Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the happiness levels of Latin American countries, highlighting Argentina, Costa Rica, and Chile as the least happiest despite having higher incomes. He references a study from the University of San Diego, Chile, which found that 60% of workers would like to see a colleague fired and 46% would fire multiple coworkers. Johnny contrasts this with the United States, where he notes that 80% of people dislike their jobs. He also shares a humorous anecdote about his transition to using dumb phones and discusses the prevalence of spam text messages in Latin America, including a funny example of a Spanish text message promoting a bank account for receiving remittances from the U.S.
The podcast segment then discusses a new bank account aimed at poor people in Latin America that allows them to receive remittances directly from friends and family in the U.S. with text message notifications. It highlights the convenience of this service. The segment then transitions to discussing the popularity of Latin American soap operas, particularly a new telenovela called 'Bajo Lómismo Cielo,' which is extremely popular and features themes related to human trafficking and the American dream. The segment also touches on the cultural significance of these soap operas, their influence on the public, and their role in shaping perceptions about migration and the American dream.
Johnny Mueller also discusses the cultural differences in how Latin and US women engage with sports. He claims that Latin women often pretend to enjoy sports to spend time with their partners, while US women may claim to love sports but lack actual knowledge of the rules. He also touches on the generalization that many Latin men cheat on their spouses, but notes exceptions based on personal circumstances such as fear of losing social status or having an overbearing wife.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the dynamics of social interaction and business networking for expats in Latin America, emphasizing the 'gringo advantage' and the challenges of navigating cultural and social hierarchies. He highlights the importance of high-end connections and the presence of wealthy, light-skinned Latin Americans who often mimic gringo behavior. Johnny also touches on the topic of steroids and the universal response of 'no more than the next guy' as a way to avoid direct confrontation. He concludes by mentioning his experience at a mall and the availability of custom shoes, which he believes are an excellent value.
Finally, Johnny discusses practical tips for expats in Latin America, focusing on shopping for shoes and supplements. He highlights the 'gringo advantage,' which refers to the ability of expats to find better deals and products, especially in areas like Miami or through online services like Amazon. He also mentions the cost differences between buying supplements locally in Latin America and importing them from the U.S., emphasizing the value of using local shipping services. Additionally, he makes light-hearted observations about the physical appearance of some Latin Americans, particularly those who may be using steroids, and compares them to a 'foosball goalie' due to their disproportionate physique. The segment concludes with an email from a listener asking about landline phone services and international calling rates from Latin America.
Topics
Happiness levels in Latin America, Economic development and stress, Workplace dynamics, Expat experiences in Latin America, Technology and communication in Latin America, Banking for remittances in Latin America, Cultural impact of telenovelas in Latin America, Human trafficking and the American dream in popular media, Cultural differences in sports engagement between Latin and US women, Generalizations about Latin men and their behavior, Macho culture in Latin America, Social dynamics for expats in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:01:04 Introduction to the Happiness Study in Latin America 00:01:49 The Paradox of Wealth and Unhappiness in Latin America 00:03:11 Transition to Dumb Phones and Spam Texts in Latin America 00:04:59 The Bank for Life 00:05:43 The Soap Opera Phenomenon 00:09:38 The Formula for Change in Latin Culture 00:10:43 The Paradox of US Women and Sports 00:12:13 The Generalization of Latin Men's Behavior 00:14:39 The Gringo Advantage in Business Networking 00:14:50 The Gringo Advantage and Social Interactions 00:15:27 Money and Beauty in Latin America 00:16:14 Money Attracts Light-Skinned People in Latin America 00:17:25 High-End Connections and Travel to the U.S. 00:18:23 The Universal Response to Controversial Questions 00:19:24 Custom Shoes and Their Value in Latin America 00:19:48 Shopping for Comfortable Shoes in Latin America 00:20:31 Cost Comparison of Supplements in Latin America vs. Online Imports 00:22:11 Observations on Physical Appearance and Steroid Use in Latin America 00:24:34 Quality of Phone Service in Latin America 00:25:22 Recommendation for Magic Jack 00:25:57 Cost of International Calls to the US
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 out to play And now that 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 Now you've heard me say many times before that Latin Americans seem to be the happiest people in the world You've read about it too I'm sure But you know there are 20 Latin American countries and some are happier than others wouldn't that make sense right? And now news comes out of a big Latin American syndicated newspaper organization
[00:49] Where they actually rate the happiness between Latin American countries And who do you think are the least happiest? Take a guess Well they named three of the least happiest countries here And it makes sense once you hear them Number one Argentina It seems in surveys they have a little bit higher rates of jealousy, backbiting, social climbing You know typical schadenfreid It's that odd German word that means more or less Feeling irritated or uneasy when someone else has success Or good luck For example as Groucho Marx once put it I like it when my friends are successful as long as they're not more successful than me And his brother Chico Marx once said If you want to see schadenfreid on steroids just go to Hollywood, Vegas or any race track
[01:38] So out of the 20 Latin countries and the happiness scale You've got Argentina on the bottom along with Did you guess Costa Rica? No surprise there And big surprise here Chile And funny enough they happen to be the Latin countries with the highest average incomes So what's that say? And the article says they happen to be the three Latin countries with the highest levels of stress According to a San Diego, Chile University poll taken in over 15 Latin countries And how about these stats from the University of San Diego, Chile 60% of workers across the board admit to having a colleague at work They'd like to see fired because they just can't tolerate him or her And 46% of them said if they had the power to fire any of their coworkers They'd fire two or more of them Bottom line, it seems to be a universal fact that the more advanced the country is
[02:27] The higher the relative income and standard of living It looks like more stress and unhappiness are soon to follow Or not It makes you wonder how a study like that would turn out if done in the US Well I can tell you this About 80% of the people I know and talk to up in the States on occasion Either hate or dislike their jobs and are simply treading water until retirement and living for the weekend So the question is where do you fit in that scenario? Obviously if you're listening to this program You're already thinking about getting out from under the thumb of Big Brother Uncle Sam Oh and by the way, like I mentioned in a past show Expat Eddie's got a t-shirt with the letters V W Y F on it What does that mean? It means vote with your feet Which pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Okay changing gears now here's something that just might push you over the edge
[03:15] As you know I do not have a smartphone In fact I have two dumb phones now Why? Because my old dumb phone which I've had about four years now is starting to die So I'm transitioning over to dumb phone number two Which is just as dumb and I appreciate that As Expat Eddie always says Never carry a phone that's smarter than you And never eat anything bigger than your head Words to live by, don't you think? Now you might remember me mentioning this a long time ago But when you buy a phone down here in Latin America You get a lot of text messages that are promotions and sales gimmicks and stuff Sometimes you get up to ten of them a day You'll get all kinds of stupid promotions in Spanish of course I mean these text messages are trying to sell you everything from lottery tickets To concert events and stupid ringtones
[04:01] But by far, until lately anyway One of my favorite text message promotions has been the Friends and Family deal That allows you to talk to your legal and illegal friends and family up in the States for dirt cheap But lately that's been superseded by my new favorite text message I have it right here in my new dumb phone And I'll read it for you in Spanish, see if you can figure out what it is It says, ¿Qué suarte? Recive tu remisas facil irápido Specificamente para su remisas familiar de estados unidos Aprovechar esta servicio solo in nuestro banco Cortecia de banco continental El banco de tu vida Did you get the jest? Well if you didn't here's what it says basically
[04:47] You're in luck Take advantage of our brand new bank account Specifically meant to receive remisas from the United States from your friends and family Courtesy of Bank Continental The bank you can use for life Now what this bank has done is it's created what just might be the first bank account Aimed at poor people in Latin America And now for the first time they can get their monthly remisas From their legal and illegal friends and family up in the States Deposited directly into this new bank account How convenient, huh? And get this When a remisa deposit shows up in your bank account down here in Latin America You'll immediately get notified by text message How's that for convenience? Which brings us to another very popular social phenomena that's happening here in Latin America
[05:36] That at first kind of surprises and shocks us long term expats who speak Spanish And what am I talking about? Well as you know Most of the women in the middle, lower middle class and poor populations are thoroughly addicted to Latin American soap operas In fact they've got whole channels devoted to nothing but soap operas And when the channels are not running these telenovela soap operas themselves They're running news items on the thoroughly inconsequential and pointless lives of those same talentless so-called actors Actually it's not much different than the e-entertainment channel in the US when they endlessly feature The big ass small cranium bunch at the various Kardashian compounds Anyway as luck or fate would have it There's a brand new soap opera that's captured the attention of all of Latin America
[06:21] And I mean this one is extremely popular In fact it's probably the most popular soap opera there is right now It's brand new, it's caught on like wildfire and it's called Bajo Lómismo Cielo Which means under the same sky or under the same heaven Cielo can mean either sky or heaven in Spanish So what's it about? Well this should be of interest to any of you up there in Obama land Who live maybe within about 200 miles of the Mexican border Now note this entire soap opera story And by the way they're called telenovelas In English that would be television novels Talk about wishful thinking Anyway the Latin telenovela pattern is 5 episodes a week for 2 or 3 months So you've got 50 or even 60 mindless episodes Anyway this one's really gripped the public's attention
[07:09] Now there's a lot of different stories unfolding in this soap opera But part of it's about a guy in Mexico who runs a coyote operation In other words there's a recurring theme about a guy Who brings illegals from South and Central America And of course Mexico too Snakes him through the U.S. border Hooks him up with the right people to get him papers And false social security cards documents etc Everything they'll need to live their so called version of the American dream In some god forsaken third world latin barrio in a U.S. big city Because that's where most of them end up you know And because as you know practically every Latin American Would give his right wave-o to live in the United States People are tuning into this show in mass numbers Because they think they'll have the inside track on just how to do it
[07:55] Yep they're looking for tips and tricks of the trade So to keep the interest of the latin viewing population Of course there's the good, the bad, the ugly and a lot of drama People get ripped off, robbed, extorted, kidnapped And of course there's very sexy girls and handsome guys Falling in and out of love all the time And sometimes disappeared when they hire the wrong coyote But you see this shows about what you might call a good, honest, upright coyote and his gang Yeah like there is such a thing But remember this is stupid moronic idiotic fantasy So anyway you've got a sort of latin John Wayne A good guy in the human trafficking game Oh boy, anyway So what this program does for latins who have the american dream And have not yet made the trip is it gives them hope Determination and more motivation than ever
[08:41] To ditch it all back home and sneak in Believing if they hook up with a good, somewhat honest coyote Like the soap opera guy The road to the good life in Obama land will be assured So then you might ask gee Johnnie how do you know about this show Well how could I not know about it Every time I walk into a middle class latin home or in a restaurant You see an advertisement about it By the way the only two things they ever have on TV are sports and soap operas Depending of course what kind of crowd they're catering to So definitely if you're walking into a bakery or a woman's clothing store You're going to see soap operas almost exclusively However 80 to 90% of all the other TVs in businesses and public spaces Will be running sports channels Which really can wear out in your nerves let me tell you
[09:26] And the volumes always up way too loud And worse yet nearly all the restaurants in latin america have big screen TVs now tuned to sports channels Sometimes the only way to hide from it is to hit the restroom And it seems that the only time there's a change in that formula Is when there's an election going on or the Pope's in town Now one of my better educated latin buddies tells me that latin men put their love of sports above everything Except maybe cheating on their spouses and girlfriends and tax evasion And he didn't mean it as a joke So then you might say well there's a lot of ladies up in the states that like sports So what about the latin ladies maybe they like sports just as much as the men do Well here's the real story If you're paying attention down here you'll notice that latin ladies do endure TV sports on television
[10:12] And even show up with their husbands and boyfriends at stadiums and such As do large numbers of ladies up in the states However there is a difference Latin ladies unlike US ladies will keep pretending to like sports and put up a good front for a long time Whereas it seems most US ladies often pretend to really like even love watching contact sports themselves However if you were actually to sit down and quiz them Most wouldn't even know the basic rules of the game I know up in the states I have sisters like that They claim even insist that they're die hard sports fans But they don't even know the rules How could that be? Now when they were in their 20s they did go into a lot of games and tailgate parties etc But soon enough after they've hooked up and settled down with the men of their dreams
[10:58] Slowly but surely they quit pretending and found better things to do as the men of the house stayed glued to his sports TV Whereas down here in Latin America Latin ladies who are honest will tell you they try to be interested in sports Because then their guys will take them to the games and such For them it's a social event and a way to get out of the house Has nothing to do with the sport event itself It's just mingling with everyone else and the other ladies that come along Nothing wrong with that Plus more than one Latin lady has told me it's a way to keep her eye on her man Because every one of them knows when their man is left to his own devices He's always on the prowl Remember Latin Americans have a very macho culture Of course I know this is totally un-PC but that's the way it should be And I'm sure some of you ladies out there would like to fire off an email and scold me on that one
[11:48] Or maybe even fire off something heavy and pointy at my head But here's my challenge to you If you think I'm wrong about this I invite you to come down and put some boots on the ground here yourself And you'll see exactly what I'm talking about And when you do come down make sure you make friends with some Latin ladies And be sure to ask them to explain to you what Latin men are like And for those of you listeners, mostly ladies again, who send me emails saying Johnny, come on, all Latin men can't cheat, that's impossible Well you're right, it's true Because you know we're always talking in generalizations here, how could it not be But I can tell you this In my over 25 years down here now I'd say only three Latin guys I've ever known personally haven't cheated on their wives
[12:33] And by the way, most Latin men like to brag to their friends how they do cheat on their wives That's quite a difference from first world cheaters I know, they like to keep it close to the vest Anyway, so how did I know these three Latin friends of mine never cheated? Well one is an absolute stick in the mud nerd Who married the first girl he ever dated in high school and he was lucky to get that date And the second is an educated Latin guy I know whose Latina wife went to school up in the States She's from a rich family and he's not He told me he'd never cheat on his wife and I believe him Because he said he'd instantly lose his social standing, his job By the way he works for his rich father-in-law and his high-end lifestyle Which includes bodyguards and beach houses and all that In other words he said he'd instantly slip from the top 1% to middle class
[13:24] So like he said he's motivated to stay faithful to his wife by fear And that third guy I know who I don't think will ever cheat on his wife Well you have to meet his wife, she's a bulldozer and wears the pants in the family Besides that she's a Klingon who will not let him out of her sight In fact one afternoon I was with him and she called him 6 times to find out where he was Where he was going and what he was doing Not to mention he says she checks his phone logs And he had to give her his computer password for his email Ok, you guys up north, any of that sound familiar to you? Now here's another little something that happened to me just about a week ago And I think you're going to find it kind of amusing I did So there I was sitting in the food court of a big upscale mall in a big city in Latin America And two very muscular physically fit light-skinned Latins were sitting at the table next to me
[14:15] Wearing the usual expensive Nike workout clothes Big muscles bulging and all, you know the drill And you know sometimes when I'm walking through that mall I see the odd guy or gal dressed up like that because they have a very high-end health club in that place And I mean very high-end for Latin America In fact that gym and health club is about 40 bucks a month If you're at that club you're rubbing elbows with the real hoi polloi of the entire country And maybe you want to connect with people like that because of your business interests or whatever So that's a very very good place to start Because remember they love gringos and will come up to you and try to be your friend Now as a rule I have no use for those kind of people so you won't see me hanging there You know me by now I have an instant dislike for pus bag politicians and people who have bodyguards
[15:02] However if you have a business or a business idea need to make some connections High-end connections that's a very very good place to start Now you'll find the hoi polloi and those kind of people standoffish up in the States But down here it'll be nothing like that at all The gringo advantage rides again And when you're off the gringo tourist trail man does it ride And by the way we all know it's a worldwide phenomena that money attracts beauty And if you think I'm heading into racist classes or sexist territory here Just remember that's exactly why a fat ugly pockmarked out of shape guy named Aristotle Onassis Who looked like a human turtle could hook up with Jackie Kennedy I doubt she fell in love with his personality his jokes or his cigar breath So anyway I'm sitting in the food court right next to two light-skinned heavily muscled Latins
[15:52] Who were not so subtly showing off their muscles in their skin tight workout clothes Now remember I'm way off the gringo tourist trail so there's no gringos in sight Of course a lot of people at those high-end malls look like gringos But they're just wealthy upscale latin gringo wannabes And some of them really could pass for waspy gringos until they open their mouths Because you see in Latin America money not only attracts beauty it attracts light-skinned people too In fact I like to point out two visit gringos when we're in an upscale restaurant or mall like that The almost complete lack of short dark-skinned Latinos and indigenous people Except amongst the shop clerks and the workers And that's even more true in upscale restaurants And by the way there is a name for people who look like gringos down here who aren't
[16:39] It's creo yo Anyway after a while one of those bodybuilders turned to me and he said in very broken English Please to meet you where'd you from And when somebody asked me that I always respond adivina which means guess Adivina Take a guess and they're almost always wrong because My particular Spanish dialect is a mixture of five to ten different latin countries I spent a lot of time in Though some people look at me and guess Argentina Since so many people look like gringos because they've got European ancestry So anyway I got to talking to these two guys and naturally they told me about the places they'd been in the states Because like I said before only upscale latins with though can afford that health club Meaning they can generally get a real tourist visa a legal one to the states
[17:25] And visit their favorite places my jammy and disney world So naturally they filled me in on those two unforgettable destinations I was so thrilled I nearly had a bowel movement Oh and another thing that health club by the way which I've been in has no short dark people as clients Only workers And again before you slam me with emails on that I invite you to come down and get some boots on the ground And check it out for yourself And then you'll be eating some crow along with your tortillas So anyway the three of us are talking in Spanish of course And I asked them the question I always ask people who are excessively bulked up I said how much do you work out? They said about two hours a day Then I popped the question do you take steroids?
[18:11] Then one of the guys looked at the other and turned back to me and said well no more than the next guy And you know I love that answer it's actually the universal answer It's so general yet so revealing like for example What if you said to a politician running for office If elected how many lies you're gonna tell and how much you're gonna steal And his answer should really be no more than the next guy If he had the cajones to say that He'd be actually sort of telling the truth for once in his life And yet not painting himself into a corner But where were we oh yeah the two bulked up guys Now when I asked them if they took steroids and he said no more than the next guy Of course to him the next guy was his buddy and all his workout buddies at the gym I guess So yes anabolic steroids have landed
[18:57] Lagtime has run its course and they are available at the gym and other places According to those guys anyway And then the guy said why do you ask Do you want to buy some? To which I replied no more than the next guy No I didn't say that but I was thinking it And soon enough I got a phone call and I had to leave So about three days went by and I was back at that same mall This time I was there checking out the sale rack at the Flexi shoes store Remember I told you about Flexi shoes Which I really believe are the best shoes for the money I've ever seen And I don't get any money or a thing for saying that either And remember in Latin America there are shoe stores all over the place And custom shoe stores in every town too That means if you have a strange size or your feet are funky You can get excellent handmade shoes too Wait a minute that didn't sound right
[19:43] We've all had funky feet at one time or another now haven't we But let's not go there Anyway Flexi makes leather and pigskin shoes So comfortable well you just won't believe it Again it's all about getting your boots on the ground And stopping into one of those stores yourself And me since I'm always looking for a deal I go to the half price rack in the Flexi store Why not? They've always got some shoes half price on that rack And it's your gringo advantage again If you wear a big shoe size that's let's say 10 and over Because the average male latin shoe size is between 7 and 9 So there's your gringo advantage again all you Sasquatches out there So anyway right next door to the Flexi store is a GNC You know that vitamin and supplement store chain you just love to hate Not because their stuff is junk or it's misleading
[20:31] But you often pay down here anyway 3 to 400% more than you might pay for the same Or even better quality stuff on Amazon So where are you supposed to buy that stuff? Well I always say order your stuff off Amazon Have it sent to the Miami box or Miami office One of the local shippers in whatever latin country that you're in And every medium to large latin city has companies like that And they'll charge you by the pound for whatever you're having shipped from the states So let's say you order from Amazon a bottle of coenzyme q10 Weighs about a pound and a half The Amazon price is let's say 35 bucks Well when you make the order you have them shipped to that mailbox address in Florida Of whatever shipping company you're using So then let's say they charge five dollars a pound which is pretty normal
[21:18] So you'll be charged for two pounds on that coins mq10 So now you paid 35 bucks plus 10 bucks 45 bucks in total And sometimes it'll come right to your door However if you go to a custom organic vitamin shop or GNC down here in Latin America You could easily pay over a hundred bucks for the same thing So again you got to know that stuff and that's why you listen to this show right So like I was saying right next to the Flexi shoe store They have a GNC which I never go into And the people shopping there are almost always light-skinned upscale Latins who can afford that junk Anyway I walked out of the Flexi store past GNC And I saw those very two muscle bound little guys at the counter Buying some junk at GNC Surprise surprise, huh? However I didn't notice before when I was at the mall
[22:05] These guys were only about five foot three And the funny thing is you know when you see bulked up Latin guys like that They almost always have huge upper torsos and tiny little spindly legs Like they somehow missed the workout on the lower half You can get a good picture in your mind by imagining a slightly bigger version of a foosball goalie So now I was wondering if maybe these guys were picking up some steroids at GNC store Who knows I mean this is Latin America right? No FDA, no inspectors, no anabolic steroid police Which is probably a good thing And you know there's something I don't quite get These guys are taking anabolic steroids, they admitted it Of course they're not taking any more than the next guy, right? But the steroids don't seem to be having any effect at all on their spindly knobby legs
[22:52] But who am I to embrace lookism? When I was back in Chicago a couple of decades before I went to Latin America I figured in the looks and physique department I was a solid six However once down Latin America and reaping the benefits of the gringo advantage I was instantly and serendipitously awarded an extra two points And yes that will happen to you too, both guys and gals Even more so when you're off the gringo tourist trail But where was I? Oh yeah If you're in Latin America and you really want a hoot Just go to an upscale gym and you'll see the usual small handful of people who are obsessed with bodybuilding You'll quickly see they have three things in common They're light-skinned, have massive upper bodies with tiny spindly legs And they'll all be about a head shorter than you are
[23:37] Which sort of explains why you don't see Latin Americans taking home any medals in the Mr. Universe contest Okay now here's an email that might answer a lot of questions for some of you listeners out there It starts, Hi Johnny, I have a business where I need to regularly make calls to the US I prefer to do this on a landline rather than on a cell phone The question is will a landline give me decent quality assuming I'm not way out in the boonies Are there issues with landlines like echo static delay when calling back to the US Can you tell me if I rent a place without a phone how long does it take to get a line put in Or should I rent a place with one already installed And what are the rates from let's say Guatemala or Central America back to the US Do I have a choice of carriers and do they have different rates Also, do you have any experience using the services that say they will give you a US number overseas
[24:28] To make it look like you are in the US Thanks for the help Jay Okay Jay let's take these one at a time Yes, both landlines and cell phones throughout Latin America will give you very decent quality Even if you are out in the boonies Though there still are spots way out in the boonies where there will be dropouts Because there are no cell towers But it's getting better and better And by the way I've done many many conference calls Where I've been out in the boonies on a cell phone the whole time And the connections have been very very good And that's using my junky $15 throw away cell phone Now as far as buying phones down here Any day of the week you can get a cell phone and have it all hooked up and running in about 15 minutes Now as far as a landline Normally you are looking about a week to a week and a half to get one installed
[25:13] And as far as renting a place should you do it with a phone line already installed Well if you rent a place there already will be a phone line installed 95% of the time anyway And by the way for anyone living in Latin America I recommend you buy a magic jack You know what that is right? It's a little box you hook into a computer and it turns it into a basic landline telephone Sorta In other words it's like Skype without the charges Only better than Skype You actually have a regular phone number and no one knows you are on a computer They think you are on a regular landline And the amazing thing about magic jack is that when you are outside the US Any calls made to the US are free From whatever latin country you are in And about regular phone calls back to the states In practically every latin country in Central America Rates are very cheap
[25:59] Except in Belize and Costa Rica Where the government still holds part of the monopoly Duh There are at least 3 or 4 competing phone companies in every latin country So they offer special deals and rates For example I could call back to the US right now using my phone For around 2 to 3 cents a minute Because they are offering a special rate and I took advantage of it In fact there are always deals on phone calls back to the states They will pop up as text messages for you And you will act on them or not And if there is no deal at all You might pay anywhere from 10 to 20 cents a minute But practically no one does that except clueless gringos Who don't wait for the special deals on the text messages Remember they are always in Spanish too So you are SOL if you don't know minimal Spanish And then what about those services that will give you a US number overseas
[26:46] That makes it look like you are calling from the states Gringos I know use those services And they all say they work just fine But before you sign up for any of them Do it on a trial basis They always offer that I suggest go online and do a search for some of those services And get the user comments and critiques on them By the way I put together a very complete report Regarding phone service and use here in Latin America And I hand that out to the people that attend my expat insider seminar That way they are up to speed on phone and IT service Before they permanently move down Oops getting towards the end now Remember to go to www.thenewexpat.com There you'll see many great reports and links and blogs By the mythical John Galt And don't forget to go to my expat files YouTube channel You've been listening to the expat files
[27:37] Living in Latin America Coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border Email me Theexpatfiles 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 Just send an email and let me know at theexpatfiles at gmail.com Nos vemos