daver has written 17 posts

New Socialist Bloque in Latin America?

Looks like Morales has jumped into bed with Castro and Chavez.

Maybe the US should sweaten their Free Trade Deals before they have a real problem in their backyard. Perhaps these people are a little more bold with the US military all tied up in Arabia.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/2006/05/01/morales-gas060501.html ...

The Gringo's Paisa selection Process:

Since so many people on this board are Gringos wishing to go to Medellin and meet the perfect Paisa, and seem to want to find all the answers here, I will share with you the typical selection process.

A modest, middle class, educated, middle aged, average looking Gringo traveled to Medellin to meet his dream Paisa. He had no interest in prepagos, whores, or dating agencies. His intentions were genuine, as he had already fallen in love with Colombia and Medellin. During his one mon ...

A Question of Import Taxes

Hello,

Its been a while since I have created my own forum topic... The past four months I have been just giving my silly opinions!

I know there are high import taxes when bringing items into Colombia. But, I have noticed that all topics on this site about such taxes are for finished, consumer products (cars, personal items, cloths, electronics etc...).

Does anyone have information to share about taxes involved in importing raw materials? Like, say the ...

Paycheque deductions

Hi,

I thought I saw information about this some time ago on the site, but couldn´t find it with the google search.

I know that in Colombia you pay
1. Income Tax
2. Medical Contribution
3. Pension Plan

What are the rates? Is it a fixed percent for each, or a sliding scale?

To keep the numbers easy, if one were to earn 1,000,000 COP per month, how much would these deductions come out to (roughly)?

Than ...

I have a beef with Medellin Rental/Credit Agencies

Hello,

I have a beef with Rental/Credit agencies in Medellin.

My wife and I went on the great apartment hunt in Medellin over the past week. It started off being damn near impossible from the get-go as almost every apartment is rented via a rental agency, which are only open while my wife is at work (Do apartment ownders have to go through an agency? Or are they just that lazy).

After a couple days of looking (My wife missing two days of work), we f ...

Added New Pictures to my gallery

Hi All,

I am sick, absolutely sick with anticipation of finally going back to Medellin, and I was looking through digital pictures I took on my first trip (which will always be my favorite... my first time in South America) and thought I would share the pictures that I haven't already.

I will try to add more in the coming months.

Dave

Ps. Is it normal to be homesick for a place that's not your home? ...

Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 in Bogota

Hi,

I know that someone asked this a while ago, but I could not find the post.

My flight arrives in Bogota at 8pm and my connecting flight leaves at 10pm to Medellin.

I assume that I will have to go through customs in Bogota, and then make my way to Terminal 2 to catch the Avianca National flight to Medellin.

My question:
How difficult is it to navigate from the one building to the next? Are there aiport attendants who are there ...

Entering Colombia... third time, and married

Hello all,

Nice new forum.

I am returning to Colombia in a week or so and I have a marriage VISA, which I thought allowed me multiple entries into Colombia for the next couple years. I used it in Sept 04 when I got married in Medellin, but now looking at the VISA it says that it expires Feb 15, 2005. So, when I enter Colombia, am I a tourist? Should I show them the marriage VISA? Do I tell them my wife lives in Colombia? How long can I stay? Does it make a differenc ...

Long Time No See

Hi All,

It has been a while since I've posted or surfed poorbuthappy. I just finished my winter stint in northern Alberta making money to pay off my wedding and live in Colombia with my wife. I couldn't find engineering work, so I spent the winter outside on the oil-patch either drilling holes in the ground or loading holes with dynomite (the search for oil goes on and on and on...). Pay was great, but being outside in -40C for 12 hours at a time sucked the big one. I even managed ...

My wedding pictures.

Hi all,

I added some pictures of my wedding. Hope you like them.

Dave

Ps. For the guys out there going to Medellin. Just want you to know, I took the best, and left you guys the rest! ...

Stop Over in Bogota ... need help. Thanks

Hello All,

I was estatic to find that I got a direct flight from Toronto to Bogota (I've had my issues with the INS with American connections) but I may have trouble connecting to Medellin. I think my flight arrives too late to get a flight to Medellin the same night. I am going to fly my fiance out to meet me in Bogota to fly with me back to Medellin.

A couple questions:

1. What is a good hotel in Bogota for a "stop over". As close as I can get to th ...

Important question for Utopiacowboy!

Cowboy, in a discussion we had a few weeks ago you wrote:

****Canada is not a signatory to the "Convention de le Haye du 5 octobre 1961" also known as "The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirements of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents." The convention eliminates the need for authentication above the level of the Secretary of the State and is only accepted by countries that have signed the treaty. The United States and Colombia are both signatories to this treaty which i ...

Wedding in Medellin... need help

Hi all,

I finally have all the documents needed to get married in Colombia, and they have been sent off to a translator. Now comes the REALLY hard part... the wedding.

I have been having a rough time planning the wedding. I want to have a relatively cheap wedding (not by choice, but by necessity), and I have relied heavily on my fiance to plan things. She has been great so far (inexpenive shoes and wedding dress... and has limited her invites to 20 people (+ 1 guest ...

import taxes on a crappy TV

Hi,

I am thinking of bringing a TV down to Colombia for my fiance. Hers crapped out on her, and I want to bring one down. I know the first thing people will say is to buy one there... But, I have two colour TVs in storage at my Mom's (don't ask) and I always do just carry-on when travelling. I think I can fit a TV into a box of acceptable size and weight for baggage on an airline. I know there will be import taxes, but it will be much cheaper than buying one in Colombia and lettin ...

Financing a purchase on an apartment

Any comments other than answering my direct questions would be GREATLY appreciated:

Is is possible to finance a purchase of an apartment in Colombia?
Is it similar to a mortgage in North America? Is this common?
What are the interest rates like?
Is credit approval much different than in North American?

Do banks or other finacial institutions offer a mortgage like loan, where you make regular monthly contributions based on an amortization of a l ...

My photo Gallery

Hey, I uploaded some of my photos from Medellin. Honestly, there nice... have a look. I have some that are better but too big to upload (I will shrink them and upload them later)

Look under "daver"'s photo gallery.

Medellin is truely beautiful... I wish I could take pictures in the city (Not just alta vistas) but I was a little worried about pulling out the ol expensive digital camera downtown... especially when I am the only chubby sun burnt gringo in sight!! ...

I'm new to the site. Want to find work in Colombia to be with my fiancee

Hello,

First off "THANK GOD I FOUND THIS WEBSITE!!".

I am Canadian, and living in Canada, and will soon be getting married to my fiancee in Medellin. I met her in California, where I was working as an engineer on a temp work VISA, and she was working here and there with no legal status.

I quit my job to stay with her, as they were making me return to Ottawa. After several months of not being able to get a job (no one wants to give you a VISA in a bad ...

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