Many thanks.......

gringoloid says on Aug 28, 2008, 14:10:

bump

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gringoloid says on Aug 28, 2008, 14:30:

Yes, kalico.......I knew I forgot someone........and maybe two.........you and medoblado. It warms the heart to know that when you move to Medellin in October that I might return your largesse with a gift that you need and will appreciate.

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paulr says on Aug 28, 2008, 14:36:

Glad your stuff is sorted, i´m sure another challenge will be just around the corner.

It seems like that´s all i´ve been doing since i got here, sorting things out.

*The messing about that came with getting a student visa
*Cedular(Waited 3 months)
*Opening a bank account(Couldn´t open till i got my Cedular).
*Rented a furnished apartment from what seemed like a nice lady, turned out to be a robbing witch.
*The hell that goes with renting an apartment from an agency(You know what i mean).
*Une cancelled internet and TV because they thought i didn´t pay, took 2 weeks to get reconnected.
*Getting visa extention
*My debit card got cancelled for no reason, waited 2 weeks for it to arrive.
*And why do people always want to keep on ripping you off when you´ve moved out of an apartment?

Why make things easy when things can be made difficult.

I love it here but some days really do get your back up.

"paulr threatens me with death !" pobrecito

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paulr says on Aug 28, 2008, 15:20:

Student visa: You have to get all relevant forms from your chosen School or UNI(In my case, UPB) lots of mix-ups in forms, i don´t think they had done it before as they sent wrong forms. After lots of stupidness, I had all the forms and p/copies from a list on the gov website in my hand at the ministerio in Bogota, but one thing that wasn´t on the list was proof of payment, which cost me another 3 days in Bogotá(Weekend) and 4 months payment.

Cedular: Any fukups are completely normal at DAS.

Rented a furnished apartment: I looked at and liked an apartment in Belén, talked to the lady who seemed very nice who agreed to rent it to me. The day after i signed and paid(3 months in advance), she came around all aggressive demanding that i pay $1,500 in cash as a deposit, as it wasn´t mentioned in the agreement, i refused to give her anything, she hounded me the whole time.

UNE. They said i hadn´t paid but i had, i had receipts to prove it, i faxed them the receipts no less than 4 times and talked to them on the phone about 20 times, they drove me crazy.

Getting visa extension: NO obstacles, just DAS in general

My banks in the UK cancelled my cards, one was a general change of cards to all internet account users(Thanks for the email warning) the other was cancelled for abnormal use, which was me using my card as normal in Colombia.

After leaving an apartment: After moving from a place they will try and charge you for "damages" anything they can find basically, normally things that were already damaged but very hard to prove otherwise. They will hound anyone who has signed on your behalf for the money so you have to be nice to them, which can be very hard.

I´m sure it´s just as hard for Colombians living in other countries so i´ll keep my complaining to a minimum.

"paulr threatens me with death !" pobrecito

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juli says on Aug 28, 2008, 15:27:

too late

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gringoloid says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:13:

paul.......it's funny, i had some of those same problems only slightly modified. if you wait long enough its seems the bureaucratic hassels just disappear on their own.

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tomtom33 says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:29:

"if you wait long enough its seems the bureaucratic hassels just disappear on their own."

What are you smoking?

I'm glad that you have had some good luck. Enjoy it. If you remain in Colombia, it will not last.

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tejasmarcos says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:32:

good to hear, GL.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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pedro says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:56:

The "waiting 3 months for the cedula" is an example of something that solves itself.

It takes as much as 3 months. Unless you process it in Bogota in which case people report receiving it in a day or two.

No point spinning your wheels and fighting your regional branch of the DAS over it. The delay is the same for everybody. You are not being singled out for harsh treatment. The path of least resistance is to smile, let three months pass, rock up and say "hey, is my cedula here?", and they hand it to you.

Loid, that's good news. A la orden.

que nota!

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gringoloid says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:57:

tomtom............you just haven't waited long enough.

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paulr says on Aug 29, 2008, 06:13:

Not sure how long i´d have to wait G L. i´ve not bought a house here yet! that should be lots of fun and games.

It´s not just me having a bit of a rant about bad luck, anyone you speak to here has numerous stories of the same and much worse, money going missing from bank accounts, friends turning into enemies etc etc.

It really is something you have to accept and take in your stride because no-one is exempt, anger is a wasted emotion.

"paulr threatens me with death !" pobrecito

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mranderson says on Aug 29, 2008, 09:58:

I haven´t had any problems yet. No money missing from my account, no problems with landlords...oh wait, I do have a new computer that won´t connect to the internet. I have to use my laptop for the internet and my laptop is very moody.

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gringoloid says on Aug 29, 2008, 11:10:

mranderson.......don-t you have a colombian wife?..........things go much easier here if a person can speak good spanish. i think problems are greatly diminished if you can speak the lingo.

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mranderson says on Aug 29, 2008, 11:49:

Yea that´s true. She does all the banking cause it seems whenever I try to do it the guy or woman working the counter suddenly has no idea how to do the job and tells me I have to come back later, or I can´t do that at this time or some bullshit like that.

Although when we go shopping together it seems whenever she opens her mouth I end up paying full price. She´s not allowed to talk anymore when we go shopping.

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tomtom33 says on Aug 29, 2008, 14:09:

Things go a lot easier when a Colombian handles the business affairs. However, this is still Colombia. They have problems as well.

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Ctg Bound says on Aug 29, 2008, 15:20:

tomtom33,

To true, that why I have 5 Colombia admin people, let them deal with the problems.

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