Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller explores the multifaceted experiences of living in Latin America, touching on a range of topics from media quality to cultural and social dynamics. He begins by discussing the poor quality of Hollywood translations in the region, using the example of the movie 'Men Who Stare at Goats' being mistranslated as 'Hombres Dimente' (Demented Men). He criticizes the low standards in Latin media and the issue of intellectual property theft, where Latin American artists plagiarize Western music and repackage it as their own. Johnny notes that locals often don't recognize the original source of these songs, treating them as authentic Latin compositions.
Next, he shares an email from an anonymous expat who describes his experiences living in Ecuador and compares it to Guatemala. The expat highlights the cultural and social dynamics, including the treatment of gringos by locals, the political climate under President Correa, and the perception of women in Ecuador. He also touches on broader issues of classism and racism in Latin America, particularly the way indigenous people are viewed. Johnny acknowledges the expat's insights and adds his own perspective on the topic, emphasizing the complexity of the region's social structure.
Johnny then discusses the systemic racial and class-based discrimination faced by indigenous people in Latin America. He highlights how indigenous individuals are often marginalized, stereotyped, and excluded from opportunities such as beauty pageants. He explains the derogatory use of the term 'Indio' by the upper classes, drawing a parallel to the use of the 'n-word' in the U.S. He emphasizes the social and economic challenges indigenous people face, including limited access to education and the stigma associated with their traditions and appearance. He also touches on the subjective nature of beauty and how it is influenced by class and race, noting that while some gringos may find indigenous women attractive, this is often not the case among the upper classes.
In the next segment, Johnny discusses the dynamics of attractiveness and dating in Latin America, highlighting how gringa women often prefer tall, handsome Latin men, while gringo men are less likely to find success with shorter indigenous women. He also touches on the broader themes of racism, classism, and prejudice in Latin America, suggesting that these issues are more pronounced than in the United States. The segment concludes with Johnny sharing his personal experience in Vilca Bamba, a remote area in Ecuador, where he witnessed the negative impacts of gringo presence, including real estate scams, rising crime rates, and a growing sense of resentment among locals.
Finally, Johnny reflects on the changing dynamics of expat life in Latin America, particularly in places like Vilcabamba, Mexico, and Costa Rica. He notes that expats are becoming more serious and driven, often leading to quicker burnout. He attributes this shift to the rising cost of real estate, which has negatively impacted these regions. Johnny highlights that expats are often eccentric or oddball individuals, typically highly educated and possessing unique skills. He suggests that these traits are necessary for thriving in Latin America, as the average person may not adapt well to the lifestyle. The segment concludes with a reflection on how expats are often perceived as different or unconventional, and how this is increasingly accepted in the region.
Topics
Hollywood translations in Latin America, Intellectual property theft in Latin music, Cultural misunderstandings and media quality, Cultural and social dynamics in Ecuador, Political climate under President Correa, Classism and racism in Latin America, Perception of women in Ecuador, Expatriate experiences in Latin America, Racial and class-based discrimination in Latin America, Marginalization of indigenous people, Beauty standards and their relation to race and class, Use of derogatory language in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:01:15 The Mistranslation of 'Men Who Stare at Goats' as 'Hombres Dimente' 00:03:13 The Mistranslation of 'Clockwork Orange' as 'Mechanical Fruit' 00:04:16 The Plagiarization of Western Music in Latin America 00:06:46 The Expatriate's Experience with Gringos and Locals in Ecuador 00:07:18 Political Climate and Authoritarian Tendencies in Ecuador 00:11:04 Classism and Racism in Latin America: The Indigenous Experience 00:12:18 Indigenous Marginalization in Latin America 00:12:41 The Stereotype of Indigenous People 00:13:28 Beauty Pageants and Indigenous Representation 00:14:36 Insider Perspective on Beauty Pageants 00:15:45 Social and Economic Challenges for Indigenous People 00:17:26 Romantic and Social Attitudes Toward Indigenous People 00:18:16 Attractiveness and Dating in Latin America 00:18:50 Racism and Classism in Latin America 00:20:13 Negative Impacts of Gringo Presence in Vilca Bamba 00:24:58 Real Estate and the Changing Expat Landscape in Latin America 00:25:16 The Eccentric Nature of Expat Life 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. Now before I finish off with this Ecuador thing I've been trying to get through for the last three weeks, I'm sure you remember that I've mentioned that Latin Americans are totally in love with anything that comes out of Hollywood, movies, TV, reality shows and the like and you might recall that the translations are often terrible to the point that if you look through the TV listings in Spanish for example, you really have no idea what you're going to be watching although you might be totally familiar with that show in English.
[01:01] For example, here's a movie listing with George Clooney, Kevin Spacey and Brad Pitt that's been doing the rotations through Latin American TV down here for quite some time and this is the name of it or what they call it in Spanish. They call it hombres dimente which means demented men in English. Now I want you to try to figure out what movie this is in English, you know the original title remember it's demented men. Time's up, you'll never get it anyway, it's men who stare at goats, remember that one? Demented men, that's what they call it in Spanish, I guess it has some logic to it but why not just call it men who stare at goats in Spanish? Hombres quien mídán cabras, what's so hard about that? All those words exist in Spanish but that would be way too logical right?
[01:51] Not that the English title is logical at all till you see the movie but demented men, come on. For a long time I just couldn't figure out who in the hell was doing those terrible translations up in Mexico City. That's where all those Hollywood translations are done by the way. Just look at the credits after any one of those translated movies and you can see that the translation work was done by a company in distrito federal which is Mexico City. Talk about numb nuts and shit for brains. At first you wonder how these guys stay in business, how they get the contracts but it really boils down to the fact that standards are so low in the Latin media world and the Latin public doesn't know any better that I guess if you did the proper literal translation of the movie title and of course the dialogue the actors
[02:41] are speaking nobody in Latin America wouldn't know the difference anyway. So while you expat wanna bees and gonna bees up there don't think that that's a job opportunity. Even if you could do it a thousand times better bottom line is they'll just keep screwing it up because nobody cares. Okay how about the Spanish title of this famous first world movie? This one runs every so often and it's in fact a classic. In Spanish it's called the mechanical fruit. Now I dare you to try to guess what that one is. Time's up you'll never get it. Try clockwork orange. I'm not kidding you down here they call it the mechanical fruit. That really makes sense right? So believe me if they could have titles translated like that imagine what the real dialogue is like.
[03:29] But worse by far are the English songs that become famous when translated into Spanish. Never mind the title translations. While the music is exactly the same and you'll recognize it in an instant yourself. More often than not the lyrics have absolutely nothing to do with the original lyrics in English. But since when did that ever stop a B grade Latin talent from plagiarizing and making a few bucks off someone else's work? But then again Latin America is the land of intellectual property pirates. Meaning any day of the week on any busy street corner you could buy a first-run US Hollywood movie for around a buck. Oh and on the topic of Latin popular music that's been totally plagiarized and stolen and made into a big hit down here in Latin America. The funniest thing is
[04:16] to me when you're sitting in a bar or restaurant and you hear the song come on you instantly recognize it as some past huge first world hit. I'm speaking about the music of course not the words because they'll be in Spanish. And the reality is if you're off the gringle tourist trail anyway you're the only one in the whole place that knows it was a stolen plagiarized hit from the first world. What I'm saying is that everyone in that bar restaurant thinks it's an original Latin composition. And you know in kind of a demented way that's part of the gringo advantage too. Yep that word demented does have a way of creeping in out doesn't it? Anyway the fact is millions if not billions of dollars have been made in the Latin music and media business by plagiarizing hit music
[05:02] from up in the first world especially the classic music from the 60s and 70s. You hear it all the time the music as you know it and the words in badly translated Spanish. Anyway just be prepared if you're down here sitting in a restaurant or a bar to hear a perfect rendition musically anyway of a B.J. Thomas or Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin are just about any 60s or 70s big-time hit. And when the words kick in in Spanish just know the meaning has pretty much nothing to do with the original song. The locals don't know the difference and think is truly a Latin American product. So that's today's twisted little bit of Latin American sociology. Okay now if you remember last week I was reading an email from one of our boots on the ground guys down in Ecuador. Now if you
[05:51] remember from the end of last week's show he really did like Ecuador but he sees it seems to be changing for the worse now that I'll let gringos are scrambling to get in. So let me get to the rest of it now. He says a whole lot of gringos seem to have brought along with them that first world quote service expectation that basically defines the ugly American. That expectation doesn't play real well with some of the upper class white skinned tall Spaniard type Ecuadorians who deal with the public a lot. The gringo public that is. You do catch scowls and dark looks from people like tour guides and travel agency clerks when somebody in your group starts
[06:36] getting to be a little bit of a pain in the ass. They've obviously put up with all the demanding gringos they care to have at this point. Funny thing is none of the other gringos in the groups I was with seem to pick up on that except me. Then he goes on to compare Ecuador with Guatemala. He says you never see that in Guatemala. The light-skinned types there might act that way with average indigenous guys because of the racism but they're always all smiles with the gringos. But in Ecuador you can get away from all that easily enough just by getting off the tourist trail. However what you can't get away from there is the political climate. It's openly socialist and increasingly authoritarian
[07:23] and it's president Correa that's leading the charge on all this stuff. And you know I actually like Correa. He's got some huevos. When Bush wanted to renew the lease on a US military base at Manta, Correa said sure as long as Ecuador gets to have a base in Miami. You know how that turned out. But he's showing some real scary totalitarian tendencies. He's passed laws that let him shut down any newspaper that criticizes him. And the guy who ran the tour I went on down there told us that he was being careful what he said about other people and businesses when asked for his own opinion. Because the tour guide said
[08:08] there had been a recent case he knew of where an American spent a couple of weeks in jail for libeling some other American guy verbally in front of witnesses. Though I don't know the details on that. Anyway the tour guide was paranoid about speaking up. That said Ecuador is also getting worrisome on the financial front. Turns out there are some relatively new banking regulations that now charge an exit tax on wire transfers out of the country. I don't know the details on that either. But some percentage of every outgoing wire is now taken off the top as a fee that the government scoops up. Yikes! Now at the risk of offending our lady listeners out there I'm gonna read the
[08:55] next part of this email. I mean after all this program is called The Expat Files Living in Latin America. So this is what living in Latin America is like. And if it offends any of you guys and gals out there well you could always waste away in Cleveland. Anyway the email goes on to say most Ecuadorian women are nothing to write home about. Guatemalan women aren't that great either compared to a place like Thailand. But the median so-called but ugly quotient seems a lot higher in Ecuador for women that don't have a lot of Spanish blood. Even if you're not looking for a female companionship it's still nice to have a decent looking woman around. Kind of like flowers in a vase on the table or something. But having said all that the Andes mountains are incredible and Ecuador is still a
[09:44] great place. I'd go back. Signed Anonymous. Now I have to add that the guy that wrote this is a very very astute traveler. Very smart guy. Another engineer type again. Who isn't afraid to follow his own path all throughout Latin America. All by himself too. And believe me he's not one of these guys that comes down two weeks every year. He stays for like six months at a time. So he does have some pretty heavy boots on the ground experience. Now in his defense on that last part about the women I have to say this. It's really not as caveman as it sounds. I think every first world gringa if she had her choice would like to be surrounded by handsome guys too. You know kind of like having a nice car in the driveway instead of a junk. It's true when you're in a country like
[10:30] Bolivia or Ecuador or Guatemala or Peru where more than half the population is indigenous. In fact in some of those countries they make up 70 or 80% of the population. Anyway it's really true that that Ladino mix of European blood and indigenous blood along with a bit of colonial African slave blood thrown in created a very wide striking range of humanity. From butt-ugly to exotically beautiful. And unfortunately in a very classist and racist society it's the indigenous people who take the heat for being well called unattractive by the rest of Latin society. The Latins with more Spanish blood. The Criollos and the
[11:17] indigenous people apart instantly is that they're often under five feet tall. For that and their traditional ways they take a lot of abuse like American Indians took the abuse from the white settlers up north and still do we all know that. And although upscale Latins and Ladinos don't admit this in mixed company or publicly just like Native Americans up in the first world down here the indigenous folks are not considered a handsome race not even classically beautiful. And that's the firm opinion of the movers and shakers in society the Criollos who have a lot of European blood and the more mixed blood Ladinos who will by the way always tell you off the record that they have no indigenous blood themselves which is pure BS. Seems like everyone down here when
[12:04] talking about ancestry tells you about their bloodline of tall light-skinned Spaniards. And they've always got a nicely framed faded photo in the living room. Some old Spanish guy in Victorian clothes demonstrating to visitors their tentative link to the old world. By contrast in a Ladino or upper class Latin family you'll never see a portrait of an indigenous person. That kind of thing they like to sweep under the rug. Why? Because in Latin America it's all about race and class. Don't you know that the maids and gardeners and the people that do all the dirty work in Latin America are nearly always indigenous or mostly indigenous which endlessly perpetuates the stereotype. That's why the mixed-blooded Ladinos and the Criollos use the term Indio as a
[12:53] common insult and a put-down. It's no joke and they don't say it kindly either. And believe me you hear it all the time. When somebody pulls a gaff or does something stupid they'll say Indio which is why I recommend you take that completely out of your vocabulary because it's basically the Latin equivalent of using the n-word. So the harsh truth is down here anyway the more indigenous blood a person has the more the Criollos with a lot of European blood and Ladinos with some European blood look down on you. For example when you look at the beauty page it's down here which are one of the three national sports the other two being soccer their football and tax evasion. You gotta love that part anyway. But you see in beauty pageants unfortunately the
[13:40] indigenous population are vastly underrepresented and very short-changed like with most other things down here. Pure indigenous young girls no matter how beautiful they might be are generally so short that they almost never get a crack at a beauty pageant title like that. They're almost always left out they don't even get a chance to get in the running because remember in Latin America tall light-skinned Latinas almost always take the prizes and in the event a darker skin mulatto type woman snags some kind of title or is allowed to compete in a well publicized beauty pageant at all it almost always has to do with the fact that she's not only beautiful but she's very tall by Latin standards that is which means for Latin women about 5 foot 6 or so. So how
[14:31] do I know all this stuff? Well I'm certainly no expert but since expat Eddie's fiance is a runway model and a former beauty pageant contestant I have a pretty good insider's view of what it's all about. Now that's not to say that in pure indigenous communities usually way out in the boonies they don't have their own beauty pageants well they do in those cases consisting of pure indigenous contestants but they get no media or press attention outside their own little communities. The rest of racist Latin America just doesn't give a damn. Now the thing is like I said many times before most of the indigenous people are so short well under five feet tall including the men that gringos and people with a lot of European blood just simply tower over them. You ought to
[15:18] come down off the gringo tourist trail and walk into a shopping center and get into an elevator sometime. Even if you're Joe or Jane first world average you'll tower over everyone in there and they'll be sneaking peeks at you like you're some kind of jolly green giant. So sadly the indigenous population down here has a heavy burden to carry. For one thing they can rarely break out of their social class unless they become entrepreneurs and there's that stigma against their traditions and habits and brown color and their lack of height. And worse yet they're generally poorly educated because they can't afford to go to private school therefore they go to those very crappy public schools. You know the drill no desks no water no windows and no pencils. Now in those three
[16:07] countries that I just mentioned Peru Ecuador and Guatemala the average indigenous woman has about a fifth or sixth grade education. And you know behind closed doors you hear the ruling classes and the wealthy say they'd like to keep it that way. Though too faced as they are in public they'll always give lip service to their quote sincere belief that the indigenous folks have to be raised up socially and economically. Sound familiar? What a bunch of hypocritic sociopaths huh? A touch of home I'd say just like the US Congress but you knew that already. Now as far as getting into the lookism thing you know what's beautiful and what's not in the eye of the beholder as far as gringos and gringas are concerned you almost can't avoid getting into a
[16:55] conversation about the subject. I have to admit that if you go into the boonies in any Latin American country or up into the Andes in a lot of the small towns even towns of five or ten thousand the people often look like they're related they're in the same family because well the towns been so isolated for so many years that's probably the case. Kind of like those mountain folk clans we all heard about that live up in the oakies. Now as far as if you think short brown similar looking people are attractive or not well it's up to you and it's true that mixed-blooded Ladinos and upper-class European blooded Criollos almost never mix romantically or socially. They consider indigenous people unattractive and you'll hear them say so but never in mixed company. That said
[17:42] I can tell you that in spite of what our last emailer said that kind of attitude does not necessarily extend to all gringos. The fact is I can't tell you how many times I've seen a tall handsome gringo with one of those short young indigenous girls hand-in-hand walking down the street. Now let me qualify that a bit most of the time they're not American gringos they're Europeans. I should have said I often see tall handsome European German British French whatever hand-in-hand with an indigenous young lady and the girl would be a foot two or even three foot shorter than he is. So obviously the attractiveness thing is very subjective. But on the other side the fact is you know when gringa ladies come down here and hook up with Latin guys you don't see much of that
[18:30] phenomena in reverse. When gringas seem to hook up it's almost always with a handsome young Don Juan style Tony Banderas type. Not necessarily tall by our standards but taller than she is. I guess it's a truism that in every society a woman wants her man to be at a minimum tall enough so she doesn't have to look down on him. Whereas down here in Latin America especially on the tourist trail you do occasionally see the gringo or European male with a short indigenous girl though like I said the short indigenous guys have about as much as a snowball's chance in hell of hooking up with a visiting gringa. Go figure. So before I get a lot of hate mail about the lookism thing I'm here to tell you like I always do that down here in Latin America it's very racist and
[19:19] classist. You think they've got racism and classism and prejudice up in the States? You ain't seen nothing yet. So just thank your lucky stars or the fickle finger of fate that you're a gringo or a gringo because we have all the advantages down here really. No matter what color height or race we are we're all considered gringos as long as we were born and bred in the States. And finally for all you expat file listeners who have friends who are ugly Americans up there ones that are talking about taking a trip someday down to Latin America and I don't mean ugly physically I mean ugly in attitude. Tell them if they do come down to Latin America do everyone a favor and go to Costa Rica or Panama or anywhere in Mexico or direct them to the tourist
[20:04] trail in Ecuador. They'll find a lot of pushy demanding asswipe gringos there so they'll be in good company. Oh and by the way just when I thought I was done talking about Ecuador somebody sent me this and I'll paraphrase this again so as not to bore the pants off ya. Starts out since I moved to Ecuador a dozen years ago I've made a point of visiting my friends in Vilca Bamba at least once a year. I was enchanted with this peaceful isolated valley the first time I saw it in 1998. Even considered setting up a business there and living there. However in the past two or three years my friends tell me that things in Vilca Bamba are changing for the worst. There are a growing number of gringo real estate scams and there are those in-your-face conspiracy theorists and
[20:51] back-to-nature zealots in the expat community that are becoming more and more obnoxious. It's the invasion of the ugly Americans alright. Now I don't know the details of the bad real estate deals but I do have great tolerance even appreciation for the various oddballs among us gringo expats. For years Vilca Bamba has had the reputation for attracting old hippies and other counter-culturists who subscribe to a variety of bizarre ideas. In fact I enjoy hearing the stories of invisible space aliens walking the village streets lizard people who reveal themselves only at night and the life-changing benefits of a drinking carrot and broccoli smoothies and the fact that up to now no matter how
[21:36] weird your ideas might seem oddball and seemingly eccentric gringo pursuits were well tolerated. As you might have figured people down here have a lot of time on their hands. Anyway on my last trip to Vilca Bamba it was the cab driver who drove me from Loja who made me think that my friends may be right about those ugly American invasions. He told me about a gringo real estate agent who was forced out of the country because she inflated prices, pocketed the difference then perjured herself in court. He also told me of another gringo or two who were suing each other for character assassination and then there are all those cases of gringos suing locals and vice versa. Seems like lots of gringo anger has found its way to this little town and to think I found all that out
[22:24] from the cab driver. Now what the expats did amongst themselves the cab driver told me was really no concern to him or most other locals. What was a problem though he said was that land prices in the valley have tripled in the recent years due to those gringos. The gringo greed. Locals he said can no longer afford to buy the land they grew up on. Almost as bad he said was the new attitude he noticed among many gringo newcomers. They show no respect for the local people at all. They don't even bother to learn the language and they expect us to be their servants he said. The attitude is partly responsible for the rapidly rising crime rate in the valley and the country he said. I can never say that thieves are justified in what they do he said but I also hear the
[23:12] anti-gringo talk amongst the regular citizens in Vilcabamba. The natives are restless. In fact before I even met my friends I witnessed evidence of what the driver told me. Within less than an hour I was approached by two elderly gringo ladies no less pushing real estate. One a stylish matron with what sounded like an Australian accent told me that I could trust her to find the best deal in town. Another who I took to be the owner or manager of a cafe where I ate told me not to listen to anyone but her and that the other agents were all crooks. Man you know what it's me again it sounds just like Costa Rica doesn't it? Now of course there are elements of the old Vilcabamba that I love and remember.
[23:59] In the cafe run by that real estate sales lady I sat next to a guy who waved what looked like a laser light over his food and his companions food cleansing it I suppose of evil spirits and impurities whatever. Yep a lot of expats are oddballs. Now I'm not sure about the invasion of Vilcabamba by ugly Americans. I have seen this species is that we're talking about in Mexico Indonesia, Trinidad, Malta and Panama among other places and I know it all too well. What I can say however is that life is not as simple as it used to be in this sacred valley and elsewhere. The gringos who live there today seem more serious, more eager to push their points of view, sell their products and perhaps more desperate. And from what my friends tell me now most foreign
[24:46] newcomers seem to burn out more quickly and are gone within a year or two. Which leads me to come back to my conversation with the cab driver to put my finger on the real problem. Foreigners are forcing up the price of real estate. It's a situation that's turned out badly in Mexico and several other Central American countries. He's talking about Costa Rica and Panama of course. Let's see how the situation turns around so that these places can once again be safe for expat oddballs. Okay that's about to just a bit and my comment? Well one thing we haven't talked about yet is the fact that it's true. Seems like almost every expat you meet is a kind of an oddball. Well maybe not an oddball but just a bit eccentric. But one thing's for sure you'll find out that most of them
[25:35] especially the long-term ones are highly educated. And if not highly educated with degrees and diplomas they most certainly are smarter than the average guy and come down with a lot of great skills. Which says a lot about average and mediocre people up in the States who might have a wish or a dream to come down to Latin America. Sure everyone likes a good story and how it's been done by others. But chances are if you're not a bit bold or eccentric you probably won't take the leap. If like all of us certainly realize down here all of us who've been living here a while we notice there is a kind of a common denominator of eccentrics here. Now I'm not talking about loonies or people ready for the rubber room. Not at all. I guess you could say if your
[26:20] friends and relatives up north haven't said you're a bit crazy or obsessive about something or another then you probably don't fit the pattern of the average expat down here. And it's not that you won't survive or be a success if you're a dead boring 50 percentile normal. It's just that a certain percentage of new expats hoping to stay here forever. They end up back in the States with their tails between their legs within a year or two. Just like that last guy was talking about. So anyway if you do come down be prepared to meet a lot of eccentric people if not oddballs. Now if you're an eccentric or an oddball yourself you probably won't notice that. I only know I'm a bit different because authority figures had been telling me that since I was about six years old. Back then you know if you weren't a round peg in a round hole you caught hell for it. But these days well we're way ahead of the curve. And
[27:09] the funny thing is many new expats and fresh gringos have told me the very same thing. They say always on the sly. Those expats actually meet especially the long-term ones. They're not like your average guy or gal next door. Just last week a new expat told me the expats he's met so far were all a little out there kind of quirky but he wouldn't have it any other way. 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 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!