Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller shares his experiences living and working in Latin America, focusing on construction, DIY culture, and the unique challenges of the region. From the chaotic lumber yards to the use of pine wood and the cultural nuances of language and safety, Johnny provides a firsthand account of expat life in a rapidly changing environment.
Johnny discusses how he got his tools through rummage and yard sales, which are common in Latin America due to the lack of donation centers. He also describes the chaotic nature of lumber yards in Latin America, contrasting them with the organized stores in the United States. Johnny highlights the heavy, dense pine wood found in the region, which is a result of the climate and growth conditions. He shares his personal journey with construction, starting from a young age, and how it has shaped his life and work.
In another segment, Johnny explains the use of pine in construction in Latin America, highlighting that while pine is strong and durable, it is not suitable for long-term use due to its susceptibility to insects and moisture. He notes that many Latin American homes are not built to seismic codes, often using pine due to its low cost, which puts the lower-middle class and poor at risk. He advises on proper use of pine, such as keeping it away from moisture and the ground, and mentions the availability of pressure-treated wood, which is not commonly used due to cost.
The segment also describes the working conditions in a lumber mill in Latin America, highlighting the lack of safety equipment and the workers' attitudes toward the hazardous environment. Johnny discusses the cost-effectiveness of purchasing lumber and hardware locally, noting the differences in product quality and pricing compared to the United States. He also touches on the availability of power tools and the importance of using stainless steel fasteners for outdoor projects.
In a practical tip segment, Johnny advises on the challenges of bringing expensive power tools on a plane, noting that TSA may classify them as lethal weapons. He emphasizes the importance of drying lumber properly due to the intense sun in the region, which can cause warping. Johnny provides advice on how to dry wood effectively, such as using small strips and allowing air circulation. The segment then shifts to a tough love email from a UK listener who expresses strong opinions about illegal immigrants in the US, calling them parasites and suggesting they should be expelled. Johnny responds by acknowledging the high 'moron quotient' in Latin America but argues that the region is not as backward as perceived, pointing out the contributions of expats to its infrastructure and amenities.
Finally, Johnny discusses the complexities of life in Latin America, highlighting that while there are areas with challenges, there are also many first-world districts and affluent neighborhoods. He emphasizes that the next generation of expats and Latin Americans are benefiting from a blend of cultures and opportunities, and that the American dream is still perceived as attainable for many in the region. He also touches on the migration of individuals from Latin America to the U.S., noting that the idea of the American dream continues to attract people despite the challenges in their home countries.
Topics
Expat life in Latin America, Construction and DIY culture, Rummage and yard sales in Latin America, Lumber yards and wood types, Cultural differences in retail and construction, Use of pine in construction in Latin America, Translation of the term 'stud' in Spanish, Seismic safety in Latin American homes, Safety measures in lumberyards, Expats and woodworking hobbies, Working conditions in a lumber mill, Cost and quality of lumber in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:14 Introduction to the Expat Files Podcast 00:00:26 Overview of the Expat Files Podcast 00:00:56 How Johnny Got His Tools 00:01:14 Rummage and Yard Sales in Latin America 00:02:30 Chaos in Latin Lumber Yards 00:05:10 Heavy Pine Wood in Latin America 00:05:42 The Term 'Stud' in Latin America 00:06:25 Pine in Latin American Construction 00:08:11 Pine and Seismic Safety 00:10:42 Safety Measures in Lumberyards 00:11:17 Working Conditions in the Lumber Mill 00:12:26 Injuries and Safety Concerns 00:14:14 Cost and Quality of Lumber 00:15:33 Fastener Recommendations 00:16:50 Power Tools Availability 00:17:20 Lumber Drying in Latin America 00:19:29 Criticism of Illegal Immigration 00:22:25 Cesspools and First-World Districts in Latin America 00:22:40 The Best of Both Worlds for the Next Generation 00:26:05 The American Dream Perceived as Real in Latin America
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now 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 So anyway, I'm doing a little construction job always tinkering You know ever since I was a kid I'd walk to his store and see some furniture or a cabinets or something I'd say hey I can do that and you know even if I couldn't I'd try and give it my best shot
[00:46] Hey, you know some of my later stuff turned out pretty good the early stuff. Well, my mom liked it You know, they always do right that said over the years. I've accumulated a massive tool collection And people say how'd you get all that together? You're down in Latin America rummage sales in the yard sales My friends rummage sales in yard sales Because you know down here in Latin America when people have a one-off rummage sale That means you know They don't have the same thing going every week like they do up in the states when there's a one-off rummage sale here Man, you can get that stuff for like 10 or 20 cents on the dollar and really good quality stuff, too Especially when it's an old-timer having a yard sale But like I mentioned in a show a long long time ago Don't expect to see a listing in the newspaper or on the internet saying rummage in yard sale
[01:32] Say you just don't do that. Those things are spontaneous and just kind of pop up no advertising So when you're driving around you have to keep your eyes open and they won't have a sign on the front lawn either They'll just be a front yard full of things for sale or an open garage door with a bunch of stuff Stacked in there and spilling out on the driveway now remember in Latin America There's just no place to donate your used stuff There's no st. Vincent de Paul or Salvation Army drop-off boxes That means you can't call anyone to pick up your old sofa ping-pong table or rock em sock em robots or pong game That's why rummage sales and yard sales down here have such a tremendous variety of weird things Often a few real gems mixed in with the plastic dog poop if you know what I mean So not to leave you with that pleasant thought back to the point
[02:17] I am off to the lumber yard a Latin lumber yard and they're nothing like lumber yards up in the States No, nice orderly bins and piles of two by fours and furring strips and one by sixes and planking In fact, nothing really organized at all. You could say it's Latin chaos at its finest You want to see entropy go to a Latin lumber yard? In fact, I've yet to see an American style full-service lumber yard down here No real Home Depot not yet or even those local big lumber yards You're used to going to up in Cleveland or Chicago. In fact, there's a huge chain up north called Menards Well, if you've been to one of those you'll not find anything like it down here now down here It seems they keep the hardware store business Completely separate from the actual lumber yard business and as you know in the States
[03:06] They're combined into one big mega store like a Home Depot So at lumber yards down here It's often a real chore to find what you're looking for because labeling is just so inconsistent You could be looking at a stack of a hundred planks of wood and not really know the measurements But thankfully you'll find here in Latin America. There is always way too much help at any retail outlet You will see a lot of people just standing around and others with their thumbs up their asses and you'll think to yourself I can't believe how much dead weight they have at this business How can they make a buck? But somehow they do and over staffing is the Latin tradition and you wonder why expat businesses do so well down here Look at it like this If you pay your help two to three hundred bucks a month You could hire a lot of dead weight in your business and still make a profit
[03:52] Anyway, so I'm at this big lumber yard in a very busy little town way out in the boonies and it's absolutely huge picture five or six big old horse barns all connected together now talk about a fire trap First off there's a half a foot of sawdust everywhere you walk Then there's scraps and heaps of cut wood five six seven even ten feet high So my object that day was to buy five eight foot long one by two clear pine boards You got that one by two? That's one inch by two inch by eight foot long clear pine meaning 40 foot long in total nice and smooth No divots or knots or chunks missing. And of course, I do what all guys do when they're in a hardware store or a lumber yard We meander around and check everything out because we can get almost as excited just being there as a woman in a shoe store
[04:43] I mean, come on, there's nothing like the smell of sawdust and a hundred freshly cut boards, huh? And about the types of wood you'll find sure you'll find a lot of pine But it's not like the pine you see up in the states. This stuff is heavy It's about three times the weight per volume as the pine you get up north In fact, it's so heavy at first you think it might be waterlogged Now it might be and if it is it'll be about six times as heavy as a regular piece of pine up north Now it is real pine, but the pine down here is much heavier and denser because of two things There's no freeze or snow or frost so the trees never are dormant. They're always growing and With more water and Sun the trees grow about twice as tall and wide as similar trees up north So the cells are programmed to be more dense and strong to support that kind of weight
[05:32] That said just note if you pick up a 2x4 down here commonly known as a stud Sometimes they're actually impossible to pick up with one hand by the way There are no studs here in Latin America down here. Nothing's a stud Not even pre-millennial Antonio banderes because the word stud by itself really doesn't translate well into Spanish They've got guapo, which just means handsome. They've got mujerriego Which means woman chaser and they've got travieso, which kind of means a tease but stud well That's more of a tell-all gringo word, isn't it? So anyway, if you're in a Latin lumberyard and you pick up a regular Latin 2x4 pine stud You'll say what the hell is this made out of? You know in an instant if someone whacks you over the head with that thing, you're dead. Nope
[06:19] It's not like in the movies and the 2x4 breaks. It's your head that's gonna break. But where was I? Oh, yeah, more than three-quarters of any Latin lumberyard is made up of all pine products pine boards Now if you're a regular listener to this show, you'll know I said a long time ago You don't want to build or construct with pine down here in Latin America Even though it's much tougher stronger and more durable than your pine is up in the States That's because insects love it and it's true You got to really avoid pine in your house though There are some special cases where you can use it with no problem at all For example, if you're doing something temporarily if you're slapping up some temporary shelves in a garage or you're making a pavilion for a demonstration At some kind of event or you're constructing a sign or a picture frame
[07:05] Local pine will be your material of choice and remember if you're constructing a block cement in rebar house Which is your general anti seismic style of construction down here You'll need all different sizes of wooden forms on the site to pour concrete in the shape of towers and posts and stairs and door frames And such so at every construction site They'll deliver a lot of pine boards and the contractors will use them to make forms and in the end when the house is done And the concrete is hard and cured. They'll haul that stuff away to another job site Sometimes well, you see since 40 to 60 percent of Latin American homes are not built to code because well You know, no one's inspecting and they're not built to seismic code either naturally By the way, those are the houses and subdivisions you see on the 6 o'clock news
[07:51] Crumbling and tumbling down after an earthquake Which contributes to the already bad impression most people up north have of Latin America Especially people with zero boots on the ground meaning pine or any kind of wood is no good for construction and seismically active Locations that means that 40 to 60 percent of homes in Latin America Those would be the lower middle class and poor are constantly in danger because they use pine a lot It's simply because it's the cheapest thing around much much cheaper than actually using block steel and concrete However, when that tough Latin pine is used correctly It really is super strong and will last forever if one You don't let it come in direct contact with water during the rainy season and two You don't have it anywhere near the ground even if the ground is cement because it'll act like a wick and suck up moisture and humidity and in a few years will dry rot or
[08:43] Be attacked by insects So if you've got pine anywhere near the ground at all Even if it's outdoors and not directly being exposed to the rain insects will find it and by then it'll be too late Now as far as pressure treated wood Yes, they do sell that down here too But you know, that's more than toxic and remember the poor the middle classes in the lower middle classes Don't much going for outdoor jacuzzis and fancy decks So they don't use this stuff All they know is that it's a kind of a greenish color and it costs twice as much as regular pine So there's another reason not to buy it. Oh, and by the way I'm bringing this stuff up because like I said before Gringos and expats find out they have a lot of time on their hands and often we get into our little hobbies that We never had time for up in the states including making furniture picture frames shelves
[09:32] knickknacks and wooden horses and artsy fartsy carvings I even know an expat gringo down here who makes wooden puzzles and now sells them on Amazon yet another gringo who found a way To make money in his spare time instead of sitting in a hammock drinking a case of beer a day Which was pretty much his previous hobby. Yep. He's reformed and nowadays he's down to a 12-pack So like I said, you can use this cheap very durable hard pine in locations like for example a shelf in your garage as long as the walls it's attached to are block or concrete as long as it's Not exposed to the elements and well off the ground but back to this big old lumberyard in the boonies So yes, there was a huge collection of pine and a lot of lower middle-class people there buying Anyway, each one of these barns had a couple of gigantic 220 volt three-phase saws planers and sand
[10:21] I mean really big industrial stuff because some of the logs coming in the back door were two three even four feet in diameter Even so with all these giant machines around the workers had virtually no protection no helmets No gloves no masks most of them not even using eye protection and not even one sign posted anywhere Advising people to use safety gear. So naturally I pulled out my camera and started taking photos now They're not thinking I'm some kind of spy or some reporter doing some kind of third-world workplace expose They were thinking this is the very first gringo we've ever had in our lumber yard The cashier guy told me so in fact, it was a banner day for everyone working there
[11:06] There was a gringo in the house In fact, they all wanted to give me mug shots and I've got to tell you they've got this giant meter wide planer It just rips through boards like a knife through butter It throws up wood dust and chips everywhere and the guys working that machine are just covered with it Like a flocked Christmas tree and yes, some of them are wearing glasses But the only other protection they have is an overhead clothesline with a couple of gunny sacks hanging down So that the chips hit the burlap sack and fall to the floor before clogging the operators eyes ears nose and throat at least that's the premise but seriously, that's all there is nope, no ceiling fans extractors or Industrial vacuums with HEPA filters. We're talking about 30 or even 40 years lag time here and the workers
[11:53] They don't seem to mind They're joking and smiling and as happy as can be just like almost everyone you see working down here in Latin America as one Lumber worker told me he feels lucky to have a full-time job and one that's inside to boot By the way, this guy was missing two fingertips on his left hand and when I asked him if he'd been compensated for that He said yeah, he got a week off with pay So needless to say there won't be a sign proudly proclaiming there have been 465 continuous work days without an injury not a chance So yes, they do have injuries the guy told me so and basically here's why most of the saws have no blade guards on them At all, they just got in the way the guy said and they took him off So anyway, I walk into the shop and suddenly three workers rush up to me. They want to help me
[12:42] Yep, the gringo advantage rides again And I said to a guide you have any one inch by two inch clear pine about six to eight foot long and he said yeah How much you want I said give me about 40 feet and all but you know I was looking around and I didn't see any clear anything around there It was all rough what you might call a rustic surface, you know So anyway, the guy went to Iraq and pulled out some stock kind of crude pretty rough stuff However, then he took me through a maze of wood and we ended up in a little shop with some massive planing and sanding machines So the guy just took some raw stock and cut it down to my exact measurements right there and ran it through a sander And when he was finished with it It was nice fine clear pine that weighed about three times as much as clear pine up in the states Oh, and by the way, we're talking about real one inch by two inch measurements now
[13:30] Not like in the states where it's three quarters by one and three quarters That's what they call a one by two up there turns out in the states after they kill dry it It loses about a quarter inch at least on each side not down here If anything you gain an eighth or a quarter and that's why down here You'll actually get real two by fours two inch by four inch Not one in three quarters by three and a half like up in the states not to mention They're almost like pieces of balsa wood up there. Anyway, what do you think? It cost me for 40 feet of one inch by two inch clear pine I ended up with five eight foot boards in the states that would run me about 50 cents a foot meaning 40 foot 20 bucks But down here four bucks for all that and they even threw in a couple more feet So I'm getting a better more solid product here than I would in the states at 20% of the price
[14:21] Oh, and by the way If you're coming down to my Latin insider seminar this January if we've got extra time and some people are interested We can pop in and you'll see for yourself Oh, and by the way, one of those five or six barns contained all that beautiful rainforest hardwood I'm always talking about, you know, the usual suspects cahoba mahogany palo blanco cypress Which they call see press and of course that stuff's all vermin proof But it'll cost you a lot more than pine and let this sink in no more than the cost of clear pine up In the states now as far as all the joining material the screws and nuts the bolts of toggles fasteners Whatever you need believe me when I say that 95% of the stuff you can get at home depot up in the states or at your Local hardware store you can get down here, too
[15:07] Oh, yes And I always recommend if you're working on a project if it's ever gonna be exposed to the outside elements even in the shade Not in the rain. You should use stainless steel fasteners. Nope Not plastic or galvanized or zinc coated aluminum or whatever which is by the way What almost every contractor uses down here zinc coated or galvanized? It's true They work for a while, but after three or four years in the Sun and heat and rain whatever They do start deteriorating and oxidizing and eventually just look like crap and soon enough need replacing I mean, let's face it. Everything does look good when it's new So anyway bottom line do spend the extra money on hardware and get the stainless steel stuff the screws the bolts Whatever almost all big hardware stores have them and I couldn't say that just four or five years ago
[15:54] Back then even people working in hardware stores never heard of them But now thanks again to so many gringos coming down and demanding that kind of stuff. No problem No special orders from the states Oh, and by the way if you're handyman or handy person if you're thinking about bringing down some of your favorite power tools and by the way guys and their Tools have a very special relationship ladies, even though you force us to store them in the basement or the garage However, if we had our druthers, we'd actually prefer them hanging on a pegboard in the bedroom next to your shoes But then alas, we'd have to sleep with one eye open lest a 2x4 whack us upside the head you want equal pay We want equal closet space, but that'll never happen, right? I certainly digress don't I where was I? Oh, yeah power tools
[16:39] They've got all the brands and makes and models down here, too I'll be at a little more expensive than up in the states But they've got them all my suggestion sell the radial arm and the table saw, you know The big stuff and just buy them down here But if you got some small valuable tool like a hilti or a heavy-duty Milwaukee hammer drill by all means bring that stuff down expensive power tools always come in their own carrying case and you can bring it In the plane as a carry-on or can you I don't know TSA might say it's a lethal weapon But in the right hands, so is a bobby pin, right? Wait a minute So is your hand if you're a martial artist, right? God, I'm so glad I'm in Latin America Oh and one more thing about the lumberyard You must know that the wood you buy and use has to be nice and dry and in the states
[17:26] They kill dry it claiming usually six to eight percent moisture Well, you're not ever gonna get that kind of guarantee down here in Latin America Nobody's got a kill and no one dries it that way because well The Sun is so intense even in the rainy season when you get a break in their Sun It's very intense In fact, the lumber yards will often set out wood for a few hours in the Sun and you'll actually see steam rising from it So that's one thing you have to watch out for you should never buy lumber down here and use it right away Never that is unless you're buying some specific rain forest hardwood Then just ask the guys at the lumber yard how long it's been sitting because that stuff does not turn over very fast often They'll have the same wood stored for a year or so However, I always recommend if you're using wood for any kind of project
[18:14] Especially if you're trimming out your house or doing a wooden floor as soon as you get it You should start to dry it out Then take small strips of scrap pine lay them across the floor and stack that wood and let the air circulate between every piece If you have a lot of boards You can stack them in layers with a lot of space in between them so that the air can circulate around all the fresh-cut Wood since the boards are all laying flat and on top of each other That'll stop a lot of the warping too and if after a while you have some warped ones Just throw a few cement blocks on them for a week or two and you'll straighten them out And though you might not like what I'm gonna say now I suggest you let your wood dry out for an entire month Note even if you buy wood in the dry season and they seem really dry You should still dry them yourself for a month
[19:00] However, if you're just gonna use wood for scaffolding or as wooden forms for pouring concrete on a job site It doesn't matter and I say this because I've seen many a gringo build nice artsy craftsy wood projects But they jump the gun and use the wood right after they bought it at the lumberyard sure at first the project looks great But some months down the road. I've seen some really nice projects have some shrinkage and then the gaps start showing Okay, that said let's take a rather tough love email here This one's from a very long time listener who sent in quite a few emails over the years He lives in the UK and has often been talking about moving down to Latin America and till now Here's what he says and I'll paraphrase this a bit He says Don Johnny all those illegals in the US some 30 million of them sending remisses out of the country are
[19:49] parasites number one they take jobs that would be entry-level jobs from young Americans who are suffering so much unemployment number two These remittances are draining wealth from the economy that would otherwise be capital Inside the US spent and circulated daily Yes, they should be expelled, but in practice They won't be at least from the US as a whole, but maybe if the US collapses and breaks up They will be expelled from one or more of the resulting regional political arrangements That said I've decided not to relocate to Latin America The main reason is that it's a dead end for a gringo what future can one look forward to for one's descendants? You have so often described what utter morons these people are so one can expect that one's descendants a few generations out
[20:38] Would just disappear into the hopeless backward third world cesspool Cheers Robert. Well, it's true Robert the moron quotient down here in Latin America is exceedingly high Almost approaching that of the US Congress, but you forget one thing you haven't been down here yourself You haven't had boots on the ground and I can tell you one of the real Contrast you're gonna see when you first get down, especially if you stop in any medium to large-sized city You'll be shocked to see sections of those towns that look absolutely first world in every way Except the people are a bit shorter darker and all the signage is in Spanish So then who do you think built that infrastructure and all the amenities? Yep? It was us enterprising first world gringos and you know, it's not the poor sweaty mass white trash trailer court gringo is coming down here
[21:27] I mean, it's mostly the somewhat upscale inquisitive slightly eccentric always above average first world gringo who makes it down here Yes, they have a broad world view They see what's happening up in the first world and they know it's collapsing around them whether they believe it's gonna happen tomorrow Or it's gonna take some time They know their world up north is gonna collapse and they're working on their plan B The smart people are coming down here while they still can and when they arrive the first time they see they're not surrounded by a bunch Of retrograde indigenous people living in trees drinking ayahuasca and throwing coconuts at each other They also realize they can live a completely first world life paying little or no taxes with a very low cost of living No, big brother state monitoring them either and they're not pigeonholed or cornered by all kinds of crazy ass legislation
[22:17] That's why nearly 100% of the long-term gringos and expects that I know say it's the best move they ever made and it's true Every Latin City large and small has its cesspools, but doesn't every first world city, too There are many more than a handful of neighborhoods in Chicago. If you walked in I wouldn't bet a quarter You'd come out alive. So cities down here do have neighborhoods like that, too But they also have their own gleaming shining examples of the best things that come from the first world with infinitely better weather and I'm not just talking about a couple of isolated spots that are maybe a two or three block radius then Suddenly you walk across the street and you're in a latin cesspool district again Nope, there are hundreds if not thousands of completely first world districts and business areas
[23:04] Then there's all those tens of thousands of upscale guarded gated neighborhoods That's where most upper middle class and wealthy latins prefer to live and most gringo expats, too And as far as the next generation of those gringos and expats and generations thereafter There's no way I can say they're being dumbed down. In fact, they actually do get the best of both cultures Why not? It was their first world parents who were smart enough adventurous enough and creative enough to come on down and make a good life for themselves and that's the example their kids are seeing and Of course by the time a kid's a teenager He's chosen whether to hang around with the smart creative kids or the morons if you know what I mean I was a kid once too So if your kid decides to toss his hat in with the morons All is not lost if he's got the gift of gab he could easily run for Congress or even president
[23:53] So then what about expat kids and the next generation of expat kids? Well, you know, they're gonna be the movers and shakers and the future of Latin society here They're the ones who are gonna have the broad vast experience of their gringo parents as well as being completely bilingual from the get-go not to mention even when unfortunately a gringo's genetics might produce a spectacularly mediocre or even moronic child Would he be better off as a floundering doofus up in the states or down here where no matter how much a pinhead? He is he still got the gringo advantage In fact a German expat friend of mine has a couple of kids one of them with the brains of Fabio and the talent of Elmer Fudd and he still managed to elevate himself far beyond his abilities due to the gringo advantage
[24:42] So how'd that happen now? He's just a dull average-looking gringo, but never mind He still married the daughter of a very wealthy Latin avocado exporter Yep, the gringo advantage rides again as my old grandma used to say rule number one for the dull knife in the drawer Smile not and don't talk much and soon enough. You'll be known not as a moron but a good listener So basically Robert what you have is all the sweaty masses down here in Latin America Dying to escape to the US people with no skills no education No resources and very little knowledge of the world not to mention a huge proportion with gang tats and criminal records Yes up in the states the pickins are very good for people like that
[25:28] You could be 10 times the criminal and score 10 times the loot up there Whereas down here in the homeland barrio and let's say Salvador There are no first world geese laying golden eggs to steal so with those crap neighborhoods all picked over Where do they want to go to practice their criminal skills Los Angeles Houston Chicago New York and my jammy, of course So basically it's impossible to convince the sweaty masses down here that there is no American dream because to them there still is In fact one latin guy I spoke to in a hardware store I could see that neck tattoo just peeking out of his shirt He said to me in Spanish, of course that word is spreading like wildfire that there's a city up in the United States called Seattle Where they've passed a minimum wage law of 15 dollars an hour now
[26:18] This guy said he makes about 15 bucks a day at his hardware store job He wanted verification from me a real live gringo that the rumor was true And when I said, yeah, I think so his eyes lit up and man, you could see the wheels were turning That'll be one more guy with no skills pecking for a very long journey So with that kind of news spreading like wildfire, you just can't fight the tsunami of morons making their way up to the states I mean, come on If you can't even convince your own college educated family members up in Cleveland that the house of cards is about to fall apart Then why waste your breath just save yourself and work on your own plan B But please don't tell me a guy who's been down here 26 years now that you know what it's like or going to be like in latin america when you've had no boots on the ground here
[27:06] Which is why you just must come down to my january 2016 latin insider seminar Just go to www the new expat.com click on johnny's 2016 latin seminar link and you'll see what i'm talking about Get your boots on the ground get your plan B going and get connected with your new network of expat friends You'll only be able to do that by getting your boots on the ground. So come on down south of the border You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border Email me the expat files at gmail.com And if you want me to help you sort out your own latin american plans schedule a one-on-one consult with me
[27:52] Just send an email and let me know at the expat files at gmail.com