Here we ___, in Colombia they ___

cam0940 says on Nov 11, 2005, 13:58:

LMAO, especially on the water in a bag comment.

rjstuff says on Nov 11, 2005, 14:16:

I loved the neighborhood liquor store I was in my fiancee's home in Barranquilla one evening and her brother asked me if I wanted a beer - I said sure. He sent his 11 or 12 year old son to get 2 beers - 2 or 3 doors down! I was amazed. And those beers are really small - like 4 or 6 ounces - so then we had couple more and then a couple more - brought 2 at a time from the neighborhood guy who gets his money once a week or once a month! Pretty neat I thought.

quindioman says on Nov 11, 2005, 14:26:

lol i got 1 or two:

Here you go and buy the beer and fags (if you smoke)yourself...back home you send your 10 your old cousin.

Here you have to buy a whole pack of cigarettes....back home you can buy singles!

Here we have fancy soap, wishy washy shower gel and very soothing bog roll to wipe away the tears you just emitted from dropping that whopping log....back home we make do with soap the size of a cert and yesterday's newspaper (if you rich) if you poor then it's the parva your pandebono came wrapped in the morning.

Here they deliver the milk and orange juice and place it conveniently outside your door in the morning...back home....yeah right.

That's it for now.

Nice post rocinante

Desideria (Moderator) says on Nov 11, 2005, 14:26:

we don't? Have hot water? I had three large water heaters in my house in Cali. We even washed the dishes with running hot water.

Here I pay all my bills on
the internet.
In Colombia I stand in a kilometer-long line all morning just to pay my utilities bill.

Then again:
Here I get up at the break of dawn, make my breakfast and haul my tired butt to the parking lot to drive to work.
In Colombia my maid has the breakfast ready before she wakes me up in the morning. If it rains I may not have to go work.

Cheers,
Desi

Embrace your uniqueness. Time is much too short to be living someone
else's life.

-Kobi Yamada

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

quindioman says on Nov 11, 2005, 14:27:

i see you noticed that alcohol/minor thing rjstuff.

Mario says on Nov 11, 2005, 15:20:

Huh? Here I take hot showers. In Colombia I take hot showers.
Here I put trash in a bin to be picked up. Ditto in Colombia.
Here, bottled water is available at the corner store. Ditto in Colombia.
Here, beer is available at the corner store. Ditto in Colombia.
Here if you get mugged you may be killed too. Ditto in Colombia.

Here you put a baby in a car safety seat, restrained. But not in Colombia.

harocha says on Nov 11, 2005, 15:21:

Alcohol Here and There Here parents try really hard to keep the kids away from alcohol if they are not 21, and they can't do much, because kids will get drunk with their friends and many times get into a car accident pretty often instead of calling mom to pick them up or do it home in front of mom and dad who can control the amount and see what they are doing...

Back home, I tried my fist wine glass when i was 9, by the age of 11 I was having beers and wine with my family on the special events, and if dad invited someone over or in the carnaval time at the parties they let us drink with them as long as we party with them and dance with them and invite our friends to join us, so they knew what we were up to and can easily control the way we drink and tell us what was good and bad and the most important thing we spent quality times with adults (our parents) talking about so many good stories that were very educating for young kids. I never become an alcoholic, never smoked a cigarrette on my life, never tried drugs, never needed to, because mom and dad were always there sharing with us the good and the bad times. Oh I never got drunk in my life, not even til today.
I think this 21 YO drinking rule is ridiculous!

Take Care

kernow62 says on Nov 11, 2005, 15:24:

I think children should be allowed to drink beer at age 6. I am dead set against 4 year olds drinking though.

spigrimace says on Nov 11, 2005, 15:35:

Here/There... Here there are hot chicks who put out/There there are fat chicks who put out. End of story.

harocha says on Nov 11, 2005, 15:44:

Where is HERE, where is THERE? Spigrimace where are the hot chicks? where are the fat chicks?

Here There...?

kernow62 says on Nov 11, 2005, 15:45:

If you have to ask....

harocha says on Nov 11, 2005, 15:48:

Yes I have to ask from the begining Here is USA and There is Colombia, so By what he says, ... USA has HOT chicks, Colombia has FAT chicks....

Yeah right!

juanalejo says on Nov 11, 2005, 16:39:

Here and There Desi, I do not recall since I have lived on my own (15 years) I have had to queue to pay any bill, first were the supermarket cashier who would (and still do) take your pay, then came the phone system in your bank and for quite some years now have paid everything via internet.

There they buy the bread in the 24 hr supermarket, in Colombia it gets delivered at 6 a.m. freshly baked.
There they queue to get a biscuit and an orange juice for breakfast; in Colombia they deliver a caldo con costilla or a tamal at 6 a.m.
There they stand in line for ten minutes to get a Mc Donald’s hamburger that was prepared ten minutes ago, in Colombia we get our Mc Donald’s delivered ...........yuck forget that one.
There they give you the piece of meat that was already cut and.....next please, in Colombia they cut your meat, they separate it by pairs, wrap it and in the mean while they smile and tell you which is their favourite recipe.
There they give you the check before you even want it, in Colombia they actually wait until you are ready to leave the place and want to order nothing more.
There the police come to shut your party before the booze is over, in Colombia the booze is over then you call and have some more delivered.
There your neighbour is the one that calls the police, in Colombia your neighbour is invited to your party.
There Christmas starts at shopping, continuous as shopping and ends by exchanging what you shopped, in Colombia it starts by shopping, moves into praying, then into dancing, back to shopping, back to praying, back to dancing, so on and so forth.
There you call two weeks in advance to announce a visit, then you call a day in advance to ask what you should take with you, in Colombia you ring the bell to announce a visit then you call more friends to tell them you have somebody over and ask them to join in.

kernow62 says on Nov 11, 2005, 18:36:

It depends upon where spigrimace is doesn't it. He happens to be in Colombia, hence "here" is used to designate Colombia, and there is where all the fatties reside.

WestCoastGirl says on Nov 11, 2005, 19:20:

Here/there Here you can sleep in quietly until 10 am, in Colombia you can be awakened at 6 am by shouting voices that say, "TIEMPO, ESPACIO, ESPECTADOR!" or "SE ARREGLA LA OLLA A PRESION!"

cam0940 says on Nov 11, 2005, 21:24:

Here the mail comes between 12 and 3 depending on where you live, it is delivered by a uniformed government employee in an identifiable government vehicle.

There some random guy shows up at a random hour on random days on a bike.

cam0940 says on Nov 11, 2005, 21:27:

Here I can pay for any good or service via Internet with a credit card, by telephone, cash or check.

There I may have to "consignar" la plata through a third party bank.

Here the bank is open until it closes.

There the entire bank closes down for as long as 2 1/2 hours in the middle of the day.

cam0940 says on Nov 11, 2005, 21:32:

Here a 20-something year old carrying an Uzi in the street is a gang member.

There he may be the police.

Here police officers patrol in a state of the art squad car, with the partners sitting next to each other.

There, they patrol on a $1000 dirt bike with one of them riding on the back. With an Uzi.

cam0940 says on Nov 11, 2005, 21:34:

Here, I never see the same stray dog on the street twice.

There....

cam0940 says on Nov 11, 2005, 21:35:

Here, I never see the same homeless child on the street twice.

There....

cam0940 says on Nov 11, 2005, 21:38:

Here my hot shower water cascades over my body w/ massaging action as it passes through my chrome showerhead.

There it crashes over my body with biting cold as it spews unpressurized from what looks like a steel garden hose.

cam0940 says on Nov 11, 2005, 21:49:

Here I choose my milk from a display amongst the grocer's refrigerated dairy products.

There I buy milk in a box stored at room temperature next to coffee and tea.

Rubiazo says on Nov 12, 2005, 00:38:

I guess Bogota ain't colombia -They have separate shacks for the garbage in my gf's conjunto. The doorman opens it up for the garbage collectors and they haul it all out and compact it, just like anywhere else civilized.

-Running a business out of your home will get you a SEVERE fine from the city. All businesses of that kind of nature must have a mayorial seal on prominent display in the main window.

-In Bogota drinks come in bottles or cans, and are usually available room temperature or cold, depending on how campesino you are :) And the majority of places have hot water, but nobody uses it for anything but showers and even then they usually don't go past lukewarm. But it's there if ya want it!

-Oh yes, and NOBODY woke us up at any time in Bogota at that hour selling anything. And the police DEFINITELY show up if you make too much noise (don't ask :P) !

juanalejo says on Nov 12, 2005, 05:42:

Here and There I think the interesting thing about this thread is comparing what can be found there and what can be found here, not I am poor there and I am rich here what the differences could be. To a higher or lesser degree rich and poor can be found everywhere so comparing Bill Gates' house and a house in Ciudad Bolivar is as bad as comparing Carlos Ardila's house and a house in East London.

zulmita says on Nov 12, 2005, 06:54:

Oh, God!! Baby, where have you lived?? Poor you, I live in Colombia and I can say to you, here you can get almost anything depending on wich neighborhood (or city) you are, there is the the real poor nbhd. where you will find a lot of small stores at the houses but there are the "rich" nbhd where nobody will disturb your peace!! because is a complex or whatever, there is not small places to buy grocery's, you must go to the supermarket where you will find a LOT of things from inside and outside the country even bottled water...YES!!!
Stop making ppl believe that stupid theory that says Colombia is like a kind of little town with indians who can barely speak their own languaje. IS NOT TRUE.
We, as the rest of the world, have things good and bad, good and bad ppl, and so on.
A kiss to everybody!!!

cdunn77 says on Nov 12, 2005, 07:01:

Here (in Bogota) it never friggen stops raining!!! :-(

silviat says on Nov 12, 2005, 08:50:

here in portland either :(

harocha says on Nov 12, 2005, 11:29:

To me Mom and Dad used to said... ... Eat the soup now or I will bit the sh... out of you, and on top of that you won't get to eat for the next two weeks, your brother will love it, (My brother eats what ever you put in front of him)

There were not Africa bulls... there, you eat or you eat.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Nov 12, 2005, 11:30:

juanalejo, no queuing to pay the bills? That's good. I was extremely embarassed when trying to pay my property taxes at a bank in Cali and couldn't even get inside the bank because the doors wouldn't open before I had deposited everything in my bag in a safety locker and then some more embarassement because the metal spiral in my agenda was giving me trouble getting in the bank and everybody was staring at me...got in finally and then I was told that I couldn't pay the bill because the systems were down. All that embarassment for nothing! (That was Banco Ganadero around the corner). After that I went to the nearest Banco de Colombia and spent the rest of the morning in a line all the way to the door and outside...

Those I've spoken with in Cali say that they don't trust internet banking and it's not safe. I have been taking care of all my banking needs (wel, almost all) via internet now for a number of years and absolutely hate to "hacer cola". As far as I know I should be able to log in my internet bank in Sweden being myself in Colombia and pay all my bills from my Swedish bank account just like I'm used to do even from there.

Cheers,
Desi

Embrace your uniqueness. Time is much too short to be living someone
else's life.

-Kobi Yamada

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Desideria (Moderator) says on Nov 12, 2005, 11:34:

oh, we used that Africa bull on our kids when still living there. I had a very difficult time making my kids eat anything besides chitos and chocolatinas jet and had to have some kind of handle on them. They said: "Mum, here, make a package of this sancocho and send it to the starving kids in Africa!
Cheers,
Desi

Embrace your uniqueness. Time is much too short to be living someone
else's life.

-Kobi Yamada

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

kernow62 says on Nov 12, 2005, 12:46:

Tinto they usually just hit you with a chancla.

rocinante says on Nov 12, 2005, 13:18:

flamboyant busses This post is not intended for the rich minority nor is it meant to demean Colombia in any way. I embrace these Colombian quirks and honestly find them endearing. Also some of these posts had me howling - some of you are extremely hysterical.

Here (NYC) you squint and strain to read the small writing on the top of a city bus in order to figure out where it's going. In Colombia (Medellin) not only can you spot the bus coming from a mile away but the destination is written all over the bus in super large and extremely colorful writing.

Here you complain because your neighbor is blasting a stereo so powerful that it could fill a stadium. In Colombia you don't complain because the music is nice and your neighbor is not playing it super loud; it just seems really loud because your neighbor's house doesn't have many walls.

Here leaving the waiter a fifty cent tip on a ten dollar meal is an insult - in Colombia it's over tipping.

Here you go to the supermarket to buy a chicken, in Colombia you grab one out of your backyard.

Here you take a detour because a street is closed for a block - there is construction, people working. Some fat guy in a hard hat wearing a bright orange shirt waves a flag and you go a different way. In Colombia the street is closed for one block as well but for no apparent reason by 20 policemen waving uzis. No construction, no emergency, nada. The street is just closed.

I'll be in Medellin again in about two weeks - I can't wait to discover more. I have written a great deal and have take photos. I will be posting some of this in the near future on an alternate website.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Peso 1400 by November" Feb 5, 2008

juanalejo says on Nov 12, 2005, 13:45:

Tips in Colombia are 10%. They are usually in your bill with a little note that says tips are voluntary and most upscale restaurants will ask if you are willing to pay the tip. You just say yes and that is it, they will bring you back the change after the tip has been discounted or if in credit card they will include the tip in the receipt.

harocha says on Nov 12, 2005, 13:58:

Tips that someone on PHB posted before Hotel daily tipping (maid, luggage guy) 1 USD
Casual Rustic Restaurant 5-10%
Nice high class restaurant 10-15%
Taxis 10%-20%
Drivers for hire 10%
Tours guides 5,000 to 10,000 Pesos
Airport luggage helpers 2,000 to 5,000 Pesos


I don't remember who posted it, but I think is a good table.

harocha says on Nov 12, 2005, 14:00:

Note... Locals who never left the country before never tip the taxi drivers

rocinante says on Nov 12, 2005, 14:11:

the nearest mil In taxis my friends in Medellin round up to the nearest 500 or mil. So a 3.700 peso ride will yield 4.000 pesos total for the driver.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Peso 1400 by November" Feb 5, 2008

juanalejo says on Nov 12, 2005, 14:19:

Harocha Tipping is an USA thing, so please do not generalize about it, it has nothing to do with leaving or not the country. In hotels maids are not tipped, porters usually 2.000 per piece of bag. Restaurants that print a bill 10% and nobody pays more, as I explained the suggested tip is already printed and that is it. Rustic restaurants can be anything from 0 to 10% depending on who is paying. Taxis are never tipped, although I do like Rocinante suggests and round up.

In different countries different ways, in the UK people leave sometimes over 20% tip for taxi drivers, I did not know and was insulted on the spot, in France I tipped and my waiter insulted me, he told me he was a professional and earned a good salary, he did not need my change.

harocha says on Nov 12, 2005, 15:13:

Juanalejo I generalize for a very good reason, I am from Colombia, and I am talking about people in my country who never leave the country and are poor (poor in Colombia means everyone who is middle class and down, you are either poor or rich) NEVER give a tip to the taxi driver since they never have the money to give someone more than what they make, I know this because I was one of these poor people and if we get pay 5000 pesos per day and a taxi cost us 2000, plus food and other daily needs, who do you think is going to tip a taxi driver, so I do have a reason to generalize don't you think????

juanalejo says on Nov 12, 2005, 15:28:

Harocha Being poor and not tipping do not always go together. What I am saying is that in Colombia is not customary to tip a taxi driver, that is all. Maybe in other countries it is, but in Colombia it is not, regardless if you have left the country or not.

harocha says on Nov 12, 2005, 15:32:

No Necesarilly I do now, and know a lot more people who do, depending who good the taxi driver is with the service, if you are in Cartagena, and they drive you to one place to another to find apartment, and they don't charge you more than the initial price, I always treat them well with the tip ($$) but if they charge me a lot more, i never take them again for a ride. And I know a lot of people who came back from foreign lands and they can afford to have a taxi driver who is nice to them so they tip them very well. In the other hand, rich people in Colombia, almost always tip the taxi drivers. So it does make a lot of difference.

juanalejo says on Nov 12, 2005, 15:43:

Horocha Good for you, and for the taxis that haul you around.

kernow62 says on Nov 12, 2005, 20:08:

Juanalejo I can't believe a London cabbie insulted you. ;-) ja ja

Mr. Hollywood says on Nov 12, 2005, 21:45:

Tipping Taxis are a funny thing. A while ago I got very lucky during one of those torrential downpours and got a driver who said, "I'm going to take it nice and easy since it's raining so hard." We proceeded to navigate through floods all the way from Candelaria to Chico that were frequently over the axel of the car. At one point it hailed about the size of gumballs and moments later there were mudslides pouring down onto the Circunvalar. The guy drove like a champ the whole time.

When we got to my home I tipped him double the fare, not because I'm some show-off rich gringo but because I truly appreciated that the guy had slowed down and driven well rather than trying to pull some macho dangerous bullshit. My life is definately worth a couple extra bucks.

Most of the time, though, I do the rounding up thing, or don't tip at all if they're shit drivers.

quindioman says on Nov 13, 2005, 02:03:

regarding the whole colombian taxi drivers I generally roundup but most of the time I talk a lot with the driver 9 times out of 10 the service is top notch so it doesn't hurt to tip them IMO.

quindioman says on Nov 13, 2005, 02:03:

regarding the whole colombian taxi drivers I generally roundup but most of the time I talk a lot with the driver 9 times out of 10 the service is top notch so it doesn't hurt to tip them IMO.

quindioman says on Nov 13, 2005, 02:03:

regarding the whole colombian taxi drivers I generally roundup but most of the time I talk a lot with the driver 9 times out of 10 the service is top notch so it doesn't hurt to tip them IMO.

kernow62 says on Nov 13, 2005, 05:06:

You typing with three keyboards at the same time or what?

quindioman says on Nov 13, 2005, 05:45:

yeah kernow... the extra 2 i got off the friendly taxi driver ;-)

Caballista says on Nov 13, 2005, 11:52:

HERE IN NEW YORK, I'M MISSING EVERYTHING FROM THERE, COLOMBIA.

caslug says on Nov 14, 2005, 08:48:

tipping is a USA thing.. and we generally do it for decent or better service. if service is subpar then you shouldn't tip.

in many communities in the states, YOU have to seperate your recylables(ie, plastic/paper vs organic-trees parts/shrubs) into two different container.

Here in COL(cali), you can throw everything out and then the worker bees(poor folks) go around and shift thru your garbage and take out EVERYTHING that can be sold/recycle before the garbage truck shows up. They do this is all barios including rich ones. it's quite amazing to see them do this, it's like ants workings together, very efficient.

Lionheart says on Nov 14, 2005, 09:31:

tipping is global In Europe tipping is common, 15% is given for good service, more for superb service, often split from the actual bill to make sure the person performing the service really gets it ... a drawback from paying with a credit card. In Southern European countries you can expect to experience bad things if you try to omit the tip.

Recycling in Germany has reached a max: you have to even separate plastics according to their type and glass according to its color.

Rubiazo says on Nov 14, 2005, 09:59:

Lionheart not necessarily true Tipping is not common in Spain AFAIK. We had some Spanish guys from a rock group come over when I was still living in Toronto and they had never heard of a tip before. They were from Malaga or Granada, I can't remember which.

Lionheart says on Nov 14, 2005, 10:20:

you might be right Rubiazo Granada and Malaga are tourist infested areas, so locals might think there is no need to tip, the tourists do it enough ... or it is a plain cultural thing. As a tourist there I was expected to tip.

In Paris I saw an undertipped waiter spit at his customers shoes ... but the customer might have just been a Brit who mumbled Waterloo too loud.

Apropos Spanish Rock: Mägo de Oz released their latest CD today, I just got it as a 2CD version! :-D Rock On!

rocinante says on Mar 25, 2007, 23:18:

Here we ___, in Colombia they ___ Here in the US, people drink every cup coffee the same way all the time: "I take mine with..." In Colombia the same person will drink cafe con leche with breakfast and black coffee between lunch and dinner.

Here the alarm clock wakes you up every morning, there guy walking down the street with carts will scream "Aguacate!" or "Banananau!" - whatever they are selling.

Here if your watch battery needs replacing you go to a jewler, fill out a form and they will call you in a week or so when the watch is ready - There you stop at a Kiosk in Centro and a guy changes the battery in under a minute right in front of you.

Here you take a car service to get to the airport or a friend or loved one might see you off. - There as many people as possible that can make it will go to the airport with you and no one will leave until they no longer see the plane inthe sky.

There if there is a hole in the sidewalk or a sidewalk manhole cover missing people walk around it. - Here if there is a bump in the sidwalk someone trips and sues for 100 grand.

There while cooking for a party you place a couldron on cinderblocks in the middle of the street and light a fire underneath it and fry up the live pig you just bought home and killed. Here you need a permit to practically light a match on the street, forget about everything else!

Here someone will see a discarded rollerskate a rusty pail and , broom on the side of the road and think "litterbug" - There someone will see the same thing and think, "I could use that to make a hotdog cart".

Here you pay more for most items purchased at the convenience store down the block vs the big giant supermarket a 20 minute drive away. - There the convenience stores down the block are cheaper than the big supermarkets a 20 minute drive away.

Here the ticket agent at American Airliines can speak Spanish, - There the ticket agent at American Airlines can't speak Englsih. (I'm talking JFK and Rio Negro).

Here we have Lemons called Lemons - There the have Limes called Lemons.

Here we refrigerate leftover cooked food after cleaning up the kitchen - There the food sits un refrigerated until god knows when.

Here during christmas time you may go to church and watch TV specials and listen to Chritmas music. - There you pack into a Chiva for 4 hours with bottles of Aguardiente and blasting music watching the luces while the Chiva drops you off to different neighborhoods where you pig out at a festival, dance and party and look at those luces.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Peso 1400 by November" Feb 5, 2008

goin_south says on Mar 25, 2007, 23:28:

. Here, the cities are clean. There...not as much.
Here, you can make lots of money. There....?

Those are not my words, but the words of un colombiana joven, quien viven en estados unidos para dos anyos, .... who I spoke with a few nights ago en telefono.

and, thank you.

Lisa Zee says on Mar 25, 2007, 23:40:

Here I am the maid in my house There I have a maid in my house!

kat1 (Moderator) says on Mar 26, 2007, 03:54:

Oh liza, that was luxury that we took for granted.

engage brain before opening mouth

aztec says on Mar 26, 2007, 04:58:

among my first surpises... ...in Bogota was having having to pay fpr a coffee refill. I just assumed that in the land of coffee you would have as much as you could drink. And the cup was a tinto, a small item Colombians use for coffee!

On the matter of hot water, never had a problem except when years they were alternating cutting the water system off because of no rain.

Believe you can now pay most of your bills via the internet.

elmodefoque says on Mar 26, 2007, 05:14:

here you guys a regular john here you guys are regular john doe
there, you're bradd pitt

over 5 million colombianos in USA and only 27 barranquilleros, i'm one.Curramba, el mejor vividero del mundo!

elmodefoque says on Mar 26, 2007, 05:20:

Here, I’ miserable old wetback beaner spic toilet cleaning modefoque who cant’ afford to pay $400 dollars for a Hooker
In Colombia I’m the rich Paraco/Capo who could easily pay 80 mil pesos.

over 5 million colombianos in USA and only 27 barranquilleros, i'm one.Curramba, el mejor vividero del mundo!