A Normal Day

nanis says on Jan 31, 2005, 10:01:

Desi what do you mean? what's normal to me might no be normal to other people, are we talking middle or upper class families? or may be the ones that barely make it through the day and i mean the ones on the other end? let me know and i'll be glad to post some stuff about how my family used to make it through the day a couple of years back that's only if you want me to of course!

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fzrdan says on Jan 31, 2005, 10:06:

I am very interested to hear a story like that about an average middle class family. Anybody who reads it will just have to realize that it may have aspects to it that do not apply to other families. Maybe a story like that may help me understand my novia a bit better.

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YEP says on Jan 31, 2005, 10:07:

What's a regular/normal family in Colombia
I'd also like to see/hear what the definition is for that ??


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Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

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lpdiver says on Jan 31, 2005, 10:12:

Poor but happy My sister in law's husband died on Christmas eve 11 years ago leaving her with 4 children to raise. She has done so making empanadas and selling them on weekends.

She is a very good hearted but in my opinion somewhat lazy woman. Though her children are basically grown now she only works the weekends to support herself. But she asks nothing and seems to be happy.

She goes shopping in the morning and buys the food for the day. When the food is gone they are done eating for the day!!! My wife likes a little food in the house and when she lived with them she bought $200,000 dollars (colombian of course) worth of food. In two or three days it was gone...teenagers...lol.

She lives in the 12 October section of Medellin.

My only gripe has been that with nine brothers and sisters my wife and I should not be mamas sole support. I have told my favorite sister in law that I felt like she could sell empanadas one extra day per week if only to pay for mamas propane. She started doing so amazingly enough.

Her sister owns a peluqueiria (spelling) and works hard and has a better life. She started it with money provided by my now wife. This was before our marriage and she seems unburdened with repaying. I suggested that my wifes generosity be repaid to mama and she has started making contributions.

My wife is from a poor poor family. Her mother had 12 children and her husband was killed in front of her over a labor dispute. He had his arm cut off as did his brother, who also died. Although poor; this is one of the happiest families I have ever known on any continent, despite their miseries they have endured.

I trust them with my life (literally) when in Colombia.

My only disappointment is the lack of availing themselves to education, but that is a famial thing I suppose.

Her other sister lives alone with her daughter. The father left them to immigrate illegaly to New Jersey. Most of her family has similar stories. But again they are sooooo happy.

Makes me appreciate what I have and my wife really appreciates it also.

Tony

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jan 31, 2005, 10:26:

I know it's a hard task to define what's normal, but we could actually contribute to several threads within one: choose three, four different locations and at least three different socioeconomical levels.
Tony could tell the story of what is a normal day in October 12 neighborhood family in Medellin, others familiar with these environs could add their stories and people who never been there or don't know about the subject would post pertaining questions.

Mrs. Gomez, Adela, pantera, atrevido and myself plus others who live or have lived in Cali would add their story of a family in Cali; we could take two families from different neighborhoods, as adela, nato, Gator and myself would best know the details of ordinary life in a middle-class family and Mrs. Gomez could contribute with the life of a struggling family.

Bogotá people could come up with stories of how the everyday life looks like in Chicó or/and one of the southern barrios.

These are just examples of how I thought this story could be told: on different levels and different locations. We would be wrting the true story of life in Colombia instead of just bantering, trying to outsmart each others with our responses and drawing attention to ourselves instead of talking about Colombia.

Are you game?

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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utopiacowboy says on Jan 31, 2005, 10:26:

Are you serious, Antony? Damm, that barrio is one of the worst in Medellin. Even though my wife's father was gunned down and killed and her husband died suddenly leaving her a widow with 3 children, I think her life has been a walk in the park compared to your wife's family.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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WidowerfromCanada says on Jan 31, 2005, 10:32:

I would like to hear your story Mrs. Gomez.

Great thread idea Desi !!!!!

Love is like a butterfly , if you chase it you will not catch it but you can hope the butterfly of love lands on your shoulder.

Love is like a butterfly , if you chase it you will not catch it but you can hope the butterfly of love lands on your shoulder.

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lpdiver says on Jan 31, 2005, 10:41:

UC Serious as being kidnapped in Colombia! I celebrated my 47'th birthday there. We arrived before dark and in the taxi of family friend Jaido. We also called and had him pick us up.

I never felt really at danger but my radar was exceptionally alert. As we left I heard whispers of "Americano" as the nieces and nephews had been out in the street after we celebrated.

Maybe a bit risky but I am glad for the experience.

Tony

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jan 31, 2005, 11:01:

widower there was another thread of somebody stating this question and people were just laughing at the poster. Lionheart responded to it giving it legitimity and I came to think about that this is really what I'd like to read about Colombia, what I think would be my best contribution on this forum.
It'd be great if people here started spinning off this central theme starting individual threads referring to what's a normal day like for an average Colombian family that they're familiar with. It doesn't have to be their own story; just one that they know really well and have personal, first-hand knowledge about.

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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lpdiver says on Jan 31, 2005, 11:04:

Desi along those lines I often ignore the don't feed the trolls advice and reply to some rediculous posts. Even trolls post questions that can result in good information being exchanged...if you don't settle to the trolls level.


T

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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nanis says on Jan 31, 2005, 11:44:

LOWER CLASS FAMILY : DECEMBER 12 YEARS AGO There were 15 people living in my uncle’s house 9 of those were children the rest were adults including my grandmother who was 57 at that time. My uncle had 5 children all young the youngest 1 the oldest 7 he worked damn hard to provide for all of them, he used to work in cabaza (big market place) helping all the truck drivers unload stuff all night long and the next morning he used to go to “la plaza caizedo” to sell fritanga (fried fast food) the house they were living in was made of guadua (palm tree) and newspaper, their lock was just 2 strings tied together, but their house collapsed during an earthquake and they had to pay rent somewhere else, my uncle didn’t make enough money so he become a sicario.

I lived next door to my uncle’s house with my parents 2 female cousins, 1 male cousin and his best friend. My dad was a truck driver he worked for various companies and earned good money but when he had an accident on the way to Buenaventura he lost his truck and his job and almost lost his life he was paying rent and did not have enough money to provide for all of us, my mother couldn’t work because she was looking after her ill mother who had cancer and my father had to provide for my grandmother’s sickness too it was really hard for him so he decided to follow my uncle’s steps and started to work for a member of the Cali cartel.

My other cousins joined them too; one of them had his little daughter dying in hospital and no money to pay for her hospital expenses, they all united with a group of paisas and formed a gang called “los areperos” this is a notorious gang in el retiro in Cali.

“One no so ordinary day”

12 years ago my dad’s gang made a deal with “el cartel de cali” the deal collapsed and they all feared for their lives, a huge amount of drug money was missing neither of the gangs knew who had taken it, there was also a huge raid and some members of the rival gang were killed I still don’t know the full truth to be honest all I know is that day was the beginning of the end for my family. One of my cousin’s was caught on the raid and was sentenced to life at the palmira prison for being the leader of the militias in the aguablanca district.

Our everyday life became far from ordinary, I used to go everywhere in cali by myself travel by bus from the age of 7 but after all this happen I would have to go everywhere with someone, this very same day my aunt was late to pick me up from school so I decided to go to my friend’s house and fell asleep there, my parents didn’t know where I was and my father freaked out and went straight to this traketo’s place with my other cousins in their bikes equipped with guns to get me. Thinking that he’d kidnapped me because my dad owed him some drug money but before going there he stopped round my friend’s house and found me asleep if he hadn’t stopped and found me there and have gone to this traketo’s house he would probably not be alive now.

They then took me to my uncle’s house were there was a party, my uncle was killed right there in front of his house, a few seconds after we had arrived to what was his son’s first birthday party, they shot him 9 times on the chest and once on the head, we all saw it, his wife and children, his mum and sisters and me.

My other cousin was shot while drunk, the bullet didn’t kill him he died drowned on his own blood, he left his 19 year old wife with two young kids.

My father took my mum and I to Medellin that very same day, we hid there until they found us, they took my father for 3 days he then came back with a bullet in his arm but still alive, we then bought 3 tickets to London and we’ve been here ever since.

my aunts had to bring up their children on their own some of them working as maids the others had to wash clothes for a living they barely made some pesos to buy food sometimes they even went to sleep still hungry.

One of my uncle’s son is now a sicario his daughters work in a massaging place and you know what they do in those places! One of them was lucky enough to go to Japan with her boyfriend who was a pimp and forced her to work as his hooker; she stayed in Japan for 3 years.

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vladimiro says on Jan 31, 2005, 11:44:

A Story I propose the story of a 21 year old textile worker living in Bello an estrato 3 barrio in north Medellin....

Her name is Catalina and she grew up middle-class but sunk into poverty 3 years ago after her father took off with his young mistress. She lives with her 18 year old sister, who works in fast food restaurants now and again, with her 23 yr old brother who can't find work because he doesn't look for it and because employers ask for proof of military service which he never showed up for. She also lives with her 43 year old mother who is a weak character that took to drinking when bad times hit.

Unlike the rest of her family Catalina is muy seria and took over responsiblity of the family after her father left. She used to work 12 hours a day 6 days a week, but as she puts it "that Paroco" (paramilitary) President Uribe banned overtime so now she works 8 hours a day for a lot less money. Unfortunately, she does not make enough to cover basic expenses. After work she often looks for loans to pay off loans to pay off loans she used to help pay for rent and food. Otherwise she goes out with a good looking 27 year old engineer she met at work. He's a foriegn contractor sent to Colombia to implement a computer system that automates factory machinery, ironically, machinery that is designed to automate Catalina's job. And this is difficult to explain, but despite the recent hard times Catalina siempre se pone feliz y sigue adelante.

On a normal day Catalina......?

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jan 31, 2005, 12:19:

"que mala eres juliana" She gets up at the break of dawn in her middle-class barrio in Cali. The house is quite an old one, with walls presenting visible cracks from a couple of the last tremors that shook the earth but weren't strong enough to bring them down. The painting is cracked in several places and the seeping humidity from unrepaired drainage has spotted the whitewash in several places, especially around the kitchen and the two inside patios.

It's barely 5:30 a.m, and she feels stressed for having overslept. Her dad might already be up and wanting breakfast. The maid would probably be still asleep. She rushes to her icy morning shower, washes her hair and gets dressed. Yes, her dad is already awake, sitting in the dining room and looks a bit unhappy since there's no tinto and no juice waiting for him. Juliana apologizes and starts squeezing the oranges for the breakfast, gets the coffee water boiling on the gas stove and knocks on the door of the maid's room to wake up the girl.

It's the beginning of a totally ordinary day in Cali, for Juliana, a middle-aged, divorced woman with a daughter of 14, an elderly father and a maid living in the house. Her mother passed away a year ago and her brother has moved out to live with his girlfriend.

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Albatross says on Jan 31, 2005, 12:46:

Catalina... On a normal day Catalina would eat lunch in the cafeteria with her co-workers, but this is not a normal day. Today she decides to go to an audition across town. The legendary rapper Snoop Dogg has come to Colombia to shoot his new music video, “Calistyle”. He needs some hot local talent to dance in the video. Catalina is smart and very serious, but she's also got moves that would make Shakira blush. So she shows up early and gets a personal “audition” from “The Dogg” himself. Sparks fly and somehow, The Dogg gets leashed. So they get married, move to Belair and live happily ever after... The End

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jan 31, 2005, 12:56:

bah I knew somebody would have to ruin it.
Cheers (not!)
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Albatross says on Jan 31, 2005, 12:59:

Blame it on MGM Sorry... I just love those "Hollywood Endings"...

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jan 31, 2005, 13:13:

if you don't have anything other than Hollywood endings to contribute I'd rather you stayed out of this...
the stories are only just unfolding and these type of comments only disencourage others to continue this thread.

Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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miamimike says on Jan 31, 2005, 13:20:

Typical Day in the life of a "HAVE" ssssssss I have a friend who lives in Medellin and Bogota. Beautiful House in Medellin--2 full time empleadas. The day--up around 9am-breakfast prepared by the empleadas then off to the gym for workout. This is followed by coffee and chitchat with sus amigas.Afterwards a trip to the Salon to to have her hair puffed up in the latest style. Afterwards maybe a trip to the travel agenciesto make plans for a upcoming trip to San Andres, Bogota, Miami or Europe. Then back home-1-2 hr. siesta and then up for supper or maybe a night out at a nice retaurant and a little dancing. Otherwise she entertains friends at home witha movie on her BigScreen TV and videos. She has the same life her in Miami-Luxury Condo on Williams island in Adventura and a new Luxury SUV. IN Medellin-brand new Toyota. She never had to work a day in her life--come from $$$ and married $$$. The rich colombian husband traded her in a few years back for a 25 yr. old model-but she got a good piece of change out of him and lives very nice , thougha somewhat boring life-very sheltered. Much different then my life. A real contrast in lifestyles in Colombia.

No hay Peor Ciego que el que no quiere Ver o Sordo que el que no quiera Oir--Soy Yo, Sarah Palin, Wasilla Alaska.

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Albatross says on Jan 31, 2005, 14:15:

:| Yes, dear...

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

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Lauthra (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 31, 2005, 16:19:

Pirovito says on Jan 31, 2005, 18:09:

the juice is worth the squeeze!! Lower Class family in Bogota!
He wakes up at 6 am takes a shower. At 6.30am wakes up his 20 years old wife so she could get their 3 years old boy to “el gardin distrital del Galan” (daycare) , at 7.00 am he goes to his job with a damn cold that makes him feel like if he got arthritis. Take the buseta that goes to Bosa and after a 45 minutes ride, walks 10 minutes to get to this small house. Then he puts his 23 years old ass in a hard wood chair and starts sewing for 11 hours. At 1 pm he opens his book bag and takes out an small pan in which he carries his lunch; after 5 minutes the little bit of food is down the throat, so he takes those 25 minutes and seats again on the sewing machine to make some extra pesos. At 7 pm he gets out, walks another 10 minutes to get to the crossroad where the galan buseta passes by. He takes the galan buseta; he must go standing on this buseta because there are not available seats. After 45 minutes he gets home very tired and hungry he is really tired but he has not seen his boy since 7 am so he plays with him for 2 hours gives him his food and helps him make some homework. At 10 pm takes the little boy to a small mattress that he has near his twin-size bed. And at 10.30pm or so he goes to bed with his entire body in pain! But despite the fact that he’s got a poor life he doesn’t complaint about it, because he knows that he has to sacrifice himself in order to see two smiles… one on his 20 year old wife that hasn’t finish high school yet and the other smile he sees is the one that his little boy gives him every time that he brings home a “fruna” or a “bom bom bum”!

Dedicated to the person that I admire the most.
My oldest brother!

Thank you and apologies for any grammatical errors

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ShazCas says on Feb 1, 2005, 01:00:

Not useful to define "normal" I think as everyone's different it's best for people just to share experiences about themselves or Colombian people they know, as people here are doing.

I'm going to talk about a retired nurse who lives in the Candelaria, she's 60, very religious, has a big family that she cares about a lot and makes her nurses pension stretch out among them all. She lives in a big old house that used to be an Israeli guy's mansion but is now divided up into run-down houses. She gets up at 6am and puts on big saucepans of water to heat on the stove for her three nieces, brother and brother's wife to bathe with. Then she answers the door for the guy who brings her a saucepan of fresh, unpasteurised milk from a truck, which she boils. Then she makes tintos (small black coffees) drinks one, and opens all the wooden shutters in the house. After that she makes hot chocolate or coffee with lots of panela and hot milk, a scrambled egg for each person, and changua or caldo de costilla with lots of coriander. Sometimes she makes buñuelos or arepas with lots of creamy milk. Everyone then gets up and bathes one by one with the hot water, pouring some into a bucket, crouching down in the bath, and pouring it over them with a cup so it lasts longer.

She spends the day cleaning the house, brushing the floor, waxing the wood and polishing it, cooking lunch, going to the market to buy fresh vegetables. She is very afraid of going out alone so stays in the house all the time, and never does anything for herself, as she's always thinking of her family. Sometimes she enjoys a little whiskey, but hates drunk people, and goes to church every Sunday. She loves history and literature, and can name every king and queen of England. She has a sewing machine and spends her afternoons making clothes for her grandchildren, and many nephews and nieces. She is selfless and giving, and lives for her family.

I hope you enjoyed my story of a Colombian woman!

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YEP says on Feb 1, 2005, 05:01:

ShazCas that was exactly my point ..... You'd simply have to make some individual cases and let people read on/understand from theses examples ;-)

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Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 1, 2005, 09:01:

"que mala eres juliana" part 2 By the time the maid is up and about, Claudita (Julianas's teenage daughter) comes rushing down the stairs, in a bad mood and irritated as 14-year-olds often are. Everything is wrong this morning, again. She has gained 200 grams since yesterday, her skin is breaking out, she doesn't have a thing to wear (she's out of school uniforms now and the competition for being the smartest dresser in school is brutal). Finally, she's off to the school bus, and Juliana sits down for a a cup of café con leche and a cheese roll.
Papá is now comfortably seated at the dining room table, reading the El Pais and eating breakfast. He's got a list of errands for the daughter to run, and Juliana has a couple of business appointments during the morning. She sells real estate, but it's not going so good for her. The main income for the family comes from a rental apartment that Juliana has managed to buy and from Papá's meager pensión. Together with the occasional money that Juliana makes selling real estate it should be enough for a modest living in a house that has long-ago been paid in full. For this family, it's not good, because they have a lot of noble obligations, being direct descendants of a former president of Colombia, for having to maintain a certain life-style, for having to mind everything they do to keep up with the aristocratic past of the family.
Last names are a very important part of everyday life in this family. Mrs. Fulano del Sutano, is she related to those Fulanos or Sutanos from Popayán, Cauca or are they some newcomers from the countryside? This family doesn't mix with the "chusma". They're poor moneywise but rich in pride and tradition.
The rest f the morning Juliana drives her small compact car from one end of the city to the other, showing properties, discussing with clients, looking good and distinguished at every instant. She's not permitted to sweat, or yawn or look bored. The noon heat gets almost intolerable in a stuffy business outfit, the car doesn't have A/C, and Papá will be wanting his lunch soon. The maid does little cooking, since the family would rather that she doesn't. Papá digestion is very delicate and only Juliana knows exactly his tastes and dietary requirements. Before heading home, she runs a couple of errands more for Papá, stops by the supermarket to get provisions, the bank to pay a bill and a farmacia to buy a medicine for Papá.

Continued...
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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WidowerfromCanada says on Feb 1, 2005, 19:00:

Great thread







Desi,

This is a great thread and thanks for starting it. Thanks for all the input people , it has been most eye opening for me.

Have a great day,

Jeff








Love is like a butterfly , if you chase it you will not catch it but you can hope the butterfly of love lands on your shoulder.

Love is like a butterfly , if you chase it you will not catch it but you can hope the butterfly of love lands on your shoulder.

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Albatross says on Feb 2, 2005, 08:26:

Elmo... Thanks for the visuals...

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 2, 2005, 10:00:

contin'd It's past midday when Juli finally gets home, pulling up to the garage door and honking the horn for the maid to come open it. She doesn't, and Juli gets out of the car, opens the garage door herself, while Papá is there too, standing and watching. Once inside she goes upstairs, changes to shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops, tying her shoulder-length hair in a knot on the top of her head.

The maid is nowhere to be seen; Papá explains that she had some errands of her own to take care this morning and Juli wonders if she's on her way out to a new employment. Making lunch takes the better part of the midday hours: tortilla and vegetable soup for Papá, mango juice in milk, a mixed salad, white steamed rice, tostadas de platano and carne frita. They eat at the massive, dark wood dining room table, just the two of them. After they've finished, Papá will wait a little while before the "sobremesa", something sweet for the dessert, usually manjarblanco from Popayán.

Juli clears the dishes washing them in cold water with a strong detergent that comes in a little plastic container and is bright green in color. After that she goes upstairs and lies down on her bed watching tv, occasionally falling a sleep for a while. Papá sleeps a two-hour siesta every day saying that the midday sun is only good for the blacks and the Englishmen.

Claudita comes home from school (bilingual. located in Pance) around two-thirty every day. She's hungry, sweaty, tired and cranky. Juli goes downstairs to give her daughter some lunch, listen to her, talk to her. Daughter goes to the shower, changes clothes and they drive to Unicentro to do some clothes shopping for the daughter has nothing to wear tomorrow either.

They stop by a friend's house, call on a couple of elderly aunties, pick up a prescription for Papá, have an ice cream at mimo's and get back home before six o'clock, time for Papá's evening coffee con leche, croissant and sweets. The maid has come back while Juli was gone, and is ironing the morning wash listening to radio at the same time. After having some coffee and rolls all watch tv in their rooms until it's time to go to bed again.

The end.
(Finally)
(I didn't promise the story of her best day in life, or the most heroic, or the worst either. Just another boring day in La Sultana del Valle)

Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Albatross says on Feb 2, 2005, 10:08:

zzz...

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

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Atrevido (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 2, 2005, 10:16:

Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 2, 2005, 10:24:

tinto Papá is an elderly gentleman, past eighty, widowed about a year ago. He doesn't go into the kitchen. He doesn't eat or drink anything that hasn't been prepared at home. I don't think he knows how to boil water in a pan.
What does he do all day long...well, he talks to his old friends on the phone, reads the newspapers, walks on the back patio looking at the potted flowers and the fig tree, watches tv and listens to the radio, makes lists of errands for the daughter to run, takes naps and showers...

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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lpdiver says on Feb 2, 2005, 15:38:

Desi My aspiration in quite a few years...lol.

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 2, 2005, 16:33:

Tinto, the normal Colombian male expects any woman to wait on him hand and foot. In fact Colombian males are taught from an early age to expect any and every female to serve them food or drink. I am busy in my own household turning things upside down by continuing to serve myself and God forbid, even to cook! When my wife offers to get up from the table to bring me something, I declare that she is not my slave and that I can do it myself. When her sons ask her to get up and get things that they can easily get themselves, I inquire as to whether they are crippled. Yes, it is causing their heads to explode but I think slavery was abolished here quite some time ago.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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lpdiver says on Feb 3, 2005, 04:31:

Cowboy Cowboy cowboy What ever are you trying to do? Ruin it for the rest of us? Don't you know that is why all us gringo's marry the laytina's. Lots of sex and someone to clean up mi casa.

I noticed you dropped your disclaimer; entonces this must be one serious post for you!!!

I love making heads explode too...jejeje

Antony

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 3, 2005, 12:10:

You're right, Tony. I don't mind the domesticity but it just pisses me off to see two teenage boys expecting their mother to wait on them hand and foot. Lazy sonsabit...get up off your ass and get it yourself!

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 3, 2005, 13:08:

I find it a bit odd cowboy that those boys would be that pampered. I've seen a change in a lot of middle-class families regarding the upbringing of the boys. I've seen teenage boys mopping the floors, hanging the laundry, learning how to cook...it's mostly the older generation that still considers the kitchen be a woman's domain exclusively.

My dear departed mother-in-law used to say that men in the kitchen smell like chicken shit (hombre en la cocina huele a mierda de gallina) meaning that it was no place for a man. An elderly relative visited us here in Stockholm and went back to Colombia telling everybody that I force my son take his turn washing the dishes...that we don't "serve" him the way we're supposed to do. My husband took a lot of shit from his parents for participating in the household chores. ("Mijo no sabia que era una escoba hasta que se casó con la gringa...")

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Lauthra (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 3, 2005, 13:19:

utopiacowboy says on Feb 3, 2005, 19:49:

Wow, Desi, it sounds like you've caused a few heads to explode in your time! (I think you turned out ok, Nato. I'm still chuckling thinking of your "hands are too big" remark.)

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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adela says on Feb 3, 2005, 21:51:

lpdiver(Tony) Antony..the history about your wife'family is so nice. Thank you. I would like to add that poor families aren't that happy-in the way you could imagine- but smiles, dances and sing the radio songs all the time. That's my people and I love it.

Màs fe, màs abrazos, màs besos, màs disculpas, màs visitas a nuestros amigos antiguos nos haràn màs plenos cada vez. (Wishing to practice my listening in English virtually)

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adela says on Feb 3, 2005, 21:54:

Desi
I love to talk about my family...you've better wanted me to stop :)

Màs fe, màs abrazos, màs besos, màs disculpas, màs visitas a nuestros amigos antiguos nos haràn màs plenos cada vez. (Wishing to practice my listening in English virtually)

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 4, 2005, 08:32:

Please adela, tell us about your normal day. I won't be stopping you:)
Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 4, 2005, 09:19:

We don't want you to stop, Adela.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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lpdiver says on Feb 4, 2005, 09:38:

I cook She washes the dishes...workes for me. She thinks I am a genius because I can follow a recipe. I tried to explain to her that I just follow a recipe. She says that I have the "hand" for cooking.

It's the daughter that is the problem.

Tony

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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lpdiver says on Feb 4, 2005, 09:40:

Adela You are welcome I will expand on it some time. It is real and not a for example story.

Tony

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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WidowerfromCanada says on Feb 5, 2005, 11:11:

Bumping this great thread up to the top !!

Jeff



Love is like a butterfly , if you chase it you will not catch it but you can hope the butterfly of love lands on your shoulder.

Love is like a butterfly , if you chase it you will not catch it but you can hope the butterfly of love lands on your shoulder.

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 5, 2005, 11:26:

thanx jeff for the bump and your high opinion about this thread.

I'm still waiting more people to jump in and share their normal day in any city, any strata barrio in Colombia. We have heard from Mrs. Gomez and others, but I'm sure there's more to Catalina's story that was discouraged by smart-alec comments from another poster.

I realize that this is not the kind of stuff that many people find interesting, little sex, little violence, little drugs...mostly just pretty boring normalcy, but isn't that what everyday life is often made of?

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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YEP says on Feb 5, 2005, 14:03:

It is interesting because this is what daily life is all about
One thing I miss though is that people would like to add their thougts about what they do (aka Desi style) ;-)


-------------------------------------------------------------------
Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

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COLDK says on Feb 5, 2005, 14:40:

Normal life out of the city... The day here starts around 3-4 am. She prepares the coffe while he gets ready to go to get the milk (ordeñar) or just for a normal working day in the farm. One of the sons will accompany him. Usually it takes almost 1 hour by walking there. Some time they use the donkey or the old horse.
The son comes back alone to bring the milk and on the way some yuca, platano or ñame. The mother is waiting to prepare the "cafe con leche and suero", the rest of the milk is to prepare the hand made cheese (maybe only one kilo cause not too much milk). They have the breakfast (arroz calentado -rice fron the day before- or yuca, sometimes with eggs, suero or cheese plus cafe con leche). Kids from around 8-10 years already have to help with daily tasks. Boys going to the farm and girls cleaning the house before going to school. Cleaning includes sweeping the front of the house an the big patio. The mother stays at home preparing the lunch and washing some clothes or taking care of nieces if they have.
Lunch usually consists of "sancocho" or "masamorra". Problem is there is no place to buy meat every day. Sometimes one person in the village kill a caw or a pig for selling. They have to tramit the permit with the inspector first. They anounce it sounding a caw horn (cuerno) the day before, so everybody knows that to buy the best cuality they have to be there around 3am.
After school and lunch boys continues helping with firewoods or any other tasks. Girls can help washing clothes or ironing or cooking the dinner, which they start around 3pm so no more that 5pm they are eating (rice, meat or chicken, or eggs and if not so lucky only with suorcream (suero) and maybe some salad, for drink limonade, or any seasonsfruit juice).
It is similar to all the famillies. Some of them have 1 or to caws for the daily milk , some have none, so the men work in other farms to get maybe 10.000 pesos a day and usually not work for every day.
This a smal village around 2 hours from Sincelejo (la costa) and only half of the road with asfalt. 3 or 4 old jeeps drive every day to Sincelejo or Corozal around 5 am, after that no more posibility. They return after noon time. So to go to the doctor or buy clothes or food or what ever has to be at that time. Only small shops for food. No movies, no restaurants, no place for icecream, only one or two places for "billar" so men have more options. Young people meet friends at homes, but usually boys and girls separated. It is not well seen that girls receive male visitors. Most of Boyfriends and girlfriends (novios) meet in secret. Some families have TV, if not they are wellcome at neighbors.
They have public parties for special occasions like holy week, december or in August (St. Roque). I think this is the only time of the year when the priest goes from corozal, so some people plan weddings and babtizes. For those public parties men have to pay, women usually not. The biggest one is 31 of Dec. Almost everybody goes there. 10 mins before midnight they go home to hug the parents and they return to early next day. Usually the day after those parties the big new is that "the daugther of señor XX escaped from the party with the boyfriend... she was only 14 (or 16)". Not so many options for young people. They go to highschool, but after that... only few parents have the money to send them to the "city" (Barranquilla or another one ) for university. But most of them cant. Even when going to public universities, they dont have money to pay the place to stay in (la pensión). So some of them just leave the school and prefer to go to Cartagena or Barranquilla to work as maids or "jardineros". Maybe thats a better option than joining irregulars groups like some others do...
I still remember when I went there with my cousin and her 5 years old daugther. She asked : "Mom why the kitchen is in the patio? or where is the toilet? (no toilets). She could not understand why so many differences from the place they live in Barranquilla(strata 4).

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 5, 2005, 14:55:

a great post! COLDK,
you've just contributed something that I find extremely valuable. This is the Colombia I never got to know. It's so far away from the musty pergaminos of Juliana's family in Cali that it could just as well be in another country.
I have a question:
how do these people in Corozal feel about their life? Are they happy? What would be the one thing they'd most want from life if they were granted that opportunity to get one wish fullfilled?

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Gomezman5 says on Feb 5, 2005, 18:53:

COLDK and suero As I read this post by this person, early on, when she talked about suero (its sour cream like) I guessed correctly that this person is
sincelejana....or from the region for sure!!

While Sincelejo is considered in la costa, it's not really geographically on the coast in the way cartagena and Barranquilla is.
But the people from this immediate region have are peculiar (ok curious) in in that they love sour cream with all their meals,EVERY
DAY. It is so strange because, no other part of Colombia has this love for sour cream with their meals like people from Sincelejo or Zagun....another near by pueblito.

It's NOT a costal thing. You will not find other costenos (still no enya), or calenos, or paisas, or rolos, or the people from the llanos, that have this obsession with sour cream with their meals.

It truly is one of Colombia's not so well known geographical distinctions.

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kernow62 says on Feb 5, 2005, 19:48:

I thought suero is the whey of the queso when it goes sour?

At least this is what my wife recalls he grandmother from Ubaté making and called suero.

Perhaps my wife is mistaken.

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kernow62 says on Feb 5, 2005, 19:59:

http://www.alimentosargentino

http://www.alimentosargentinos.gov.ar/0-3/lacteos/14_Diccio/engli01.htm

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Cerealkiller says on Feb 5, 2005, 20:40:

Ms X Normal day for Ms X starts at 9.am. She wakes up, takes a cold shower because her sister has used up all the hot water. She has the feeling it is going to be a horrid day. Her mom and dad are not talking again. They have had problems ever since she can remember. He's been having an affaire and her mom is too sick to care. Not to mention the word divorce is almost a taboo, they have an image to take care of, so they bear with all that.
Ms X, thinks about what she is going to eat as she puts on her Diesel jeans, her favourite ones. That Tommy tshirt she bought in Miami, the Nine West shoes her sister gave her on her b-day...Maybe no breakfast is the right thing to do. Afterall, she is a little bit overweight, her BMI went from a fashionably 17 to an all time high of 18.5, and she knows that happened ever since she hooked up with her BF...
She asks her dad for money, takes her books, looks for the car keys and bribes the maid so that she tells her parents she had a huge brakfast. After driving all the way from Rosales -in Bogota- to el centro, she realizes she forgot her camera...she knew it was going to be a bad day.
Her Bf calls her on the phone while shes having lunch with her best friend, a strange European girl who is crazy about frijoles and grew up with her. She wonders how the heck is it that she prefers frijoles when you can always eat something nicer at the Cafe Renault?
Her Bf calls to tell her he is not coming over to see her tonight, they havent seen each other in a week and she feels he is growing distant. She reminds him he still has her sunglasses and her ipod, he says he will ask the driver to take both things to her place asap.
She thinks most people at uni are either boring or just plain stupid...thats why she sticks to her old friends.
She goes to class and finds out she didnt bring her design project because she has been skipping a lot, she didnt know there was a design project in the first place!
She is frustrated, blames everyone else...the Bf, the best friend, her parents etc etc.
"Oh well, what the hell" she thinks, it is a friday afternoon, there is nothing to do, she bumps into some guys she knows, they go a bar in Germania, just around the corner from Uni. They get pissed on cheap aguila and aguardiente, she ends up making out with 1 of the guys, has to leave her car in the parking lot and get a taxi home because its 7 pm already and she has been there drinking since 3.
She makes it home, asks the doorman to lend her 7000 pesos because she is skint, promises shell pay back in the morning, calls the maid on the citofono and asks her to distract her mom while she makes a silent entrance to the room.
She thinks of her life, cries a little and then falls asleep.

That is one day in the life of the only one person i can say I truly know. Hope she doesnt mind i made it public.

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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kat1 (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 6, 2005, 02:54:

Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 6, 2005, 03:08:

another excellent post cornflakemurderer, thanx!
The real, true story of life in Colombia is slowly unfolding. I'm learning new things about Colombia too.

I still don't know what suero is. I know the English word for it by now, but exactly what is it? Is it the byproduct when the fat is separated from the whole milk to make butter? Is it the first, watery milk coming out of the cow after a calf is born? What is it?

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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kat1 (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 6, 2005, 03:23:

Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 6, 2005, 03:36:

one more question, kat ok, so it's nothing I thought it would be. It's unpasteurized whole milk that's fermented. Does it get a layer of yellow cream on the top when fermented? Do you add anything in the process of fermenting? Salt?

We eat quite of lot fermented dairy products in Scandinavia and Finland and I'm trying to figure out if it resembles something that we often eat for breakfast.
Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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kat1 (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 6, 2005, 04:00:

kat1 (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 6, 2005, 04:12:

Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 6, 2005, 04:26:

thank you kat Yes, I understand the procedure for the preparation of suero now. It's similar to some fermented milk products we prepare here, but with salt added and then it's mixed. We use the same method out in the countryside for fermenting milk, but it's eaten without stirring it, with sugar or sweet berries on the top for breakfast.
Thanks for the link too, I've added it to my recipe links in my favorites.
Have a lovely Sunday, kat.
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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kernow62 says on Feb 6, 2005, 05:01:

Off topic unpasteurized milk. Thanks for the info Kat, very interesting. I have saved the link.

I have been trying to find unpasteurized milk in the US but it is almost impossible. Does the milk for suero need to be any particular butterfat content?I did manage to find some unpasteurized milk at a natural food shop once but the buterfat content was extremely low.

I wanted to make the thing I most miss from my home, Cornish cream.

Cornish clotted cream is heat-treated high butterfat cows' milk cream. Milk is warmed to separate the cream. The cream must have a minimum butterfat content of 55%! The cream is then scalded to 70 to 80º C, but not allowed to boil, for a minimum of one hour during which time a thick crust forms. The product is then cooled to a maximum temperature of 5º C during which time the crust hardens and the underside cream thickens.

A high level of carotene is also found in the grass in Cornwall which contributes to the distinctive colour of Cornish clotted cream.

How to make the real thing
You need full cream milk, fresh from the cow. Pour it into a shallow pan, and leave it to stand for about 12 hours for the cream to rise to the surface. Now heat the milk very slowly in a large heavy shallow pan, until the surface begins to wrinkle: on no account allow the milk to boil- the more slowly the heating is done, the better the result. About one hours gentle heating is what is required. An AGA is great for this and just leaving the pan beside the burner will do the job.Transfer the pan to a cool place and leave overnight. In the morning the clotted cream can be spooned off the surface. (if you cannot get creamy enough milk, you can experiment by adding extra runny cream to the milk to beef up its cream content)

Talk about calories!

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kat1 (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 6, 2005, 06:50:

Gomezman5 says on Feb 6, 2005, 07:20:

suero, suero -- what it is, it is but I don't know anyone who makes it here in the states. All my costeno friends here, just substitute it by purchasing sour cream. Like I said earlier, this is an item that only a small part of the coast seems to eat about every day.

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COLDK says on Feb 6, 2005, 08:22:

Desi: That small pueblito is around 1 1/2 hour form Corozal, which is the second "municipio" of Sucre Department. Sincelejo is the Capital. I can say that they are happy and very nice people. When relatives or friends go from other towns or city to visit they want to offer the best they have, like taking the best hen/chiken they have in the patio and prepare a good sancocho. But poblem is they dont have work opportunities, so what they'd most want is to have work opportunities and study for childrens so they can have a different life. Young people have satarted to realize that there is a different "world" out of there, so maybe thats why they go to big cities to work and study if possible. Also because they need to send money to old parents...


GOMEZMAN5. Yes I am a "sucreña" , born in Corozal, lived in the "pueblito" (5-8years old),then Sincelejo, Caracas, Barranquilla and now Europe.
"While Sincelejo is considered in la costa, it's not really geographically on the coast in the way cartagena and Barranquilla is." But only 40 mins from Tolú/Coveñas and from here to San Bernardo Islands...
"But the people from this immediate region have are peculiar (ok curious) in in that they love sour cream with all their meals,EVERY
DAY. It is so strange because, no other part of Colombia has this love for sour cream with their meals like people from Sincelejo or Zagun....another near by pueblito." Yes, all Sabaneros (Sucre-Cordoba) LOVE SUERO...

Kat1. Good one about suero explanations and recipe. One on my aunts in sincelejo use pasteurised milk (leche en bolsa) to prepare it, similar process. My grandma says it is not original suero, but still good i think...

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 6, 2005, 09:13:

COLDK yes, I re-read your post and don't know why I called your town Corozal, maybe just because you gave your town no name and Corozal was mentioned a couple of times. My mistake, sorry. Anyway, this same type of mentality with utmost hospitality towards visitors I've met among most of the humble folks in Colombia. It's almost like the less you posess yourself more willing you are to share the little you have with others. I am totally impressed by this trait.

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Gomezman5 says on Feb 6, 2005, 09:16:

COLDK I know, here in Chicago, I know a few girls from that region, and both are very good friends. When I go to their house or when we eat in the retaurant, they always have to have sour crema with their food.
Suero is not sold in the stores, here. The Mexicans have a crema but it's not the same. Sour Cream is close enough...and it available here everywhere, in all sizes and its cheap. It's not very time efficient to make suero. Too much work and time.

Anyway, you are in Europe....a long way from home no? Are you in the UK?

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COLDK says on Feb 6, 2005, 09:53:

Gomezman5 Yes, very long way. I could write a book about it...

I moved to Denmark 3 months ago.

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Gomezman5 says on Feb 6, 2005, 10:05:

Denmark??? Wow.....not many Colombians there. Why Denmark?

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oldbongo says on Feb 6, 2005, 11:46:

because in denmark... you can see the original little mermaid...
the other two are known to few...
one in isla pirata...the other, here.

and the oldgingos' commandante, a true costena,
swears that our sour cream, plus bastante salt, is better than
that at home in san jacinto.

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COLDK says on Feb 6, 2005, 12:07:

Gomezman5 "Wow.....not many Colombians there. Why Denmark?" amor dulce amor... In fact I have met here more colombianas married with Danes (at the least 10). More than I expected...

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ARMacleod says on Feb 6, 2005, 13:18:

Colombia is not so poor Poor yes, but there are many places considerably worse off, Moldavia for example, 25% of the male inhabitants of one village there sold one of their kidneys to rich people to feed their family. Now that is what I call poor.

Look at Somalia, and some African Countries, they are POOR. And one recent report shows the inhabitants reverting to cannibalism to stay alive, That is POOR.

By comparison, Colombia is rich, but the wealth is very unevenly spread around.

Being of unsound mind and dubious disposition, I cannot be held legally liable for any indiscretions."¡El diablo me hizo hacerlo!" But don't worry, be happy.

The brain is like a parachute, it only functions correctly when it is open. Pax vobiscum.

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kat1 (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 6, 2005, 13:52:

COLDK says on Feb 6, 2005, 14:04:

Sahagún Kat1. That is correct. It was my spelling error. (I used to get bad grades in Geografía cause of bad spelling of place names...)

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swedish_girl says on Feb 6, 2005, 16:17:

the average day for the average colombian family (where i stayed)

the sons wake up around 7 am, one ready to go to school, the other one ready to go to her univeristy

mom has the breakfast ready, delicious arepas, with manquetille or however u spell it
chocolate yummy
a bit of cheese, bonuelos

the oldest daughter is a single mom ,so the baby is asleep

dad is working

they have breakfast, mom cleans the house, and she takes care of the baby while her daughter is at school

mom and baby watch the soap opera, then mom talks to her neighbor (friendly conversation with the housewife next door)

then around noon, every one is back from school, lunch is ready, they all have lunch (sancocho yummy), while watching the news.

the the daughter gets dressed, and goes out with the baby and the baby's daddy

mom gets dressed and go visit her mom (families are close in colombia)

and teenage son goes play football with his pals

then around 4 pm dad comes home, the dinner is ready, but not served yet

they all talked about their days, if it's a weekday every one stays home, watches tv, or goes for a walk (they dont own a car, that is why they are thin and nice looking).
then come home before dinner, and if it's the weekend, the children and even mom and dad, get all dressed, and go party like there is no tomorrow!!!

drink a bit of aguardiente, with their friends, dance a bit of salsa, or whatever music, stay up until 4 am, talking to their friends and family, and go to sleep, to get up on sunday ready to go to church

colombians live very easy, is a relaxed lifestyle, which is actually good.

no rush, no money obssesion, kinda like ameirca was back in the 50's.

people just live day by day, which is what made me like colombia so much.

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swedish_girl says on Feb 6, 2005, 16:23:

i agree with the guy that claims colombia is not so poor

yeah it might look poor if u look at it from the materialistic way, where every one owns a car, and every one has their own laptop, and a giant tv etc.

but i have been to africa, and colombia is relatively rich compared to africa

yeah in colombia people dont have as much material possesions, but material stuff is not necessARY TO BE HAPPY

colombians are a lot happier than swedish people, we have a high suicide rate, while colombia's suicidal rate is ridiculously low

and swedish are way richer than colombians

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 7, 2005, 09:10:

swedish_girl, where did you stay in Colombia? A couple of additional questions: is this an upper-class/middle-class family? What does the father do for a living? With two children studying (one of them a single mother), wife a homemaker I would think the father/husband of the family would be the sole breadwinner for them.

Good post,
Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 7, 2005, 09:39:

Most of the posts on this thread are from fantasyland. Like the Colombian version of "The Donna Reed Show". Here's some reality:

She gets up at 5 am to get ready for work. Has a shower, grabs something to eat, gets dressed and her make-up done, then heads out the door to catch the bus. Rides two crowded slow dirty buses to get to work. Work starts at 7 am and goes all day until 7 pm - a day filled with broken equipment, sexual harassment from her boss, and trying to get the day's production quota done in spite of all obstacles. At 7 she leaves the factory and spends another hour on the same two dirty crowded busses she came to work on in the morning. At home by 8, she cooks something light and then watches television for an hour. Before going to bed, she calls her kids who live with her mother in a different city and talks with them briefly. She goes to bed because she has to get up early the next day and start the whole process all over again.

This is real life for millions of Colombians, a very hard life.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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kat1 (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 7, 2005, 09:50:

Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 7, 2005, 10:37:

cowboy, since I have never seen "The Donna Reed Show" that reference is totally lost on me. If you meant that these stories are unreal or trivial, I beg to disagree. Every story here is a chapter of everyday life in Colombia and and such, both interesting and valuable from my point of view. Since I have little taste for unnecessary dramatics I find my clues for widening my own Colombian experience (hoping it would work that way for other readers too) from the normal, everyday activities of average, normal families, in all areas, rich and poor, country and city, north and south, east and west.

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Miguel says on Feb 7, 2005, 10:49:

Nice Thread Yet nobody mentioned that daily task of sweeping and mopping everything in the house as well as the front porch and sidewalk. When I get the time, I will relate my experiences with my girlfriend in her house of 10 people ranging in ages of 5 to 85.

"There is nothing lower than the human race...except for the French." - Mark Twain 1878-79

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 7, 2005, 11:26:

I do not think the stories reflect everyday life in Colombia. They reflect a very narrow spectrum of life in Colombia - the Disneyland view that almost everyone on this site seems to have. Here is another real life story:

She gets up at 4 am because she has to travel 2 hours to get to work. She only works two days a week because unskilled labor like hers is easy to come by in Colombia. In fact she is lucky to even have this work since her husband died and she was partially blinded in an accident. After travelling for two hours, she arrives just before her employer leaves for work at the textile plant. She spends the day washing the floors of the apartment by hand and washing the laundry by hand with a scrub brush and hanging it out to dry in the patio of the apartment. At noon she takes a break and fixes herself lunch. The same routine continues all afternoon until evening when her employer comes home. After getting her pay for the day, she travels two hours by bus to reach her poor barrio. Finally at close to 10, she is home. She is glad to be able to rest at home after a hard day but she hopes that the woman she works for will succeed in finding other people in her neighborhood to clean for.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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nanis says on Feb 7, 2005, 12:15:

Cali December 18 years ago It’s a Friday

I wake up to the sound of the alarm at 5 am get myself ready for school no one is home apart from my 17 year old cousin and me, my father is in Buenaventura he has been working for a week without coming home, my mother was in London she had left 2 weeks ago and my other cousins were out partying all night as usual.

It’s 5:45 am and I go out to buy some buñuelos and pandebonos for breakfast while my cousin gets ready it’s still dark and the lady in the corner of our street has been selling white coffee with arepas for an hour now, I’m still sleepy because I couldn’t sleep the heat was unbearable and the mosquitos were driving me crazy!. I come home to have breakfast with my cousin, it’s 6 already and it will take us exactly 1 hour to get to school so we drink the coffee as fast as we can and put 2 pandebonos each in our backpack we will need all the strength we can get because today we have no money for lunch just 100 pesos each for our bus journey to school and back.

We get the Gran Bretaña bus from our neighbourhood “el Retiro” to “el trebol” near la base in Cali, it’s 6:15 and the bus is loaded, packed full of people going to work, we managed to get seats but the bus is so full that there are even people hanging from its doors, the radio is on Olympica Estereo FM, the music is loud and the driver drives wild through the streets of Cali, the people are cursing at the driver for not stopping or for driving too fast saying things like “porque no paras me vas a llevar pa donde tu puta madre o que???” (Why didn’t you stop? you taking me to your fucking mama’s house or what??) the child in front of me is feeling sick and sticks his head out of the window to vomit, the lady standing beside me is being harassed by the guy next to her, he’s aroused and touched her butt claiming that it was the driver’s fault for stopping too fast and he had nothing to hold on to, she responds with a big slap on his face calling him pervert in front of everybody.

It’s 7 am we’re getting off the bus but as usual the driver stops way too far, we are already late for school we need to walk to school and it takes us about 15 minutes or so. We have a science test but didn’t have the books to study our friend lend us her book before the lesson and we managed to write the answers to the test in our legs, when the nest lesson started our teacher gave us some paper to write the answers as soon as the test started we begun to pull our skirts up to read the answers that we had written on our legs we passed the test with flying colors but we were more disgusted than proud, “it’s not our fault” I told my cousin “we didn’t have the book that’s all” but we were determined to pass the year because my father was working damn hard to pay for our education, at lunchtime all we do is seat down and wait for our glass of free “bienestarina” we have no money to buy lunch and our friends are stuffing their faces with empanadas and papas rellenas in front of us, the school bell rings and we are out of that place.

Me and my cousin go to “La 14” to ‘buy’ some stuff well not really we have no money but my cousin pursues me to steal a pack of sanitary towels because if was her time of the month and she had no money to buy them but we were caught and luckily enough were sent home I think he felt sorry for us rather than angry.

We go to our grandmother’s house to have lunch there was a pot of frijoles on the stove I was surprised to see such a beautiful pot in my grandmother’s kitchen but then found out that one of my cousins had stolen the pot full of hot frijoles from a neighbour’s house he also stole a little pig, we were really curios to know how he managed to steal a pig from a second floor without the pig making any noise he said that he got naked and apparently the pigs go quiet when they see a naked person who knows if it’s true? Anyway we had lunch it was very nice and my grandmother washed the pot and told my cousin to return it along with the pig. We watched TV for a few of hours and headed straight home. Back then this was our everyday routine

We got home at 5pm got changed and went out again, our friend who lives next door lets us ride her bike for a couple of hours and we all go together to the nearest car park to meet the boys, we go to my boyfriends’ house to taste the “chicha” (alcoholic drink with pineapple) his mum made, hi mum wasn’t at home for the weekend so he decided to have a “miniteca” the boys are bringing whisky to drink with coca cola but none of our parents know they’ll freak out if they found out.

It’s almost 8pm and we go back home to get ready for our big night out and find my father sleeping on the sofa, he’d just arrived from Buenaventura (he worked for various companies as a truck driver) he brought 2 bottles of apple wine (Cinzano) and a few boxes of sweets that he was given by his bosses in colombina. We took the bottles and sweets to our party without him knowing……….

To be Continued

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 8, 2005, 09:52:

bump I want to read the rest of Mrs. Gomez "to be continued" story.

Cowboy, I still disagree. Everybody's story (as long as it's real, not made up) reflects the reality in Colombia and deserves to be told.

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 8, 2005, 10:37:

yes tinto, I saw it there, makes me proud:)

About books in public schools: I don't know about that much about how many books are provided to students in public schools. My experience is from private schools where you're handed a mile-long list of stuff you have to bring with you when you start including all the books, writing material, crayons, water colors, clay, school uniforms...the list goes on and on. Some schools require you to bring a desk you'll be sitting at.

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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nanis says on Feb 8, 2005, 10:52:

Tinto and Desi I went to public school because I come from a poor family and back then there wasn't enough money to eat let alone buy books!

I don’t know about now but back then people had to buy everything for school starting from the uniform, pencils, books, etc… nothing was free

In the UK the government will also provide all books for free... but that wasn’t the case in Colombia we were lucky to have pencils and papers to write on and our uniform was given to us by some friends of our family whose daughters had graduated from school the uniforms were 2 sizes too big as were the shoes so we had to put some toilet paper or cotton wool inside so that we could wear them.

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 8, 2005, 11:13:

a couple of years back I went to pay a visit to a public school the local chapter of Lions is sponsoring in a poor barrio in the outskirts of Cali. It was rather apalling, I'd have to say. I wanted to see the kindergarten area and was shown a room with fifty desks in a bad shape crowded in that room, kids all over the place, you could only move in the room walking sideways. The teacher was a very old, very small and very wrinkled old lady couped in one corner of the room.

The Lions were providing some funds for them to build a new pre-school section and they were just getting started. I found myself wishing I had taken my whiny workmates from my Swedish school with me to make them stop with their eternal whining about having too many kids in our group...we had 18 kids with three full-time pre-school teachers working at that time.

This is definitely an area where a lot of improvement could be made. Any volunteers?

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 8, 2005, 11:53:

I am not sure that all of the stories are true. Mine are pretty obvious, a normal day in the life of my wife and her cleaning woman.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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nanis says on Feb 8, 2005, 11:58:

December 18 years ago: lower class family in Cali.... PART 2 After we left our house we headed straight to my boyfriend’s place there was a lot of kids there all dressed up ready for the “miniteca” my cousin was a bit apprehensive about the she looks we live in el retiro and my boyfriend’s place is in el vallado the neighbourhood next to ours, el vallado is much better the roads are paved and the houses painted not like our neighbourhood who has no public transport, the roads are not paved the houses hardly got bricks on them most of the houses were built using guadua (palm tree) and newspapers so she’s right to feel insecure about the way she looks most of the kids in the “miniteca” have nice brand new clothes, it’s a tradition in Colombia that kids wear new clothes on especial dates in December, dates like today 7th December were we celebrate “el dia de la virgen” lighting candles in the name of Virgin Mary.

My cousin and I did not have new clothes like the other kids and felt a bit left out but we understood that our parents weren’t in a position to spend money buying clothes so we held our heads up high and went inside.

My friends are all there, they are drinking cheap whiskey they got from who knows where. But we were really popular because we managed to bring cinzano!! To us only rich people drink “cinzano” we started dancing the “sopa de caracol” song it was really popular back then, I managed to drink quite a lot so my cousin dragged me out she too was a little tipsy but more conscious than I was she knew that we were in deep trouble so once we got home we opened the door without making any noise and starting crawling and headed to our bed which was on the corridor (we lived in a one bedroom house with 7 other people) everything was dark and I couldn’t see a thing, I bumped my knee real bad and lost control hit my head with the table, my dad turned the lights on, we still crawling on the floor saw my father standing in front of us with this huge machete in his hands thinking that it was a burglar. We stood up and started apologising but we were too drunk and were sick right on the living room floor.

I was crying, felt really depressed for not having my mother with me, she was far away left just a couple of weeks ago to go to London, my father managed to buy her a ticket so that she could go to London to work but she didn’t find a job for 3 months and my father was working as hard as he could to pay the monthly quote for her ticket.

My mother phoned I hadn’t spoken to her since she had left I started crying and telling her how much I missed her she did the same but could only talk for a few seconds because she hadn’t much money to pay for the call. My father put me and my cousin in the shower with cold freezing water, and cleaned the mess we had made on the living room floor. He put us in bed and we woke up with what was our very first hangover and what felt the worst ever. My father wasn’t angry at us he was too depressed to be angry he missed my mother more than anything.

It’s 10am and my brother comes home from a night working at “casaba” (big market place) he brings two chickens and a two sacks of potatoes, plantains and cassavas that were given to him for helping out some truck drivers in “cassava”. My father notices how sad my dad is and wants to cheer up he decides that it would be best to have a family day out and invites us to pance.

We all get into my father’s truck, of course knowing how us Colombians are we expected to have more than 2 or 3 people coming with us but no there was more than 2 or 3 people there was my grandmother, uncles, cousins, aunties, dogs, our neighbours and even a few kids that my grandmother looks after (my grandmother is a child minder, Bienestar Familiar pays her for looking after children of single mothers in poor neighbourhoods so that they can go to work) this kids are so happy for being able to come to what was a very unusual day out for them, they have no shoes some of them have sandals their feet and faces are dirty and their clothes have holes in them but still they are so happy that just by watching their faces we knew that we were lucky, (my father always says that if we have problems and feel so alone and left out then we should think about the people that have worst problems than us).

The truck was full of people as well as a few items we managed to bring. 1 hammock two chickens, 1 sack full of veggies and a couple of pots to make sancocho and a few bricks and pieces of wood to make fire. It’s 1pm and we arrive at pance river it’s a little late so my uncles start making the fire and my aunts start seasoning the chickens, the fire is on and my aunts put the pot on it to start cooking the sancocho. We are swimming in the cold but very clear waters of the Pance River

To be continued……

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nanis says on Feb 8, 2005, 12:11:

sorry Desi made a few mistakes! As you can see I have made some grammatical mistakes I don't know why I never use damn a word processor to write my threads and posts! Next time!

Corrections:

the market place is not called casaba it's called CABASA and it's in the outskirts of Cali.

"My father notices how sad my dad is and wants to cheer up he decides that it would be best to have a family day out and invites us to pance" this doesn't make sense i was meant to say that my brother notices how sad my dad is and want to cheer him up!!

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WidowerfromCanada says on Feb 27, 2005, 20:26:

A nudge to get this thread going again. Desi,

A nudge to get this thread going again.

This is a great thread Desi !!

Jeff





Love is like a butterfly , if you chase it you will not catch it but you can hope the butterfly of love lands on your shoulder.

Love is like a butterfly , if you chase it you will not catch it but you can hope the butterfly of love lands on your shoulder.

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Cockney Colombian says on Feb 28, 2005, 05:09:

A Normal Day This has been a fascinating thread, I've greatly enjoyed reading it. Colombia is such a vast country and this thread rightly reflects that. I've never lived in Colombia for long (just over a year) and I was ten years old at the time, alternating between Bogota and a small village in Departmento Cundinamarca. Village life was very different from city life and again as this thread has shown Medellin has a different vibe to Cali, Bogota different from Cartegena.

I'm not sure if I can say my life was "normal" as I didn't attend school (Home tutored by my father who was a teacher) and it was more like an extended holiday than everyday life.

I will try to write my memories of everyday life in this thread at a latter point but for now I'll post an [edited] extract from the diary I kept when I visited Bogota in the summer of 2003. I'm not sure if it qualifies as "everyday" but some entries focused on making a note of all the little incidental things which were foreign to me but no doubt feature in the everyday life of Colombians in that part of town.

****

Left over meat for breakfast. Mami promises we'll buy some cereals later. Tio Jaime says there are no plans for the day, and we can just relax after the flight and let ourselves adjust to the altitude and climate. It's not just that we'll have to get used to, it's a whole different world. Things I take for granted at home, now actually require thought, such as hand washing all my clothes, not having a hot water tap in the kitchen, not turning lights on until dark, not spending ages in the shower.

Utilities are so expensive in Colombia and Tio Jaime is paranoid about huge electricity and water bills. He's unscrewed all but two of the bulbs in the chandelier in the lounge. Personally I don't think that'll make a difference when the lights are switched on, electricity is still going through. Mami wonders if she'd be the same if she'd never left.

The phone is ringing constantly with relatives and friends welcoming us back, and inviting us to all manner of things. There are also numerous business calls for Jaime. Despite retiring thirteen years ago, it seems he's always working.

I resign myself to a freezing cold shower, but I'm pleasantly surprised to learn he does have hot water here. There's no hot water tap in the sink though, so for another day running I don't shave.

Mami and Liz are mainly busy unpacking and sorting things out. Tio Jaime asks me to come with him to buy the food for lunch and I eagerly accept. There's not much to do in the apartment and I want to see Bogotá in the daylight.

Jaime lives in Chapinero, just off Calle 63 and Av. Caracas. We talk a bit as we set off, but I'm a bit shy at first and not confident in my Spanish. I soon get back into the flow of using the language. I make a mental promise to speak Spanish at home but I say this all the time and it only ever lasts a few days before I revert back to English.

The city has a distinct smell, but I'm not sure how to describe it. Certainly Bogotá is a very polluted city, much more so than London. The dry tang of dust is always lurking in the background. The sunshine is very bright and I feel very hot in my jacket. Bogotá is a city of deceptive weather, you never know if it's going to rain or there's going to be a heat wave. The general rule of thumb is that it is like London in the spring. It's location high up in the Andes gives it an average daily temperature of 13o C, much cooler than the rest of the country. The sky isn't completely clear, and the sun bounces brilliantly off the clouds.

We head out down Av. Caracas. The local theatre is showing The Rape of Panama and the Cinema advertises Todopodroso [Bruce Almighty] and Los Angeles de Charlie: Al Limite. Chapinero is a commercial district and the main street is cram packed with shops of all kind. The streets are also full of street traders displaying everything from exotic fruits to newspapers to cigarettes to leather belts. It's only five minutes before I see my first beggar, a woman with only one leg. I feel sad but am powerless to do anything. The streets are busy with so many people and bicycles and the roads as always are swamped with a constant traffic jam of Chivas, Taxis, Trucks and cars.

Tio Jaime points out where Tio Jorge Ivan works, the Av Villas bank. We head off past the Church and down to Calle 63. Tio Jaime points out the new Transmilenio bus service. They're like a combination of the Tube and the Bendybuses we have in London. Unlike how bus lanes work in theory in London, the Transmilenio routes are blocked off from the main traffic by concrete barriers.

We go to Olympica, the big chain supermarket. We only buy a few bottles of fizzy drink though. I refuse to buy Coke-a-cola products, and steer him towards Postobon.

Afterwards, we go to a little grocers to buy the vegetables. It's in a little side street. The floor is covered in dirt and straw and there's a little white kitten with beautiful blue eyes moving freely about the sacks of food. I'm not certain of the hygiene, but I chastise myself for being a spoilt Brit. We buy a sack load of potatoes and yucca, plus mangoes, bananas, pineapple, carrots, tomatoes and pumpkins. It's quite a lot to carry and the plastic bag with the drinks in splits from the weight. We manage to get it back to the apartment eventually.

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rologringo23 says on Apr 12, 2005, 20:12:

haha...that is so funny! sounds like the typical day my cousin would have in bogota...hahaha

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surfermami says on May 6, 2005, 11:58:

Damn Some of these stories make me cry, like the one on the first page "december 12 years ago". My husband is Colombian and I have been trying to learn more about his country and culture. he has shared many stories with me about what he has seen in his life, such as first dead body, first friend murdered, etc.

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rastapaul says on Jun 7, 2005, 14:26:

A normal day for me! I was born and raised in bogota, and Im currently married to an beautiful caribbean woman, who was born in the Beautiful Island of Old Providence (colombia).

I was raised High class, but never really got interested about social classes. I was raised to respect human condition, not phyisical attachments.

Now I live in bogota with my wife, we both work, and we are middle class. We live in a neighborhood called Prado Veraniego. Things are tough but there is a lot to wake up for!

Becky, my wife, wakes up at 4:55am, and so do I. She works as an English teacher from 6 to 3pm. I work for an american company as a marketing analyst. I wake up at 6:45 and I alwsy ride my bycicle to work (about 25 blocks). I spend the whole day in the office, just getting out for lunch at my parents' (about three blocks away from the office).

They have slowly accepted my relationship with my wife, specially my mother and her family. With my father things are different... its odd but he tells me he's a bit racist (after teaching me not to become one), but I guess its just a matter of time.

I talk to my wife about seven times a day over the phone, before going back to our house. That is the best part of the day. Living here is not hard.

We are very lucky, since we can afford a monthyl budget of $1.200.000 million pesos (about 540 US dollars), and it is not hard to live here. There is a lot to do. We love going to Video Pirate (we call it like that because the owners are pirates to surf the web and download the latest Box office hits, we algo go out and party every now and then. Some of our friends have a Disco, and we hang out there sometimes. its located in a very exclusive zone called Park 93. Its fun and the music is great, but we cant afford to go there every weekend.

After getting back from the office, we normally sit down and talk for a while, we cook together, sometimes we play playstationII, or we just watch the tube.

WE live happy here, but just becasue we know that there is a etter future waiting for us: one in which clothes are not essential, where we will be able to live with a tremendous peace. Here in Bogota we are ssafe, and its not as most people describe it, specially when they have not lived here. Bogota is a very safe city, where there is a lot to do, and lots of places to know. But we are leaving our lifes here to get expeerience, to maybe study a little more (get my wife to finish her professional studies, whatever they may be) and then we will go back to Old providence, to open a small business, or live out of fishing(im not bad at it) and raising our children there!!!
I hope this little story serves the purpose of this forum!

I will stay in touch!

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Inlovewithacolombian says on Jul 13, 2005, 19:49:

These stories are so wonderful! I love these stories, they are so wonderful because they not only talk about the complexities in the day and life of a Colombian, but they are honest and give perspectives that help me to relate or understand my fiance better. He doesn't really talk too much about his life in Colombia, I just know that it was really hard for him and his family to survive. With being single and with 3 kids (2 already in college), its a wonder how my fiance's mother is even able to feed her family. Everyday I try to think of ways to help him and his mother, but I am struggling myself to create a life in the United States. I don't know how I, thousands of miles away from my fiance's mother, could help her and lift some of the burden off of her shoulders. I am trying to learn Spanish as fast as I can so that I can talk to her on the phone, maybe I can make her smile, maybe I can tell her how her son is doing (she hasn't seen my fiance for a year). I feel already that she is a part of my family, and these stories that everyone has shared have helped to bring me that much closer to the understanding of what my fiance and his family has gone through.

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rightmoment says on Jul 17, 2005, 22:42:

the best one Well. Some of you are right, the life in Colombia deepen of lot things like neighbor, level (money), location, city or countryside.

Let start for the neighbor, in Colombia in all the cities the neighborhoods are divide in 6 level, like that on the level one and two people are too poor some of them doesn’t have even money to eat or put their children at school, they work hard in building, selling things on the street, etc... Young people normally don’t go to the school so to have something to do they start the “pandillas” teenagers who have meeting at the corners of the neighborhood, some of them smoke and sell drugs, then start stilling thing …u can imagine the rest. Drugs is one of the Colombian problems but if Europe an USA still Smoking them, it will be difficult to solve this problem in Colombia..

Levels 3 and 4 have a bit more money, normally they go to the school, they really don’t have lot of problem with money, their jobs are like secretary, nurse, teachers, taxis … most of them can improve their level of life cuz they can get the university.
In fact they stile of life is very similar to the life in Europe. U have ur car, go frequently on holidays (in Colombia cuz abroad it’s too expensive), parties, Mobil phones, small but nice house, cinema, good clothes, close family, ….

LEVEL 5 and 6…… between level 4 and 6 there is a huge gap, u can’t imagine it…..for example on the level 6 it’s not strange to see some families who have 5 cars (one for the father, one for the mother, 2 for the sons and one for the favorite teenager ). This kind of people are the boss or the owner in some companies or factories, some of them work for the government. They spend lot of money, for example a normal beer costs 1000 pesos that’s 0.50 dollars but on the rich part like 93 park in Bogota the same beer costs 4 dollars, they use clothes like diesel, lives, polo, lacoste.
If a guy on the level 1 get 150 dollars a month and a polo lacoste costs the same and a rich teenagers use them it means a big different between 1 and level 6. This people travel around the world and have a stile of life like people in “Hollywood”.

In my view they are not happy at all cuz Can u imagine have a bodyguard following u all day? Well this situation is changing. Since 3 years there is a new president and he seem to be doing right thing. For example the kidnapping last 3 years have fallen 80%, the homicides have fallen as well, and more foreigners are going there for traveling, business, make a company cuz the worker hand is cheaper than others countries…..

Actually Colombia is a safe country (i know u don’t believe that)…

Well let speak about the different areas in Colombia. Bogota is the capital but it’s not the nice one cuz it’s cold the whole year, they are a bit close but friendly. U can meet people from everywhere, Bogota is in fact a metropolis like London, new york with 8 million people. In general people is happy and they are optimist….

The north seems to be a different country (Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa marta…). They speak very different to the people from Bogotá, they are too happy in my opinion. If u go there everyone is ur friend and everyday there is a party. A normal street on the north is full of people every night. It’s just amazing to see how they bring a table and some chairs to the garden to sit down and have a rest. A neighbor come and say hello to another neighbor. They can speak around 2 hour and if there is some ron (alcohol) the meeting well be longer. I think this big different with bogota is because on the north (cost) there is a hot weather 30 C, and they have a really Latin, tropical blood. There is a kind of music very nice (vallenato) and the sombrero vueltiao is just wonderful.

Cartagena is the touristiest city in Colombia, one of the best places I’ve ever been, lot of history and nice girl (very beautiful). Barranquilla the Carnaval is a big party which take place for a week..u have to see it.

Santa Marta, the beaches are great and the history of indios, Ciudad Perdida…

Colombia It’s a very cheap, for example for 2 dollar u can bay 100 dollars oranges, 0.3 a beer… lot of tropical fruits, nice people.

Cuz the Andes mountains if u are bored of a cold weather u can plan a travel by car to a hot town which is 1 hour far way from the cold city. 0 C to 30 C just traveling by car, where can u find it in the world?.

There is a river with 5 colors in “la Macarena”.
Two oceans
Sanandres islands are so nice.
I went to a bull fighting like the best Spanish stile and it is nice even though I don’t like it.
Cali on the south is a hot city and the best salsa dancers I’ve ever met.
Desert of guajira is 40 C Egypt in Colombia hihihihihihi.
The Amazon jungle (u have to see it) Colombia has the most different kind or birds in the world.
I don’t know but there is a big rock which can be the second biggest one in the world.

Drink a coffe in a Juan Valdes shop is the best experience (Best coffe)

Every city seem to be a deferent country. For example in medellin there is typical plate called vandeja paisa (delicious), on the north they have “Mote de queso” god so nice, they eat suero and people from bogota don’t know what it is….Empanadas….pan de bono….. People from bogota hate the vallenato which is music from the north….lot of different make this country one of the best in my view.

I suggest u to visit this country, trust me actually Colombia is safer than few years ago, even though it’ll take some years to make people change the opinion about this hot Country…..




goide

goide

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platano says on Jul 17, 2005, 22:54:

Great report, goide! and at the rightmoment... Actually I do believe you when you say Colombia is a safe country. I lived there (in strata 3) for twelve years in the late eighties and nineties. I travelled all over the country to mostly rural areas but also to "dangerous" places in the cities (agua blanca and siloe in Cali, for example) and in twelve years I only had one minor incident--a kidnapping, and that took place at my own home! (in Medellin)

And, according to all the Uribe supporters here, it has only gotten better in the last few years! Hooray!

Plátano X,
Defensor de la libre locomoción en Colombia
Promotor de la vida, el amor, y la risa
And Resident Fool
********DISCLAIMER: I am not objective. I am madly in love with Colombia!*******

plátano

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poco says on Jul 17, 2005, 23:11:

This AGAIN !!!! one and two people are too poor some of them doesn’t have even have money to eat or put their children at school

Gezzzz, further reading was not required.

I LIVE IN estrato 2 (ie: TWO). I've even posted my utility bill. The neighbors on one side ARE BOTH SCHOOL teachers. The other side is a RETIRED POLICEMAN with TWO older children, both have finished their University Studies. The girl is taking advanced clases.

THIS IS an estrato TWO house. (was a One four years ago) Must admit I added some nice touches like front sidewalk, tile and grani-plas and is NOT typical BUT the original house was a WRECK. I'm not the only one "fixing up" there are at least three other houses in a two block stretch that are NICER.


EVERYONE I've met, including those in estrado 1 send their children to PUBLIC SCHOOL. I DO KNOW that a minor percentage DON'T, rare cases economic, majority, the kid DOES NOT WANT TO GO and is allowed to sit on his ASS and watch TV.

READ ELMO: I loved his comment about HE'd LOVE to have moved up to estrato ONE when he was a kid and LIVE WITH THE RICH PEOPLE.

Colombian Chickens are crowing about the new President of the U.S. who will assure that From each according to their ability to each according to their need.

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Antioqueñita says on Jul 21, 2005, 10:46:

My Story ! Nice Post Desi :)

Well I figured I posted a Normal day for me when I used to live in Medellin:

Place: Barrio Santa Lucia- La Floresta MEDELLIN
Time: 1992
Social-economical Status: Middle Class? --not even sure.

I was 15 that year so it was like a magical age for me. I lived with my mom and my brother who was 18 at the time and had already started his career as en Electronic Engineer in the UPB. My dad lives in Los Angeles.. he had moved there when I was 7 because he had gotten laid off of his job as an Art Director of the Company : PUBLICIDAD TORO. Since my mom had a couple of sister and a bother in L.A. they decided he would come here to be able to get a life for us. And ever since he had sent us money every week and we lived off of that. My mom had part time jobs here and there but mostly just stayed home taking care of us. Our childhood was awesome! We were not rich but not very poor.. yes there were days when all we ate was rice & fried eggs but we were so happy. That is to give you a little background.
Let's begin about that day when I was 15:

Let's say is Monday : I would wake up about 530am and take a shower. By this time we had moved to a 4 bedroom house, an old house we rented but we were so happy! I had my own room :) so I had my own alarm clock and would get up and again take a shower, get ready, put my uniform and my mami would be making my arepa y chocolate caliente.. I would sit and eat my breakfast and talk to my mami, watch a little TV with her, get my backpack and walk to school. By this time I lived by my school EL TERESIANO and I loved it because all of my life I had to take the school bus which was fun but it took nearly 2 hours of my day! The school was two blocks away, so easy walk.. I would see my friends there and we could chit chat and go to the classroom. My best friend Cristina sat next to me and we would begin our day talking about the weekend. I would usually talk about my then boyfriend and the probably that we went to "El Pueblito Paisa" and ate some arepas de chocolo there, chuzos and we went in his friends motorcycle etc. Then the teacher would come to the classroom, we all get up and say: Buenos Dias. During school, I was very talkative but great student. During break all my "barrita" of friends would sit on the Cancha ( field) de basketball and eat our "mediamañana" ( midmorning snack) and the guys would come up to to talk to us through the "reja". Usually my boyfriend would come too and visit.( he went to night school) Our school was an all-girl catholic school. Then one monja ( nun) or 2 would come up and tell the guys to leave. After school my boyfriend would be waiting for me to take me home. My mami would have my lunch ready and my clothes to change into ( yes I was spoiled in that way) then we would sit down and watch the 1:30pm novela ..it was then " alcanzar una estrella 2" with Ricky Martin.. I loved that novela.. then I would do my homewok, call my friends and then we would all hang out.. so fun! we would just sit oputside someone's house and talk.. buy BON BON BUMS ( LOLLYPOPS) and laugh..tell jokes.. flirt etc. My boyfriend would usually come too..we would play music and all that.. then I would go back home and have dinner with my mami and brother.. watch the night novela.. get my uniform ready for the next day and I would listen to the radio to go so sleep... oh and talk to my boyfriend on the phone from my bed to go to sleep.

THIS WAS A TYPICAL DAY ON MY LIFE IN MEDELLIN AS A TEENAGER.

"Que Viva Medellin!"

"Que Viva Medellin!"

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quindioman says on Jul 21, 2005, 11:16:

work is boring nice thread to kill a couple of hours...

January 1995
Armenia, Quindio
Barrio Zuldemayda

wake up whenever i felt like it...usually 10-11....i'm in limbo because i've been waiting for my libreta militar so i could go back to London and finish my studies. I don't work, although a month ago I got a nice little paycheck from translating a manual from english to spanish.
Machetazo calls by (machetazo was basically Beavis,...i was Butthead)
telling me Kingo called him and we had to be in his house before 2pm to record our latest song (Kingo was the most natural MC i ever met RIP Kingo).
Me and machetazo are just 2 of the 7 members of the most rowdy hip-hop crew in Armenia...Latin Ghettoes...this was during a time that Armenia had been caught in the middle of a "rap fever"....granted we were all useless (Kingo was the only person with an ounce of genuine talent) but that didn't stop us from performing live and doing our best to show the people just how pathetically hopeless we were...ok we weren't that bad (shit we even had a couple of groupies).
So we spent sun drenched afternoons on the terrace of my dad's house....we would lay out a large carpet and start to breakdance and body pop...i never imagined i would learn how to do "windmills" and "headspins" in Armenia, Colombia but after a while we would be spinning sideways and contorting our bodies in such a manner that even a few head up in NYC would have been proud of.
in between breaks we would stone the dogs (with marijuana not stones) and drink copious amounts of cherrynol...and of course we had a couple of very nice vecinas that would sunbathe below us and provide the free gindas or "sights".
After getting a few carpet burns and minor shoulder injuries, we would be ready to kick ball.....we would head out to Santander (estrato 1) and meet up with the lads....some would be in "el hueco" getting high off bazuko, the rest would have been chilling just outside their homes watching las ninas walk past.
We would set up the goals (the length of someone's arm) and start the match.....i think this is why south americans are so gifted at football...they start to play football as soon as they can walk.
In the evening i would head to my gran's take a shower and then head around the corner to el 8 de marzo....there was 1 block that was full of ninas...me and my cousin would go over there and spend the entire night laughing and joking with the girls from this barrio
1 day and it was spent with friends, no job, no school, no money but those were the days.....and i haven't even mentioned the riotous trips we would take to the river!

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Antioqueñita says on Jul 21, 2005, 13:10:

Nice Story Cockney I have done nothing at work except for reading this post ! everyone is gone today.. so ... maybe I will write one more..

"Que Viva Medellin!"

"Que Viva Medellin!"

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Antioqueñita says on Jul 21, 2005, 14:02:

A true story about a Friend's family I figured I would post about my friend's family because they had a more dramatic life involved with violence for those looking for a true story with more action.

Place : Medellin - Barrios Los Alcazares, Los Colores.
Time : 1980's -1990's
Social -Ecomomic Status: from middle to high to low
( I will change names to protect identities)

Doña Maria married a man that was very street smart ( Miguel) and very popular in the barrio. She married him when she was young ( 18-20) and they had 3 children. The first one a male Esteban, middle one a girl Paulina, and the small one Javier. They lived as middle class in the barrio and had a small house ( 2 bedroom) but lived comfortably for Colombia that is since they still did laundry by hand, used cloth diapers, ate lots of frijoles con arroz but had a TV, and a few other things.

They were happy but the dad's cousin had gotten into the mafia and began smuggling drugs into Miami. He began making lots of money! and soon Mr. Miguel ( the dad) got tempted and wanted more money so he got involved as well. He began doing the traveling and smuggling coke in his shoes and other things.. soon he decided to stay living there in Miami.. he had a mistress who lived on the Colombian Coast and with her had a daughter. He needed to support them too. The boys grew up having lots of material things and even a microwave ( back then wow this was a luxury) 1980's. They had atari games, american clothes and moved to a nice house in Los Colores where is a richer area in Medellin. Maria sold the house to her sister. They were having a good life but of course the dad began to get into problems with enemies and the cousin married an american lady who he took to Colombia and had a child. THis guy had the type of Paisa attitude like pablo escobar. He wanted to be UN DURO and be feared and have a status of DON"T mess with me and be popular so he would throw Huge parties, dances in his house, aguardiente everywhere... mujeres… there are some chicas there who want to go out with the mafiosos so they can buy them nice clothes... so he was famous in the barrio by then.

Soon Esteban was a teenager and craving more and more money so he talked to the dad's cousin and he got him involved too. He began by stealing cars and things like that but soon he was doing the jobs in Medellin like transporting the coke from one place to the other, watching a place with the merchandise overnight ...stuff like that! He too soon began to gain respect of the gangs in Medellin and the family began to be known but as more money and deals come also more enemies come so he went away for a while because they knew they were looking for him to kill him… the dad in USA found another woman and stopped sending as much money… he was tired of working like this and being in USA he felt he had a chance to get out and not being killed but that meant less money for the family ... So Esteban began making all the money and of course Javier grew up watching him. But the worse thing happened... his dad stopped completely to send money and the police caught Esteban when he returned to Medellin and went to jail. Before this Esteban had gotten his GF at the time pregnant and had had the party of his life… he would take all his friends to San Andres and pay for it all! got a car.. got many things but all the money went mostly to clothes, women and hard partying... so the mom had to make empanadas and sell them and move into her sister's house ( that used to be hers) the sister had opened a small store in the house with like small office suplies, stationery, etc. So they all had to live in the 2 bedroom place because they couldn’t pay off the other house and lost it. Paulina and her mother prayed a lot and were always afraid for Esteban and little Javier. By the time Javier was 13 he was already getting into trouble because he was popular due to his dad's cousin being one of the biggest traketo's in the barrio and his brother also known as UN DURO (like "the man") so he began doing stupid little things. His brother still in jail was making him do deals and talk to people...Esteban had many enemies and was better off being in the prison VELLAVISTA than on the streets.

Javier had a little gang and began smoking pot and stealing things etc. Paulina was still going to school but Javier had long dropped off since 6th grade. Doña Maria went to church everyday to pray for his boys who she had lost control over... Paulina became her best friend and she was a good girl. Soon Maria’s sister moved to Venezuela and left her the store. She worked hard selling empanadas and patacones on the street while her sons were doing nothing and the husband had long lost contact... so she would just try to make Javier go to school but by then he was too violent and would hit his sister and would attempt to hit his mother and they were afraid of him.

So Javier got involved and got into many troubles... enemies… one day his friend who had borrowed his jacket was knocking on his door and he got killed because they thought it was him. Then Paulina had 2 babies and Esteban got out of prison. One day they came to the house and they were having a party for Esteban’s 1st daughter (by then he had another baby with the GF that visited him in jail) - and his enemies came in shooting and shot the kids, Doña maria & Paulina. They didn’t die but Esteban’s daughter was in the hospital for 2 months, Paulina’s kids were there for about 2 weeks, she herlself got shot in the arm and so did the mom.

Esteban went after them... got to kill one. Later on that month they killed Esteban as well... and Javier said he would revenge his death… but before that he went to jail as well for doing stupid things (theft) and other things… he also got a girl pregnant and had a son. They used to visit him in jail... Doña Maria was very depressed for losing his son and continued to work hard selling empanadas to pay for the bills... as soon as Javier got out he went out looking for those who killed Esteban and they tricked him and he too got killed. Esteban left 2 daughters ( he died at the age of 30) and Javier left one son ( he died at the age of 24).

My friend Paulina.. she has had it hard.. ! Her dad returned to Colombia after all his depression in the states but soon found out what happened to his sons and got worse yet and sick… .now Doña Maria had to take care of him too despite what he did to her. Now paulina lives in the 2-bedroom small house (more like an apt.) with her mom, her kids, and her boyfriend. Despite it all they are happy and smile still and just celebrated her son’s first communion and this time around they are making sure Paulina's son doesn't follow their uncles steps... oh by the way the cousin of the dad got killed too and most of Javier & Esteban's friends who wanted to be cool, have money and live the crazy life.

Unfortunately, many teenagers back then thought that to be cool and popular you had to steal and do bad things… and be part of a gang… and do drugs etc. The guy who would get shot would be like “Cool” and respected. It was a time where young men were so confused and money, motorcycles, parties, women and drugs meant everything.

But again this is just one part of Colombia… and is not all like that.

When I go back to Medellin I will visit Paulina, meet her kids ( I left when she was pregnant with the 1st) and perhaps go to the cementary and visit her brothers. L

"Que Viva Medellin!"

"Que Viva Medellin!"

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quindioman says on Jul 21, 2005, 14:20:

damn this is exactly why i dropped out of the drugs game a long time ago...damn what a story antioquenita!
There's no winners in the drugs game....only LOSERS.
My parents had some friends that smuggled coke into Britain in the 80's (they used to pack it inside their daughter's pram!!
What do these people do now?
Well the father had a lifestyle in Armenia that would make a gamin proud of...last i heard he was making centavos helping people load/unload plantains from trucks....damn see how this guy went from nights at the Ritz and flights to Rio to a BUM in the streets of armenia.
His wife....claiming benefits in England
his son...damn i thought i was the biggest underachiever...well their son was asking me if i could help him find a job in london when i bumped into him some months ago.
daughters....both with kids and they are barely 20....education? what education?

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Antioqueñita says on Jul 21, 2005, 14:37:

So true so True Cockney A lot of those guys from the Barrio are either dead or just living like losers... I am glad you got out of it before it was too late!

I feel so bad for the moms because they have to see their sons die so young.. and the worse thing yet! is many of them used to tell me .. " yeah I will be lucky if I make it past 20 but before that I will have a son to revenge my death" that to me was the most weird thing ever!

Pero I hear things are better and again.. this was just a part of Medellin.. where I lived was a nice middle class neighborhood but next to it was like a bad one so I got to see both sides of the coin.

I hope to hear more stories.. :) very entertaining!

"Que Viva Medellin!"

"Que Viva Medellin!"

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utopiacowboy says on Jul 21, 2005, 15:29:

Now that was a real Colombian story, Antioqueñita. It reminded me of the stories my wife tells me about the parties she used to go to with her girlfriends. Mafioso everywhere and plenty of money, drugs and booze. She is pretty much a straight arrow herself but her friends certainly weren't!

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Antioqueñita says on Jul 21, 2005, 16:09:

Well yes thanks! But also there are nice stories too.. I mean, for me, personally I had a very happy life there.. there were things here and there of course and I was there during the search for Pablo and was touched in someway by these events but I loved my life so much there I am going back to live there for a while just so my daughter can get that wonderful experience :)

"Que Viva Medellin!"

"Que Viva Medellin!"

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jul 22, 2005, 01:00:

antioqueñita, cockney thank you both for very good stories. A while ago I thought I'd write a book about my life in Colombia; half fiction and half fact. The fiction part would be a parallel plot; a "what if..." storyline had I chosen to raise up my children in Colombia instead of Sweden. Both of your stories made me think of this parallel plot in the way you both vividly describe the life of teenagers in Colombia at the time I had already moved away from there.

Yes, Utopia Cowboy; antioqueñita's story is very good and very descriptive. Even more, it's extremely educational. Her story of the traketo family together with Mrs. Gomez' story should be required reading for all teens and grown-ups that glorify the drug subculture in Colombia, any country.

Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Antioqueñita says on Jul 22, 2005, 11:03:

Your are Welcome Desi! I was happy to see and read this post and I think is a great contrubution to the forum.

It is very important and educational for people to know that false idealization of the Cartel and being a sicario or something in that sense. I am glad I never got involved myself but I did have friends who did and it is just sad... young men wasting their lives...and all for what? a cool pair of shoes? a motorcycle? one guy I knew did it to get a motorcycle and guess what? The gangs or mafia didn't kill him but a bus killed him in the motorcycle he bought with the dirty money he got...IRONIC ! and is to hard to get out! Once you are IN you are IN. Is not the easy way to get things..

I like your stories too Desi. I will write some other stories about my friends there and myself. I began to write a book about my teenage life there and in the computer got deleted :( ( so many hours wasted) but I think I may still do it.

Mrs Gomez' story was a tear breaker and so true! I had some friends who lived where streets were not paved and it was amazing to see how hard their parents worked to pay for their education. They went to private schools and I think it is truly the best gift they can give their children because they get good friends and good influences and hopefully they do not fall in the vicious circle!

The guys they drop school and then they have nothing else to do but to steal or do bad things... and why do they drop from school? many reasons but one is they know how many taxi drivers are in Medellin with degrees and masters even! The lack of good employment! is like : "why go to school if you are gonna have to work in a taxi anyway..." but what they need to learn is that they go to school not just to get a good job... but to be a wealthy person in knowledge, to keep your mind occupied and keep growing as a person! To be able to speak about different things and eventually get good connections that may get you the job! See in Medellin is all about who you know not how much you know, we call it "ROSCA" and how do you get the connections? by relating yourself to people with money, business, education! Seriously.. I just wish they could see it this way but I know when you are starving and sitting in a classroom desk it may be hard to be able to think about all of this .. you just want to know how you will get the money today to kill the hunger ...... IS A COMPLICATED SITUATION!

"Que Viva Medellin!"

"Que Viva Medellin!"

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utopiacowboy says on Jul 22, 2005, 11:18:

Good posts, Antioqueñita. You're one of the rays of sunshine on this site.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Antioqueñita says on Jul 22, 2005, 11:33:

Thank you so much utopiacowboy! THIS IS A GREAT FORUM TO POST AND REPLY TO!

YOU GUYS ARE GREAT :)

"Que Viva Medellin!"

"Que Viva Medellin!"

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OO7 says on Jul 23, 2005, 07:28:

Memories Desi, I just tuned in to this thread and I am enjoying reading it very much...it brought back memories of my childhood. I came to the US when I was 12 (now I'm 37), but I can relate to some of the stories posted.

My mother was 16 and my father 18 when I was born. Shortly after I was born my parents bought a small piece of land (I don't know how because we were so darn poor) in La Calera, before there was water or electricity. I remember my mother having to walk a few miles to ther river, in freezing temperatures, to wash our clothing, and my father having to travel to Bogota everyday to make a living. I remember walking with my brothers and sisters, in that same freezing tempetures, to school and coming back at night to do our homework under candle light. Times were really hard during my early years, but I have to admit that those experiences prepared me for the really hard times that came after I came to the US. Sorry I'm getting out of the topic, but like I said, I lived some of the experiences posted...experiences I would never trade for anything.

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jul 26, 2005, 01:45:

007 Thank you for a very nice post, 007. It's not off topic at all; all personal experiences narrating fragments of everyday life in Colombia are exactly what I wanted to read here.
Cheers,
Desi

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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quindioman says on Jul 27, 2005, 04:30:

a long time ago in a barrio far far away...well it was 1983 and the place was Armenia.
I would wake up at 6:00am...my auntie would make sure i had washed and she would prepare my breakfast...arepa con chocolate. Then I would make the short trip on foot from my aunties house to my school....my auntie lived a block up from la galeria...la galeria isn't there anymore, it was replaced by a governmental building after the earthquake in 1999. I attended Champanat primary school....it was located behind el barrio Guayaquil (which in turn is located behind el Parque Sucre). It usually took me no more than 10 minutes to get to school. Once inside I would look forward to the mid morning break so i could go and play libertad with my companieros. By 12pm we would be ready to go home....i would stop by in el parque sucre and i would collect snails from the pond and spend the other half of my time looking at the fishes (this much hasn't changed in years i still get entranced when confronted by an aquarium). By 1pm i would be getting home....I didn't like the practical jokes Wilson would play on me (Wilson was a distant cousin). We had a medical student that hired a room in my aunties house....he was Pacho from Medellin and he was a very studious person.....he also had a lot of body parts with the fine detail as regards to veins and capillaries and what have you....he had a left hand with which Wilson would always play the guitar and he had a left foot or la patasola as I used to call it. I remember once I was getting home. Wilson knew what timetable i had for that week so he knew what time i would be getting home....as i began to walk up the stairs i was confronted by the left foot halfway up the stairs....to this day no one person has freaked me out as much as Wilson did....the bastard enjoyed seeing me shit scared and in this instance my little 8 year old heart nearly burst out and my calsoncillos weren't smelling too nice either....I think it was Wilson that probably scared that lombriz so much that it actually came out of my rectum....yes that's right... i had a worm crawl out of my backside and that freaked me out too...I have been spending the best part of my last 5 years trying to purge that lombriz' buddies, I am convinced I have at least 1 more solitaria....that would explain my endless teeth gnashing and the fact that I can stuff myself and not put on a gram while some poor bugger only has to look at the cream cake and the pounds are on.
I miss those days...and call me a sado masochist but I miss Wilson too

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quindioman says on Jul 27, 2005, 04:47:

and a year before that I was living with my gran (rip) in el guayaquil. This was my gran from my dad’s side and their whole family has been ravaged with a curse for alcohol. It’s a shame because the family has been a talented one as well….My dad was quite the footballer (when he wasn’t getting drunk) , my uncle actually got called up to the national squad – he played for Millonarios….one of my cousins played for Caldas….nowadays he is a hitman for hire and general playboy. My nan was quite the businesswoman and one of the most famous madams in Armenia….she had class and front, I mean to this day she’s the only one that fronted a whorehouse under the guise of a bakery. I know….it was 1982…the world cup in Spain….I would get up and as soon as I had finished my chores in the house I would be on the streets playing tirapiedra with my neighbours and swapping those fake money bills the kids used as barter. I didn’t know that the bakery was a front for the whorehouse….it didn’t make much sense to me back then, sometimes I would try and go into a room to sweep it but the room would be unexplicably locked. I would peer through the key hole but I would make no sense of the naked bodies writhing on the bed…oh well, let’s try the next door….
The house isn’t there anymore….she moved the business to Los Arenales before she was killed in 93…still she ran a whorehouse to the day she died…..

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Noruego says on Dec 25, 2006, 12:33:

Thanks to all for sharing you histories. I just found this tread earlier and have now read it all from beginning to end. Great subject and I hope to see more stories being added.

Thanks again.

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jan 19, 2007, 00:42:

I'm giving this one a bump too hoping to collect more of these stories about everyday life in Colombia,
Cheers,
Desi

"Soy el que siempreanda de noche en el vecindario, sé cuando ladra el perro, sé cuando canta el gallo sé cuando estan dormidos los muchachos de mi barrio..." (From the joropo "El pajarillo")

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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kalder says on Jan 22, 2007, 13:09:

This is indeed a fascinating thread. One of the most interesting on the site.
As an extension of this, I'd love to read 'day in the life' accounts from non-native residents. I'd be intrigued to see Colombia through their eyes and compare it to my own experiences and opinion of the country.

"A piece of cheese may entrap a mouse, but a bicycle could ensnare the Imperial Chancellor."~~An Bai Kuang

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jan 22, 2007, 14:08:

kalder, there are many many "day in life" stories here written by non-natives,albeit not about themselves, but (as I had initially suggested) about Colombians, from all socioeconomic classes and geographical locations. I have learned a lot about Colombia through these wonderful stories.I'm still hoping for a story written by somebody older, say past 50. or somebody who lived in Colombia in the sixties or seventies.

"A day in my life in Colombia" could be a whole new thread; a sort of continuation of this one but, as you suggested, from the point of view of a non-native, expat, tourist, visitor.

Cheers,
Desi

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.
Mark Twain [Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910)

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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kalder says on Jan 23, 2007, 05:07:

Yes, Desideria. Can you imagine the stories from... German engineers who stayed behind after marrying their Colombian sweethearts; the Englishwoman who took up chicken farming in Valle del Cauca and went onto to become the British consul in Cali; Swiss hoteliers who set up shop in the aftermath of WWII...?

The multi-varied tales from the expat communities would be endlessly fascinating. What an archive!

However, I know next to nothing about the 'established' expat communities in Colombia. They're as distant to me as the characters in a Graham Greene novel. It'd be the task of a far more experienced Colombia 'hand' than myself to hunt out their stories.

Any offers, anyone?

"A piece of cheese may entrap a mouse, but a bicycle could ensnare the Imperial Chancellor."~~An Bai Kuang

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mvefwd says on Jan 23, 2007, 07:25:

Real Colombia As you can tell I am new to PBH. I am intrigued by this thread. It brings everything into context. I hope that others will provide their stories. I am currently involved with wonderful woman originally from Cali. Her story however is quite different. She is from a more upper middle class background. As soon as I can find the time to put it all together, I will share it with you.

The essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
Viva Colombia!!
--E

No matter where you go... You are who you are...

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kalder says on Jan 23, 2007, 07:35:

mvefwd , hi! I look forward to your posting of the stories your Caleña can tell you. I don't know a lot about the lives of the upper stratas of Colombian society, so I'll be intrigued to hear about it.

BTW: I really like your definition of happiness.

"A piece of cheese may entrap a mouse, but a bicycle could ensnare the Imperial Chancellor."~~An Bai Kuang

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jan 23, 2007, 08:30:

I do know some people in the established expat circles in Cali, but not well enought to tell their stories without having interviewed them and to publish their life stories or just one day in their lives it would have to come directly from them. Next time in Cali, I'll have a talk with some and see how they feel about this literary pursuit.

Cheers,
Desi

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.
Mark Twain [Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910)

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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mvefwd says on Jan 23, 2007, 10:32:

Quote I wish I could take all the credit but it is a quote from Allan K. Chalmers that I learned in college....
The essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
Viva Colombia
---E

No matter where you go... You are who you are...

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andrew24 says on Apr 12, 2007, 20:25:

Best Thread Ever Bump :)

Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough.

Mark Twain

Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough. Mark Twain

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goin_south says on Apr 12, 2007, 23:06:

Andrew, I'm gonna use that photo... if I ever am feel forced to resort to the internet to look up some colomibanas again.

That happy smile has got to draw some of them in.

nothin I say is to be takn for my words, but rather for the words of Sailor Jerry.

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Man Tequila says on Apr 13, 2007, 01:00:

The stories here are intersting and I enjoyed this thread. Equally interesting to read some of the insightful posts by people who have possibiliy gone batshit insane over the following two years. ;)

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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andrew24 says on Apr 13, 2007, 06:27:

That guy is 'Smiling Bob' from the enzyte commercials: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/drugs/2002-04-18-enzyte.htm

Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough.

Mark Twain

Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough. Mark Twain

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Apr 14, 2007, 15:13:

I'm still a little interested in a "normal day" of an established expat in Colombia. Any volunteers? Gator? Lostgringo? Lowell? Carter? Anybody else?

Cheers,
Desi

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe
they are free." —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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