Expat Files – 10.16.15

-Oh what fun! This week Expat Eddie drags me to see an amazing Latin neighborhood dog- a scarred, tattered and beat up old mutt with very special pyrotechnic skills. For my money, a surefire winner if ever filmed and submitted to America’s Funniest Videos (if it’s still on the air- its a big lag time hit in Latin America ) .

-If you like coffee, it’s not enough to live in the world’s best coffee region. You must also use the right coffee making technique(s) for the best results. As a an amateur coffee aficionado, it just blows my mind that ninty-five percent of Latins homes and restaurants use the worst method:percolators. They can’t help but brew indifferent to bad coffee- out of otherwise very excellent beans. That said here’s what you should look out for…

-Another culinary misadventure, this time in an upper middle-class Latin home

Expat Files – 10.02.15

-A discussion on how over the years things in Latin American have changed so much for the better regarding Expat gringos. But still there are so many new Expats that just don’t listen to good advice. Many continue to spin their wheels for a year or two (or five). They keep making the same mistakes I did when I first came down 25 years ago.

-Not only is there a lot of bad advice out there: lots of it is coming from part-time expats and bloggers with little “boots on the ground” experience and almost none have explored much “off the gringo tourist trail”. Much of the bad stuff is coming from people who are just trying to sell you stuff. That’s why today I’m suggesting you check out a valuable expat website www.thenewexpat.com
Its run by John Galt? Who is John (Juan )Galt? I know him personally. He’s the gringo Expat running, blogging and posting on that site (among others). John was one of my original Latin American seminar attendees who ended up moving down permanently a few years ago and since has become an absolute wealth of practical expat information. Do check it out. Note the site is not glitzy or polished but for content comes highly recommended. In fact, its popular enough to have been hacked recently by Russians, Ovomitoids, or who knows?

-More tips, tales and crazy stories that can only happen in Latin America

Thyroid function threatened by bottled water containing lithium

Your total body weight is made up of nearly 60 percent water. Therefore, it’s important to hydrate yourself as water has many benefits for your body. In fact, pure water is an invaluable source for treating thyroid symptoms as it regulates body temperature, relieves dry skin, eliminates fatigue, boosts cognitive function, loosens hard stools, and aids in weight loss. Drinking …

Expat Files – 08.23.15

-In Latin America, some countries like Colombia produce enough oil for their own use and have plenty to export as well. When the price of oil is high (like 2 years ago) government slugs, like pigs at the trough, expand and gorge on the extraordinary tax revenues, but boom times do end. So now that oil prices are in the crapper, Latin countries that produce oil like Colombia-with their very weak environmental laws- have found an easy but highly destructive way to increase those oil tax revenues again, by FRACKING!!!

-Did you know that a very recent study revealed that your average fat-assed deadbeat Costa Rican government employee took FIVE TIMES as many sick days in 2014 as did persons working real jobs in the private sector? Not only that, the report states that Costa Rican government pinheads make from 150 to 200 percent more than people working in equivalent private sector jobs. Sound Familiar? Yet another example of how retarded Latin Governments believe anything first-world is imminently desirable… no matter how ruinous, unknowingly copying every last disastrous first-world defect as well.

-More on those famous S.A. Corporations and Latin taxes

Expat Files – 08.21.15

-In Latin America, when socialist paradise policies go awry and the natives get restless, massive crowds often take to the streets. Then, the first thing the “peoples” government does is impose currency controls, censorship and restrictions on basic rights. Sound familiar?

-Some Latin crime statistics regarding organized big city gangs: Is crime out of control? How does such criminality affect Expats living south of the border?

-Did you know that Uruguay has five times the number of military personal per capita than the average Latin country, and that the US government gives millions each year specifically to support that effort? Which begs the question, what terrible enemies does little Uruguay have? Might Argentina, Chile or Peru be poised to invade? By the way, nearly one in of five Uruguay workers has a government job- a lopsided effect that’s about three times the Latin American average. Only Cuba has a larger percentage of government workers per capita.

-Today, first-world gringa expats in Latin America have some tips and generalities concerning dating and relationships with Latin guys. You’ll be surprised (or maybe not).

Demand for coffee can create ecological, economic rift with poorer nations

The explosion in worldwide coffee consumption in the past two decades has generally not benefitted farmers of coffee beans in poorer nations along the equator. A University of Kansas (KU) researcher studying trade and globalization has found that the shift to “technified” coffee production in the 1970s and 1980s has created harsher economic and ecological consequences for heavy coffee-producing nations, …

Expat Files – 08.14.15

-Colombia is on the map as one of the latest, greatest retirement destinations- that’s according to nearly all of the popular retirement rags and blogs. But what most gringos and Expats don’t realize is that the country’s very heavily taxed business and manufacturing sector is forcing many medium and large companies to close or flee to more business friendly countries. Colombia now has a corporate tax structure with rates hovering around 75% and the country is rapidly de-industrializing.

– Gringo tipping anxiety in Latin America: a primer on restaurant bills/charges and common gringo tipping mistakes and false assumptions

-Ecuador’s socialist government is in an expensive growth spurt (some surprise, huh?) and now that tax revenues are way down (due to the big oil price slump) President Correa is preparing to substantially increase taxes on more productive sectors of society.

-S.A. corporations are alive and well in Latin America but much less than 5% of the population have one or even know anything about them or what they’re for…

-Here’s a stale, old Latin joke… but it’s true:

Pancho, “Hey Senor, where is the men’s room?”

Jose, “Anywhere you like.”

-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL:

Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.

Expat Files – 08.09.15

-How to see Central America on the cheap (but not backpacker cheap):
Today we have a story of a lone gringo’s 10 week trip through most all of Central America. He did it by way of the Latin version of a private Greyhound Bus. Starting his trip in Panama, he travelled northward and explored most major cities and attractions in Central America- ending finally in Mexico. He explains how he did the trip on only $35 a day which included the bus tickets and three day stay at the all-inclusive Decameron resort in El Salvador. He gives great advice and tips spelling out how anyone can do much the same thing…

The Crisis: Regeneration or Degeneration? Ronnie Cummins

“If governments won’t solve the climate, hunger, health, and democracy crises, then the people will.” —Dr. Vandana Shiva, speaking at the founding meeting of Regeneration International, La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica, June 8, 2015 When literally billions of people, the 99 percent, are hungry or struggling to survive with justice and dignity; when the majority of the global body …

Expat Files – 05.01.15

-Today we have a disturbing email from a female public high-school English teacher(in the states) hoping beyond hope that she can last just two more years and get her pension. Then it’s get the hell out of Dodge and down to Latin America.

-It’s not Carnival time, so why are there hundreds of thousands of people marching in the streets of Brazil? Here’s a hint… the Brazilian president’s popularity is at an all-time historic low of 13%. Yes, it’s a political corruption of massive proportions (again) but this time the media and the people have solid goods on the crooks in office. The snakes won’t easily buy or squirm out of this one.