BrujoMontez has left 8 comments

BrujoMontez comments on What is Manizales like?

Manizales del Alma... Manizales is Beautiful. I am from neighboring Pereira and I have visited manizales many times. First of all, you will be impressed by the spectacular views. The city is built literally on top of the mountains! the streets are very steep and hilly, so riding a Taxi in Manizales is like getting on a roller-coaster. I love it! The weather is like that of Northern California. Temperate/sub-tropical, cool, rainy, misty, lush, Fog often envelopes the city, very romantic, almost spooky. The smell of burning fireplaces and bakeries fills the air. The views accross the valleys and towards El Nevado del Ruiz are amazing. The cool mountain climate helps a wine variety of plants and trees to grow in profusion, from Pine trees to palm trees and all kinds of flowers. The city itself is also pretty. It used to be one of the most beautiful cities in Colombia because of its traditional architecture and beautiful plazas, but two devastating fires and a big earthquake rocked the city and turned it into rubble. The New building code made constructions virtually fire- and eathquake-proof, but gave the city a more modern appearance. rows of "leggos" clinging to the hillsides, is charming in its own way and colombians are very meticulous with the appearance of their houses. Hanging flowers from the windows is very common. Manizales is typically a college town, with a very educated population, middle class families, very safe too. I think people have the wrong perception of Manizalitas. They are not all snooty and conservative. They are Paisas to the fullest, and that means they are unpretentious, warm, very friendly, straightforward, down to earth and liberal (yet conservative when it comes to religion). The biggest Rumba of the year is the Famous "Feria de Manizales", People come from all over Colombia to watch the famous "Corridas". The Party revovles around Bullfighting and Aguardiente Cristal, everyone is drinking, You have flamenco and the "Carrozas" full of flowers and then come the Horses, Beautiful Paso Finos all dressed up parading through the streets, and the "Arrieros" with their hats, carrieles, and of course.... drinking Aguardiente Cristal! This is what Manizales is all about!
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"Ay Manizales.... ...del Alma!!!"
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(I love that song )

BrujoMontez comments on Colombian Spanish

Maybe.. Because they don't want to help thecolombian market open up, since they already have a monopoly on Spanish media, all moviesare dubbed in Mexican spanish, this is because of its proximity and working relationship with the U.S. and also the number of Mexicans in the U.S. They recognize that Colombians are better prepared or well suited for the industry so it threatens them. All that being said, they still hire Colombians for actors, spokemen and so on..They can't help it, lol.

BrujoMontez comments on Drug use in Colombia

Ha... lol....#1 the "Burbs" aren't all of America and #2 The "Burbs" is where I live, and I get my weed from the next door neighbor and so does everyone else in this Western "Burb". The beautiful suburban home my sister bought had been confescated by the police as a "Meth-lab"... she had to have it detoxified before she moved in. lol... But America is drug-free, just good old Granola for ya!

BrujoMontez comments on Drug use in Colombia

hahahaha... OMG, what a liar! Here we have another Bush. "America is drug-free" "Europe is Drug-free"...lololololololol.
You know what, "Gringo from Bogota'", Iwon't even waste my time with such a futile attempt at painting America as a drug-free holyland. That is too funny. I AM an American, lived here all my life, many states, different people and Nothing from what you said could be more false!
I gotta go now, watch John Kerry gives his thumbs up to Bill Clinton and Dr. Dre about legalization and expanding the already ubiquous Rehab centers nationwide. I'll keep ya posted!

BrujoMontez comments on Danish Film about the FARC

Guerrilla vs. Crime Nobody really knows the true situation in Colombia regarding the Guerrillas. Colombia has always had guerrilla activity because of the need to change things that cannot be changed through politics. (our topography also makes it easy for these groups to hide out) The Modern day Guerrillas in Colombia, however, have no "noble cause" and aren't supported by any "Popular movement". They are feared and hated by the country's people. They have an agenda of confescating lands by terrorizing rural areas, to grow and sell drugs on them, working hand in hand with the Mafia. They want to gain control of the country so they can make it easier to transport drugs. They are the Mafia's Millitia! And they are very well armed. The extremely lucrative drug trade pays for very advanced weapons that the guerrillas use. We are lucky that we have been able to confront them sometimes successfully, since they are very powerfull, ruthless, barbaric and inspire fear in all Colombians. Those that join them, only do so because they we're probably left homeless by guerilla attacks or have no other way of supporting their families and feeding their children but to join them. In my opinion is that they are evil, they terrorize colombia and we have somehow leaned to live with them. Lately our Military, with president Uribe leading the way, we have been able to defeat them in our tireless and unrelenting dedication bring peace to our country, although having all the odds against us. Most Guerrilla activity is normally confined to remote and unpopulated areas such as the Amazonas and Los Llanos, hot jungle territories where very few people live. In the past, however, they have been able to enter major cities like Medellin and Bogota' and attack essential power facilities. OMG, Does anyone remember when Uribe was bieng sworn into office at the Presidential Ceremony in Bogota'? When they were sending bombs and missles into the buildings as he was being sworn in. Parts of the Presidential Palace were being blasted away and the cameras were shaking. I'll never forget that, all the smoke and explosions while it was being televized around the world. The Inauguration only lasted 3 minutes and the President had to flee into hiding. Wow!
So yeah, we have come a long way since then. It almost seems like we are winning against the war with the guerrillas (plural because there are many guerrilla groups, not just the FARC). But they are up to no good and their political control would be devastating the Colombia. Luckily most places visitors will go they won't encounter them. (accept those Biologists who decide to just wander though the beautiful jungles of the Amazon)

Crime in Colombia is less than you would imagine. Most huge crimes are politically motivated. Street crime is not as bad as some other latin countries. Some cities are known to be unsafe, Bogota'(being the Capital, it is alot like a colombian New York,..cosmopolitan and urbane, kenetic, congested, somewhat cold, in weather and in character, even the tall brick buildings remind me of New York), Cali also has more crime, as in most larger cities. Small and medium sized cities are usually very safe in colombia, and your more likely to encounter a murder in Cleveland than in Manizales. That's fact. So long as you are aware of your surroundings, you should have no problem whatsoever. Colombians totally embrace visitors, and they will immediately put you at ease. Colombians love to have guests and make them as comfortable as humanly possible. They will joke with you, talk with you, Invite you places, and even spending a good deal of their savings just showing you around. You will make many friends.

BrujoMontez comments on Drug use in Colombia

so.. In America there is much more taboo revolving around the drug TRADE instead of drug USE. In Colombia It's quite the opposite, where drug USE is very negatively perceived and the drug TRADE is just a very good means of making money. (although this isn't spoken of very openly either)

BrujoMontez comments on Is this Spanish punctuation or a Colombian thing?

Punctuation Lol.. I see your point. Ironically your wife may not be as uneducated as you think. many colombians, latin-Americans, Portuguese and Spaniards do not emphasize on punctuation. I know that in the old days, Colombians would use periods where americans use commas and commas were americans use periods. Aparently it is not as important in the spanish language as it is in english. While our spelling, grammar, syntax and so forth is way more educated and advanced in colombia that in other countries, Such things as punctuation and layout aren't given the importance it has in Englisg grammar.

BrujoMontez comments on Colombian Spanish

Ave Maria Purisima.. lol...Paisas are responsible for that one. Colombia is full of slangs, Ironic since we are considered to speak the best spanish. But it's true. We love using slang, even if we are also well eduated in our language. maybe its the lack of social stigma and the underlying confidence in our gramatical abilities that let's us be free to use slang terms without that implying we are uneducated. Kind of like in America, although I think Colombians are better educated inour language than americans are.
International Media organizations seek and hire Colombians to be News Anchors, Actors and spokesmen. From Mexico to Spain, colombians are deployed because of our educatation and speech, yet we don't come accross as restricted and conservative, It just flows. Colombian Spanish (minus Costenos) could be described as well-pronounced, moderate, freely flowing, modernized, educated yet full of local expressions and slang that we are not embarassed to use even among professionals. But the Origin of Colombian spanish is highly derived from 16th century northern spanish. From this however we have evolved in a very American way, incorporating more modern words. Our comparatively liberal society allows us to be educated yet use our language creatively.