Perception of the white-looking foreign female or "gringa" en Colombia

island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 08:34:

bumpity bump I am interested in any comments you might have !!!

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island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 08:37:

wow and I cannot beleive I posted "female white woman" wow wow wow how redundant ...

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esanch36 says on Sep 21, 2008, 08:42:

I was friends with a southern blond girl that lived in bogota. I remeber whenever i went out with her,,she would always get these looks from colombians. Alot of people couldnt beleive she was living in colombia

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esanch36 says on Sep 21, 2008, 08:43:

and colombians think gringas are easy....which from my point of view is true,,kinda of

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island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 08:47:

Wow I never got propositioned not once. However I was with a South Asian friend of mine on the Coast and she kept getting invited for "walks on the beach" late at night by guys in the bar or club or whatever. Like with no shame or any sort of long conversation or lead-up before hand. She thought the Colombian sexual politic seemed very liberal from her experience.

Me no. Damn maybe Im an ugly sorta-gringa that screams "not easy."

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Sep 21, 2008, 08:51:

Depends...if you're young or old. If you're young (I assume you are) the guys will be paying a LOT of attention at you, you'll have to fight them off. The women will usually be friendly and curious, but only if you don't attract the attention of anybody they like; then they turn catty and malicious. If you're traveling alone in the back of the bus in rural Cauca people will think that you're looking for trouble, to get yourself invited to a jungle safari for no less than 5 years. Some people will be thinking "y esa gringa...que se le habrá perdido aquí...." but fortunately they are not so many.

If you're past 35 they'll start figuring out how to make you pay for breathing their air....
or perhaps you could be useful as friend.

Whichever way, after a month you'd probably learned a lot about Colombia; been invited to bed 158 times, proposed to marry by 23 men (some of them already married), asked help to live in your country 48 times...

ah, what do I know, I'm out of touch.

Cheers,
Desi
"white female woman, been young and gringa and alone in Colombia"

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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Bill Turley (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Sep 21, 2008, 08:58:

island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:00:

Bill!!!

What about gringAs - Im trying to get to the crux of the perception of white looking females here!

y tu leon? mas informacion por fa!!

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island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:03:

lol gringo spy thank you for the POSITIVITY regarding me THANK YOU did not see the post when I responded to Bill

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Bill Turley (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:04:

Lowell says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:23:

Gringo's, I don't need them in my town. It seems that there's more of them bad nowadays than good. 2 were here last week from Panama and made total asses of themselves. They were rude, obstinate, overdemanding, inconsiderate, one even threw money in the face of a person operating a coffee stand. I'm well know in my town and was approached by several people today as I walked with my family in town. I know who one of the Grongo's is and he has a reputation of similar incidents. Some day he's going to piss off the wrong person(s) and receive what's due to him. I hope very soon.

These people only serve to make other respecting Gringo's/foreigners life more difficult here in Colombia.

Alfred E. Newman. "What. Me Worry?"

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island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:27:

Any stories of the gringas -- seems like everyone has stories about nasty gringo experiences

so enlighten me with some about perceptions or run ins with GRINGAS please

Or are there not any

we fly unnoticed under the radar

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manINred says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:49:

The only gringas I met in Colombia when I stayed at a hostal were obnoxious and annoying.

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ruelemoine says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:53:

I have been to Colombia several times, especially with my sisters. Anyway, what I noticed was a sense of intrigue by Colombian men for all of my sisters. On one trip, I was there with one of my sisters who dresses sort of like a Soho/Wicker Park fartsy with combat boots and looks a little like Tina Fey. In the US men are more likely scared of her. Anyway, I couldn't believe all the attention she got. Guys were stopping by our place where we were staying In Cali all the time just to talk to her trying to approach her. They too were scared but, that didn't stop them. Even some of the guys were dating what I thought were more gorgeous woman more like a Penelope Cruz, yet they were still acting as if my sister was Angelina Jolie.

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ruelemoine says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:54:

I meant artsy not fartsy!

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Robert Jorge says on Sep 21, 2008, 09:57:

I saw zero gringas in Villavicencio. My guess is that a gringa in Villavo would get lots of attention - similar to what Desi described.

"You can not take the barrio out of the girl you really can't." Oneforamillion

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bickerss says on Sep 21, 2008, 10:03:

There was a Swedish girl on a spanish course I did in Bogota with an amazing complexion and long flowing blond hair - a very attractive girl. All the Colombians, males and females, would blatently stare at her all the time and she got a huge amount of attention in discos. If she was alone she would get lots of approaches by not only males but also my families etc.

Investment Strategy - buying when others are crying!! Offloading when others are gloating!!!

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Sep 21, 2008, 10:21:

Yes, all the young females of my family that have been in Colombia have received plenty of attention and with the exception of my daughter who is definitely a pretty girl, all of them have been rather average-looking. White complexion, blond hair, blue/green/grey eyes and especially freckles attract the eye of a Colombian male. And not just guys, my female relatives have been approached by sales clerks, stopped at the street by curious old ladies, just about anybody to ask where they are from and to say nice things about their looks. It's extremely good for a girl's ego to take a trip to Colombia.

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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manINred says on Sep 21, 2008, 11:20:

or anywhere in latin america for that matter, possible exception Argentina.

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island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 11:26:

where is ELMO?! He will tell me the hard truth as to why costenos wanted nothing flirtatious to do with my whitish looking self. everyone was FRIENDLY AND NICE AND HELPFUL AND NOT HITTING ON ME OR STARING.

I always wondered how people "placed" me when they saw me.

i had thought everyone placed me as human because they treated me as such but just wondering what the stereotypes of white women are given that lots of gringos in COL get accused of sex tourism or drug tourism (and many are there for that!) and what people thought the white chicks were there for.

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Herb says on Sep 21, 2008, 12:20:

gringos out number gringas like 100-1.This is why no one can really comment including myself. Please ignore this post and move on to the nextone. Thank you.

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bopenyan (☼Travelguide writer) says on Sep 21, 2008, 12:34:

island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 12:34:

ouch. thanks herb. well obviously you can comment and obviously you did not ignore this post. i dont care if gringas are a minority - i want to know what people make of their touristic presence, and if people also think they are there for the same reasons many people perceive the gringos to be there for. sorry to ruin your sunday.

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Sep 21, 2008, 12:48:

:) I was ALWAYS escorted to the front seats in Cali.
When flying I was escorted to the co-pilot seat so i could appreciate the beauty of the Colombian Andes. They really spoiled me rotten there.

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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MaFe says on Sep 21, 2008, 13:48:

I am surprised no one here has mentioned that Colombia has plenty of light skin, light hair, light eyes!
Hello Billy B, plato...?

Getting back to this disussion...I do think light skin people get better attention...but same goes for any hot woman they see!

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. "-Aristotle

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gamm2 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Sep 21, 2008, 14:18:

sillybutt says on Sep 21, 2008, 14:49:

Having recently been to Cali, to visit my Colombian fiance, I can tell you that I did have people starring at me on the streets and in the clubs. Everyone was very warm and welcoming to me. I did have it happen more than a few times where a child would come running up to me and just stop and stare. My fiance kept telling me, "they think you are Cinderella".

At Chipichape mall, I did catch a couple teenagers take a picture of us with their camera phones, but not sure if it was of me or my fiance (he's famous there).

We did stop and listen to a comedian performing in the park, and a few minutes after we arrived, he stopped his show, turned, pointed and yelled "GRINGA!" which got a big laugh (especially out of me because it was so obvious...I'm very blonde and light-skinned, Polish decent).

When I returned I found that Colombians on myspace were very excited about my travel blogs and encouraged me to "let the world know" how beautiful their country is.

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travelingirl says on Sep 21, 2008, 18:22:

I was a little uncomfortable when I first arrived in Colombia b/c I was definitely getting the stares. I finally got over it and acted like I didn't notice people looking at me. I didn't think I'd stand out too much with my dark hair.... but I guess my super pale skin is a giveaway.

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Lisa Zee says on Sep 21, 2008, 22:55:

The difference between a white Colombian (many in Medellin) or white Gringa, would be the way they are dress, they walk and mannerism. if you are attractive, (hot) the color or nationality has nothing to do with it.

La vida sera' contigo tan justa como lo eres con los dema's.

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Cheers Terry says on Sep 21, 2008, 22:58:

My lady friend who I traveled with for a couple of months through Colombia earlier this year was treated like a frigging rock star everywhere we went, and she's not even blonde. The stuff that she made happen for us was unbelievable. It was like being a Playboy Bunny in India. Crazy...

Cheers,
Terry

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miamimike says on Sep 22, 2008, 00:13:

gamm2--I don't know where in Mexico you traveled to but the area I'm most familiar with is Jalisco state--Guadalajara. Many times sitting in the plaza central at noontime and observing the office workers out for lunch, it was amazing the number of green or blue eyed mexican women, Tall with fair skin and ash blond or brown hair walking around. They are not what you would consider typical squat little mexican women for sure. Quite a Variety in Mexico.

Bésame, bésame mucho Como si fuera esta noche La última vez Bésame, bésame mucho Que tengo miedo a perderte Perderte después Bésame, bésame mucho Como si fuera esta noche La última vez Bésame, bésame mucho Que tengo miedo a perderte Perderte de

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papiChulo says on Sep 22, 2008, 01:11:

Most colombianos I know already know how good they have it with the local chicas.

I'm givin'er... givin'er HARDCORE

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Rowdy Yates says on Sep 22, 2008, 05:43:

The Caracol series on abandoned Plan Colombia babies I watched last night is not going to help with the perception of gringos.

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MaFe says on Sep 22, 2008, 12:42:

sorry ut the majority of light skin Colombianas are NOT found mostly in Medellin! Good lord!

Whatever the case...Colombia has a variety of everything...ALL OVER and they are all beautiful.

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. "-Aristotle

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kat1 (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Sep 22, 2008, 12:50:

BillBigD says on Sep 22, 2008, 14:17:

MiamiMike is right alot of blonde/green or blue eyes in Mexico. Look pretty nice also.

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Lisa Zee says on Sep 22, 2008, 19:55:

I guess some people can`t read English.

La vida sera' contigo tan justa como lo eres con los dema's.

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