bhill has left 134 comments
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bhill comments on Sin senos no hay paraiso...... One of the things I love about latin culture - they haven't caught the whole Politically Correct wave yet. Let's hope they never do.
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bhill comments on English Instruction, Medellin, 'Foreign Woman' Scam? I don't know how well the OP speaks Spanish... Perhaps she just wants to be able to communicate with him better. I don't think some strong desire to move to the US soon can be inferred without more info.
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bhill comments on AVIANCA, GO F YOURSELVES Well, from their point of view, it's just a financial decision. How full have your flights from NY to BAQ typically been? NY winter is too damn cold... I'm amazed anyone from any part of Colombia would voluntarily spend February there (I wouldn't).
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bhill comments on why'd you come to colombia??? For my first trip, I went to improve my Spanish. After previous trips to Mexico where my opening remarks in broken Spanish were greeted with a response in good to excellent English I realized that I had to go elsewhere. One of the more interesting surprises during that first visit was all the people I met who told me I was the first foreigner that they had met in their lives. The same may not hold true these days though.
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bhill comments on Properties near the coast, which coast? How much the vendors bother you depends on the season. If you go during the low season (summer) there is simply no shaking them off. As soon as one batch leaves there are 5 more to take their place. In winter it's not so bad, presumably because there are some many other targets to fleece.
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bhill comments on I didn't pay an exit tax...how did that happen? I think if your visit is very short you are exempt from paying this tax. Or so I was told once when I has only a 3 day trip.
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bhill comments on should I buy CO Pesos here in America before the dollar goes back down??? The places you could exchange dollars->pesos (the bank and the exchange place in a major airport are the only ones I can think of) in the US will give a terrible exchange rate...
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bhill comments on I'd love to be mistaken for a local in Colombia. No hassles, fewer leeches. Why would you want to attract the vultures on purpose?
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bhill comments on I tried to figure this out myself once upon a time. There is no great answer. The best I could come up with is to rent one of those very large Post Office boxes (the kind generally intended for businesses) and hope that it doesn't overflow before I get back. Of course I also jumped through every hoop imaginable to stop junk mail months before I left on my trip. Its a plague/curse, and the post office is complicit in the scam. The usual letter to the direct marketing association does nothing much. So, you resort to direct letters to each of the many scumbags who send you crud. Lots of luck stopping the tide of ValPak coupons.
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bhill comments on Warning Identiy Theft in Colombia The only real way to "safely" do online baning in a web cafe is if your account has a Secure ID Token: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_token The one-time password is useless if captured (since it's only valid the one time that you used it).
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bhill comments on Travelers Rate Miami Airport as the Worst,,, I don't know that I have many gripes about the airport, but I really hate going through immigration in Miami -- no other port of entry is nearly so unpleasant.
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bhill comments on another possibility to make a little money in Colombia that people haven´t really touched on I think I'd hesitate to take that risk with anyone I did not know personally for a very long time.
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bhill comments on Advice needed for relationship Depending on where you live, getting a job without work authorization will either be hard, very hard, or impossible.
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bhill comments on Inoculations in Colombia? You can get a yellow fever vaccination at any Cruz Roja. As for the anti-milarials, I've never needed a prescription at a Colombian pharmacy, but I don't know that they would ordinarily stock mefloquine (or whatever). I don't see why they wouldn't. -Brian
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bhill comments on Need to send laptop to colombia If you ship it the import duty will likely eliminate any benefit -vs- buying a computer locally. The best way to get it there is with someone's carryon luggage.
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bhill comments on Emigrating with debt? You must pay US federal taxes no matter what country you live in unless the US has a tax treaty with that country. And I don't believe the US has a tax treaty with Colombia. Your creditors will get 1st dibbs on any refund that might have been due to you until any debts are settled. $6000 is not worth complicating the rest of your life. Just pay them.
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bhill comments on Visa for non-immigrant See http://bogota.usembassy.gov/general_information/nonimmigrant-visa-unit-how-to-apply-for-a-visa.html
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bhill comments on GPS maps of Cali and surrounding area mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com and mapcenter2.cgpsmapper.com is a great place to go for free Garmin maps. Good places to look for countries where Garmin does not even sell a product - generally better detail than their world map. "Colombia Ruteable" by Jorge Martinez is a pretty decent Colombia-wide map. Not a huge amount of city detail though -- only very major streets. There are also files with detailed city maps for Bogota and Medellin (not cali, cartagena, or barranquilla....). -Brian
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bhill comments on My credit card was cloned in Medellin. No concern with looking at your statement via internet -- so long as its your own computer. The data is encrypted, so interception is unlikely. I would never trust an internet cafe computer for that though.
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Bargaining is definitely expected. Just speaking for me, I'm always a bit hesitant to but a gem that is supposed to be of very high quality (diamond, emerald, whatever) because stones that look the same to the eye can have different values and I'm not smart enough to tell the difference. Shady dealers can make a less expensive emerald look like a more expensive one by soaking it in oil, and who knows what other schemes. So yes, I've bought some emeralds in Colombia, but nothing over a few hundred dollars. If you do get suckered, well, there is a long line of bigger suckers on eBay waiting to buy your mistake from you. -Brian
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bhill comments on skype is expensive to call colombia VBUZZER offers cheaper rates than Skype to Colombia, and it works pretty good. www.vbuzzer.com $0.021 to Bogota $0.030 to Medellin
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bhill comments on medical insurance Buy travel insurance with emergency medical coverage. If you are especially worried about it, you can get some which includes medical evacuation. You'll still have to pay up-front -- they reimburse you later. There are a gizillion people trying to sell you this, but, this company actually paid off a claim I had on one trip: http://www.accessamerica.com/ so I've stuck with them since. Most decent health insurance will accept a claim for services provided overseas, so you should probably just check with your provider. -Brian
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bhill comments on I need a lesson in Verbs imperfecto is for a habitual action, or something with no clearly defined beginning or end. perfecto has a clearly defined timeframe, like if you say "Ayer, (pretérito).." It's easy enough for me to understand the intent, but as a second language I doubt I'll ever get to the point where I always select the correct tense.... -Brian
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bhill comments on Colombia with out costeños I would not worry about it. Seriously. China is destined to assume the "leadership" role in the near future. No one will be interested in immitating anything from the US then.
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bhill comments on Question about Request for Initial Evidence i-485 When in doubt, _bury_ them with paper.
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bhill comments on Job Opening in Barranquilla for an English/Spanish Speaking Female Re: Credability Yeah, thats true enough, nothing but an individuals word to go by here. So even if he did tell his story, obviously personal judgement by the reader is needed. But he didn't tell his story. To say "your safety and privacy are at risk" and offer no substance or details, who will just take that at face value? Perhaps dontdothis has a valid concern, but without stating his case objectively it just looks like one of the many rantings you'll find on any given forum.
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bhill comments on Job Opening in Barranquilla for an English/Spanish Speaking Female Tough room... So he's placed a classified add "for free". Given then unemployment and poverty in Barranquilla, I think offering employment for someone there hardly counts as a negative.
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bhill comments on Safety precautions in Barranquilla Re: no offense...BUT You do understand that el modefoque is Colombian, right?
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bhill comments on Time to Invest In Venezuelan Cert of Deposit?? Go to the casino Just as safe an "investment" and probably more fun.
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bhill comments on yellow fever vaccine $$$ Do you need it? I'm not sure that yellow fever is a problem in Bucaramanga. I got it for a trip to Tayrona. Bucaramanga is pretty far from there.... The vaccine is only estimated to be 50% effective anyhow (meaning if you are stung by an infected mosquito, your chances of getting the disease are still pretty good), so if cash is a real problem, re-evaluate if you really need this vaccine.
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bhill comments on yellow fever vaccine $$$ Get it in Colombia I paid 44.000 pesos (around $20) at the Cruz Roja.
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bhill comments on Illegal immigration: Are we just too stupid to solve it? Useless politcians We have the finest congressmen that private interests can buy. They are all spineless, and so deep in some pocket or other that no difficult issue can be resolved, immigration included on a large and growing list. Though I admit, I still had a _little_ faith in government left before the Bush administration robbed me of even that token support.
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bhill comments on Danger: it's raining I'd be more afraid of the flash flooding. When it really rains there, a few streets turn into white-water rivers very quickly...
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bhill comments on Maps of colombia Auto Guia If you are in Bogota, any decent book store should have
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bhill comments on Calling colombia yet again...? Re: Calling www.vbuzzer.com has pretty cheap rates.
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bhill comments on Colombia's peso reaches 6-year high Why wish for 1.500 ? Uhm, aside from the horrible consequences on exports, would not tourism be thoroughly trashed? And the overpriced condos in the touristy areas?
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What were they supposed to have done? Everyone seems a bit down on Chiquita. But what should they have done - allowed their workers to be killed to make some kind of point? That does not really sound like the moral high ground. Beg the Colombian government for help that would not have been provided?
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bhill comments on Getting new cedula, passport, etc Renounce citizenship? What are you thinking? When they start shouting "round up all the Americans!" don't you want to be able to wave your red Colombian passport?
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bhill comments on Colombian Films Colombian Films
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bhill comments on English in Colombia More than Mexico? Far fewer, I would think. At least my experience in Mexico - many locals with at least some English. Colombia just isn't like that. One of the things I like about the place.
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bhill comments on monthly salary Re: Salary Certainly employment can be very difficult to come by in Colombia. As for the trustworthiness and work ethic of the men, best not to generalize.
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bhill comments on Drugs spiked in drinks in Colombia (Cali)? Burundanga/Escopolamina any info on street drugs producing permanent damage?? Again!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?! Find a professional. No one else can *possibly* help you. Stop posting this same question (this is what, the 15th time?).
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bhill comments on Time to revisit Barranquilla Don't be too hard on her Leaving your friends, family, and everything you know is a difficult thing. Better that she decided early instead of a few months after she arrived. If her goal was to milk you she certainly would not have told you any misgivings about going with you...
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bhill comments on Carnaval en Barranquilla-Beware "Contact me for further info" ?? That seems a curious end.
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bhill comments on Checks in Colombia Check... I really think travelers checks are the only kind she could ever hope to cash. If these are not American Express travelers checks she should probably ask her bank if the accept whatever flavor you mean to send.
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