Oops, I Got Gringoed Abroad: Gringo Gouging Overseas

Latin America and many Asian countries too, are notorious for gouging the gringo; from food and rents, to getting a document translated. If you live in South and Central America, you probably have been gringoed.  Funny thing is, we gringos are the ones who allow it to continue and then it gets out of hand and prices go up.


Instead of complaining about being gringo gouged all the time, we can do something about it. But before we can do something we have to understand “why” it happens and “why” they do it, so we can stop it in its tracks because over time it produces negatives in our lives. What we sow we reap principle.
 

                   Why Gringos Get Gringoed?



1.  Gringos don’t bargain. Most of us accept the first price quoted for something. This is just US cultural thing, but it is not what it's like in your new place abroad.  If you don’t speak Spanish or very little Spanish that’s ok; bring a Spanish speaking friend along with you when you purchase items, until you learn your numbers.
Solution: Learn Spanish numbers.
 

2. Gringos compare prices to back home. In most cases even the higher price we are quoted will be less than what we pay for the same item back home. As long as we keep comparing to back home we’ll keep paying the gringo price.
Solution: Stop comparing.
 

3.  We accept it.  We shrug our shoulders and call it some absurd label like “gringo tax” which clearly justifies skewed thinking, “It must be ok that I keep getting gringoed, because it’s a tax.” … No comment!
Solution: Don’t believe everything you read.
 

4. We don’t want to look cheap.  Hahaha, that’s funny.  Actually, it is when we accept gringo prices it shows that we have no principle. Now, that’s cheap!  A cheap person feels the need to keep up appearances and will simply pay the quoted price but later justifies why it's okay for the gringo to overpay.  The principled person speaks up about it, and walks away from the sale if he or she has to, which also helps the next gringo who bargains with that vendor.
 

Solution: Realize that in a country where EVERYONE negotiates it is acceptable that gringos negotiate too. Does it make you look cheap? That's something one feels that is within themselves...perhaps they have a low self esteem.  No one can make anyone look or feel cheap for paying the REAL price (going rate) for something. 



It is either negotiate or be gringoed just because you are fairer skinned than they are. It’s your call: principle or apathetic.



 If you enjoyed this article, we think you will like these articles too!

• How Safe Is Your (Ecuador) Retirement from Gringo Gouging and Inflation?


• Not All Gringo's Are Rich, So What's Up with the Gringo Inflation?


• Why We Should Stop Comparing N. America with S. America 

We're an Expat Family of Five, Living Frugal, Healthy and Happy Abroad. We live in Cuenca, Ecuador and travel to Quito and the Ecuador coast whenever we get a chance. We just adventured throughout the country of Panama for five weeks! Come along and enjoy some of our experiences with us!

Riding Metro City Bus in Panama City, Panama

On this bus ride we're passing by the Caledonia bus terminal and the Metro Subway Station; lots of people roaming about in this area of Panama. Caledonia has a huge street Mercado that stretches along several blocks, numerous discount department stores and a couple of grocery stores. 

                       


We're an Expat Family of Five, Living Frugal, Healthy and Happy Abroad. We live in Cuenca, Ecuador and travel the Ecuador coast whenever we get a chance. We just adventured throughout the country of Panama for five weeks! Come along and enjoy some of our experiences with us!

Do They Add Fluoride to the Drinking Water in Cuenca Ecuador? Proof is in the Salt

A  reader asks: Do they add fluoride to the water supply in Cuenca Ecuador?
 

We recently did the research on this important issue and found nothing about fluoride being added to the drinking water in Ecuador.  We went to ETAPA website, which is based in Cuenca, Ecuador and it says absolutely nothing about the adding of fluoride to the drinking water.
 

On the other hand, the Cuenca forum chatter says they add fluoride to the Cuenca tap water. But should we believe what people are saying on forums without doing our homework first? We don’t think so. There are absolutely no facts to back up the statement that Cuenca adds artificial fluoride to the drinking water. 



We’ve seen this question being posed at different websites and forums on the web at least a half a dozen times, and so far we have not seen any facts to back up there is fluoride in the drinking water.
We hope to put this issue to rest by allowing folks to decide for themselves, after they read the Fluoride studies we found.
 

After someone wrote in asking us about it and wondering if Ecuador adds artificial fluoride to the water system, we decided to do the research. This time we delved a little bit deeper and it wasn’t right in front of our face either. 



What we discovered is not on the first or even the second page of Google, but on page 3 and down at the bottom! (Yes, sometimes it pays to go past page 1 of Google search engine folks) What we discovered explains several things to us that we didn’t know before about Cuenca and fluoride.  Are you ready for this?
 

We found a 1997 comprehensive study where Ecuador took water samples in different regions of Ecuador to see if the water source from the mountains had natural occurrences of fluoride.  The study proved that Ecuador does have natural deposits of fluoride in the water in almost every region they tested, but considers the amount of fluoride present in almost all the regions, including Cuenca, inadequate for keeping cavities at bay. 
 

Source: Page 5 of the study (PDF) found here
 

This is what the fluoride samples affirm: the only regions of Ecuador that had optimal concentrations of natural fluoride was in Cotopaxi and Chimorazo regions.    Here’s where it gets interesting, if you keep reading the study, on page 7 it states that because the levels of fluoride in the water was adequate enough in Cotopaxi and Chimporazo regions these areas were not included in the “Salt Fluoridation Program” like the rest of the regions in Ecuador were.  



Salt Fluoridation Program? So I Googled this program and it brought up the Salt Fluoridation Program that Ecuador is engaged in through the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
 

What does this propose? In 1997 Ecuador began a program with the aid of (PAHO) to set-in-motion the adding of artificial fluoride to the table salt for the prevention of cavities.   The option was to either, add fluoride to the salt or to the drinking water and Ecuador elected to join the ‘Salt fluoridation Program’.
 

According to the report eleven countries have been involved with the ‘Salt Fluoridation Program’ since 1997—Belize, Bolivia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela— are in an advanced stage of implementing salt fluoridation programs.
 

Almost 200 million people in the Region (South America) are exposed to sustained intake of fluoride via salt. Ultimately, an additional 125 million people will have a fluoride intake using salt.
 

Source:   Pan American Health Organization
 

It took a whole day of research and reading the whole study, but low and behold, the first real data explaining if Cuenca Ecuador adds artificial fluoride to the drinking water.  



On page 88 of the Salt Fluoridation Program (click here) it states the recommendations for those countries that are involved with the Salt Fluoridation Program, which Ecuador is, and the first recommendation on the list says:  Only one systemic source of fluoride is recommended for each country. This should be either salt or water, but not both.
 

This is the clincher: The last ten words of the above sentence is the tell-tell that lets us know that Ecuador SHOULD NOT BE ADDING artificial Fluoride to the drinking water because it’s in every brand of salt…they are involved with the ‘Salt Fluoridation Program’!
 

There are a couple of things to take into consideration here and that is:
 

1. The water in Cuenca and in other regions of Ecuador already has natural occurring deposits of fluoride in it.
 

2.  If Ecuador were adding artificial fluoride to the drinking water and to the salt BOTH, it would be providing the people with too high of concentrations of fluoride and that would be toxic...and with the small traces already in the water and using the table salt with fluoride that might be quite a bit of fluoride already ingested on a daily basis.



 3. On the back of the Ecuador salt packages is says: Important Notice for people in the regions of Cotapxi and Chimborazo, etc to ONLY use salt that has been iodized because they already have adequate amounts of fluoride in their water naturally. 

back of table salt Ecuador

**The study said, “SALT OR WATER but NOT BOTH.”  So there you have it!**
 

What do we think?
 

1. After reading these two studies, it appears that Ecuador may not be adding artificial fluoride to the drinking water after all. However, we wouldn’t ever trust our health with some ambiguous studies coming out of all places, the u.s.a.  We still filter for fluoride!
 

2. There are small amounts of natural occurring deposits (0.30 ppm) of fluoride in the drinking water in Cuenca water system already.  And if you read the study further it does say that during different seasons there could be more or less fluoride in the water.
NOTE: If you are concerned about the small traces of fluoride that occur naturally in the drinking water, you can always filter it out.
 

3. The table salt in Cuenca does have artificial fluoride added to it. 

Table salt Ecuador Fluorurada = Fluoride

Cuenca sells sea salt which is a better option for those who are concerned about their health.
 

The Awful Truth about Fluoride
 

Reading the study we find that Pan American Health Organization is a US based institute located in Washington DC.  The awful truth is because the US (still) promotes that artificial fluoride prevents cavities they will continue to aid developing nations such as south and central Americas in fluoridation treatments such as this.
 

For many years the propaganda from the American Dental Association has completely blinded the public from the truth. They simply do not understand that fluoride is a noxious poison that is harmful to the body and mind, especially in growing children… and that is the awful truth about fluoride. Data is coming in daily with numerous studies of artificial fluoride added to drinking water causing ADHD and other amoralities in adults and children.
 

Recently, teachers in South America (Guatemala) gave out fluoride supplements to the children in their drinking water, thinking they are healthy supplements; the Fluoride pills made many of the children ill and they were sent to the hospital with fluoride poisoning. Read the story here.
 

Fluoride is considered a neurotoxin and to the developing brain it can be disastrous. Numerous studies have shown developmental problems in children who drink fluoridated water or salt. Here are 43 such studies that proved to lower IQ’s in children in areas where they add fluoride to the drinking water. http://fluoridealert.org/studies/brain01/
 

European Nations Wising Up
 

Despite growing pressure from the American Dental Association (ADA) 99% of western continental Europe has rejected, banned, or stopped fluoridation due to environmental, health, legal, or ethical concerns.
 

Amazing: Only about 5% of the world population is artificially fluoridated and more than 50% of these people live in North America!  (My notes: The rest are probably in South and Central America!)


Source: Fluroidation by Country -- http://www.fluoridation.com/c-country.htm



It seems quite contrary how the American Dental Association (ADA) pushes for added fluoride in the water, in the toothpaste, in the salt, and yet, they all push soda pop and sugary drinks that actually cause cavities in children and adults.  



Prevention is not taking fluoride supplements, or drinking water with fluoride, or even brushing your teeth with fluoride, it is cutting out soda pop and processed carbohydrates from the diet and teaching good brushing and flossing skills.
 

If you found this article useful, we think you will like these too?
 

• How We Filter Out Fluoride and Heavy Metals from the Drinking Water in Cuenca Ecuador

• Is there GMO in Ecuador?

• Is the Food in the Cuenca Mercados Organic?

 
 We're an Expat Family of Five, Living Frugal, Healthy and Happy Abroad. We live in Cuenca, Ecuador and travel the Ecuador coast whenever we get a chance. We just adventured throughout the country of Panama for five weeks! Come along and enjoy some of our experiences with us!