I wrote in our just-released book, Guanajuato, Mexico, that to avoid getting ripped off in Mexico as a Gringo Expat depends entirely on "whom you know." I made application of this principle to the issue of renting a house here in Mexico. There is the "gringo" price and there is the "Mexican" price. How do you prevent yourself from paying the higher "Now-We-Are-Going-To-Stick-It-To-The-Gringo-Sucker" price?

If you want to prevent yourself from getting cheated when renting a house in Mexico, you have to develop contacts"?influential ones"?with renowned people. Then, you have to drop their names.

If you meet someone who is influential at a party and he gives you his business card and tells you, "Call me if you need anything," then he is the person whose name you will drop when you try renting (or buying) a house.

When trying to rent a place for which a Mexican would pay $200.00 less than the Mexican landlord is trying to charge you, drop the name.

"Oh, by the way, did I tell you I know so-and-so?" The more influential the person is, the less likely the landlord will risk having his reputation ruined by cheating you. A perfect example of this salient principle of Mexican Living happened the other day. We live in Guanajuato, Mexico. The city is doing major repair work on the street in front of our house. It is an unholy mess but they have to repair the sewer lines, the water mains, and the road itself. It has to be done. In the process, they have to turn the water off in sections of the neighborhood for days on end.

A couple from the States, who come here for a short time each year and who live on our street, came back to this mess. They arrived at the apartment only to find that their water had been turned off. The woman found the project boss, El Maestro, and complained. She also wanted to know when he would get the water turned on so she and her husband could flush the toilet.

The guy began the usual singsong, Mexican whine of why he couldn't help her and why the water had to be turned off, and so on and so on.

I couldn't stand listening to another second of his excuses. This is the identical singsong whine you hear from anyone from whom you try to get any definitive information in this country. They all do it and they do it to Gringos. It was the same tune, just with different words.

Finally I blurted out, "She lives with the governor's mother!"

The current governor of Guanajuato's mother has a compound of apartments next to her house that she rents out to selected clients. This couple has rented one of her apartments for years. They are well-known in the city (though not as well-known as the Governor's mother).

You could have sworn that someone lit a firecracker under this guy's butt. He jumped off the wall on which he was sitting, uttered a few vile profanities, all the while whipping out a cell phone to call for a crew to come out and turn the water on.

This is how life works in this country. Do not underestimate that:

It's all in a name.

Douglas Bower

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Doug Bower is a freelance writer, Syndicated Columnist, and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Transitions Abroad, International Living, and The Front Porch Syndicate. He is a columnist with The American Chronicle, Ezinearticles.com, Cricketsoda.com, and more than 21 additional online magazines. His column writing is a major platform from which to promote his books. His book, The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico, was released through Universal Publishers, an imprint of Brown Walker Press. His second book, Guanajuato, México: Your Expat, Study Abroad, and Vacation Guide in the Land of Frogs will be released in the summer of 2006.