Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, the challenges of aid distribution, and the complexities of US citizenship. He also explores accent challenges in language learning and offers insights for expats looking to live in Latin America. A must-listen for anyone interested in expat life and global issues.
Johnny begins by discussing the prolonged power outage in Puerto Rico, which has been ongoing for over six months since the hurricane. He clarifies that Puerto Ricans are US citizens and not illegal aliens, emphasizing the unique status of the territory. He warns listeners against donating to aid organizations, citing concerns about corruption and misused funds.
A listener's email references a YouTube clip of a Puerto Rican police officer describing the misuse of foreign aid and the bureaucratic hurdles faced by Puerto Ricans. The officer, sobbing, claims that aid is not reaching the people due to government restrictions and bureaucracy, and calls for external intervention.
The podcast segment also features a police officer from Puerto Rico describing the dire situation following Hurricane Maria. She expresses frustration with the government's inaction, the bureaucratic hurdles, and the lack of aid distribution. She criticizes the political showmanship and the media's portrayal of the crisis, emphasizing that aid is available but not being properly distributed. The officer also mentions the rejection of aid from Cuba and Venezuela due to political tensions and the lack of communication with the outside world.
Johnny critiques the hypocrisy of wealthy individuals and organizations that claim to do good but often fail to address systemic issues. He highlights the disconnect between the 'heart in the right place' of grassroots workers and the self-serving actions of executives and board members. He also discusses the impact of guilt-driven giving by expats in Latin America, suggesting that such actions often do more harm than good. Johnny contrasts the freedom and opportunities he experiences in Latin America with the perceived dystopia of the United States and Europe, where he believes people are living under oppressive systems.
He also touches on the idea of a 'plan B' for expats and mentions receiving emails from listeners around the world, including from the Vatican and Oman, highlighting the global reach of his podcast.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the challenges of mastering accents in a second language, particularly when learning Spanish or English. He notes that even with high proficiency, it's nearly impossible to eliminate a 'gringo' or 'Hispanic' accent. He references spy movies where characters switch languages without an accent, but emphasizes that this is unrealistic. Johnny also mentions that some Latinos who have never been to the U.S. can speak English without an accent, often due to exposure to American media like cartoons. He shares personal experiences of speaking Spanish with Latinos who couldn't place his accent, suggesting that travel and exposure to multiple accents can help blend them. However, he concludes that no one, including expats and Latinos living in the U.S., can fully eliminate their accent, and that this is a common experience across Latin America.
Finally, Johnny discusses the best Latin American cities for expats, emphasizing the importance of living in medium or large-sized cities in the alti Plano region due to the cooler climate and lower cost of living. He highlights the benefits of living in cities like those in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico, which are above 4,000 feet in elevation. He also warns about the risks of living in big cities, suggesting expats should have a plan B and a way to bug out. Johnny recommends living about 30 to 45 minutes outside the city limits for safety and comfort. He promotes his upcoming expat seminar in Guatemala and encourages listeners to sign up for residency processes and other resources.
Topics
Puerto Rico's power outage, Aid distribution challenges, US citizenship of Puerto Ricans, Corruption in aid organizations, Bureaucratic barriers in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria aftermath in Puerto Rico, Government inaction and bureaucracy, Aid distribution and political showmanship, International aid rejections due to political tensions, Personal desperation and lack of resources, Critique of wealthy individuals and organizations, Guilt-driven giving by expats
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:30 Puerto Rico's Power Outage and Aid Challenges 00:00:52 Puerto Ricans as US Citizens 00:01:18 Warning Against Donating to Aid Organizations 00:03:19 Reference to the Clintons and Aid Misuse 00:04:06 Transcript of the Puerto Rican Cop's Interview 00:06:08 The Crisis and Government Inaction 00:06:36 Political Showmanship and Bureaucracy 00:07:06 International Aid and Communication Issues 00:09:01 Desperation and Personal Struggles 00:11:56 Critique of Wealthy Organizations and Their Hypocrisy 00:12:48 The Impact of Guilt-Driven Giving by Expats 00:13:37 Contrast Between Latin America and the United States/Europe 00:17:41 Introduction to Accent Challenges in Language Learning 00:18:30 The Unrealistic Expectations of Spy Movie Language Skills 00:18:58 The Influence of Media on Language Learning 00:20:00 The Experience of Expats and Language Proficiency 00:23:15 Introduction to the topic of best Latin American cities for expats 00:23:21 Johnny asks for the best picks for Latin American medium and large-sized cities 00:23:26 Johnny recommends medium or large-sized cities in the alti Plano region 00:23:33 Johnny limits the number of cities to 15 or 20 nice-sized cities 00:23:36 Johnny lists some of the cities in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico 00:23:43 Johnny mentions Guatemala City and a few cities in Mexico 00:23:49 Johnny explains the benefits of living in the alti Plano region 00:23:55 Johnny mentions the savings on heating and air conditioning bills
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. You heard me in a recent show talk about Puerto Rico and how the power got knocked out So severely it's been predicted that it's gonna take over six months to get it all up again In the meantime millions of Puerto Ricans living up in the states are dead worried about their homeland
[00:47] Hey, you'd be too a lot of people don't know this but Puerto Rico being an American Protectorate or territory if you're born in Puerto Rico, you automatically get a US passport So Puerto Ricans are all US citizens, too And what that means is there really are no illegal Puerto Ricans in the US. They're all there legally So don't get in a huff when you're reading about all the millions of illegal aliens in the states Thinking that some of them are Puerto Ricans because they're not anyway Since the hurricane millions of dollars and tons and tons of aid have been flown into Puerto Rico Which is good, but you long-time listeners have heard me say many many times never donate to an aid organization Unless you're doing it just for the momentary feel-good effect because there's a great Probability that the money or goods you send will never get to where you think it's going
[01:35] Well, that's not a hundred percent accurate one two five or even ten percent of what you give might get there But all the rest is gonna be siphoned off by scumbag politicians and executive do-gooders You know what executive do-gooders are don't you the top-level guys in a so-called quote charitable? Organization the ones that fly first-class or even in their own leer jets attending quote poverty conferences and conventions all over the world Most poverty conferences by the way being at first-class hotels and island resort retreats Isn't that funny by the way even the most impoverished so-called fourth world countries like Haiti have first-class resort Hotel and conference districts, so don't think when these charity executives fly into the Congo Bangladesh or Haiti
[02:22] They're doing any kind of hardship duty yet still I get emails from people who donate to those NGOs saying no Johnny You're wrong. You're just being a hardened cynic well that may be but wasn't it Oscar Wilde Who said a cynic or was it pessimist was the one-eyed guy in the room who'd examined all the facts? Which brings us to this recent email starts. Hi Johnny. Hope you're doing well now that summer's over up here in Canada I have time to go back and listen to your shows in the archives I'm writing you to ask if you've seen this item and then he has a link for me YouTube link concerning a big problem Intentional misuse and holding back a foreign aid distribution to the people of Puerto Rico after the hurricane Then he says this sort of thing seems to be commonplace in Latin America amongst politicians and official scumbags
[03:13] But they did you know learn from the best those first-worlder professional strain of political scumbags I'm sure he's referring to the Clintons You know the Clinton Foundation liars and looters on an international scale who else? Anyway, then he says I recall you mentioning first world donations of fertilizer to Latin governments Repackaged and withheld until around election time So then Chris the email writer leaves me with this YouTube link now This is a very short clip only about five minutes or so a radio station interview with a female Puerto Rican cop on the beat a few days after the hurricane destroyed the place and in this interview She's frantic. She's weeping and crying and telling it exactly like it is now
[03:59] If any of you listeners want this link just shoot me an email at the expat file such email that comment I'll send it to you But right now I'm gonna read part of the transcript for you to dispel once and for all the notion that your aid being sent To victims of floods earthquakes hurricanes, whatever It's not being used or distributed the way you think it should be in fact, it's being heavily politicized So what's that mean? Well listen and find out the title of this YouTube is a Puerto Rican cop tells the truth about Hurricane Maria's foreign aid now the whole things in Spanish soul read the translation first She starts by saying I can't give you my real name because I'm a cop working for the Puerto Rican police department Then she says I need to pass this information out because all the aid and supplies
[04:45] That's being brought in from the US are not being distributed properly They are not allowing the Puerto Rican families to receive these donations Then the interviewer says what part of Puerto Rico are you calling from exactly? She says I'm right now in Guaynabo then the interviewer says what information do you have for us? What are you seeing now? Remember, she's crying even sobbing while talking to the interviewer then she says the mayor Carmen Yulin is not allowing anyone to distribute What we need what a Puerto Ricans need is that the US Armed Forces or somebody come in and distribute this aid Then she says they have to come in and stop the governor Rossella and the mayor Yulin from continuing with what they're doing She says like Cuban communism on our own island and then she continues to cry
[05:33] In fact, she's crying so much you can barely make out what she's saying then she says people are helping us They're trying to help us, but the island's not accepting it You see it just can't donate aid donors actually have to wait and apply for government licenses to distribute Then she says let me tell you something us Puerto Ricans are dying of hunger Then she says it's not because people aren't trying to help. It's our bureaucracy Everything has to have a protocol The lines are huge and outstretched and we can only give one box of water per person then she continues to cry She says ask the medics here people are dying and the hospitals are in crisis Then she says I'm truly embarrassed as a Puerto Rican working for Puerto Rico's police force and we can't do anything
[06:21] now get that she says there are thousands of food donations thousands of boxes and when people ask we can't give any of it away because Carmen Yulin the mayor says we can't take anything out of storage. They won't let us it's turned into kind of a soap opera It's all a publicity show the politicians need to have cameras around them when they're distributing stuff And then she says and you've heard me say this before she says because you know They need a show because they're looking for votes for the upcoming election Then she says the governor won't move he won't do a thing unless there's a camera out there Watching him and Carmen Yulin the mayor won't move unless there is a camera on her Then she says this is what it's like after the hurricane This is how we are living now in Puerto Rico in the meantime famous artists and musicians and others around the world are giving money
[07:12] And the people of Florida aren't sending all kinds of stuff She says I don't know how many more thousands are helping us because we still have very little communication with the outside Then she says this is the point I make all the time She says the people that are sending this stuff they have to come in themselves and distribute it They have to come and help Puerto Rico and distribute it or it's just wasted Then the radio station interviewer cuts in by the way This is being broadcast on a Spanish radio station ninety eight point seven Then the interviewer says wow we have our hearts broken just listening to you describe this situation It's just heartbreaking when we know so many people are trying to help then now you're telling us what it's really like Okay, it's me Johnny again. Let me remind you. This is an interview
[07:58] That's a hundred percent in Spanish and you're getting the translation and because she's frantic and sobbing a lot of it's not coming through Then the lady police officer says this about the terrible state of the bureaucratic mess in Puerto Rico She says I've been here for an hour and a half just trying to download an application Cellphone app that's been given to us cops Problem is the emergency phones They gave to us have built in security measures that we can't address even though we're police officers So we've been given special phone apps, but we can't use them then she says get this Did you know that Cuba and Venezuela offered to send help and supplies? But our government rejected their offers just because their countries were not all that friendly with she says me and the other cops
[08:45] We don't get it look for God's sakes We'll take help from anyone who wants to send it yet. It's our government deciding who gets to send the aid Tell me she says how is that possible? We need help and she starts sobbing again Then she says get this and she's a cop. No wonder she doesn't want to get about her name She says we want the US to come in bring in the strongest forces They have come in and take our governor out. He's not doing anything for us. He's just going around in circles Meanwhile everyone in the foreign media is saying oh wow how nice look at the governor of Puerto Rico He's getting himself dirty going into the mud He's getting his feet wet in the water mingling with the unfortunate masses all for show. She says where's our help? She says stop this media show that governor is just doing a show. Where is our food?
[09:35] Then she says I'm a cop. There's food. All right, and we know it. It's being kept in storage So what's it doing there? Why are the people in charge not giving it out worse yet? She says the government is telling other donors not to bring any more supplies in because the harbors are already full of ships I tell you if the US government doesn't get involved this will finish us Then she says this disaster will end up worse than Cuba Africa even worse than Haiti We're living in a time here in Puerto Rico that you never want to see yourself people are desperate There's no gas and the people are actually killing over food Then she says no, I can tell you as a cop that people are not robbing each other for things They're robbing each other for food. I myself. I'm a cop. I don't know what to give my own kids
[10:25] I don't even have any more food myself just water and crackers Then the radio interviewer pops in and he says, you know It's a good thing that it was you a cop who is explaining all this to us so that people don't think we're making all This up then he says this is very serious. It should have nothing to do with politics So there we have it boots on the ground from a cop in Puerto Rico a couple of days after the hurricane All right, Chris. Thanks for that clip. Does that blow your mind? Well, it doesn't blow mine. It's typical again It's what the malignant mainstream media just won't tell us Meanwhile if you happen to watch any Latin based television down here And if you watch any of the hundreds of Spanish language television stations up in the States You'll see any number of organizations begging for money By the way, you don't watch Spanish language TV for pleasure. You watch it to learn your Spanish
[11:14] By the way expat Eddie says every hour of Latin TV lowers your IQ by two points So be careful watch out or you'll end up like Bush jr. But I digress anyway You'll find that every hour on the hour or even more frequently You'll see public service announcements NGOs and stations themselves pleading for money to send to Puerto Rico and Mexico City in the wake Of that big earthquake and I say just like that female sobbing cop says don't do it If you're gonna give something come down and hand it out yourself So now you know what happens from first-hand reports when disaster aid floods into a country By the way, do you belong to a do-gooder group or do you know anybody who does? Well, the problem is you see the foot soldiers of those organizations the people who actually get in there with the real people
[12:02] Their hearts in the right place However, it's always the executive staff the board of directors of the millionaire do-gooders club that are raking in the dough Nice work if you can get it, huh? But how can those guys sleep at night which brings me back to one of expat Eddie's famous lines He always says there may not be a god, but there certainly is a devil Don't think I don't know that it feels good to do good deeds and give things away to the needy But down here in Latin America where you see poverty everywhere Gringo's and expats are always going overboard on the giveaways a lot of times You know, it's guilt for feeling you have way too much. I've heard people say that However, the vast majority of do-gooders come down for two weeks and go back home Basking for a while in that humanitarian do-gooder glow, you know the feeling however
[12:48] If you stay down for a while, you'll see you're not doing anyone any favors by repeatedly giving away free stuff sure When there's a calamity or disaster, it's good to help But if you keep coming back and giving more that hand will be out all the time You know living in Latin America for over 27 years now I can't believe it and not actually having been back in the States since about 1999 I went for two weeks to pick up some special rock and roll band equipment by the way That was before 9-11 and those airport TSA multiple cavity probes and that's just for starters Every multiple-letter agency Perpetrates its own special kind of abuse on the public and they have to take it have to suck it up There's no recourse I can see why so many first world people are in a permanent funk and why they're on so many prescription
[13:37] Psychotropic drugs. It's a vicious circle, you know five at 50. Meanwhile down here in Latin America every morning I wake up. I've got something to look forward to endless possibilities opportunities and get this Real freedom, of course up in the States in Europe Most people under 40 wouldn't understand what I'm talking about now because if you came of age after 9-11 You really are living in a sort of Orwellian dystopia But it's not just Europe in the United States that are heading for a big train wreck The big reset buttons gonna be pushed in a lot of different first world and third world countries Which is why so many people are waking up to the idea of having a plan B an insurance policy an escape plan Which is why I have people listening to this show from all over the world including yet this the Vatican
[14:25] Yes, I've had emails from people in the Vatican Even though I continuously pick on the Pope, you know in Spanish the Papa which also means the potato in Spanish No lie. Look it up. By the way Did you know that the Catholic Church and McDonald's are always in the top two or three of the biggest land owners in the world? So while you've got McDonald's serving about a hundred and seventy million hamburgers a month The Vatican has 170 million acres of land as Jack Palance would say Believe it or not. I know you might say we're talking apples and oranges here But I say we're talking apples and potatoes The real question for the ages is who makes the better burger McDonald's or the Vatican kitchen? I suppose we'll never know for sure. I'll never know I don't eat fast food
[15:12] So anyway, I get emails from listeners from all over the world got one the other day from guess where Monaco Speaking of tiny extremely rich countries just got this email comes from an avid listener from the Sultanate of Oman You heard that right the Sultanate of Oman. Oh la Johnny Love your show and have been tuning in a few months now and guess what? I'm an Omani listening all the way from Oman Thank you for your quote awesome insights and tidbits Hmm he might be from Oman, but he's tuned in he hit me with the a word there Do you hear it? He goes on to say you have some very insightful things to say indeed Please keep up the excellent work. Just a couple of questions though Was listening to your podcast dated 728 2017 where you gave a lowdown between those
[16:00] Internation country rankings and your insights on them Would you please make a podcast or a reference about your list of the best medium to large cities in Latin America to live in? For 30 something people I realize you prefer to be off the gringo tourist trail unless hate the big cities But some of us prefer the hustle and bustle of big cities, you know, then number two He says Johnny ever considered categorizing your podcast by subject matter tags Would make things a lot easier for your listeners to search topics of interest to them. Then he says don't get me wrong I love your multifaceted episodes where you go off topic talk about many things, etc But there's just so much great info on your podcast. It needs to be archived and sorted Then he says the sooner my plans to move to South America. I realized probably in about three or four years
[16:49] I'll definitely visit and attend your seminar. Then he signs off and says thanks again, Johnny Sally from Oman now, I gotta say if he didn't tell me he was from Oman and didn't have very Arabic sounding name. Oh Man, I mean Oman I'd have taken him for a very well educated gringo guy and here's the story on that He says Johnny. I was an exchange student in California during my sophomore year in high school I spent a couple of years studying at the University and the United Kingdom, too But I would say my gringo educated English is really thanks to my parents Immediate culture and get this watching endless episodes of The Simpsons when I was a kid Well, I guess it's a small world after all, huh? Hmm. Did I say episodes? In fact, you know a long long time ago
[17:36] I used to think a Latino or Latino for example could master English a hundred percent All right as a second language, but never master the accent never completely. Anyway, well I have to say after meeting so many Latinos and Latinos who do speak some English and being kind of the nosy Observer that I am I have to say that's true in ninety nine point nine nine nine nine percent of cases It really seems like Mission Impossible even in the reverse case when one of us learns almost perfect Spanish We never can get rid of that gringo accent So even if we have perfect Spanish and we're talking over the phone to a Latino they can tell where gringos Just like if a Latino is speaking perfect English over the phone. We can tell their Latinos speaking of Mission Impossible Now I know we've all seen those spy movies where a person is
[18:23] Multilinguistic and seems to be able to switch back and forth between many languages and apparently not having any accent at all I mean, that's the spy business, right? If you had an accent even the slightest trace of one you'd get the poison pill or the knife in the back That's how the usual suspects get bumped off in spy movies, right? So in the real world no matter how proficient you aren't languages It's almost impossible for you to kick the accent So then every time we watch a spy movie We have to suspend disbelief for a moment thinking that when a spy is switching between languages She's got no accent at all. Now. Here's where it gets confusing I've personally met three or four Latinos who've never been to the US at all and they have perfect English without an accent Or at least an accent that's hard to place kind of nondescript now
[19:09] I know what some of you are thinking probably those guys that Johnny's talking about Were not only pretty good mimics But they most certainly went to one of those expensive helicopter schools were a third to half of their teachers are gringles from the states Who speak perfect English which really does help and you can get you 95 to 98 percent of the way there But still since kids who go to those schools are only speaking English at school when they get back home They're always speaking Spanish to their parents and friends So in the vast majority of cases, they never truly iron out that accent and that very very small minority One in a thousand that have they did it the way Sally said he did it in his email They got it from us space TV programs mostly cartoons Believe it or not like the Simpsons South Park even Beavis and butthead in the Flintstones
[19:59] Which begs the question What about us gringles and expats when we learn Spanish and even the ones like me living down here 27 years? Well, the fact is as for me and I'm kind of a language dunce I've had quite a few Latinos and Latinas Tell me people who I speak exclusively Spanish with that they can't place my accent at all They knew I was from the first world, but they couldn't place what country I came from So I guess with all the traveling I've done I must be jumbling up my accents pretty good But even after 27 plus years, I'll never get rid of my gringo or first world accent So unfortunately or fortunately, I'll never qualify as a spy and neither will you and funny enough even Latinos and Latinas who've lived up in The states for many many years. It's the same thing their English might be 90 or 95 percent perfect
[20:46] But they've always got a Hispanic accent unless of course They were born up in the states who were very young kids when they attended first world schools But even so up in the states if you're Hispanic, you'll be living in a Spanish neighborhood You'll be speaking Spanish at home with mom dad and grandma and grandpa and English at school in class and with your buddies So your English will be 100% and you won't have an accent But when you come back down to Latin America to visit the homeland or you get deported Whatever your friends and relatives here in Latin America will detect when they're speaking Spanish with you yet another kind of mishmash of an accent Confused yet. Well, here's an example. Suppose you're a Colombian living in Texas. You were born there, but your parents are from Colombia Well, they'll be speaking to you and each other in Spanish with a Colombian accent
[21:33] However, there's a hundred percent chance your neighbors and relatives will be Latinos too because Latins tend to gather in Latino barrios up in the states You know that and the other Latin families and kids in the neighborhood when they speak Spanish will be speaking their dialect of Spanish Whether it's from El Salvador Honduras Bolivia Nicaragua, and of course Mexico in fact overwhelmingly Mexico because the vast majority of Latinos up in the states are of Mexican origin That's almost every first generation Latino up in the states is picking up his own parents accent from the home country plus accents from the other kids in the neighborhood Especially overwhelmingly Mexican Then if this Colombian kid after he grew up a bit went back down to the home country of Colombia to visit his relatives When he arrives everyone's gonna notice he's got kind of a strange accent not Colombian
[22:22] Not Mexican but a mix of those and a lot of other Latin accents Because you know just like up in the states in Canada We have regional accents Same thing with all 20 Latin countries each one has a regional accent and the bigger countries like Brazil and Argentina have more than one But where were we? Oh, yeah answering Sally's email questions Well, let me answer his second question first talking about trying to catalog all the topics and keywords of all my what is it now? 698 shows man, you know Sally I've been trying to get that done for years now and guess what it's finished One very dedicated tireless listener put together some keywords and phrases on every single one of my shows from the beginning and Wayne Thanks a million for that. So hold on to your hats for a while. There'll be some big announcements to come on that front
[23:11] So hang on now about Sally's first question Remember he wanted to know if you're a city boy or girl and just love the hustle and bustle at all What are some of my best picks for Latin American medium and large-sized cities? Well, let me just say number one pick a medium or large-sized city in the alti Plano or you'll sweat your ass off Then limits you to maybe 15 or 20 nice sized cities so we're talking about three or four big cities in Colombia all of them over a million people a few cities in Peru and Ecuador Guatemala City and a few cities in Mexico. So right off the bat, you're looking at a city that's higher than 4,000 feet in elevation. Believe me if you live in the alti Plano, you'll never regret it plus you'll save a lot of dough in most Cases that means no heating or air conditioning bills
[23:58] I wonder if you even know what that's like and what a great feeling it is when you get your electric bill Then again, if you're one of those sleep all day night owl persons It doesn't matter if you're living in the Alti Plano or not because even in the hottest of Latin American cities Well at night you'll experience that nice kind of balmy tropical weather, but during the day Whoa, you're gonna sweat or fry unless you're in the air conditioning all the time now It's true all medium and large-sized Latin cities have some very nice upscaled districts Lots of great restaurants hotels sightseeing and many great things to do and if you like big city hustle bustle, man There's plenty of that to go around. The problem is, you know, you have to look a little bit ahead Sure it's nice to live in the moment especially when you're in your mid 30s and you Still think you're pretty much invincible. There's gonna be a worldwide reset coming, you know
[24:46] And I'd say most above average astute people feel it whether they want to admit it or not Which is why I caution you against living in a big city whether in latin america or the first world You have to have a plan B and a way to bug out Which is why as far as latin america is concerned I think the ideal location is to live about a half an hour to 45 minutes outside The city limits of a medium or large-sized latin city because as mentioned in previous programs When chaos strikes and things get out of hand and the bad boys start coming out Well, most all of them don't have cars. They ride the chicken bus Unlike up in the first world where all the bad guys have cars and a tank of gas will get them a couple hundred miles Right to your little sanctuary or bug out place. In other words up in the states when the feces hits the ventilator
[25:31] You're really not safe anywhere But as for living in the hustle bustle of a bigger medium-sized latin city by all means do it Especially if you're 30 or 40 something and that's your style But my advice do have that little getaway homestead beach house Whatever half hour to 45 minutes away from the big city. That'd be your plan c if you will But first let's put together our plan B and to get that going on the fast track The best way of all is to come down to my january 2018 expat insider seminar again It'll be in and around guatemala central america around 80 to 90 way off the gringo tourist trail You can check out the info and the itinerary by going to www.the new expat dot com And right now the early bird discounts are in effect And by the way, if you're looking to apply for residency in guatemala
[26:19] You'll be able to kill two birds with one stone by coming down to the seminar and starting that process at the same time But to do that you'll have to sign up at least a month Before the seminar because you'll need that month to get the paperwork you're going to need Oh, and if you want to find out the step-by-step process and how to get your residency in guatemala Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and i'll send you My very own detailed step-by-step process and how to go about it And once again, the john gault girls will be offering those famous john gault pre and post seminar tours If you're coming to the seminar, you really should add an extra three or four days in front door and back of the trip Or both Talk about getting boots on the ground There's no better way to get a really good handle on latin america than to come down to the seminar and take a john gault trip
[27:06] And if you just can't make it down to the seminar or get boots on the ground You really have to take my expat essentials course Just go to expat plan b.com and check out my free introductory video By the way with whatever stage you're in with your plan b. You really should download my free phone consultation form Go ahead and read my questions and comments. You'll get some good ideas for sure You can also get that at the new expat.com website. So check it out This is the expat files living in latin america If you want me to help you out with your own plan b just schedule a one-on-one consult Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan b from right up there in the states go to
[27:51] www.xpatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya nos vemos