#840 – The Expat Files: Healthcare, Propane, Hot Water, and Eating Safely 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 I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat 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 right. Here's a little email that says that all it's from mr. CB says Johnny Guess what? Got in contact with the dentist you recommend in Guatemala City He's gonna do a bridge for me for eight hundred dollars that would have cost

[00:48] 5,500 dollars in Kansas well, mr. CB as the old wizard would say Dorothy You're not in Kansas anymore or Cleveland for that matter. We're not talking fantasy land here $800 for a bridge that would cost five thousand five hundred bucks in Kansas I know I know you skeptics are thinking he must be working out of some kind of backwoods garage Dogs barking free. Holy's cooking and chickens running around in the waiting room pooping on the floor Go ahead think that that's because you haven't had any boots on the ground this particular dentist one I always recommend if you're around Guatemala City He's located in a brand new high-rise office tower with fantastic security. In fact, if you ask me, it's security overkill

[01:34] Not only that he has all the most modern equipment first-world dentists have and wouldn't you know it? He's not just a dentist He's an oral surgeon trained in the US. Did I mention he's a hundred percent bilingual? He'd have to be right if he went to school up in states So what's he doing in Guatemala if he got his degree from up in the states? Well, they asked him to stay on in the states as an oral surgeon But he's a family guy brother sister's mother wife in Guatemala And he always told me for me the pace of life in the states was way too hectic You have to laugh if you think he's in it for the money and really how could he be in it for the money? When he's charging an eighth what they charge up in the states. Oh and did I tell you he's almost never in the office On Friday first thought dolphin or hanging at the club with the professional boys, right wrong

[02:22] This guy being a US trained oral surgeon donates one day a week Doing operations on people who can't afford the treatment people with terrible facial and dental conditions who must go to the medieval Public free hospitals to get any kind of care at all He's doing cleft palates on little kids And all kinds of other oral surgery for free So he donates one day a week just because he's a caring great guy In fact, he showed me a photo album and an online site of hundreds of people he'd worked on. Come on What do you find guys like that? Well, it took me about 15 years to find him And sure, it's not to say they're all like that There are various levels of medical and dental care and you gotta know which is which or you could end up in the soup Like the lady friend of mine from Canada who went to Costa Rica to get some really cheap bridge work done

[03:13] Didn't work out for her and when she got back to Canada She found it all had to be redone was a terrible job. So then what if you need dental work and you're not in Guatemala How do you find a guy like that? I mean, there's hundreds of dentists in every medium and large city in Latin America Same thing with medical doctors and specialists. Well, why do you think I wrote a 100 page report called healthcare in Latin America? How to get first world treatment at third world prices I bet most of you listeners are thinking about a plan B or you're putting one together right now and wherever your final destination in Latin America is gonna be You're gonna need to find your own dentist physician specialist hospitals clinics and insurance plans You want to figure some of that stuff out once you land even before you land because you know

[03:59] If you're in a foreign country If you get sick or a tooth breaks You don't want to work yourself into a panic trying to find someone at the very last minute But unfortunately that happens a lot, especially with new green expats. They just don't give it much thought But the question is how do you scope it out find out ahead of time? Of course if you come to my next expat insider seminar, we'll hook you up with some of these guys face-to-face You know at the seminar we actually spend a whole day Sussing out insurance plans doctors hospitals clinics and of course We do boots on the ground in one of the nicest first world hospitals you'll ever see and a doctor friend of mine Who's a hundred percent bilingual a trauma specialist for that hospital walks us through and answers all your questions Oh, and he does house calls too. They all do how much? 25 to 35 bucks. That's what they charge without

[04:50] Insurance. Oh and speaking of my next expat insider seminar been getting some inquiries about that It looks like it's going to be right after the 4th of July Starting actually on the 5th of July because almost everyone gets that Friday off with 4th of July this year falling on a Thursday That should make it all that much easier for people who work and need to take some time off because you'll already have Thursday Friday Saturday And Sunday off and with the week-long seminar starting on a Friday you're halfway there with three days already So it looks like this seminar will start on the 5th of July. That's a Friday So you'll be able to do your 4th of July thing with your family and friends if that's what you do You could fly in on the 5th because the seminar really doesn't get started till the evening of the 5th

[05:35] That's when we'll have our meet-and-greet in our first get-together So plan on coming to the seminar drinking from the fire hose Remember, it's my promise that you'll get a three to five year head start on living in Latin America by coming to my week-long Though some people say the best thing about it is all those face-to-face connections and lifelong friends you're gonna make So just shoot me an email the expat files at gmail.com and I'll put you on my early bird discount waiting list So you'll get the info and updates before everyone else However, no matter how far along you are on your plan B Even if you're just getting started you have to start thinking about dentists physicians hospitals clinics and health care insurance Which is incredibly cheap down here now short of coming to the seminar this July

[06:23] The best primer you can get on the subject is my hundred page Latin American health care report to check it out Just go to the expat files dot-com slash health care the expat files all one word dot-com slash health care Alright moving on, you know, you longtime listeners who've been listening more than five years now I think we're on the air but nine years, right? You might remember that story I told regarding getting your propane tanks filled and Exchanged in Latin America and how the suppliers will always short you a bit. They'll always short you Usually not by much but it all adds up doesn't it and you wonder how do these companies get away with it? Especially when you see their ads and newspapers online and stuff even on TV saying exact weight guaranteed

[07:09] Well, that's a load of BS They get away with it and they've been getting away with it for the last 50 years or so ever since propane tanks have been in Existence down here because no one ever weighs the tanks when they receive them But on occasion Johnny Mueller does and every time he has he's caught him red-handed Man, you should have seen the look on the face of the little guy that was delivering those things when I first Grabbed a big tank and rolled it over on my scale and you know Just a simple $15 bathroom scales all you need So you put a hundred pound tank on that bathroom scale and it reads let's say 126 pounds, of course every empty tank itself has its own weight and that's stamped right on it So again, if you've got a hundred pound tank on a scale and it says 126 pounds and it's stamped

[07:57] 26 pounds on the tank meaning when it's empty at 26 pounds That means you ain't been had you ain't been swindled of any propane gas But you know over the years I've weighed my tanks dozens of times and I always come out at around 94 96 97 always short by a couple of percentage points up to six even seven percent short Naturally at first I was pissed off being a gringo who expects to get what he pays for I phoned up the company bitch at him in my bad Spanish They'd be kind of shocked and put me on hold for long periods of time lots of los sientos Sorry about that, but never ever did it change a thing. They kept on coming up short in fact many years ago when I first thought to weigh the tanks just out of curiosity and I

[08:42] Noticed what was going on and called them on it after a while I'd pestered them so much when I'd call for a refill. They just quit coming sure enough. They'd put me on the feces list I was an irate gringo customer. They didn't want to have to deal with anymore, but luckily no matter where you are in Latin America There's always a couple competing propane gas delivery services So just call a competitor and I'll be glad to deliver their under filled tanks to you So I learned a long time ago. You can't win in the propane gas game You're stuck you're gonna get shorted and though it'll piss you off. You're better off just sucking it up But no no matter how much it pisses you off You should never cut yourself off from having a few propane tanks around the house It's a lifesaver. You will need it if you're entertaining thoughts of going off the grid or even partially off the grid

[09:30] I suggest you always have two 100 pound tanks strapped with a chain to a concrete wall in your garage or outside your house and those 200 pound tanks when filled with their 94 pounds will easily provide enough gas for a family of four to run their stove and their gas dryer for a year even two years if you're Conservation-minded and know a few tricks now you heard me say gas stove and gas dryer Well, if you have a cleaning lady and even if you don't if you dry your clothes on a clothesline Then you'll only be using that propane for your stove then those two 100 pound tanks of yours 96 pound tanks, whatever will last a family of four probably three or four years Talk about big-time prepping without even thinking about it

[10:17] By the way, you first have to buy those tanks and empties cost around a hundred bucks apiece But they're yours and you keep on trading them with the propane company as they run out Oh, and though you should know not too many people here in Latin America actually have hot running water but as sprinkles and expats expect it so we always do and Normally, it's one of those on-demand electric units that sits under your counter But man when they kick in they use a ton of juice, but they're cheap Even the good ones are cheap around a hundred fifty bucks or so And that's why I'd say around 80% of the people who do have hot water in their house use those things But note big note here. I'm not talking about those electric suicide shower heads Those things are really cheap only around 20 bucks. They exclusively heat up the water in your shower

[11:03] In fact, they are the shower head. Yes, they do work But you're never gonna get used to the fact that there are heavy electric wires hanging from your shower head as for me Being an electrical engineer in the past life. Those things scare me to tell you the truth I don't recommend them because occasionally they do give you shocks and why you just never read about them Electrocuting people I'll never know However, if when you first come down to Latin America you decide to rent in a middle-class neighborhood Middle-class Latin style that would be to us lower middle class It's almost a guarantee your shower is gonna have one of those However, if you're in a decent hotel or rent in an upper middle-class neighborhood, that would be solid middle class in the States You're probably gonna have whole house hot water, which means no suicide shower head

[11:51] Now when you talk about upper middle class and wealthy Latin Americans They usually have a propane gas whole house hot water heater They're double or triple the price of an on-demand electric one But using propane gas are a hell of a lot cheaper to run I used to have one of those myself for a long long Yep, they're efficient. All right, but they still use a lot of gas when they're on So if you have a gas stove, which I highly recommend a gas dryer, which I recommend to Even if you hang your clothes outside a gas dryer really comes in handy in the rainy season Anyway, if you have a gas stove gas dryer and gas whole house hot water heat if you have two full 100 pound tanks of gas at home again, you'll get shorted, but you knew that already Don't let that piss you off or you might as well stay in Cleveland

[12:37] Anyway, if you're running those three gas appliances at home 200 pound tanks will probably last you six months Turns out that gas hot water heater will be using more gas than the other two appliances your stove and dryer combined That's why a couple years back I switched to a solar hot water heater and that cut my propane gas usage in less than half But you know, I still have that gas hot water heater connected in the line in case I have to use it Maybe four or five days out of the year I do Because there can be a few days in a row during the rainy season when there's almost no sun at all all clouds and rain So your solar water heater can't heat up. Oh and that rooftop solar hot water heater costs around a thousand bucks Installed and that thing takes care of 95 percent or more of my hot water needs

[13:27] So if you think about it a big step to be in a hundred percent Self-sufficient and off the grid is to get propane gas tanks to 100 pounders That's my recommendation and you should think about dropping a grand and getting the largest Solar hot water heater that you can you'll find here in Latin America Generally, they come in two or three sizes the smaller one having a hundred liter storage tank That's about 25 gallons and I wouldn't recommend that unit. I'd recommend a bigger one They've got a 200 liter, which is 50 gallon and a 300 liter, which is almost 80 gallons I'd say go for the 300 liters But even so the more people you have in the house The more you have to plan a bit around when the water is gonna be at its hottest For example, it's not a very good idea for people in the house to take a shower in the evening

[14:13] Because then in the morning when you wake up, there won't be any hot water for a morning shower Obviously because at night, there's no Sun to heat it back up. So you have to experiment a little takes a little planning meanwhile 70 even 80 percent of Latin American households don't even have hot water So by all means get a solar hot water heater. It's a gift that keeps on giving Oh and here's something I'm sure you didn't know nearly all the solar hot water units in Latin America come from China Easy guess right? But here's what you didn't know every one of those solar hot water heater rooftop setups has an electric heater Element in it. I'm sure you've seen those solar hot water heater setups in the US and the southern US I say the southern US because up in the northern climes were it freezes solid

[15:03] They have much more complicated different kinds of solar hot water heaters because they have to use antipers and special circuits and heat Exchangers, etc and can cost over 5,000 bucks But in the southern US states they get away with using the simple ones Just like the ones used throughout Latin America though as mentioned They have a heating element in them, too Just in case there are some cold nights and you get some freezing their setup So the heating element kicks in and maintains a minimum temperature in the water Problem is the units in Latin America don't need that heating element, but they've got them installed So depending where you set the temperature for that thing on the little computer panel that comes with the unit that heating element And your unit could inadvertently turn on every night and that element uses a pretty good amount of electricity when it kicks in

[15:53] My advice just disconnect the thing completely then you'll never have that problem Now you're probably thinking in most of Latin America. It's pretty damn hot even at night. It probably doesn't go below 50 degrees Aha, that's true But I noticed that my electric resistance unit inside my solar hot water heater was set up to kick in at 60 degrees That seemed a bit nuts So there would be some nights that it would kick in which is why I disconnected it and you know that's something I think almost no one I know here in Latin America who owns one of those units has any idea about So I'm thinking nearly everyone who's got a rooftop unit like that is paying for some electricity Needlessly so a little heads up on that if you decide to get a solar hot water heater

[16:38] Which is highly recommended now from there Of course the next step is to go completely off the grid electrically, too I think now and I've done it myself if you live in the altiplano You have skylights in your house, and you don't have any air conditioning or heating expenses And you won't if you're in the altiplano that would be from four thousand to maybe six thousand feet above sea level You'll be able to go completely solar with your electrical needs That's solar panels batteries regulator and all for around five to maybe eight thousand bucks Then you can be the kind of low-key prepper sort of a prepper light But totally covered for any emergency situation that prepper fanatics in the stays with their basements Totally stocked can only dream about and if you've got any kind of land at all even a small garden

[17:26] You'll be able to grow all kinds of things remember you've got four growing seasons You know if you go completely solar You'll find the things that draw the most power are your refrigerator your lights at night and your washing machine motor But these days notice if you buy a refrigerator They're big-time energy miser and as for your lights It's a must that you switch over to those really efficient LED lights. They're streamlined small They look nice unlike those terribly ugly and dangerously polluting fluorescent bulbs Those things are filled with mercury gas and so you have to be really careful how you dispose of those things Besides the fact they give off that Institutional sort of hospital slash prison glare neither elegant nor classy just kind of harsh-looking though

[18:14] Unfortunately almost every middle-class even upper middle-class Latin American house you walk into has a ton of those ugly things You know what always messes with my mind I walk into a really nice Latin American upper middle-class house real 100% hardwood doors and trim 100% granite marble countertops to the real solid thick stuff better than Corian some have Fantastic terracotta roofs and Spanish tile floors pure class Well, you'd think yet you walk into one of those rooms and see those Terribly ugly fluorescent bulbs everywhere and most of the times are not even covered with a fixture They're just the bare ugly bulbs sticking out of the socket Details details. Oh and speaking of bare bulbs. Here's a hotel hack

[19:00] I've been using for a long long time every time I travel and I've been doing a lot of that lately I carry a high powered LED bulb in my luggage Because you know these days unless you're staying at a four or five star hotel, whatever difference there is there Turns out almost all two and three star hotels and of course all the hostels and backpacker joints are lit Like dungeons use the smallest wattage bulbs that can buy because hey Electricity ain't cheap in Latin America It's one of the only things that it's not cheap Then at night when you're sitting in your room and maybe want to read something like a newspaper or a book Something that's not on your iPhone computer or other device It's really annoying when you just don't have enough light So I bring one or two of my own high wattage LED bulbs when I say high wattage when you're talking about LED bulbs

[19:50] 15 watts is big time plus unlike those fluorescent bulbs, which are really fragile LED bulbs are practically Indestructible generally, they've got a heavy-duty plastic outer coating on the bulb Instead of that thin very breakable glass you find on those curly Q fluorescent bulbs, man. I hate those things What a crap invention So if you're traveling and not staying in a hundred fifty or two hundred dollar a night four star hotel My recommendation is you carry a high wattage LED bulb or two You won't regret it But do remember to bring them with you when you leave or the next guy in your room will reap the benefit of your little Hack who knows if you're a generous and nice guy and leave it there Maybe the next guy will pay it forward But you know speaking of four even five-star hotels if there's a difference

[20:37] What about six star and seven star hotels? I guess they're coming right? Especially when robots start infiltrating the hospitality business full-time and that's coming soon, too Anyway, I've found even in four star hotels that bathroom lighting can be quite dim and crappy So even if you pay the big bucks for a multiple star hotel There's no guarantee when you stumble in half asleep at two in the morning that you won't be peeing on the floor Hey, don't say you've never been there at two in the morning. How's your aim? Of course, I'm talking about guys here because ladies never miss, right? All right, speaking of refrigeration. I think there's something we need to talk about I'll start by reading a part of this email that comes from part-time expat Matt who spends a lot of time in Mexico

[21:25] He says Johnny here's a bit of a funny story that happened to me and reminded me of a show You did a long time ago when you were talking about miss weighing propane tanks Again with the propane tanks. He says I went to the mega market supermarket to buy shrimp one day And there were no problems I went back the next day to get more and this time the package of the shrimp had an enormous amount of water in it Obviously the shrimp packages had thawed out overnight. So me being a gringo wanting to put things right I had the worker drain the water from a package and re-weigh it for me He did it re-weighed it and put on a new price sticker reflecting the real weight

[22:11] I know this will sound unbelievable Johnny But there was actually two times as much water weight in the package as there were shrimp But I ended up getting it for a third of the cost. Haha Made me feel good. How's that for a clever use of the gringo advantage? All right, Matt good story But and a big retired Asian but here that clever use of the gringo advantage could have got you in big trouble, man And I don't mean with the management either. I'm talking about a problem I see all the time in supermarkets, especially mom-and-pop supermarkets that aren't a big chain Unfortunately when it comes to frozen stuff There's a tremendous amount of thawing and refreezing going on and that as far as bacterial counts is not a good thing now

[22:59] Of course if you buy a lot of frozen foods, there are tell-tale signs when that's happening You know a lot of snow build up in the package or big Solid chunks of ice that seem to be stuck to the corners inside the packages The thing is you never know and that's why I almost never buy frozen things in Latin America Even if I'm standing there watching them unloading that stuff from a frozen food delivery truck Of course, we're in the tropics and subtropics here And you know a hundred percent of the frozen items that are delivered to grocery stores and mom-and-pop outlets are coming by truck and mostly By regular trucks not refrigerated trucks So you never really know if the contents of a package has thought and been refrozen or how many times that's happened even once It's too much, especially when it comes to chicken or fish

[23:46] And you know after being down here in Latin America so long and seeing how food is handled and mishandled Especially in regard to those little mom-and-pop street carts not to mention the occasional power outages I personally believe the number one cause of Montezuma's revenge is eating street food And then number two eating food that was previously thawed and then refrozen and thawed and refrozen Before it ever got to your plate, of course, you know anything with a high bacterial count that's been thoroughly cooked It's not gonna be a problem But many times I've seen for myself when I ordered fish or chicken in a restaurant that it hasn't been cooked all the way through I've sent partially cooked food back to the kitchen dozens of times, but a lot of people just don't Anyway, you should give a little thought to that and I think it's a bigger problem that people realize because you know

[24:37] Montezuma's revenge is not a rite of passage You just have to keep your eyes open and take a few precautions and you never have to get it Yet I talked to gringos and expats who've been down here quite a while who still have the occasional date with the porcelain goddess Of course too much partying tequila local beer, etc I'll take its toll but I'm talking about food-borne illness now. It doesn't have to be that way I personally have not had an attack of Montezuma's revenge for probably five or ten years now I can't even remember it's been so long though I've talked to many seasoned backpackers who should know better But they still seem to get the squirts on a regular basis and they always hit me with that old cliche What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and my reply as they turn ashen pale and head for the bathroom

[25:23] How's that working for you? So anyway in Matt's email He seems to be proud of the fact that they were able to drain the water and you got a shrimp at a third of The price but man to me that's kind of a hollow victory on that note Here's a couple of eating tips that have served me Well, number one, I don't eat sushi rare meat or ceviche, you know, that's raw shrimp and seafood They put it in lemon overnight or for some hours. It's supposed to kill all the bacteria Well, it does in theory, but there's no guarantee you never know It could be sitting out on the counter a long time. Number two, no salads unless I make them myself Number three, no ice cubes unless I've made them myself Number four when eating out always drink out of a bottle never from a glass number five when you're out skip things like potato salad

[26:12] Or bean salad when they're made with mayonnaise Mayonnaise vinegar and oil a okay, but mayonnaise No, and also skip anything that's been sitting on a table for some hours and it's been in direct sunlight Of course if flies have been landing on it Don't eat it though You'll find that Latinos generally just shoo them away and go at it. Anyway, not me if flies are landing. I'm not eating Oh, and there's something else I always do though I try to do it stealthily or it could raise some eyebrows I take my silverware and I wipe it down good and hard with a clean napkin or servietta Because Latinos aren't concerned too much about which parts they touch as they place Silverware in and out of drawers and put it on tables and finally on a completely different topic the other day I was at a Costco and I saw right in front of the door the pregnant lady courtesy parking spot

[27:01] How nice marked off with a cute little stork and I thought to myself Hmm. If today I happen to identify as a pregnant transvestite, what would I do? I guess I'd legally be able to use it if I was at a Costco up where you live But here at a Costco in Latin America if a security guard happened to be standing right there I'd get a boot up my ass and that's reason 2,426 you really got to get that plan be going and get the hell out of Dodge So 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

[27:49] Just sign up for my 9-hour expat essentials course. Get the perfect plan B blueprint by going to the expat files.com Academy