Expat Files - 01.02.15

-You may have heard that Citicorp/Citibank took great chunks of the unprecedented billions in taxpayer bailout money, went south of the border with your dough and opened up more than 500 Citibank branches throughout Latin America. And yes, at first Latins of all stripes fell all over themselves to open accounts with what they perceived to be a solid-gold, first-world enterprise (duh…ignorance is bliss). However, no one could have anticipated what would happen next…

-What about corporal punishment in Latin America? Are teachers etc., allowed to whack unruly kids, and if so, is it a common practice? You’ll be surprised… 

-The top complaint newbee expats and gringos have when trying to converse with Latin Americans is the machine-gun rate at which they speak (the same thing Latins say about us when we speak English!). So often, us Spanish language newbees get the first sentence or two down ok only to get snowed under with the next machine gun blast of words. That said, here’s a great trick to subtly force Latin people into slowing down without you coming off as an idiot gringo.

 

-What’s with all the hydro-cephalic marble and bronze sculptures all over the place in Latin America? Can’t Latin artists carve a human head that’s not disproportionately large? Maybe it’s a bizarre inside joke on corrupt leaders perpetrated by the artists hired to honor said genocidal despots. Or maybe not….

     

 -Do follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private phone, Skype or Mumble consult with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, we can talk about your situation one on one.