Moving to Latin America: A Gringo Warning

hi guys this short rat that'll get me branded I'm quite sure is some sort of redneck racist pig goes out to anyone and I'm included in this gang or at least I was until recently anyone planning to move to Latin America for whatever reason my reason for moving to Latin America is with some some idea that you would have a better chance of surviving the oncoming end times the collapse of the US economy and the rising police state and I know but I don't care what your reason is this is going out to anyone who has any dream of moving to Latin America I don't care whether whether it's Mexico or Tierra del Fuego or anywhere in between my spy was actually Peru is where I ended up by my property of building a house fortunately I only saw twelve thirteen thousand dollars into it and into this madcap dream I'm only down between 12 and 13 grand although a lot of Gringo's rented a hell of a lot deeper than me kicking themselves a lot harder than I'm kicking myself guys do as I say and not as I do take the advice that you will find in your research over and over and over and over again from people who have been down there and done that and learned the hard way whether it's Panama Costa Rica Ecuador Peru wherever it is down there rent for one year find your little community wherever you think paradise awaits you wherever you're moving from in the US or Europe or Canada wherever you're moving to find your little piece of paradise that you think you're going to be happy for the rest of your life and rent and live there for one solid year before plunking one penny down on buying a piece of land and building a house how many people have tried to give me this advice and I like you does refuse to listen to it and this is this advice applies to everybody in the world except me so I here's one more tale some dumb gringo who went down there you know thinking he was going to create for himself a new life in Latin America guys did does this rent for a year and make sure this is what you want to do with your life you know and then excuse this blanket statement which has nothing to do with prejudice against Latin in Latin American people I hear that people have moved to small villages in England suffer from the same problem at least they have the English language number one is the is the Spanish is the as a language spanish language barrier I'm okay in Spanish you know I have actually lived in Latin America for six years if you add it all up I've been traveling down there for twenty five for half my life I've been traveling down there half my life I've actually lived Latin America all together for six years I have a full year of university level Spanish which I made a Zinn I've taken these intensive Spanish courses several times you know I can I can do a real estate contract in Spanish I can build a house in Spanish what I cannot do in Spanish and we'll never be able to do in Spanish is sit around and jaw with people it's sit around and make friends with people in Spanish I will never have the ability I would never be able to get up on this rock in Spanish and tell you what I'm trying to tell you after six years eleven there after speaking it for half my life guys get serious are you ready for this even if you go to your little Spanish conversation classes if you've taken a couple of these little whatever they call an in-depth Spanish courses at the offer all over Latin America guys there is a big difference and then then hanging out over a cup of coffee and and living somewhere and trying to be part of a community it's hell as hell make no mistake about this have a long conversation with yourself and and in both languages I listen to me on this one and and the other one which is going to get me as a labeled I'm sure the races everything else guys all right how am I going to say this I've been spitting right out I don't care how much you think that you're going to go down there whether you're part of one of these gringo communities you know or are completely out in the woods like I was you know completely isolated with no English language whichever tack you take if you think on any level you were ever going to be accepted into the community where you're moving that you're just going to go down there and butt in and blend in get that fantasy out of your head maybe if you marry somebody down there find a wife or a husband who's part of the community you'll you'll have a little bit a little bit of an end but even then that especially if you don't marry somebody you are never going to be part of any community you are a gringo you then you are money the only reason that any of these people from the Rio Grande River all the way down want to see you coming is they want to separate you from your money and you cannot blame these people okay don't kid yourself for one damn minute now you're going to make you're going to have some friends and and the people working on your land the people building your house for $11 a day which is what I am what I was paying to have my house built and for $11 for an eight-hour day they're going to be real friendly they're going to be the greatest guys in the world as long as you're pulling out $11 a day all right but when the house is done the the trees are planted those guys are going to disappear out of your life and in there there's many forms of thievery in Latin America you know it's there there's the Edit there's the outright feeds and in three years of living in Costa Rica I was robbed 22 times 22 times in Costa Rica now in over a year in Ecuador I've never been robbed one time in Peru over a year in Peru I've only been robbed one time but there's many sorts of thieves in Latin America there's the direct kicking in your door thief and stealing all your stuff or breaking into your car and then you've got the the immigration department thieves this is particularly more and more of a problem in Ecuador where every year these immigration fees and requirements get more and more and more onerous where Gringo's are just saying screw you and just leaving Ecuador Peru is much much better on the immigration which is part of the reason I chose Peru or there's that kind of thief there is just getting the there's two pricing systems and don't let anybody tell you what he different there or there is one price for the locals and one price for the gringos every in every community in Latin America now it still happens that the gringo price particularly you know the farther out you get from the gringo communities is still you can still get unbelievable bargains and I paid for my three acres of gorgeous land in Peru I paid $3,800 for three absolute gorgeous acres and then got about nine thousand into the house before I hit the wall I lasted not my last time it was six months until my visa expired six months that that I survived but I was ready to go after about four and a half you know when I figured this out but guys it ain't going to happen you are never going to be accepted you are always going to be the gringo and the gringo means the person with the money and if they don't rob you outright they rob you through their charm and smiles they want your money they don't want your damn friendship they don't want your cultural exchange they sure as hell don't want your advice they they don't want your little pens and notebooks let also they not want you know guys they want your money and long as you're reaching into that pocket and pull it out that money they're going to love you but if if you don't have that's the people who have something to sell you the people who have something to sell are always going to be your friend if they have nothing to sell you they don't give a damn about you on any level unless they're the tiny minority we're just going to rip you off outright but the vast majority you don't give a damn about you they don't give a damn about you they never will they have no reason to okay as long as the people have something to sell you are going to be your friends and as soon as you have no more money to buy what they're selling they're going to disappear back into the woodwork and you are just going to be one more gringo that means nothing to them except a referral to the next marine gota comes into town I think I've made my point clear as Lindsey Williams was that back if you rent for one solid year and at the end of that year and if you have determined what's what I'm telling what I and thousands and thousands and thousands of other Gringo's and my position are telling you was incorrect information and that you believe that you're happy now there and that this is the culture you want to spend your life in with some language you can't understand fully you're a better man than I and good luck and more power to you and I got a piece and I got a house in a beautiful piece of land to sell you in South SE Peru for fifteen thousand dollars you can pick up where I left off before heading back to Texas my tail between my legs and I think I've made my point so I'll shut up now hasta luego amigos you

Channel: Humptydumptytribe

Views: 396,496

Rating: 4.1041121 out of 5

Keywords: expats, expatriates, moving to Latin America, moving to Mexico, moving to Costa Rica, moving to Panama, moving to Ecuador

Id: W9DqrYUnCcE

Length: 13min 29sec (809 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 21 2012