Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the cultural and logistical challenges of living in Latin America. He begins by discussing the chaotic Easter celebrations, known as Samana Santa, which involve loud noises, fireworks, and aerial bombs. Johnny highlights the cultural significance of these events and the contrast between their excitement and potential dangers. He also shares his personal experiences with the traffic and noise during these celebrations.
Next, Johnny explores the phenomenon of 'gringo' names given to Latin American children, often resulting from misunderstandings or cultural influences. He provides several examples, such as 'London British Castillo' and 'Marco Polo Mendoza,' and emphasizes the importance of not laughing at such names, as they often carry personal significance. He also touches on the broader issue of security in Mexico, noting the lack of protection for trucks carrying radioactive materials and the potential for drug cartels to exploit this vulnerability.
The episode then shifts to a discussion on the growing threat of nuclear material being stolen and used for extortion in Mexico. Johnny cites recent incidents and the involvement of criminal gangs like the Zetas, highlighting the lack of security measures for radioactive materials and the potential dangers to the public. He also references a bizarre news story about a boxing match in a Central Park on Holy Saturday as an example of the unpredictable nature of life in Latin America.
Finally, Johnny discusses the unusual tradition of 'Penithencia box ao,' where men engage in boxing matches on Holy Saturday as a form of penance. He explains the cultural significance and how it's organized, noting that participants believe they're cleansing their sins. The segment then shifts to a discussion about platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy and stem cell treatments, highlighting their rising popularity and availability in Latin America, including cost comparisons and insurance coverage.
Topics
Cultural traditions in Latin America, Expat experiences in Latin America, Easter celebrations and their impact on daily life, Cultural practices and naming conventions, Gringo names in Latin America, Cultural misunderstandings and name derivations, Security issues in Mexico, Drug cartel activities and theft, Nuclear material theft, Extortion and criminal gangs in Mexico, Public safety and government warnings, Life in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:14 Introduction to The Expat Files and Johnny Mueller 00:00:26 Overview of the podcast's content and focus 00:00:32 Johnny's current health and the context of his voice 00:05:49 Introduction to Gringo Names in Latin America 00:09:57 Advice on Dealing with Wacky Gringo Names 00:10:39 News Story on Stolen Radioactive Material in Mexico 00:12:01 The Rise of Nuclear Extortion in Mexico 00:12:53 Mexico's Nuclear Infrastructure and Risks 00:18:18 Easter and the Unexpected Boxing Tradition 00:18:22 The Chaotic Nature of Life in Latin America 00:19:04 The Tradition of Penithencia Box Ao 00:20:55 Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy and Stem Cell Treatments 00:24:09 Insurance Coverage for Experimental Treatments in Central America 00:25:08 Cost Comparison of Medical Treatments in Central America vs. the U.S. 00:25:45 Availability of Modern Therapies and Encouragement to Investigate 00:26:09 Upcoming Seminar for Residency in Guatemala
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 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 Okay, we're back again, and I think my voice just might hold out today still in the final but rough grips of laryngitis I've tried all the usual radio and rock and roll singer tricks so though it might sound painful to you
[00:46] It's not believe me anyway down here just having gotten over the biggest Latin party season of all that would be Easter week Called Samana Santa down here I happen to have attended a number of the festivities myself mostly because you just can't avoid them The problem is the various little festivities black off whole streets down here for hours and hours at a time So if for that Samana Santa week, you don't plan well You could easily get stuck in a two or three hour traffic jam Or if you're unlucky and you park your car when you come back from shopping or whatever You'll actually see people double parked in the street with no one in them They just lock their cars up and leave in other words the street No longer is passable at all people will just leave their car there and walk to the ceremony wherever that is
[01:32] Usually a parade or some kind of fare and yes There will be traffic cops everywhere But no one will ever get ticketed for that because during Samana Santa season anything goes so the best thing to do if you're in Or around any medium or large-sized Latin City during that week Check the local papers because they'll always print out a map of the routes for those parades, etc And those maps would be for people who want to go to those parades and for us gringos who want to avoid them In fact do note that oftentimes Gringos who live in those medium and large sized cities and in those little Latin towns of 50,000 or under the gringos who live They're often planned their own getaways during that week because they just can't face the crowds and the craziness now Don't get me wrong These are some Anna Santa or Easter week celebrations are not as crazy as Connie violin Brazil
[02:21] But they do kick up the volume and it can be bothersome Let's just say if you don't like loud packed crowds till midnight or later You might just want to get out of your local Latin Dodge during that week, too And when I say midnight or later some of those big parades they have where they're hauling Gigantic Jesus floats down the road and dowsing everyone with clouds of incense Those can last till 2 even 3 in the morning Believe it or not now these processions are quite beautiful really But like expatty says you see one guy on the cross you see them all and for some reason the tradition During Easter week is to blow off a lot of aerial bombs and firecrackers, etc So those won't be gunshots you hear those will be bombs and mortars for Jesus and when I say mortar Yes, I'm using it in the sense of the kind of mortars
[03:07] They use during war because that's what they call them down here more Taro. That's mortar So if you have a bit of the pyro instinct yourself, you can just go down to the local fireworks, Tiana That would be on practically every other corner. You could buy yourself some aerial bombs rockets or Mortaros too. So isn't it funny in Latin America to own a gun? You have to go through a process where you get registered and you have to get a lawyer to help you fill out The paperwork and then there's a waiting period just like in the States yet Even a 10 year old kid could go down to the local fireworks T and and buy himself a box of mortars Gotta love it down here, huh? Funny enough even in these big cities where thousands of these aerial bombs and mortars go off an hour And you see 10 year old kids blowing these things off all the time yet
[03:55] You just don't see people running around with missing limbs or fingers Nor a preponderance of blind or deaf folks as you would have predicted or your mother would have predicted Weren't all those consequences the dire things your mother warned you about when you played with firecrackers darts or even matches When you were a kid, oh, I remember it Well, no Johnny, you can't play with those M80s. You'll lose a finger put your eye out So like a good obedient little kid I did as she said until she left and then we went behind the garage didn't bloom off anyway But even back then in Chicago when I was a kid when things were much looser those pyrotechnics We could get our hands on and did blow up was nothing no comparison at all Not 1% of what you see down here. Anyway during Easter festival week
[04:42] I met another Latin kid with an unbelievable name now because Latins love everything and anything gringo that said Latin parents will often tag a newborn kid with an Unbelievably tacky or ungainly gringo name though. They certainly must think it's cool or cute The problem is there is no real live gringo around to tell them they're making a lifelong big-time mistake I've heard a lot of weird names down here in Latin America And I also have to say that most of these crazy ass gringo eyes names are given to innocent kids from lower Middle class or middle class families seems like upper middle class and wealthy folks are more Discriminating or astute when they name theirs So anyway, I ran into a young kid 14 years old and after I heard his name
[05:28] I told him he was gonna get his 15 minutes of fame on my next show now Of course, he had no idea why I would even mention his name on my show and he didn't even know I had a show He doesn't speak English. Obviously if he spoke English, he would not be happy with his own name But I certainly didn't want to be the one to appraise him of that sad fact I was speaking to Javier suck up Hernandez suck up and it's spelled just like you might think Su ckup yep, that kid should go far. Thanks mom and dad for that one Especially if he hops over to the US wait till the Latinos in a hood get a load of that one in a past show a couple years ago, I mentioned some Latin people I ran into with Seriously embarrassing gringo names now when you're down here and you meet someone like that
[06:14] You'd be the judge and you know over the years when I run into a Latin who has one of those crazy ass names I always write it down. I've got a list here. For example, a few months ago. I ran into a guy whose name was london British Castillo, that's how he pronounced it london British now When you spell out that word, guess what it says London Bridge Castillo, okay now picture this imagine if this guy did happen to visit London Imagine it would be like a Monty Python skit, you know Somebody some cops some taxi driver on Street S the guy's name and he says London Bridge I can see people everywhere just trying to give them directions to London Bridge. Of course, there's always those Marco polos There's a lot of them running around here in Latin America. I think I've met three or four of them already since I've been down here
[07:04] Yep, the last one Marco polo Mendoza. And the fact is with the last Marco polo. I met I asked him why that name He said why not? It's an honor to be named after a world famous soccer player And I said no No, you're named after a world famous Italian Explorer that made his way to China And you know, it turned out we were both right Only his parents didn't know there was another Marco polo, you know, the one that went to China turns out the soccer player Everybody knows except the screen goes then there was this other young Latin guy. I met in Honduras His name was Carlos big daddy Laura and big daddy was spelled B-i-g-d-a-d-d-y as one word Big daddy in English, of course when I asked him who he was named after and remember all these guys
[07:54] I'm talking about don't speak English They're pure middle and lower middle-class lands way off the gringo tourist trail Anyway, as it turns out this kid's dad No, he wasn't big daddy, but he'd slipped into the United States illegally before his kid Carlos big daddy was even born and His daddy once he landed in Houston sent a photograph back to the family with him standing next to a big hot rod Whose muffler extensions said in giant letters big daddy and the kid told me someday He's going up to the states to see his dad. He's never actually met him, but he's got the photo on the wall now Here's my favorite the guy's name is use Navi Lambor now at first I thought in every gringle thought that that was an indigenous Mayan name use Navi sounds like it might be
[08:44] However, when you write out the letters, it's us n-a-v-y United States Navy now, apparently this kid's mother had either met or seen or had some kind of thing going with a guy Who was in the US Navy or had a t-shirt that said US Navy or something? Who knows and the kid well he ended up with that handle and believe me there are hundreds if not thousands of examples of weird and wacky gringo eyes names like that kind of derived from either a mistake or an oddball Interpretation of some kind of first-world sign or saying or even gringo movie or TV program So over the years, I've met let's see now Magnum PI Palencia a short little runt who work construction maybe 120 pounds
[09:31] Tom Selleck mini me he wasn't and I've met a guy named Tom cruise cruise Yeah, that's right. His last name really was cruise. So they named him Tom cruise cruise But they kept the Latin spelling C R U Z instead of C R I U S E Yep, never a dull moment here in Latin America So my advice when you're down here and you run into a crazy ass name like that Do inquire about it to find out how it came about because there's always a great story attached But one word of advice never laugh at somebody with a name like that Remember when you're off the tourist trail You just might be the first gringo that person's ever spoken with and sure you want his first impression of a gringo to be a good
[10:16] One so don't let the name throw you no matter how wacky or just totally unbelievable Like the Latins you just might meet in South America named Adolf Hitler or rather Adolfo Hitler If you think I'm pulling your leg on that one send me an email and I'll send you proof enough said about that Okay, before I forget I want to mention this little blip of a news story You might have caught think it was about two weeks ago. It said quote Mexico scrambles to find stolen radioactive material Note that until now it's not that these thieves are out to hijack that stuff particularly It's just that they're out to hijack any car or truck or anything. That's not nailed down But now in the last two years has been reported for more times in the news
[11:04] The thing is trucks that carry radioactive waste or radioactive material for hospital cancer units Whatever trucks carrying that stuff aren't no more well protected than a coca-cola truck in Mexico normally, they got a guy up front with a shotgun riding shotgun makes sense, huh and So do coke and Kellogg's and Frito-Lay and bottled water companies, too Their trucks have a guy with a shotgun riding shotgun who by the way has probably never discharged that weapon in his life The point is theft and car and truck hijackings are so rampant in Mexico that some insurance companies are Refusing to ensure truck fleets and now there's a new twist Mexican drug cartels and gangs have realized that it's so easy to hijack a truck that's got nuclear material in it
[11:53] By the way, they usually have the radiation sticker on the back So they're advertising when they're driving along the road. Anyway, the cartels have learned This is a lucrative business by the mistakes other petty thieves have made these last three nuclear hijack incidents Came about because thieves were looking for scrap metal a cell though I still can't figure the logic that they could think they could walk into a scrap dealer and sell nuclear material I don't get it But you see there's been enough reported and written about this down here in Latin America You probably haven't seen any of that up north. It's all in Spanish Anyway, big gangs like the Zetas and Mexico are taking notice authorities believed They are hatching plans to hijack many more of these trucks carrying a radioactive goods not to use or sell this stuff
[12:39] But to hold it hostage to an extortion racket because hospitals and insurance companies have very deep pockets so be on the lookout for more and more of these hijackings this time not by mistake and Don't forget Mexico has two nuclear power plants online with lots and lots of radioactive material and spent rods all over the place So be on the lookout for a new kind of extortion starting in Mexico That said let me ask you expat wannabes and gone a piece up there Do you still think Mexico is a viable option for plan B? Just chalk up nuclear extortion as reason two hundred and seventy six Why you should not consider Mexico as a permanent expat destination though? I could be wrong that said let me read you a little bit from the English version of this news article
[13:30] This is a report from Mexico City that says Authorities appeal for help among Mexico's population on Thursday to locate stolen radioactive material the latest theft of such dangerous substances in the country Mexico's Interior Ministry issued an alert in five southern and eastern states late Wednesday two days after a toolbox sized container Carrying the iridium 192 source was snatched from a truck in a residential parking lot in Cardenas, Tobasco State It says Luis Felipe Buente the national civil protection coordinator urged ordinary Mexican Citizens to be on the lookout and notify the authorities right away if they find the material which is used for industrial Radiography to check welding seams he goes on to say each time that one of these units have been stolen or has
[14:22] Disappeared from the hands of companies in charge of them. We have recovered them with the help of the population He urged anyone who finds such objects, please stay away and quickly call the authorities Then he said thieves are not realizing what they're stealing referring to three similar past cases And here's the kicker when asked why there is no requirement for private or government security to accompany such material Romero said it's not considered dangerous as long as it's inside the container Romero added that it would be too expensive for companies to provide private security for such commonly used material across the country I'll get this authorities said the man-made radioactive element can cause burns
[15:08] radiation sickness Permanent injuries and even death if someone comes in contact for minutes or hours It is fatal if exposure is longer than that as for past cases in December 2013 Thieves took a truck containing cancer-treating medical devices with highly radioactive cobalt-60 near Mexico City District of Federal the thieves took it apart and tried to sell it as scrap metal They were exposed as were countless others, but have survived up till now and more recently this February authorities recovered in central Mexico three stolen trucks transporting a highly radioactive material for industrial use Similar incident took place in July
[15:54] 2014 now, let me point out that both of these guys government officials making these comments in the news Luis Felipe Puente the national civil protection coordinator and Christian Romero the deputy director for radiological emergencies have been all over Mexican television in the last few days giving advice and warnings to the Mexican public But let me ask you guys and gals this if you were sitting up there in La Crosse, Wisconsin or Cleveland, Ohio And during every television news break, you saw some official guy from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Come on and warn you about some stolen radioactive material in your area But you just ignore all that and switch back to the Kardashians three and a half brain cells or the Walking Dead Are you perhaps the Walking Dead or would you be worried?
[16:42] But let me just remind you that in the past two years there have been five such repeatedly televised Government warnings about stolen radioactive material, which means maybe people are getting accustomed to that sort of thing Well, just wait till the Zetas and the other gangs start getting in on the act. Just remember there are 4,500 hospitals in Mexico most having some kind of nuclear medicine department not to mention all big heavy industrial plants that smelt steel or forged metal or precision parts have industrial x-ray units some with very powerful radiation sources a Thousand times more powerful than human x-ray units So there you have it folks yet another thing to worry about if you live or hang out in Mexico
[17:28] So then the natural question that follows is could this happen in the rest of Latin America? Well, anything's possible, but I doubt it so far There's never been a reported case like that outside of Mexico Now on the lighter side note that no matter how long you're down here in Latin America You find something crazy and odd happens every day In other words don't ever think no matter how long you're down here You've seen it all cuz you believe me you haven't and I proved that to myself for the hundredth time the other day Well, I happen to catch six o'clock news broadcast Latin TV, of course, and in a featured news story there were a couple of unknown guys beating the hell out of each other in a boxing ring and this boxing ring was right out in The Central Park of a medium-sized Latin American City. Now, let me tell you this was Holy Saturday
[18:18] You know the day before Easter too and with all the solemn Easter stuff on TV Who'd have thunk they'd add a bunch of guys beating the hell out of each other in the Central Park in broad daylight with Thousands of people standing around watching. I'm thinking isn't that a bit inappropriate for Easter then oddly enough The news reporter switched to another town in Latin America Where the same thing was happening in the Central Park two guys beating the hell out of each other With a crowd of hundreds even thousands standing around and rooting and by the time this little news report was over They'd switched to eight or ten cities where the same thing was playing out two guys No shirts just pants boxing gloves and shoes beating the hell out of each other on Holy Saturday and all the spectators having a good old time and getting into it
[19:04] Meanwhile, I'm baffled. So I called my cleaning lady over. I said what's going on there? Oh that happens every Holy Saturday. It's called Penithencia box ao which means Boxing penance or boxing for repentance. It's a Catholic thing all the way You see in Latin America if you're Catholic and most are as it turns out if you've been a very bad boy all year round And it's for guys now. You're a drunk. You're a womanizer. You're a thief Whatever you can cleanse your sins once a year in front of the masses by signing up at your local neighborhood church To duke it out with an equal serial sinner that's been matched and pitted against you so this thing the penithencia box ao it's called box ao meaning boxing has been a big tradition in Latin America in
[19:50] Certain towns usually medium and small towns out in the boonies. It's highly organized and very weird So you got two shirtless guys out there beating themselves up for Jesus and at the end get this usually both the guys are crying real tears First whaling on each other and then just plain whaling because you know, they really believe they're doing it for a higher purpose So there you have it. Just when you thought you've seen everything man, that's entertainment, huh? Now expat Eddie just loves fights and when I told him about it, he said Johnny Give me some time to think about it. There's gotta be a way we can make some money off this I said, I don't know about that Eddie that could be sacrilege and this is a very Christian society So they might stone you or burn you at the stake He said nah, if we cut the church in for 10 or 15 percent, they'll give us a pass. They'll go for it
[20:39] You know an immaculate exemption Leave it dead. Yeah, when I laughed and said Eddie, that's a good one. You just make that up He said no the IRS did all churches get an immaculate exemption All right, that's it and let's talk about an email that comes from a previous expat wisdom seminar attendee Again on the subject of health care this time platelet-rich plasma therapy. He says and I'll paraphrase Hey, Johnny platelet-rich plasma therapy Pro-low therapy and stem cell therapy are medical treatments on the rise I paid over 900 bucks for a combination Pro-low PRP treatment and over 2,000 bucks for a stem cell therapy This approach has kept me from finally breaking down and having my ankle fused due to unbearable pain Because as you might know once carried out, there is no turning back from a bone fusion
[21:29] Now the average person doesn't have a traumatic injury and usually requires just a few treatments for severe arthritis commonly in the knees and hips Treatments such as these aren't covered by medical insurance Expensive as the cost is it pales in comparison to the far more common arthritis treatment namely knee and hip replacements very expensive and invasive treatments that are an incredibly lucrative staple of the medical business now local clinics Constantly advertise them hospitals and surgeons will lose so much if the money train stops and the money they have now Buys that influence and power what I like to know is if plasma therapy Pro-low and stem cell therapy have made it down to Latin America yet if there's a cost comparison and if insurance covers it
[22:15] Thanks, Johnny signed mr. P. Maybe that's for platelet I don't know well in a way. I'm glad he asked those questions because yes even at my Latin American seminars now I show three different slides of medical centers hospitals and clinics that do just that kind of work now Let me translate something here from a company called cryo cells stem cell banking for one thing They're not called stem cell treatments here. They're called cellulose Madre or cells from the mother same thing though It says there are now laboratories all over Latin America two labs in particular called Biohuman and one uni lab that have many branches throughout Latin America These labs are authorized to prepare your stem cells then once Reinjected the intent is to revitalize the damaged organs and in an article I clipped out of a big Latin American
[23:05] newspaper about a year and a half ago now it says back then even there were 44 Laboratories in Central America doing that kind of thing and it says the procedure goes like this you come down to Latin America It's pretty much medical tourism then the medical specialist extracts your mother cells or stem cells from your own corporeal lipid cells a kind of a mini liposuction process from the medulla ocea Which means from the bone marrow? this extraction and Reinjection treatment could alleviate diverse pathologies like diabetes lesions from the spine damage to the muscles and heart Pairing heart disease and heart attacks and it says since they are your own stem cells
[23:50] They completely alleviate the risk of having an adverse immune reaction or rejection Okay, so they've got that stuff down here. What does it cost? I understand that multiple stem cell treatments are often necessary and I spoke to a doctor who told me that one of his patients who went through the procedure spent about 4000 us from start to finish after having multiple sessions and as far as insurance coverage There are plenty of insurance companies down here that cover almost anything I've personally read the fine print on a number of policies and they don't exclude it But they don't mention it either so I guess you have to check with individual insurance companies However, I've seen in some insurance policies like up in the states They don't cover experimental procedures and treatments, and I don't know if it's considered experimental or not possibly not
[24:42] Especially since they've got 44 labs in Latin America as of about a year and a half ago doing this kind of work Like mr. P says you can get it up in the states if you got the dough Looking up PRP Prolo therapy and stem cell treatments on the web there are articles saying that they're still considered experimental treatments However, they also claim that stem cell treatments are used fairly regularly. So how could that be experimental? Who knows? So bottom line. Yes, they have the treatments down here. Are they cheap? Well, every medical treatment down here seems to be around 1 4th to a 6th of the cost of the same cheaper number the first world However, when a local doctor down here told me it was $4,000 for an entire set of treatments I can't really say that it's a quarter to a sixth of the price like most other treatments
[25:29] since mr. P throughout the number 900 bucks for combination Prolo PRP treatment and 2,000 bucks for stem cell therapy Guess you have to work out how many treatments are necessary for the patient to get a good handle on that So that's the state of things down here And yes, they have all the modern therapies here too for anyone who's interested or needs that kind of treatment You should come down and get your boots on the ground and investigate it yourself And remember all the doctors and specialists will speak English and they're glad to talk to gringos We're close to the end of the show today. So let me repeat. I've got my expert wisdom July 2015 seminar coming up shortly about two months away So if you're thinking of coming down to Central America Guatemala specifically Especially if your plan B goal is to get residency
[26:18] I've got plenty of time to get those ducks in order because like I said in the previous show It'll take two weeks to a month to get your papers in order up there and you can bring them on down to the seminar Stay an extra week or two and get your temporary or permanent residency going But whether you're on the path to get residency or not, remember you really have to have a plan B Obviously you wouldn't be listening to this show or others like it if you thought you're thieving political scumbags up north We're gonna come to your rescue. By the way, did you know all the high-level government dickheads up in the states have an escape plan B, too Yes, they have land down in Central and South America huge tracts of it Just check it out on the internet. So then what do they know that you don't? Nothing, you know what's gonna crash and burn up there and they do too
[27:06] So what are you gonna do when the next crisis hits gonna call 911 gonna like yourself in the basement Or are you gonna pat yourself on the back and say I got a plan B. See ya I'm heading to my place in Latin America Look, you got to get boots on the ground in the right kind of boots on the ground not on the tourist trail So just go to expat wisdom calm click on the Latin seminar link and check out the info on the July 2015 seminar 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 at the expat files at gmail.com and Don't forget to check out expat wisdom calm to sign up for your free reports on Latin America. See you next time. No swaymos