Looking for a better life???

I think we all have taken that step; this forum is full of people that are either Colombians or with Colombian backgrounds or gringos living there or with some attachment to Colombia... whatever it is we have all been there... We have experienced both worlds and know that there is a huge difference between one country and another... no other country is the same as Colombia and people need to know this before actually making that step...

People usually leave their own country to travel like many gringos; they may feel homesick while in Colombia because they miss their own culture but the real truth is that they can go back when ever they like but most Colombians leave because we want a better life and we think that being in another country is going to get us that! How wrong we are… although many people do make it, they go to this entirely different world and managed to find good jobs and provide a better life for their family but most of us don’t have the same luck and end up cleaning toilets and earning our life the hard way.

My family back in Colombia keep telling me to get them out of there and I wish I could believe me! Their circumstances are different to many if they don’t get out of Colombia they will probably end up dead so I really wish that I could help them but they are so messed up and you know how hard it is to get your partner or your family to the country that you are in now let alone if your family are a bunch of criminals!.

Everything is nice at first, you go out and visit this new and wonderful places like a tourist visit more like but when you come down from the big cloud that you were on and reality hits you like a slap on the face then you will begin to realise how tough it is and how much you miss your home.

At first most people work illegally for nothing! You have to go out sometimes in this horrible cold weather that you are not used to with your hands burning as hell and your nose so red and frozen like it’s gonna drop off your face, you are waiting for those buses for hours to go to your little low paid job washing plates or cleaning other people’s mess! I met this Colombian guy once in Spain he told me how he earned his living by cleaning an old man’s butt! He said it made him feel worthless but he needed the money.

And don’t get me started on your immigration status! Getting residency in another country is way too difficult let alone finding a job that’s legal and makes good money to pay for the rent, food, clothes and all other everyday necessities and to have some money left to send back to Colombia where every time you call there’s a different emergency! As soon as you arrive in this other country your family and friends back home think that you are as rich as hell and expect you to send money for their every need, I do not have problem sending money to people in great need but you have to draw a line to it otherwise people will just take advantage of you!

When I left Colombia many years ago I was excited to get out of there because I thought that where I was going it was going to be really different and that we were going to have a different life... it was damn right different!! sometimes in a good way but most of the time in a bad way and after all the excitement has gone you start to miss your country so much that it makes you sick not being able to go back and when you do go back you don't want to leave again and then you become depress for not being able to stay! People in Colombia don’t realise how hard it is to live in another country especially when you have no one to turn to, we all go through that don't we?? Like I say the grass isn't always greener on the other side!!

We all go through this at first and after a few years if you do get your residency status sorted out then you can find a good job and start earning the good money, start noticing some good changes and start getting used to not living in Colombia anymore that’s when you buy your car and start buying designer clothes and going to Colombia for vacation and may be for a nip and tuck here and there and that’s when you start to enjoy what you’ve worked so hard for.

My daughter is a very lucky girl, born in the UK in a good hospital with all expenses paid, going to a private school getting nice clothes and toys she doesn’t realise how hard my family has worked to get us here to this point where we are now I was graduated from university in the UK also and have a good job in the tourism industry but I will never forget how we got here how tough the first years were, how I had to clean houses and to how I had to go to second hand shops to buy my clothes and how people stepped all over us taking advantage of us and with us having no rights to say anything I think that’s why my father decided to become a drug trafficker we started to earn good money but it all ended up in some deep nasty sh**t most of my cousins in prison and all the money gone so we decided to clean up our act .

So please wherever you are and however rich you may get never forget where you come from! Never forget your roots!!

By nanis on Jan 21, 2005, 10:26 in Friendly Talkzone.

Albatross says on Jan 21, 2005, 11:00:

Proud o' my roots... I'll never forget where I came from... I was born a poor black child... I remember the days... sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi...

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

oldbongo says on Jan 21, 2005, 11:08:

querido mrs, gomez... might the oldgringo offer you some encouragement
to put your literary talent to task, and to create a
large volume of work, in one book,that many more would
value than might here, and provide you with more satisfaction
for your efforts, as well. ....

and, as the oldgringo has come to admire your style,
he invites you to communicate someday with la commandante.

kernow62 says on Jan 21, 2005, 11:19:

Thanks, my job isn't so bad after all. Whenever I am feeling pissed off at work, I will think of the poor guy cleaning the old man's butt, and I will count my blessings. Kissing ass at work isn't so bad after all.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Jan 21, 2005, 11:54:

you can make a good life anywhere inthe world. It's up to you, your priorities and ambitions in life determine pretty much your destiny. Yes, I can understand many Colombians leaving the country and hoping to make a fresh start somewhere else and in many cases having a success at that too. Colombians are very rescilient people, resourceful and adaptable to foreign cultures. It all comes with a price, of course, like everything else.
I only wish that more of the young people after getting their education abroad would return to Colombia to strengthen the society with their newly acquired skills and knowledge.

Cheers,
Desi (promoting Colombia actively for my own offspring who prefer the easy and safe environs in Scandinavia...but I'm working on it!)

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

Desideria (Moderator) says on Jan 21, 2005, 12:20:

very good, tinto! If I had the slightest idea about what you are talking about I'm sure I could do that!
People have been telling me for the longest time that I've been wasting my life teaching young children what's right and what's wrong; I've been offered to be the representative of Polo Democratico in Sweden, sell used books on the net, represent a Finnish company manufacturing sliding glass windows for balconies and homes in Colombia, among other things. My total failure to understand money has made me to stick to my low-paying, little-appreciated profession.

Honestly, if there was anything I could do to poke holes in the free market hypocrisy in favor of Colombia, I'd be game.

Cheers,
Desi

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

ARMacleod says on Jan 21, 2005, 13:09:

Believe this. My earliest memory was when I was a very small person of 3 or possibly a little older.

I was standing on a chair looking out of the window. My grandmother was beside me and her hand on my head. She was cussing the Germans in their bombers who were blowing the crap out of the docks on the river Clyde in Glasgow. (Scotland) (West of NY)

I saw a real banana for the first time in my life when I was 15 years old. (Never got one though) sugar was out of the question, and sweets (candies) were what American G Is had.

I never ate meat until I reached 16 and joined the army.

I am not complaining, I never do on this kind of subject. I was rather well off then. I was at least three miles from the bombs, Some people never ever, got to see a banana, taste sweet water, or eat meat at all.

About one third of the population of the world are impoverished, much more than I ever was even then. The poorest Colombian was probably richer than I was, as far as food was concerned anyway.

Most people think too deeply and ponder on what might have been. Or are constantly bemoaning their lot. What's the point?

When I finally settle in Colombia for good. I will thank someone's god, because I will have made it to my personal nirvana at long last.

My outlook, Live and let live and be thankful, because most of the people in the world have less than I have.

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.

Gator says on Jan 21, 2005, 20:24:

Desi, I know what you mean "I only wish that more of the young people after getting their education abroad would return to Colombia to strengthen the society with their newly acquired skills and knowledge."

Simon, the young man we sponsored (paid for) to come to the USA for his college education, will be graduated this fall from the College of Engineering, University of Florida (3.93 GAP at this time. (NOW you know where the nickname "Gator" comes from.) He will be looking to remain in the USA and not return to Colombia. He has several companies who will, according to him, obtain a H visa for him. In as much as we love him, like a son, and are very, very proud of him we wish he would return to Colombia. But I guess, to quote a song from WW1 "How are you going to keep úm down on the farm, after they've seen Paree."

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

utopiacowboy says on Jan 21, 2005, 21:24:

Another Colombiano deserts his homeland for the Evil Empire. He must not be a reader of 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.

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.

AlexisCorrea says on Jan 26, 2005, 11:06:

How a Colombiano changed a Gringas life! "The world is mine when I wake up!"
-Erykah Badu
Everyone has their story that ties them to Colombia/South America/USA...etc.
I have seen such a different side to the world and my own government since marrying my out of status Colombian husband.
Perhaps the hardest thing is dealing with the fact that we are all just people trying to make our lives the best they can be and we all have our own reasons for that. And even those reasons may be divided between the sexes and certianly between cultures.
One great lesson we all learn in our lives some earlier than others is that until we have been through a situation and learned from it we truly can not judge it or say exactly how we would have reacted to it.
Muchos Besos Para Todos!!!

utopiacowboy says on Jan 26, 2005, 12:19:

What? "We truly can not judge it"? That's what the whole freakin site is about! The beauty of the internet.

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.