To All Colombianos in New York

Rubiazo says on Feb 5, 2006, 18:28:

HAH try searching the site. Plenty of discussion on that subject
If you do get here PM me and I will give you some contact info from people I know in the Colombian community.

Personally I think that if you dont' have much money it will be very hard here. Every little thing costs money here. For example, there are NO free universities, so plan around that. I think the cheapest tuition now in public universities is around $4500 a year or so.

If you speak English perfectly with no accent you will be treated like anybody else. If you have an accent or any problems with your English you will be treated like a greaseball. To fully take advantage of NYC you really need to have good English AND good Spanish!

Also, most of the Spanish nightclubs have closed in the past 5 years because of the police here.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Rubiazo says on Feb 5, 2006, 18:29:

There is also A thread here called "Colombian businesses in NYC." Check that out!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

elmodefoque says on Feb 6, 2006, 06:32:

Gloria, if you go straight to queens, you should have no problem, almost nobody there speaks English. You get a job as a waitress, (how you look in a very tiny skirt?) make some good money, study English, it seems you already know way more than many of those modefoques living there 10 years. If you wanna see white gringos get outta queen and go to long island, Manhattan is 70 percent spic and the only blanquitos live in Central Park west, Central Park east and Park Avenue, the rest is all third world modefoques.

I'll get there, when I get there!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

elmodefoque says on Feb 6, 2006, 07:09:

rich????? no way! you be talking good english, you sure you're not mamando gallo?

I'll get there, when I get there!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

elmodefoque says on Feb 6, 2006, 07:33:

the part of queens where most colombians live, is not bad at all, i think is lower to middle class? I would not call it poor, but not rich! Rich is any modefoque living around central park.

I'll get there, when I get there!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

elmodefoque says on Feb 6, 2006, 08:00:

The place where I live in uptown Manhattan would be considered poor compared to Colombian’s Queens. I live among platano eating, bachata listening loud dominicanos, but we are slowly getting overrun by them there Mexican injuns. I saw the coolest thing the other day, this young Mexicanita speaking “Nahuatl’ her native language. It got me a little down for forgetting the tongue of my ancestors. Instead I speak other people’s language. One of these days I’m gonna ask them Mexicans to adopt my old Indian ass into their culture and teach me Nahuatl, shit I live among them now might as well speak their language.

I'll get there, when I get there!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Rubiazo says on Feb 6, 2006, 11:52:

No problem making friends here People in NYC are not NEARLY as rude as they are made out to be. They are generally actually quite friendly. The only thing is that everybody here is super super super busy all the time so remember not to take it personally if they don't have time for something!

Also, NYC is officially 51% Spanish speaking. Unfortunately that is the BOTTOM 50%. As for Queens, it's HUGE, just Queens itself is almost as big as all of Bogota. Plenty of very rich and poor areas and everything in between.

You will probably want to get a room somewhere. Having your own apartment is just way to expensive. It's almost impossible to find your own place for less than $1000 a month. Make sure you get some place close to a subway station so you can get around without spending your whole life waiting for buses. The subways are OK here but the buses are horrible.

Jobs will definitely be easier to find than in Bogota. I am assuming you have a proper work visa though. Getting work under the table is a lot more difficult. It's still not that hard but it's very low paying.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

airetuPaL says on Feb 8, 2006, 20:14:

En Chicago hay bastantes Colombianos Lo que yo te puedo decir es que en Chicago viven bastantes Colombianos, tenemos una comunidad muy grande. Aqui hay Caleños, Paisas y Rolos con algunos Costeños. Si te interesa, mandeme un PM y hablamos.

Chaito.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

BxUnika says on Feb 13, 2006, 00:04:

What Elmo Said is True While there is some level of discrimination no matter where you go in the US, I think Rubiazo is blowing it out of proportion a bit. Non-Hispanic Whites in NYC are the minority anyway.

I actually live in Queens (Corona) and am Irish and on an average day in Queens, my English is spoken at the minimum level to the point where sometimes I ahve to think for a second when I reply or write in English. Corona is kind of ugly and overpopulated but I bet you'd do just fine in Jackson Heights or Elmhurst or Woodside or Astoria. I would advise that you move to Queens and get a roommate both to save money and so that it's not a culture shock when you first get here.

If anything, send me a private message here and I can try to answer any question you have about NYC. BTW, where are you from? I live with two rolos, a bumanguese, and a paisa.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

BxUnika says on Feb 13, 2006, 00:07:

at Morphus "Easy jobs to get are bank teller, travel agent, medical biller, healthcare, cashier, and thats without college. In Colombia, you need years of college to get those jobs. Not here. Just a few weeks training."

I don't know about that. Things are really changing in the past few years here in NYC and most of those jobs you mentioned would probably require that you have at least some college if not a degree and/or experience. Cashier, sure. Medical biller? Healthcare? Bank teller? Um, no.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Rubiazo says on Feb 13, 2006, 01:12:

re: discrimination you won't be denied a good seat at a restaurant for being Spanish speaking, for example, but when it comes to getting a job, having perfect fluent English is pretty important. ALSO you have to have a proper work visa, or you will wind up working for $80 a day, tops AND running a risk of getting busted and sent back.

0 funny, 0 helpful.