Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller explores the complexities of expat life in Latin America, focusing on domestic issues, cultural practices, and the challenges of hiring and managing household help. The episode begins with an introduction to Eddie, an expat living in Salvador with his girlfriend Claudia, who faces domestic complications due to frequent visits from Claudia's family. Johnny then delves into the common practice of hiring cleaning staff in Latin America, emphasizing the importance of vetting and providing tips for effective vetting, including the use of burner phones to avoid unwanted calls.
The discussion continues with Johnny's insights into phone usage habits in Latin America, noting that while most have cell phones, only a small percentage have monthly contracts, leading many to use burner phones. This can cause issues for expats hiring household help, as workers may use their phones during work hours. Johnny suggests setting up an emergency phone number for household help to avoid misunderstandings. He also touches on the challenges of hiring cleaning help, noting that older, experienced workers are preferred for their skills but may come with higher costs and more regulatory requirements, while younger workers are cheaper but require more training.
Johnny further explores the cultural and practical aspects of hiring cleaning ladies in Latin America, highlighting differences in hygiene practices, the expectations of expats, and the social dynamics between expats and their domestic workers. He notes that while expats often prefer older, more experienced maids, the presence of a female boss can change the dynamic, requiring more attention to detail. Johnny also touches on the legality of hiring underage workers and the social acceptance of relationships between expats and their cleaning ladies, contrasting this with the common portrayal in Latin American media.
The segment concludes with a discussion on the complex and often problematic dynamics between Latin American employers and their domestic workers, particularly focusing on the power imbalance and potential for exploitation. Johnny highlights the prevalence of sexual harassment and the lack of legal recourse for female workers, especially in the context of machismo and social class differences. He shares a personal anecdote about an expat named Eddie who faced a situation involving a young maid who became pregnant, leading to a humorous and revealing conversation about the social norms and assumptions in the region. Johnny further explores the broader context of the low wages and poor working conditions for domestic workers, including the educational disparities and the limited opportunities for upward mobility.
The episode ends with a discussion on the challenges faced by a cleaning lady named Eddie's new employee, who is working long hours for minimal pay and is denied time off to pursue her education. Johnny highlights the systemic issues in public universities in Latin America, which are free but lack infrastructure and resources. He also shares a story about a maintenance worker named Fredrico who was fired due to inappropriate behavior, and how the dynamics of workplace relationships can be complex and sometimes contradictory. The segment concludes with Johnny promoting his expat seminar and course, emphasizing the benefits of living in Guatemala for expats.
Topics
Expat life in Latin America, Domestic issues faced by expats, Hiring and vetting domestic staff, Cultural practices in Latin America, Phone usage in Latin America, Household help and phone etiquette, Cost and training considerations for domestic help, Cultural differences in hygiene and domestic practices, Expatriate experiences with domestic workers, Legal and social aspects of hiring underage workers, Relationship dynamics between expats and cleaning ladies, Media portrayal of domestic worker relationships
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:14 Introduction to the Expat Files Podcast 00:00:26 Overview of the Show's Content 00:00:32 Introduction of the Story 00:01:57 Domestic Strife in Eddie's Household 00:02:14 Hiring Cleaning Staff in Latin America 00:03:29 Tips for Vetting Domestic Staff 00:05:24 Phone Usage in Latin America 00:05:34 Burner Phones and Work Hours 00:06:40 Challenges of Hiring Help During Vacations 00:07:47 Skills of Older Cleaning Ladies 00:09:42 Cost Differences Between Older and Younger Workers 00:10:52 Hygiene Practices of Cleaning Ladies in Latin America 00:11:08 Training and Expectations for Cleaning Ladies 00:12:16 Expats' Approach to Domestic Help 00:12:47 Impact of a Boss Lady on Cleaning Dynamics 00:13:07 Social Acceptability of Expats and Young Maids 00:13:53 Legal Aspects of Hiring Underage Workers 00:14:15 Expats and Their Cleaning Ladies: A Story of Love and Age 00:16:09 Media Portrayal of Domestic Worker Relationships 00:16:35 The Unspoken Problem in Latin America 00:17:10 The Legal and Social Realities of Domestic Work 00:19:05 The Humorous and Revealing Consequences of Social Norms 00:22:08 The Cleaning Lady's Struggle for Education and Work-Life Balance 00:23:07 The Challenges of Public Universities in Latin America 00:25:00 Workplace Dynamics and the Importance of Delegation 00:26:34 Promoting the Expat Seminar in Guatemala
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border, down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started All is not well at home as expat Eddie checks in with domestic problems We haven't heard from expat in some time. He's down in Salvador You know lives in a beautiful gated guarded community with his runway model girlfriend Claudia
[00:46] Of course, they have a maiden full-time gardener to Eddie says that's the natural progression of things for everyone like him Who grew up in a trailer court in Texas? And unfortunately, he says since he's got a really big house There are always family hangers on too, but never from his side of the family. They've never been out of Texas I'm talking about his fiancee Claudia's side of the family They're always dropping in and staying way too long He says and he's always saying Johnny, you know, my life's way too complicated. I own too much stuff lately Eddie's been saying I just love to have one of those little container homes I do just fine and I know he would but since he's got such a big house and a fantastic garden style yard He can always retreat to some corner and find some privacy when things get too loud in the house
[01:34] It's predictable. He said when her relatives are hanging out They're always in the kitchen or the den where the soap opera channels the telly novellas are always on here in Latin America They have a 24 7 soap opera channel Actually, they have three 24 7 soap opera channels if you've got cable TV In fact, one of those channels I believe is called the soap opera network canal telly novella But that's not what we're talking about right now. We're talking about some sudden domestic strife. That's rained down in Eddie's little household Now let me set this up for you because it could happen to you, you know No, I don't mean up where you're living right now in the states or canada can never happen there But it does happen down here in Latin America Let me set this up by saying that almost everyone here in Latin America who owns a nice house and has a garden
[02:20] Will end up hiring a maid or maybe two. So then when you move into a place, how do you find a cleaning lady? Well, it's usually word of mouth in the particular gated guarded community you're in you'll see cleaning ladies come into work every morning That's a good place to start and if you don't spot any in your immediate vicinity Put the word out with your guards at the entrance gate When they go home, they'll pass the word on to the ladies in their extended family That could be enough your search just might end there However, if it doesn't your guards will pass the word on to the cleaning ladies that come through that gate every morning So soon enough within a couple of days Anyway, you'll have the neighborhood cleaning ladies knocking at your door telling you they've got someone to introduce to you Often a daughter or a sister who they trust and know is a good worker. Yep. Everyone's a good worker, right?
[03:07] That's what they all say in most cases That's true But then again who knows if that person just got fired from their last job for stealing now The thing is if you're like me and so many other expat gringles You don't want a bunch of cleaning ladies knocking on your door all hours of the day You'll want to vet them out on the phone first So here's a tip whether you're looking for a cleaning lady or a maintenance guy gardener Whatever when you're starting to look and you're ready to hire an interview go out and buy a burner phone for 15 or 20 bucks you leave that little phone permanently in your den or kitchen and when you mention to The guard at the front gate and the other cleaning ladies you might run into that you're looking to hire someone Give them a phone number, but only that burner phone number. Why? Because if you give out your regular phone number You'll be getting phone calls here and there from all kinds of people and it'll last for months
[03:55] So don't make that mistake only give out that burner phone number and after you've hired your person If you want to be nice You can just lay down a little recorded message saying you've hired for that position already Or you can do like I do because i'm not that nice just throw that sim chip away Then so as to not let that burner phone go to waste Buy another sim chip put it in that phone. It'll be a new number, you know Leave that phone in the kitchen and tell your cleaning lady that it's to be used for emergency phone calls only Tell her she has to answer it when it rings. Wait a minute. Wait a minute johnny back up. What's that all about? Well, let me tell you it's a really good idea when you hire a cleaning lady maintenance guy gardener Whatever to tell them right off the bat that they're not allowed to use their phone during working hours
[04:42] Because you know even here in latin america the lower classes even the poor are becoming addicted to their telephones like never before It was different a year or so ago If you had a burner phone yet to pay for every phone call The lower classes in the port just did not have money for superfluous phone calls So they got into texting in a big way But now there's so much competition between cell providers many of them are doing something they've never done before that is they're giving away Free phone time within the same company In other words if you have a phone from claro and your friends have a phone from claro Calls to them and back and forth are free Of course, that's not a new concept If you actually have a phone plan and sign a contract and pay monthly In that case calls back and forth between phones of the same company have always been free
[05:29] So even though i'd say a hundred percent of latins over 12 years old have a cell phone Less than 20 percent of them have a monthly phone contract. That means 80 percent of them buy burner phones So now that even people who own those burner phones can talk to their friends for free That can be a problem because your workers are gonna get phone calls sometimes a lot of them Which is why these days it's advisable when you hire household help that you tell them they cannot use their cell phone during working hours Now you might think that's harsh. What if there's an emergency? Well, remember that burner phone I was talking about the one that you have in the kitchen with a new sim chip and a new phone number You let your household help know that's the emergency phone and give them the number Tell them they can give that number to their family members and they can call if there is a real emergency
[06:18] So you can count on the fact that that phone will most probably never ring By the way once you settle in down here and get a place If you're going a lot, let's say out of the country for weeks even months at a time or you take long vacations It's a good idea if you have a cleaning lady until a letter Mind your house when you're gone Even if you're in a gated guided community where it's completely safe and secure The problem is the local help gets paid so little if you give them two weeks or a month off because you're going to europe Or whatever they're gonna really suffer for lack of cash Of course You could do like some gringos do and give them the salary anyway until them to go home and have a vacation themselves That might be the gringo and expat way of doing things with latins are not that nice to their help That's one of the reasons latinos love working for gringos and expats
[07:05] All right. Let's talk about what recently happened to expat eddie and the cleaning lady slash maid dilemma But first let me tell you here in latin america There are two completely different schools of thought on hiring maids and cleaning ladies two different strategies One is to hire a somewhat older experienced cleaning lady in her 30s and up in that case for sure She'll have a family and kids so she won't be a live-in She'll come in at seven or eight every morning and go back home to her little pueblo Though sometimes out of necessity an older cleaning lady will offer to be a live-in maid and visit her family and kids on the weekends Either way when you hire a lady like that She's already got tons of experience cleaning ironing cooking bathrooms windows all that stuff And most of those ladies believe it or not can wield a pretty good machete better than you and I that's for sure
[07:53] I'm, not kidding. That's because most of them come from the compo the boonies out in the farmlands The older ladies the over 30 crowd They know all about locally grown plants herbs and spices as well as how to take care of cows goats and pigs And get this every last maid and cleaning lady i've ever met could slaughter and pluck a chicken or a turkey in five minutes flat Now for me and i'm sure a lot of you listeners out there just the thought of that process is kind of gross So don't be surprised if when you're interviewing a cleaning lady She brings that up when you ask her about her cooking skills Hey, that's part of life on the boonies. You don't think all those driveway chickens are pets now, do you? So anyway, when you're hiring a clean lady you're made There's two schools of thought an older lady who's got some experience and that's good
[08:41] You can set her straight to work But then you'll find older ladies also bring a lot of bad habits with them, too I know I know when I call a 30 something lady old that's gotta rub some of you listeners the wrong way, huh? Well, the reason for that is because i'd say at least half of the maid slash cleaning lady workforce are in their teens So in the domestic servant business a 30 something cleaning lady is considered Kind of old so again, you can hire an older more experienced lady Or you can do what a lot of latino families do and hire a young inexperienced teenage girl That's how most live-in cleaning ladies and maids start out for most of these young girls It's their very first paying job once they've moved out of the family homestead farmer compo. So that's the deal
[09:30] They're coming from the boonies and don't have a house or a place to stay and that's why they'll be living in Like I said a lot of latino families prefer to hire a live-in teenager from the boonies because they can pay her about half Of what they'd have to pay an older more experienced lady who's coming in daily doing a seven to five And more often than not the older lady will ask to be on the books Therefore registered with the government so she can be on the national health care and all that Now for you the employer that's kind of inconvenient sort of a hassle Whereas most young teenage living maids won't ask to be on the system sound familiar I bet when you were young in your teenage years You didn't want to get on the system and pay taxes and have FICA and social security deducted from every check You didn't care about that stuff. You were young and invincible. You just wanted the cash when I was young
[10:19] That's the way I was too So to be on or to be off the books. That is the question That's some of the stuff we'll talk with some detail about at the expat insider seminar So there's pros and cons to selecting an older experienced cleaning lady versus a fresh green one from the compo who knows nothing Obviously if you're going to hire a young girl, she'll have to be trained up completely Chances actually never had her own room or even a hot shower Because you know throughout latin america the poor and lower middle classes don't have hot running water Now this might sound a bit nuts But i've been told by gringas here in latin america who have cleaning ladies that the young ones Even the older ones sometimes will use the same rag to clean the toilet and the shower that they use To clean the kitchen sink and wipe the kitchen countertops. All you can say to that is yuck
[11:08] So as you can see they'll have to be trained up and since nearly all your cleaning ladies will expect to cook for you Yes, they will You will have to teach them the basic rules of hygiene and sanitation and certainly they can be trained up They learn fast except their idea of hygienes different than yours is Remember the average poor and lower middle class latin american doesn't have access to water 24 7 And they almost never have access to pure clean filtered water in their own little houses They use very small amounts of water In fact, the average american uses five to ten times as much as the average latin person does Which means for them in their homes. There's not a whole lot of hand washing going on Believe me, you just have to drive through a poor or lower middle class neighborhood
[11:56] And you'll see exactly what i'm talking about now as for most expat and gringo guys that come down to latin america as unattached singles They prefer their maids and cleaning ladies to be the older more experienced type That way from day one they can leave her on her own They can say here's my dump the mop the broom and all the cleaning stuffs in the closet. Go ahead Do your thing have at it When it comes to us gringo and expat guys We rarely butt in or interfere with our cleaning ladies as long as they're continuously doing something Of course at any time you might say to her today clean out the closet or take care of the bodega in the garage But normally we're just so happy to have someone cleaning up after us that we just leave her be and counter blessings That we're not living up in the states where we'd have to do all that kind of stuff ourselves or eventually live in squalor
[12:44] So that's how unattached gringles and expats handle it But once there's a boss lady gringo or otherwise in the house things change That's when your maid or cleaning lady will really have to up her game Since women boss ladies are more demanding Meaning much better at picking out the flaws and the details and another woman's work Oh, and here's another tip for you single gringos and expats It's true having an older lady keep in your house ship shape is much more socially acceptable than let's say having a 45 year old gringo guy with a 17 or 18 year old maid But even so a situation like that's much more likely to raise eyebrows amongst your gringo and expat friends Especially gringa friends than it is with the general latin population
[13:31] Even so sometimes you do see that kind of a setup Did I say setup though? It's strictly legal and a gringo should remain a gentleman and business like at all times Who needs to grieve the tongue wagging and finger pointing the rumors in the neighborhood if something out of the ordinary did happen Which brings us to eddie's story by the way throughout latin america It's legal to hire underage guys and gals to do work around the house, etc As long as they have a letter or permission slip to that effect signed by their mother or father or both In fact in the world of latin cleaning ladies and maids, it's done all the time Also in the interest of full disclosure, I know of three expat gringo single guys who did get involved with their cleaning ladies In fact a couple years ago. I told this story about a very wealthy gringo friend of mine in costa rica around 50 ish
[14:22] Who married his very beautiful young cleaning lady? I think she was around 20 years old I know I know you ladies out there are thinking that's pretty repulsive, huh? Well, once again, I have to point out down here in latin america big age differences in the mating dating and marriage game Are quite common and it's true big age differences. Do not go down Well, if you're living up in states unless you're extremely rich and powerful or you live in hollywood, right? Which begs the question why is it repulsive if you're the average person? But when you're rich powerful or famous, it seems to be okay Though as a gringo friend once told me it helps if the older guy is good looking like george cluny However, if he looked like michael more they'd have to live in separate houses better yet separate states even separate countries Now as far as the other two expat gringo friends of mine who got involved with their cleaning ladies
[15:09] One of these guys was 50 the other 60 something and the cleaning ladies involved both in their mid 40s Now statistically gringles and expats rarely get involved with their cleaning ladies In fact, i've known hundreds of gringo expats and only three who have I know what you're thinking What about the ones that aren't talking? Well, I can tell you this in all three previous cases mentioned my three gringo friends adamantly told me it was The ladies who came on to them hard and heavy over and over and still some of you are thinking. Yeah, sure, johnny Well, I can tell you because I know these three guys. None of them was what you might call a ladies man Well one of them maybe but he was way past his prime But then again, who knows what happens behind closed doors, right?
[15:56] Now as for latin american men whose households have cleaning ladies. Well, I can tell you this everyone I mean everyone Latins that is has a story about the maid or cleaning lady get involved with a male member of the household In fact that beaten down old cliche is a major plot point in almost every latin telly novella soap opera In fact over the years i've known quite a few latin guys who've been involved with their cleaning ladies And almost every one of these guys was married at the time It reminds me of a for sale sign. I once saw in a car He said car for sale must sell cheap girlfriend pregnant wife pissed funny joke, huh? Well, it's not so funny down here in latin america And since every latin family that's slightly above middle class has a cleaning lady
[16:42] Usually live in under the same roof with a macho latin dad and probably a couple of macho sons, too So there's always a certain amount of hanky panky going on. It's a big unspoken problem It's a power move on the part of the boss man. He pays her salary. He's in a distinctly higher social class There's that kind of master slave thing going there and she knows that if she rejects his advances Not only will she lose her job She'll have no recourse to go after him in court Because you know, there's a really good chance that the judges themselves are doing the very same thing with their cleaning ladies Hey, i'm not making this stuff up You hear discussions like this behind closed doors all the time Which is why so many latin lady bosses will not hire a young pretty latina to work in the house
[17:28] Too many stories too close to home. In fact one upscale latina mother told me fat middle asian homely That's the way to hire She said why bring temptation into a happy home? Now expat eddie who lives with his fiance in a very nice gated guarded community now He tells me just last week his young maid. She's 17 now She's been working for him for two years with parental consent and all that totally legal She's not a live-in maid though. So monday through friday. She comes in at seven in the morning leaves at five She lives with her parents and one of those ubiquitous small pueblos about 10 miles away Anyway, eddie says for the last month or so She's been calling and sick about one day a week and that never happened before. She was very dependable
[18:13] So just last week eddie and claudia had a sit down with her. What's going on? They said well, guess what? She's 17 years old and in the family way. She got knocked up Little did eddie know the rumor was out about her pregnancy for a couple of months Not to say that the residents and homeowners knew anything about it But all the cleaning ladies and grunt workers maintenance guys plumbers guards and the garbage men. They all knew So naturally at that sit down eddie and claudia popped the question who done it and she piped up Eduardo Which happens to be edward or eddie in spanish? Then claudia said you mean edwardo the maintenance guy's son, right? The cleaning lady nodded Then claudia scolded her a bit and said when you talk about this you better get your eddie straight
[19:02] Then she looked at eddie and said too bad. You've got the same name We don't need people jump into conclusions. Then eddie said nope. We don't need anything like that next time. We'll hire a hag So this week eddie and claudia put out the word they're hiring a new maid slash cleaning lady Over the next few days. They interviewed a few of them and settled on one in particular Now to clarify things a bit eddie said he didn't actually do much of the interviewing He let claudia take charge of that. He wants that in her hands He wants nothing to do with the female household help But he did sit in and inject a few questions once in a while because he knew Claudia would never ask the hard ones He says latin interviewers don't like to ask personal questions of people they've just met even during an interview
[19:49] For example, it was eddie who asked why are you leaving your current employment? Now this young lady had been working for about a year as a living maid making get this 175 bucks a month plus room and board you heard that right? 175 bucks a month and you know, that's a pretty standard salary for a living maid off the gringo tourist trail I know I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous like they're living on another planet, huh? In some ways they are Now get this in the interview and eddie asked why are you leaving? She did not complain about the money She was upset because her bosses were paying her late often very late Secondly, she said the boss lady would yell at her husband the kids and her Quite a bit turns out it was a family of four mom and dad and two kids
[20:37] Oh, and there was one more thing she complained about another reason she wanted to leave like most young girls working as live-in maids She was from the compo the boonies yet. She had a high school education, which is pretty rare amongst the cleaning lady class In fact, i'd say the average education for a maid or cleaning lady is around sixth grade Yep, poor country girls like her attend those wretched dilapidated public schools way out in the hinterlands They've got no other choice and sometimes their parents won't let them go because they have to work on the farm And a lot of them like her don't want that kind of life So they leave the farm and head to the medium large sized cities looking for work This girl's case was a little different She had a high school education and was aspiring to go to college now down here in latin america There are two ways to attend public university. You could go like a regular student monday through friday
[21:26] However, most don't have night school Instead if you can't go monday through friday because you have to work and many many students work You can get your degree going saturday and sundays now if you go to college that way It'll take a year or so more than if you went monday through friday, but you can still get a degree Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that getting a college degree is a good idea It's just not these days unless of course, you're going into engineering computers the hard sciences or medicine Otherwise just like up in the states a liberal arts degree will get you the right to live in your mom's basement So here's why this 20 year old living maid wanted to quit her job to work for someone else The family she worked for were very late payers The boss lady was verbally abusive and they would not let her have a saturday off to pursue a university degree
[22:15] Now you might be wondering how can a girl make in around? 175 bucks a month before to go to college anyway Well, she'd never be able to go to one of those private universities But every country in latin america has a public university system. That's virtually free sure The buildings are dilapidated broken windows everywhere and the water when they have it is contaminated But it is a way for the poor and underprivileged to get a degree Because you know down here anyway There is that very strong belief like there was in the 60s 70s and 80s in the states that a college degree was The key to success boy. Were they wrong, huh? Now if you're wondering why public school college campuses don't have night school Well, there's a number of reasons for that for one most of the lights in the classrooms and public buildings are burnt out or broken
[23:02] Along with that most of the chicken buses stop running around nine or so at night Why because they don't want to go into those poor dangerous neighborhoods where most of the poor and underprivileged kids attending those free public universities are coming from Speaking of free, you know you get what you pay for including this show So anyway, eddie's new cleaning lady was leaving her job because she wasn't getting paid on time and though she had sunday off They wouldn't let her have a saturday off to attend university However, she did not complain about the fact that her day began at six o'clock in the morning And ended monday through saturday at eight o'clock at night So figure it out. She's got 14 hour days and an 84 hour work week for 175 bucks a month plus room and board and that entailed cooking ironing washing cleaning the house and shopping for a family of four
[23:55] Oh and eddie told me in addition to the fact that she said it upset her that the lady of the house Yelled at her a lot. She went out of her way to compliment the boss lady's husband Whom she said left every morning at 5 30 and came home every night around nine o'clock Why because they lived in a nice gated guarded subdivision about a two-hour drive back and forth of the city in rush hour traffic Anyway, she did give him a compliment She said he was a nice guy that never tried anything with her then later eddie said to claudia If that's how a cleaning lady defines a good boss a guy that doesn't put the moves on her. That's pretty twisted Then claudia said with that guy's work schedule. He was probably way too tired to chase her around the kitchen
[24:43] Anyway, in the end eddie didn't hire an old hag after all he hired that same young girl He's paying her more giving her a saturday off to go to the university cut her back from 84 to 50 hours a week And he said he's got no desire to chase her around the kitchen and the message here Always let your wife girlfriend fiance or lady of the house, whatever handle the maid slash cleaning lady interviews You hire the gardener or maintenance guy and let her deal with the ladies Oh and on the other side of that coin, but two years ago eddie had a maintenance guy He had to fire young kind of handsome 20-something guy named fredrico freddie Fantastic worker self-starter the perfect employee in every way except one He thought he was a stud and gave claudia the creeps
[25:30] You know trying that stereotypical macho muscle man pool boy thing She's bottom flexing his muscles peeking around the corner giving her the eye Eddie said he saw him do it a couple times too, but it looked ridiculous to him So he just laughed it off But claudia didn't want this guy around and you know, there's that universal saying if mommy's not happy Nobody's happy. So eddie said this guy definitely had to go And the epilogue to that story is a couple of weeks after eddie fired him Claudia said she kind of missed the attention. She was getting from that guy even though he gave her the creeps Go figure, huh? Well to quote my own sister She'd say it's amazing that relationships work at all since women are complicated and finicky and men basically stupid and simple
[26:17] Wait a minute. Was she talking about me? All right, we're getting towards the end of the show now Remember to check out the itinerary and sign-up page for my expat insider seminar this january 2018 Just go to www.thenewexpat.com and hit this seminar link Once again, we'll be almost exclusively off the gringo tourist trail in and around guadamala. Why guadamala? Well, the flights are cheap. I've got a ton of contacts It's off the tourist trail and it affords some of the best living conditions you can imagine for expats and gringos It's a place where the gringo advantage is very strong not to mention it's in the ulti plan Also, there's perfect spring like weather all year round You'll see what I mean when you get down here And right now you can still take advantage of my early bird discount prices
[27:04] And don't forget if you're working on your plan b already or just getting started The next best way to get yourself organized is to sign up for my nine hour expat essentials course Do check out the introductory video at expatplanb.com And don't forget you can download my plan b phone consultation questionnaire form too The questions and comments posed there will help you get on the right track too to download that document Just go to the main page at the new expat.com south of the border 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
[27:50] Go to www.expatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See you