#742 – The Expat Files: Power, Internet, Real Estate, and Cultural Dynamics in Latin America

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 Alright before I finish off with a really great story about the life and loves of Expat Eddie Continued from the last two shows I promised some people I'd get to some really pertinent emails And believe me these things have a lot of relevance to those gringos and expats who are doing their plan B

[00:48] Especially gringos and expats whose plan is possibly living off the grid or partially off the grid That are way out in the boonies where there's no cable internet service So people really want to know about the force and stability of internet service and electric power service They say Johnny about that electric power grid in Latin America I understand it goes on and off all the time I don't know if I'd be able to deal with 3 or 4 hours or worse yet a day or so without electric power Alright so I get that question all the time and I'm here to tell you Pretty much throughout Latin America there will be small power outages I think I had 3 last month each lasting less than 2 minutes However I know a few Bitcoin and cryptocurrency miners They've had as many as 30 tiny power outages a month Most of them practically imperceptible to the rest of us

[01:36] But to a crypto miner whose hardware is cranking away 24-7 depending on solid flow of power I understand it can be a bit infuriating depending on what kind of mining you're doing because there are different types I understand that with some hardware if the power kicks off for even a second you have to re-initialize your equipment In other words if you're not around it could be a pain in the ass Which is why it's always good to have a few UPSs around the house No not UPS the delivery guys I'm talking about uninterrupted power supplies Of course you won't need one of those if you're using a laptop computer all the time Because they got built in batteries just for that eventuality However if you've got some really sensitive electronic equipment Like for example a surveillance camera system Or like me audio equipment I'm doing the show with right now

[02:23] Even a tiny power outage for a second or two could screw up a recording By the way a power outage here is called an Apagon Anyway if you have some real sensitive electronic equipment You really should have one of those little UPS battery backups Only 50 to 100 bucks Because if you don't you just might find out the hard way it was worth the expense Of course if you're running off the grid solar that's not going to happen to you Because you'll be connected at all times But really how many people do you know that are completely off the grid? Hey I'm close I'm getting there And if you come down you should think about doing that too In any event I always recommend that you have a little backup gas or diesel generator I've got one it's a small one on wheels I think I got it at Costco In fact since I've been down here I've always had access to a generator And I have to say in the 28 years I've been down I probably used a generator

[03:10] About twice a year And I'd say only about five of those times did the power outage last more than four hours And only twice more than 24 hours And that was during the rainy season when a tree fell down on a power line or blew out a transformer And these days now that most all electric companies are privatized They're really fast on the draw as far as repair and maintenance Probably not as fast as up in Cleveland But compared to the old days man they're quick Even so it's a great investment to get yourself a little generator Then buy yourself four five gallon jerry cans You'll have 20 gallons of gasoline around at all times But don't store them in the sun and don't store them in the house Down here you can get a decent generator at any hardware store for three to five hundred bucks Just make sure you start it up every six months to get the parts moving

[03:55] And by the way it's always excellent advice to use mobile one a hundred percent synthetic oil in the crank case Of course I know a few gringos living way out in the boonies that have very big diesel generators just in case Because you know the farther you are out in the boonies The longer it will take for the electric company to come out and fix the problem So that's a question I get a lot how stable is the power and the electric grid Well I'll tell you this it's a thousand times better than it was way back when when I first got down here In fact in the early days when I was first hanging out in Costa Rica and Colombia It was just routine to get a couple of big power outages a week In fact you could pretty much count on at least one four hour outage every weekend On weekends you know people are home using a lot more electricity In fact I remember when I was doing little tours up and down the Atlantic coast with my genuine gringo rock and roll party band

[04:43] Of which I was the only gringo amongst three exceptionally talented Latinos Many times right during a set we'd have a power outage for ten or twenty minutes That kind of thing was so common it didn't even faze anyone The bars and discos were ready with the candles Speaking of candles it's a tradition down here because of the power outages in the past Every latin house has a nice supply of candles So it's true power outages do exist and they happen a lot more frequently than you're used to But since all the grids down here have been strengthened and most of them privatized It's not at all much of a problem anymore except in the people's paradises of Venezuela and Cuba Yep they still get a lot of power outages there and oh Also in really poor backward latin countries who are operating with severe lag time like Guiana and Belize

[05:29] In other words if I lived in Belize I'd have as one of my priorities getting off the grid And I'd also have a standby diesel generator A big one Yep in Belize especially out in the boonies they have lots of power outages Except for the case those party islands that are pretty much first world Where upscaled gringos have bought into many nice development projects at gringo prices too Alright enough fun electric power in the grid let's talk about internet service That would be the second most often asked question besides the mating dating romance thing of course Because you know if the internet sucks you're not going to be a happy camper Which brings me to this email from Edgar but before we get into it Let me remind you that throughout latin america there are around five major internet companies Yep and they all have a smart phone service too and some of them even have internet TV or satellite TV options

[06:17] That means each and every one of those big telecommunications companies offers pretty much the same service Throughout all its latin american branches Now the three big ones are Tigo that's T-I-G-O Claro C-L-A-R-O That's a company owned by Carlos Fatboy Sim from Mexico And then you've got Movistar That's M-O-V-I-S-T-A-R That's a company out of Spain There are a couple more companies but those three have a huge presence in latin america And are in direct competition which is a great thing for us consumers For example all three of them offer smart phone service High speed cable internet and wireless internet modems if you're out of range of cable All three of them offer cable TV and satellite TV service too Alright then with that background let me read you this email from Edgar

[07:02] As usual I'll paraphrase and add my comments For your greater understanding or perhaps just to confuse you a little more Anyway he says dear Johnny I've been on a Movistar modem That's one of those three big companies for around six weeks now By the way that means Edgar lives a bit out in the boonies where they don't have a cable connection He's using a wireless modem offered by the Movistar company Alright just some background here Wireless modems like that cost around a hundred bucks A one time cost and then have a monthly fee Now for something like thirty bucks a month you get a hundred and fifty gigabytes Uploads and downloads now that's a hell of a lot of gigs Now let me point out that at the end of every month you can check a website And see how many gigs you've used and in my case I have a similar modem

[07:48] And the maximum monthly upload and download gigs I've ever used was seventy five So the one Edgar is talking about here has a maximum of a hundred and fifty gigs a month for thirty bucks Quite a deal Anyway he says I did an upgrade on my data speed It increased from four to ten megabytes per second And guess what Johnny I managed to blow through the whole one hundred and fifty gigabytes I get per month Before my month was through so the service terminated Then he says maybe watching YouTube all day cuts into that hundred and fifty gig limit Well Edgar it's me Johnny here I'm afraid That's internet so yes it cuts into your daily limit And YouTube sucks the gigs doesn't it You guys with smartphones out there with gig limits know what I'm talking about

[08:33] You look at enough YouTubes and man it eats up your service fast doesn't it Alright then he says plus Johnny Maybe I'm eating into my limit by streaming some Pandora with my smartphone logged into that modem Yes Edgar I'm afraid so Then he says suddenly at two p.m. yesterday Zilch I kept getting the Movistar screen saying the account was out of gigs I was able to get away with ignoring that for a couple of days but finally I got locked out totally Now my landlord logged into the online account for me I guess Edgar doesn't speak much Spanish because those notices come in Spanish down here And he had to have his landlord do it And he says he found that my balance was at zero He looked at the data usage and noticed it was quite large

[09:19] Now Johnny I live in an apartment complex of three apartments And I'm the only one using this modem I'm the only one with a password So I don't think I could blame the excessive usage on anyone else So in the end Johnny I'm hoping to find out if my company Movistar will provide a 300 gigabyte limit That would be double what I have now I think that a Claro company modem might provide unlimited data Though their service is the pits Lots of problems out here At least around here Thought you might find this info interesting if not useful Best regards, expat Edgar Alright Edgar, thanks for that Let me start out with my comments by saying man I don't know anybody, not any private person anyway That uses 300 gigabytes, download and upload a month

[10:06] Even 150 gigs is excessive Look at it this way If you were to download a brand new Hollywood movie It'd be around 2 gigs of memory in HD So let's say you downloaded one movie a day That's 60 gigs right And you say you burnt out 150 gigs before your month was due That means you could download 75 HD movies a month before you reached your limit Man, you know anybody who watches 75 movies a month You know what Frank I think you watch too much TV or you're addicted to YouTube But who knows, though there are some solutions One is to turn your modem off at night when you go out of the house Okay, just for everyone's information If you have regular cable internet here in Latin America There are various plans and all the big companies like Clado, Movistar, Tigo Offer unlimited service

[10:52] However in Edgar's case, out in the boonies where he doesn't have cable He's got to use a wireless modem or satellite internet And his wireless modem has a monthly limit In fact a pretty big one if you ask me The good news is that technology is marching on at a very fast clip And I just found out that one of the big three companies Tigo is now offering a wireless modem Again it's 100 bucks one time cost And I believe it's around 30 bucks a month or less For unlimited uploads and downloads Now admittedly, most gringles and expats don't know enough Spanish To read the newspapers or check out the ads So they normally wouldn't know the ins and outs of the different internet services Because they change so rapidly Another good reason to start learning that Spanish, huh? So anyway, just to let everyone know Even if you live way out in the boonies

[11:39] There are some really great wireless modem options With the big corporations and of course Satellite internet too And you know in my case I'm living way up the gringo tourist trail Far out in the boonies At least an hour away from the center of a big city I don't have cable internet nor satellite internet Because I have one of those little modems too Of course it's from one of the big three companies I mentioned And it's rock solid and stable Even in the rainy season and the worst of climates It still chugs along nicely And I've had this particular one maybe six months now And it hasn't cut out or pooped down on me once Now these are the kinds of things we talk about at my expat insider seminar So we spend a couple hours updating people on this stuff And I've even put together a report Outlining the upgrades and recent changes to date

[12:25] I mean come on Where else are you going to get this kind of information? But for me and other expats and people actually using that stuff People in the thick of it right here south of the border So IT, internet, telephone, TV and utility hookups are Just a few of the dozens of topics we hit on at my expat insider seminar The next one coming up We'll begin on Saturday, July 7th And go through Thursday, July 12th, 2018 I'm putting together all the details right now And if you want to get on the early bird discount list And get the mailings and info before the news goes out to the general public Just send me an email The expat files at gmail.com And I'll put you on that list Oh and just one more thing about cable Internet and smartphone service There are two different ways to obtain that stuff down here One is with a contract usually 12 or 18 months

[13:12] And you'll need a fiat or that would be your lawyer Which is why you have to hook up with a latin lawyer when you get down here He's basically the professional reference that you'll need So what's that going to cost you? Well if you're his client Let's say you're applying for residency, whatever He might do that for nothing But if you haven't been doing any work with him at all And you just walk into his office For that one thing Maybe he'll charge you 25 bucks Anyway that's what you'll need if you sign up for a contract plan Which usually includes a smartphone, internet service and TV Now the second way to get those services Which I think doesn't happen in the first world at all Only down here Is to sign up and pay month to month Then you don't need a fiat or any of that stuff So then how's that possible? Well that's because there are so many poor, middle class and indigenous people Who don't have stable jobs

[13:58] Or work for cash so there's no record And they don't have a lawyer who's a fiator A lot of them don't have a bank account or credit cards And all that documentation you'll need if you're going to sign a contract By the way being that I'm a private, anonymous kind of guy I don't have an internet or phone service with a contract I'm on the pay as you go plan Which is just fine, in fact more than just fine So what's the difference between the two? Well not much except you don't have to give up all those personal debts And you pay month to month in advance Instead of on a contract where it's deducted automatically From your bank account or credit card So once a month I pop into my local telecommunications agency And pay in cash for the month ahead I could pay online but that destroys your anonymity doesn't it? Now for example in the case of the modem I pay 20 bucks a month

[14:44] I selected a 75 gig a month download plan Which isn't the biggest plan but it suits me fine And like I said if you sign up for one of those services without a contract You don't need a fiator Lawyer that is, you don't need utility bills Bank statements or credit cards at all There'll be no direct withdrawals because you're paying up front for the upcoming month Oh and by the way another very nice gringo advantage comes into play here When you sign up for the pay as you go plan They'll want to see your DPI a residency card Of course you're a gringo and you might not be a resident yet So you'll pull out your passport right? My advice don't give them your passport Give them a copy of your passport They'll take that in a flash And for those gringos who really want to remain anonymous They often do a little photoshopping on that copy Before they print it and give it to the guy

[15:30] Hmm, can you smell a big advantage there? So am I telling you to do something illegal? Are you breaking the law? Well I'm not telling you to do anything I'm just advising you on what many astute gringos and expats do To maintain the smallest footprint, internet and otherwise possible Because you know once you give up your real passport, debts and such To some big telecommunications giant Your data is gonna get out there and sold every which way Just like Google, Yahoo, Gmail, Twaddle Fakebook and all of them do So why buy into that game if you don't have to? Down here anyway a little strategic photoshopping And you can maintain a very low profile And when they try to disseminate and sell your data Which they will You'll have the last laugh because you're giving them the virtual finger And what's not to like about that? Alright now here's an email from a very nice smart young guy

[16:17] Who came to one of my expat insider seminars He says, Senor Johnny I hope you've recovered from a US inflicted American flu We need you to keep up the good work Of course he's referring to the fact that during the last seminar in January 2018 Your North American first world flu hitched a ride down to Central America And every one of us at the seminar got a touch of it Some of us more than others Sure we all recovered nicely but that's the first time it ever happened I understand that thing did a lot of damage up at the States Quite a few people actually died, oh well You know the flu did make it here to Central and South America And never had a single report of anyone dying Which begs the question You guys and gals up there with all your vaccines Why? So many mortalities up there and none to speak of down here

[17:02] Funny thing, down here in Latin America No one except certain gringles and expats who insisted Got the flu shot How do you account for that? Hmm sounds like the perfect biology or immunology masters thesis, doesn't it? One that'll surely get suppressed or called fake news But I digress as usual Then Mr. M writes in his email Regarding your recent podcast about the real estate bubble in Latin America I don't think you could have been talking about zone 10 in Guatemala Because when in Guatemala we had been looking in and around zone 10 and 14 By the way those are two very high end districts in Guatemala City First world malls, first world amenities Gated guided communities and residential towers Upscale all the way Then he says we were looking at apartments in zone 10 and 14 in Guatemala City

[17:48] But we're getting quoted around $200 US More than the dollar numbers you mentioned in your stories on your show Are we looking in the wrong areas perhaps Or maybe we're taking the wrong approach Then he says a bit off the subject Have you started mining Bitcoin or crypto down there yet? Hope all is well, talk soon, Mr. M Alright Mr. M, thanks for those questions, they're good ones But guess what? You've stumbled on the exception to the rule In big cities throughout Latin America You'll almost never get a great deal When you're apartment hunting in those high end zones Especially in a capital city of a country Where all the first world hotel chains are located As well as the US embassy and multiple other embassies and consulates are located And in Guatemala City

[18:34] That just happens to be in those two zones you were looking at Zone 10 and zone 14 Of course in other big Latin cities they'll be located in different zones and subdivisions Often in zones locals will refer to as a zona viva or zona rosa Zona viva meaning the zone of life for the lively zone And zona rosa meaning the rose zone So then you might ask why are those particular zones the exception to the real estate bubble rule Where it's a renter's market even a renter's paradise Well the answer is easy Any area that's close to the high end business district Where all the first world hotels are like Marriott, Intercontinental, Hyatt, Hilton Those are the exclusive areas where the embassy and embassy staff people are forced to rent That's the rule they've got no choice So the rentals in those districts are always artificially high

[19:23] For example over the years I've known some embassy people and they're told You can only live in this zone and this zone One guy told me he gets 2400 bucks a month rental allowance But he can only live in certain neighborhoods in zone 10 and 14 Man anywhere else you can rent a mansion You can rent two mansions for that Again we're talking Guatemala City Though it's typical with any big latin city So what do you get for 2400 a month in zone 10 or 14 A very nice 2000 square foot penthouse But you'd pay half of that or less if it was anywhere else Just like in the tourist towns of latin america If you're anywhere near the central park The rents are going to be twice as high Than if you were maybe just a 20 minute walk in any direction from there So bottom line though the real estate bubble is huge and ready to burst

[20:09] In those high end business and residential districts close to where all the action is And all the convention centers Those will be the last to feel the effects It'll happen but there will be a lag time too So if right now you're searching around for your own best plan B destination If you want to know where the highest rents are The ones that are closest to gringle prices Just do an internet search to see where all the first world hotel chains and embassies are For example I just got an email from a friend of mine who's living in Medi in Colombia He's kind of a fresh green expat down there And he said Johnny you know I couldn't be happier I found a nice three bedroom apartment in the popular Pablo district For only 1400 bucks a month He said in Washington DC he'd be paying twice that Probably over 3000 a month Though the problem he says

[20:55] And I've mentioned this many times on the show There are parts of Medi in Colombia Where you cannot walk without bumping into a bunch of gringos Same problem in all of Costa Rica Parts of Panama and most of Mexico But you knew that already right Alright finally Mr. M asks in his email about Bitcoin and crypto mining Man it's alive and well down here in Latin America I could tell you some really cool stories I'll save them for another show Actually it's only alive and well among gringos and expats Who are clued into that kind of stuff The Latins are clueless but supremely curious And why not? They all think it's money for nothing Which means there is a particularly very ripe niche Developing for gringos and expats Who want to make some big dough I'll certainly be talking about that on a future show So stay tuned But right now the continuing saga of the life and loves of Expat Eddie

[21:43] Now if you heard the last few shows I was talking about how Expat Eddie and his runway model girlfriend got together And of course at first sight everyone mumbles She's got her gringo and he's got his arm candy Cause certainly Eddie's nothing to look at But then neither am I Though what they don't know is that she's a talented artist Problem is, wrong place, wrong time, wrong talent Art, no matter how good, unless you're connected Does not pay the bills in Latin America Now naturally since their romance is taking place completely off the gringo tourist trail Not to mention when they met Eddie knew 20 words of Spanish And she 20 words of English As a result they've had plenty of cultural clashes But they've always kissed and made up Eddie of course is a great supporter and her number one fan But he's told me more than once

[22:29] You know Johnny she's got everything going for her except self-esteem So what's that supposed to mean? Well Take it for what it's worth There's a lot of that going around these days in the first world and down here In fact as many world class analysts will tell you Low self-esteem can be a very good motivator Many high achievers are in that boat Which brings us to a story that needs to be told So here goes As it turns out about 6 months into Eddie and Claudia's relationship Claudia's younger sister announced that she was getting married And of course Claudia, her sisters and her mother Went into wedding preparation mode That's really big down here And you know it's totally a girl thing Guys do what they're told and otherwise stay completely out of it So anyway about a month before the wedding There was a lady's power at Claudia's mother's house

[23:16] And Eddie was in the living room watching The Walking Dead in Spanish He calls it Spanish for slow learners Because zombies don't talk all that much Suddenly he heard yelling coming from the kitchen It was Claudia Next thing you know Claudia's in the living room Tears in her eyes saying Let's go Eddie And here's what happened And I don't think this could ever happen up in the first world Well the ladies were making out the guest list Around 200 people were coming By the way weddings are huge events in Latin America And parents always overspend and borrow To impress the relatives and neighbors Often they're paying for it for years Sound familiar? Anyway Claudia's mother and sister had previously made up a guest list So when Claudia was reviewing the guest list She saw Uncle Jorge on it She said Uncle Jorge I forbid it

[24:02] He's not coming to the wedding If he does I won't be there And Claudia was the maid of honor Turns out when Claudia was just 14 years old Uncle Jorge tried to rape her You see everyone looks up to Uncle Jorge He's got a nice car Has a business Kind of a patriarch Godfather of the family Now to us he'd be solid middle class But in Latin America upper middle class Because he had his own successful clothing store Luckily he and his wife and four kids Lived a couple hundred miles away in another city So Claudia was able to avoid him for years So what happened? Well when Claudia was just 14 Coming home from school Getting off the chicken bus stop Her house was about an eight block walk away That was when surprise surprise Uncle Jorge pulled up

[24:48] Rolled down the window said get in I'll give you a ride Now Uncle Jorge didn't come around much She always treated her nice So she was happy to see him Well he made a detour into a supermarket parking lot He looked at her Put his hand on her leg Reached up under her skirt You know school girls in Latin America Always wear uniforms with skirts Anyway she just freaked out Screamed and started fighting him Scratched him real good in the face and arm She fought her way out of the car Ran home Told her mother and her sisters And guess what? They made all kinds of excuses for Uncle Jorge Because well you know he's the patriarch of the family Her mother said either she provoked it or she was exaggerating Mustn't make a big deal out of it And her mother said Don't start anything she said How would it look? So fast forward about ten years

[25:35] Claudia's sister is getting married And he's on the wedding list And since Claudia did keep her mouth shut And no one in the family mentioned that incident If he'd have been invited he'd have showed But Claudia's mother said she never sent him an invitation Well here's what happened The wedding day came Claudia's mother said don't worry he won't show up He didn't not at the wedding anyway However later that afternoon In the parking lot of the reception hall Who pulls up larger than life with his family in tow? Uncle Jorge When he gets out of the car Claudia sees him Says to Eddie Oh no he's here Claudia says I can't believe it Sin for a grandson The guy's got no shame Now it's still daylight Around five o'clock There are some people mulling around the parking lot Eddie gets out of the car

[26:20] Walks up to the guy and says So you're Uncle Jorge right? He says yeah Nice to meet you And you? A medicano? Demonstrating his five word English vocabulary Then Eddie said Claudia's fiancé You remember your niece Claudia don't ya? The guy smiled And Eddie punched him Right in the face In front of everyone Flattened him on his ass And now You're gonna go home right? Cause Nobody wants you here Well after that Turns out it was a different kind of wedding Lots of talking rumors going around And Eddie didn't understand any of it Cause his Spanish really sucked Now you might have thought Eddie was the hero of that event But he wasn't Turns out later that night Claudia's mother cornered her in the bathroom And said How embarrassing He's an abusive and violent man

[27:06] Has he been hitting you too? You can tell me If you want me You can call the police And file charges on him She was talking about Eddie of course Then she said to her mother There's something really wrong with this family How's it possible that Eddie's the villain And Uncle Jorge's the victim? Then her mother said Well it's your life, your choice If you want to be with a violent guy And Claudia just sat there with her mouth open And didn't know what to say You've been listening to the expat files Living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan B You can schedule a one on one phone call with me But first, download my free plan B questionnaire At www.thenewexpat.com Better yet, if you want to get your plan B going From right up there in the states Just sign up for my 9 hour expat essentials course

[27:52] Get the perfect plan B blueprint By going to the expatfiles.com slash academy Los Famos