's installed man is it convenient. Now for my portable water filtration use I always recommend that Sawyer filter that I've talked about in past shows. That's a filter that's around 50 bucks and it'll last a lifetime. So if you're off trekking around for a day or a week or a month or more use the Sawyer filter. It's so small convenient and effective you'd be nuts not to get one. And the real cool thing about it is that it's got a little cup attachment that'll slap
[01:50] onto any water faucet so as soon as you turn on the cold water and always use cold water you get super pure water right away. No pumping or shaking or squeezing like those old water filter devices that were very good like the Katy Dine but also very expensive. Not to mention fragile and messy and it took a lot of elbow grease to get a cup of water. So compared to just a few years ago we've got it easy these days. Just one more thing about that little Sawyer filter which I don't sell or make a commission on. I just recommend it because it's great. As for its size and packing it away it's actually smaller than an empty toilet paper roll. Not to get overly anal or anything it'll fit right inside one of those toilet paper tubes.
[02:36] And that's just how you should carry it because when you're down here in Latin America especially off the gringo tourist trail TP and bathrooms are not necessarily joined at the hip like rum and coke. Now as for my under the counter water system and remember I give those plans away for free you could pick up all the parts anywhere in the world wherever there's a pool supply store or a big hardware store like Ace Hardware etc. Now as for the ceramic cartridge you get that and the carbon block filter which is the final filter at a pool supply store but everything else you can get at a hardware store. Note it's a two stage filter and thus has two plastic canisters. You could put the whole thing together yourself for a hundred bucks or less and it has one of those ceramic cartridge filters in it that you could scrub as it gets clogged.
[03:24] So if you're careful it could surely last you ten years. And the second part is a carbon block filter that you might want to change every six months to a year depending of course on the size of your family. So in a two person household you might change it maybe once a year. Looking at this way for about ten years your only cost is going to be the carbon filter which goes for about fifteen to twenty bucks. Sure beats the hell out of expensive bottled water huh? Not to mention it's many times more pure. In fact you know I always shake my head when I see that big bottled water truck pull up in the neighborhood to drop off five gallon jugs of this stuff to all the upper middle class houses along the way. By the way it's water that sits in the sun for hours at a time too. Plastic jugs and all.
[04:10] That's exactly what you're barging for. So called pure water loaded with microscopic molecules of plastic that your liver and kidneys have a field day with that stuff. I keep thinking these upper middle class latins think they're so smart. What a bunch of idiots. And get this you know what they're thinking about me? They're thinking what an idiot that gringo guy is. He never has any bottled water delivered to his house. Stupid gringo he's drinking water from the tap. Little do they know huh? But you know I'm not here to train the undereducated locals no matter how much money they have. I learned a long time ago by going to parties with people like that. You can talk to them about health and diet all day and they listen and they seem attentive.
[04:55] But unless they've seen it on TV they'll rarely change their patterns. For example a huge percentage of the upscale latins these days are drinking diet coke and Pepsi and all those pre-packaged goodies with artificial sweeteners in them. Hmm sound familiar? And I'll tell you down here having money doesn't correlate at all to having knowledge your brains. I mean come on everybody who listens to this program knows there's something intrinsically wrong with artificial sweeteners not to mention GMOs genetically modified stuff. Yet I don't think I've ever met a single Latin American who actually reads a label in the grocery store. As far as that goes they might as well put the ingredient lists in Chinese. Come to think of it some of them are. So anyway about those emails concerning fluoride well that you don't have to worry about
[05:45] because there's only one country in Latin America that's even thinking about putting fluoride in and that's Argentina. Buenos ades to be precise. But they're so broke over there now and the economy is collapsing I don't think that's quite on their list of priorities. Not anymore it isn't. But do pay attention here. And I believe this has to do with idiot politicians in Latin America. Get this. When you go to the grocery store to buy salt you better look at the label because in more than three quarters of the salt brands I've seen guess what they're putting fluoride in not to mention iodine which I guess in itself isn't half bad because your thyroid gland actually does use iodine. But fluoride check it out. Do look at the packages carefully.
[06:33] In fact sometimes the lettering so small that it won't even pick up on it. So do look for fluoride in the salt and don't buy it. And the word is floruro in Spanish. That's F-L-U-O-R-U-R-O. Floruro. When you see it you'll recognize that it looks almost like fluoride. Floruro. Close enough anyway. And worse yet I've been in some stores where you can't even find salt without fluoride. Yuck. So what are you supposed to do? Well luckily enough seems like all the big grocery store chains including Walmart and Costco and they've got thousands of stores here now. They carry an imported brand or two of natural sea salt. In fact the last box I picked up was imported from Israel which cost me I guess
[07:22] about two dollars for a pound box. And of course now all over here in Latin America even well after the gringo tourist trail you can find many overpriced health food stores like you can up in the States. I know I mentioned in a past show they've got some bad whole food stores clones mostly in high-end malls in the medium and large-sized cities. In fact I'm surprised no one's ripped off the name yet whole foods. They could you know no one cares. Not that whole foods up in the States is any great shakes but it's all about that gringo advantage again and Latins are always trying to copy gringo things. And generally they do a pretty half-assed job of it as you well know. Anyway what I'm saying is you don't have to scour the countryside looking for natural sea salt without iodine or fluorine.
[08:09] And by the way that's what I use sea salt of some kind or another. And by the way there's one more thing I'd never buy down here that's sugar even though it's amazingly dirt cheap because well that's where sugar cane is grown down here in Latin America. Now in a previous show I may have mentioned that in one of the stupidest moves known to man Latin American sugar producers are now fortifying their sugar with vitamin A and other ingredients. And they're advertising how good it is for you. What a bunch of doofuses huh? Which is another reason not to buy it besides the fact that pure sugar cane is detrimental to your health though I'll admit infinitely better than high fructose corn syrup made out of GMO corn from up in the States. So I don't use it though I keep a jar of it around the house for the occasional
[08:58] clueless visitor that comes over and wants sugar in their coffee or whatever. Now I don't totally abstain from sweets. I do use the local honey and honey in Spanish is miel, m-i-e-l, miel. Easy to remember miel. Just think of oat miel, miel whatever works right? So local honey is pretty much all I use which is also dirt cheap here. If you go to one of the local big markets you can get a pound for as little as two bucks. I'm not talking about processed packaged honey from a big company. You don't need to buy that stuff which is usually pasteurized and who knows what else. Luckily there's no imported honey down here in Latin America because so many little farmers
[09:45] and families in rural areas have their own colonies. And the reason why I say luckily there's no imported honey is because I know some honey producers here who tell me that up in the States there's a lot of imported honey coming in from China now that is actually not 100% honey at all though it says so on the label. It's actually mixed with high fructose corn syrup. Get that. I mean don't get that. Anyway down here if you gotta sweeten things up honey is definitely the way to go. Turns out in every village and city and in a lot of neighborhoods you can always buy fresh honey in some of the little corner stores and you can really tell that it's been hand packed by a very small outfit maybe even a kitchen table family operation.
[10:32] And I'll tell you there's nothing like it because in every little town of origin the honey tastes a bit different because there are different kinds of bees and different kinds of flowers. And if you want a little hint on where to find the local honey in the town where you happen to be just go into one of the little mom and pop bakeries. Oftentimes you'll see they sell it right there on the counter. Many times the glass jar won't even have a label on it but you'll know it's honey because it's obvious. Sometimes it'll even have little chunks of wax floating in it. Don't be put off if you see that. There's nothing wrong with that at all. I mean if you're looking for natural and organic what could be more natural than that? Oh and one more thing about that fluoride question I keep getting in emails. It's true my little homemade water filter system does not remove fluoride and neither
[11:21] does that little Sawyer filter but who cares you don't need it down here. However up in the states it's a huge problem right. So my recommendation for those of you up there who want to get your fluoride out buy one of those Berkey fluoride filters. You ever hear of that Berkey B-E-R-K-E-Y. You can buy one of those little filters online for 40 bucks or so and it removes greater than 95% of all fluorine as well as arsenic and other heavy metals. The only problem with the thing is that it's not easily attached to any other water filtration system except a Berkey. And the cheapest Berkey out there is between two and three hundred bucks. Way too expensive considering all the cheaper better alternatives. But if you're good at tinkering with things you could get that $40 or so
[12:09] fluoride filter to work on pretty much any water purifier. Though it might not look pretty it'll work. And what's nice about it is that it could last a year or so easy. Just wanted to let you all know about that. It's probably your cheapest alternative if you want to get the fluoride out. Or forget about that and move on down to Latin America. No fluoride here. Except like I said in the table salt. Which means unfortunately the food in the restaurants down here has surely been cooked in that salt and the salt shakers most likely loaded up with that stuff too. So what do you do cook at home or bring your own or not. Enough said about that. Okay now let me bring up something else you've probably never heard before. Though it will affect you if you come down here to certain places in Latin America.
[12:56] I'm sure you all know by now that any Latin American citizen has to jump through huge hoops to get a visa to visit the States. Even a 90-day tourist visa or perhaps a four-day visit to Disneyland requires a heavy amount of paperwork and proof of a long-standing job and financial means in a bank account etc etc. Not to mention a possession of a credit card with at least a $2,000 maximum. As well as a police report etc. And if you're missing any of that you just do not get a visa. Which means only about one in 20 or 25 Latin Americans could ever qualify for a U.S. visa. Now I'm not talking about a green card here. That's another thing altogether and much more complicated. I'm just talking about to go let's say to Disneyland.
[13:43] And along with running all over town to get that paperwork crap. When a Latin goes down to the U.S. Consulate in his country and applies for a visa they've got to fork over 150 to 200 bucks. Which is a non-refundable processing fee whether their visa is approved or not. And like I said in the vast majority of cases it's rejected. So that's 150 to 200 bucks down the tubes. Which is a couple of weeks pay for the average Latin American worker. Well here's what you have to know now. Certain Latin countries are retaliating. They figure if their citizens have to pay 150 to 200 bucks to apply for a visa. When you land in their country as a gringo. They're going to retaliate and make you pay the same. So here's how it stands right now.
[14:29] U.S. citizens in Brazil must now pay a whopping 180 bucks just for a visit. You pay that or you won't get out of the airport. And as you might imagine with the upcoming World Cup starting in June. Brazil stands to make tens of millions of dollars off of U.S. visitors alone. Now note that European visitors to Brazil do not have to pay that. And it's not just Brazil. As of 2013 U.S. citizens must now pay 160 bucks to enter Argentina. And that's really just Argentina repaying the favor that their own citizens have to pay the exact same amount to apply for a U.S. visa at the American consulate in their country. And get this the U.S. is the only country in the western world. The only first world country whose citizens must pay that fee on entering.
[15:17] Europeans, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, Japanese, Koreans, Israelis, etc. They walk right in. So let's have a reality check here. All you guys and gals up in Minnesota and Cleveland who think that U.S. passport of yours is some kind of gold card. Well it used to have that kind of status but it's sinking fast. Meaning it's time to think about seriously getting residency in another country and possibly a second passport before it's too late. Times are wasting. And as you probably know by now Uncle Sam's making it harder and harder for you to travel. In fact I've got it from a very good source up north. That in the next year or two Uncle Sam's going to make each and every one of you guys and gals up there jump through a number of new hoops.
[16:03] Not only to renew your passports but you'll actually have to apply to get permission to leave the country. Even if it's just a carnival cruise or a package deal to a resort in Cancun. Come on you guys. Time to get off your dead asses. You've got to start making some plans. Do you even have a plan B? God I hope you do. Now that's a convenient segue to bring up my upcoming July expat wisdom seminar in Central America. And of course it's well off the regular gringo tourist trail. Just where that gringo advantage is most obvious. And when you come you'll find out all about those residencies and second passports too. Not to mention offshore trusts and anonymous bank accounts and corporations etc.
[16:50] Details I really can't talk too much about on the radio that's for sure. And don't worry when you come down I'll hook you up with all the right people to accomplish those things. If that's what you're looking for we can hook you right up. So do get on board just go to www.expatwisdoms.com Look at the top of the page for the latin seminar link. Click on it and you'll get all the details. Time's a wasting you know that. I'm serious. And do remember I'm only letting 25 people in on it. So anyway you got Argentina and Brazil charging you 150 bucks to fly in. Just for the visa. Chile also hits you 160 bucks for a tourist visa at the airport too. And if you're an American landing in Bolivia be prepared to fork out 135 bucks for one of their visas.
[17:39] Now Paraguay doesn't charge Europeans a thing but they charge Americans 160 bucks. So think of it let's say you wanted to go to South America for three or four months and hit a bunch of countries. Well if you make the complete circuit you're looking at paying a thousand bucks or more in visa fees. Of course there are still a few countries in South America that don't charge visa fees to Americans but that's all set to change in the near future. Congresses and legislatures in those countries seeing how easy it is to nail American tourists like that since so many of their neighbors are doing it already. Right now they're discussing and debating and in fact licking their chops at the prospect of bleeding Americans with heavy visa charges because well they figure rich traveling gringos can't afford it
[18:26] and they're doing the same to their citizens when they apply for visas to the states. And you know all of that makes traveling in Central America not South America now Central America look pretty damn good. There you don't get nailed with big visa fees though there are some airport charges big ones included in your tickets generally to Costa Rica and Panama. More than 100 bucks in Panama but like I said it's in your ticket. So you don't see it generally. However if you go through a land border they're only going to hit you for maybe 10 or 20 bucks at the most. And by the way note this Panama really likes to screw tourists not to mention anyone that's going through the Panama Canal by boat. In fact if you come in by sea whether through the canal or not they're going to nail you with a fee of over 100 bucks
[19:13] which doesn't apply if you're on a cruise ship. In that case it's the cruise line that pays a blanket fee so somewhere or another it's included in the cost of your cruise ticket. Now of course I mentioned in the past show what it costs to go through the Panama Canal if you're bringing your own boat so I won't get into that now but it's pretty hefty. So if you're interested go back into the archives and check it out. Now of course all Latin countries have an exit tax which again is a way for thieving Latin governments to steal money from you because no one actually knows where that money goes. Well we actually do we know it goes in the pockets of the politicians. Anyway you'll end up paying 10 to 20 bucks when you leave a Latin country though generally only at the airports if you go through a land border you'll find that most of the time it's either free or under five bucks.
[20:01] In fact last time I passed through a land border in Honduras I think I paid three bucks. Oh and here's a story for you. Not so long ago I was at the Belize Mexican border and I saw a scruffy backpacker from the US sitting on the bench outside the border station kind of just camping out for the day on the Belize side. The way it looked it seemed like he'd been there for hours and hours. Turns out he didn't have the 10 or 20 bucks whatever it was to get into Mexico. So there he was outside the border station with a backpack full of fresh fruit oranges and papayas and bananas and all that. And as you may or may not know you cannot take edible stuff like that across certain borders. If it's in a can or sealed bag or unopened box from a grocery store they'll let you bring most of that stuff through.
[20:48] But fresh fruit or vegetables forget about it. Even bread or bakery products no way. You gotta leave it there at the border. Some stupid rule about not allowing pests or insects or whatever that might be traveling or hitching a ride in or on the fruit that may contaminate the fruit in the adjacent country. That's the official reason anyway. So say the signs at almost all border stations in Spanish of course. But you know that reasoning just doesn't wash. And those border guards who go back and forth all the time don't wash much either. So I'll bet you that just one of those border agents has more pests and vermin living in his greasy hair than in a truckload of bananas or papayas. So anyway this down and out gringo backpacker with an armful of fruit
[21:36] he's been told he can't bring any of that stuff across. So he's out there selling the stuff with no tankers. He had to somehow scratch up the dough to leave the country. And the thing that you learn if you travel down here enough nearly all of these land borders they only take cash. Now this guy did have a US credit card so he wasn't totally destitute. But the two decrepit ATM machines on the police side kept rejecting his card which really isn't unusual. Not in these little desolate border station pockets anyway. And the guy at the immigration window was real helpful. He told him once he got over to the Mexican side there were six or seven ATMs there. Only this guy was in a catch 22. The guy couldn't get across to get to the Mexican side because he didn't have the $10 exit fee to get out.
[22:24] Now remember this is a very small slow and lazy border station. You don't see many people going across at all. I mean let's face it how many people do you know who've made it to Belize in a car by way of Mexico? Not many it's a rough journey you know. Even I wouldn't try it not these days. So anyway in an effort to help out a fellow American in a tough spot I gave him 10 bucks. And believe me I wasn't that quick to offer because the guy was pretty greasy and scruffy. In fact pretty ripe. He didn't want to be downwind from him I'll tell you that. It's funny how backpackers don't notice things like that. You know a shower once a week and maybe wash the clothes once a month would be a good start. But who am I to judge? I'm not bunking with the guy right? Anyway it was obvious he just didn't seem to be worried
[23:12] about his situation at all. I'm sure he'd have camped out there and made the best of it. Probably until some other like-minded backpacker came along and then they'd be off together. But not through that border crossing. Not without the exit fee. And you know generally when you meet long-term backpack and gringos like that down here they don't have much of a solid plan. They pretty much wander around like saddle tramps in the old west and they don't really care where they crash. I guess it's part of the adventure for them you know. They always seem to make do somehow. To each his own you know. Anyway I gave him 10 bucks and he handed me all that fruit. So now he had the money to get through the border and I was stuck with the fruit that I couldn't take through either. So I walked up to the fence where there were a bunch of
[23:57] scruffy kids on the Mexican side playing soccer. They were maybe between 8 and 15 years old. Real poor kids. The unwashed masses you know. Then I started tossing the apples and the bananas and the pears over to them. And naturally they all came running up to the fence for the free handout. Now I'm doing this about 50 feet away from two guys sitting on plastic chairs outside the garage sized building. Basically a shack that was the police border station. And as I tossed the fruit they were smiling and nodding and egging me on like that's a good gringo. Give it up to the kids. So do you get the irony here? I can't take that fruit across the border to Mexico for fear of transporting dangerous hidden insects over the border.
[24:43] But if that fruit finds its way over the border and lands in the hands of some kids. Well that's totally okay. And of course those pesky insects themselves. They know the rules and they don't trespass either right? But back to that visa stuff. Anyway down in Central America nobody and I mean nobody's talking about a big visa fee. Again I'm talking about Central America. You know Panama northward. But you can count on all the countries in South America jumping on board since their neighbors are all doing it and getting away with it. Okay getting towards the end of the show a bit here but I can fit in a few more things. Here's something strange. For all you guys out there named Ronnie or Ron. Of course that's short for Ronald right? Now down here in Latin America they've got a million and one nicknames too
[25:30] which I'm not going to get into. However if your name happens to be Ron. Down here it would be Ronaldo. I'm sure you've all heard that name before. However they don't shorten it to Ron. For two good reasons. One Ron is the word for Rum in Latin America. R-O-N Ron is Rum. R-U-M. So you wouldn't go naming your kid Ron down here because you'd be calling him a Rummy basically. And reason number two is because the common term for a June bug or a beetle is Ron Ron. R-O-N. R-O-N. You say it twice. So most Latins wouldn't go naming their kid after a June bug or a beetle. Though they might who knows. So that's why when gringos come down here named Ron. Latins always snicker a bit. Thinking why would those gringos
[26:15] name their kids after a drink? Or a bug. Anyway the reason why I brought that up is because at our last seminar we had a really nice guy down here named Ron. A very interesting guy from Florida. When he left I found out he made quite a good impression on some of our expat wisdom translator ladies. They said he was great fun to hang around with. Divertido in Spanish. Divertido and that's a great compliment actually. And if you write out that Spanish word Divertido it looks a lot like the English word diversion. You know technically a diversion takes your mind off of something. So Divertido means a pleasant diversion. And by the way there's another word that Latins use if they really like you. And I don't mean in a romantic sense.
[27:00] I mean they just like being around you because you're fun. They'll say you're muy allegro. That's muy allegro. Muy meaning very. And allegro meaning the same as the Italian or Latin words. Allegro or allegretto. You'll see that on sheet music all the time written for guitars and piano and organs and such. If it says allegretto on the music sheet or allegro you're supposed to play it lively quick and happy. So be on the lookout. If someone says you're muy allegro you're making a very good impression. 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 theexpatfiles at gmail.com
[27:46] 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.