droble77 has left 321 comments

droble77 comments on A Colombian responsible for exporting Vallenato music abroad…Carlos Vives!!

Wasn't familiar with "Casa en el Aire" but agree with Sam. Wonderful lyrics, almost poetic, and classy video too!

droble77 comments on I THINK YOU ARE THE FATHER OF ONE OF MY KIDS

He "made love" to a stripper on a pool table? jeje, I think this is only the PG-13 rated version of the joke. . . ;-)

droble77 comments on Thinking about living in Medellin - Reality check please

joelg, why a detached home? If you're really concerned about security over the long term, you can probably still get an outstanding apartment for the value you mentioned above in an estrato 5 area, maybe even for less than 200 million (but I only visit Colombia now and then so ask the regulars here about that. . . ) And w/ an apartment you'd have less worry about leaving it unoccupied, in fact, you could probably rent it out to another gringo for a month or two (or maybe even longer?) should you need to be back in the states for awhile. . .

droble77 comments on Cupido Internacional...a colombian article about an agency in poblado...very interesting .

CG, that's exactly what I was thinking of. These dating or "sweetheart" agencies have to be barely surviving as the internet has pretty much killed the easy middle-man income. Well, I guess you still need interpreters but the idea of having an interpreter around on dates seems so patently ridiculous but anyway. . . the only other thing I can think of is that some of the poorest girls probably don't have a PC or internet connection. The best way is to use the free sites CG mentioned. Also, you have the cupid websites. You subscribe for just a month for $20-30 and get hundreds of contacts, emails. Since almost everyone in Colombia seems to have a Hotmail address, you can easily chat on MSN Messenger with them, even use the webcam. It's easy and fun and at least some "online rapport" is developed before you fly down there. But yeah, if gringo no habla espanol, then I just don't see what the point is, he's just blowing his money away. Whatever floats his boat I guess. . .

droble77 comments on Cartagena, Colombia on the Cover of Spirit Airlines inflight Magazine

Well, most of the tourism in CTG is internal so I'm not sure how ruined the city can be from that if it's not already. Maybe Colombians act like crazy college students on spring break when they get there? ;0) Seriously, given today's fare prices and the iffy economy, I doubt CTG will be swamped by gringo tourists in the short run. Long run, is always a different story, anything is possible in the long run. CTG does have competition though. Viejo San Juan in PR is lot like colonial Cartagena (though smaller), you've even got similar structures with the old forts and defenses. And Americans don't need a passport to go to PR, plus you can get by w/ English in San Juan, not really the case in CTG. If Havana ever opens up again to Americans, that would also be even more serious competition. I think MILLIONS of Americans would be interested in visiting a "post-commie" Cuba. On a side note, also agree it can be a bit of a strained "love-hate" relationship between the tourists and the locals. That's one of the risks when tourism develops too much or too fast. Looking forward to my 1st trip to CTG in Sept. And yep it's on Spirit, got a good sale fare a few months back. Hope they can stay in business through September, lol! :))

droble77 comments on Miss Colombia and Other Miss Universe Contestants

tejas, Miss DR was HOT! But that last dress, looked like it had pieces of a disco ball taped on it. Yikes, que disgusto. . . 4 of the top 5 contestants were latina, so Latin-America had a very strong showing this year. On a related note, Miss Spain looked pretty hot to me too, but she definitely had more of a latina look than european.

droble77 comments on Miss Colombia and Other Miss Universe Contestants

"wrapping paper" LMAO! Yep, my sentiments exactly. And it ranked first?? WTF!? Just goes to show what these contests really mean. . .

droble77 comments on Miss Colombia and Other Miss Universe Contestants

LOL, loyalty is blind. Actually I thought Miss Mexico was a real stunner whereas Taliana didn't really stand out for me, I thought good for her she made it almost all the way, more than she deserved IMHO. Venezuela hadn't won in 12 years but I thought it was a boring "cop-out" choice.

droble77 comments on Miss Colombia and Other Miss Universe Contestants

Gotta agree w/ kernow; both me and my mom said that evening gown wasn't helping any, too bad. . .

droble77 comments on Women in Bogota Prison/ Beauty Contest! Here is the Video..........

Well, I don't think any of them were proclaiming their innocence, but it shouldn't be surprising that most of the ladies cooped up in that jail got a raw deal. Some of the worst criminals in Colombia are NOT in jail, they're holding office or running a company, lol! ;) The sad part is that many of these ladies would have been better off working as a prepaga/postpaga, at least that's legal, and seeing this video makes me understand better why THAT is so common down there as some of those sentences do seem pretty stiff for the crime committed.

droble77 comments on Taliana Vargas Miss Colombia

Weird, I thought Colombia has a beauty pageant culture just as strong as Venezuela yet Venezuela has won the Miss Universe 4 times, Colombia just once. Also, tiny Puerto Rico has won FIVE times! [Only the USA has won more with seven and PR is a territory of the US so maybe we should say twelve??] Brazil just twice since the 50's even though population wise, it's more than twice of Colombia and Venezuela COMBINED, and despite the rep of the beauty of the brasileiras. . . interesting.

droble77 comments on colombian girl

Sorry for coming late to the party, here's my two cents: I wouldn't bring more than $25 worth of party supplies; just make the excuse you couldn't fit it in your luggage or you had a last minute emergency and ran out of time to buy the rest of the stuff, a little white lie is all you need here. Alternatively, a nice box of chocolates or a cute teddy bear or a Snoopy (lots of chicks love Snoopy, lol!) with a "Happy Birthday" or "I Like You" message is good enough. I have to get on your case on one thing though. WHY are you putting all your energies and hopes on just one girl that you haven't even met in person yet? What if there's no chemistry, or she plays you, or ignores you, or flakes out? Last time I went to Bogota, I had almost 30 phone numbers and chat contacts I had worked on, I ended up using just 3 of them and found someone nice from those 3 that I dated. As gifts, I brought over a bunch of "I Love NY" t-shirts and other trinkets that had their names printed on them, the cheap touristy stuff you find all over Times Square. Trust me, these chicas are keeping all their options open, why shouldn't you? That's Game Theory 101 dude. . .

droble77 comments on Only in Colombia, Part 47

The problem CG is that there's so many corrupt politicians down there, they might as well just hold session in jail!

droble77 comments on HERE ARE THE NAMES OF THE OTHER MEN RESCUED FROM FARC

Sam, I'm afraid you're right. After so many years, it takes a toll on you, physically and mentally. :(

droble77 comments on Only in Colombia, Part 47

Desi, you're right, it's a very common "mestizo" body type. Not all colombianas look like Esperanza Gomez.

droble77 comments on Only in Colombia, Part 47

LOL, like I said CG, it's way past its prime. Was just using a bit imagination, jaja

droble77 comments on Husband of ex-hostage says marriage may be over

Really, it's almost impossible for a relationship to survive a blow like that, marriage or no. It was like she was dead for 6 years. Plus her kids are from a previous marriage so they don't even have that as a tie to keep them together. Whether he was faithful or no, her feelings for him are not going to be the same, and vice-versa.

droble77 comments on HERE ARE THE NAMES OF THE OTHER MEN RESCUED FROM FARC

Jesus F. Christ! Secuestrado por 10 años. I can't even begin to imagine the toll on them, and now adjusting back to a normal life. Hope things work out ok for them. . .

droble77 comments on Only in Colombia, Part 47

I'll be laughed at for saying this but she probably wasn't that bad looking when she was 20. She's got the colombian booty, although the body is definitely past the expiration date, lol! :-)) I guess she figured she's got nothing else to lose. That spread might be her only payday for awhile. . .

droble77 comments on PBH Marriage Posts

Ditto on what Greg said. Lots of people here saying avoid talking to a lawyer, I don't think that's wise. It's true they have their own interests but a good lawyer can advise you in ways no PBHer can. They've helped hundreds, maybe thousands of clients in their career; they KNOW the law intimately, that's their job, they know how to make the system work for you. The trick is finding a good one. Yeah, we all know the jokes about lawyers, but when you're in trouble, you're still going to want a good one, right? If you feel pressured to make decisions by your lawyer, that's obviously a warning sign he/she is not in it for you, but otherwise it should be okay. What you need right now is solid advice from a trained experienced PROFESSIONAL, not advice from the internet based on bias and personal experiences that may not apply to your situation AT ALL. . . !

droble77 comments on PBH Marriage Posts

Robert, we don't know all the details and it's understandable if you don't want to indulge in our need for chisme. . . but from what you've hinted, I would advise you to consult a good divorce lawyer NOW. You need to make sure you can neutralize any possible scam/strategy that your significant other might be using on you. Sorry about the bad news. I can imagine the sleepless nights, lying in bed, thoughts spinning about the meaninglessness of it all, the WASTE of it all. There are very few things worse for a man. Comfort yourself with the fact that you are not alone, in fact, it's probably the most common experience shared among men. Suerte!

droble77 comments on New Way to Bring Money to Colombia??

gringoloid, what kind of rate of conversion are you looking at with these financial transactions? I thought the ATMs gave the best rate, at least for small withdrawals. I take it you're thinking about bringing larger sums in and not having to deal with wire transfers?

droble77 comments on Three americans thanked the colombian military

Well I'm not sure about the U.S. govt. but from what I've read, their employer Northrop truly never did forget about them. They probably would have paid a ransom to free them, but obviously, the U.S. govt. and probably the Colombian too would have forbidden that. As for the Ingrid statements, not sure what the big deal is. She's just saying what the French would expect her to say, after all, this is what politicians do, even Uribe. . . ;-))

droble77 comments on Betancourt returning to Colombia soon to write play

The video and letter were released in Nov. 2007, over seven months ago, that's a "poof" ? And in any case, that video was most likely not recent at the time of "release" from the FARC, it was probably taken early or mid 2007. Folks, let's stick to Occam's Razor and avoid the conspiracy theories. . .

droble77 comments on Ingrid can make a difference if she wants

If it ain't the FARC, it could be a paraco! ;-) Didn't she have to schlepp her kids out of Colombia when she was running for office? With that anti-corruption campaign of hers, she made a lot of enemies, not just the ones hiding in the jungle; sometimes the most dangerous enemy is walking the legitimate halls of power. Hell, I think some of the PBHers might want to take a shot at her if they had half the chance! LOL! :))

droble77 comments on Betancourt returning to Colombia soon to write play

Guys, she was DEPRESSED when those recent images (now infamous) were recorded. I'm not an expert on depression, but from what I've read, you don't want to do anything, not even eat. Notice in the film, she didn't even want to look up at the camera, like she was in her own world. That's another sign of a depressed state of mind.

droble77 comments on why not shoot the living crap out of the 58 FARC? now that would have been a good rescue.

I suspect like tomtom, a good part of those 58 were already bought off; the whole group likely just skedaddled, never to farc again. . . :0)

droble77 comments on Betancourt running for PRESIDENT

LOL, Jolie does look a bit like the pre-secuestro Ingrid so that's definitely possible! :-)) But what makes me laugh the most is that the Ingrid love-fest didn't even last 24 hours on PBH. Last night, she was "classy" as one poster put it. Now, everyone's going back to dogging her (and France) just like a few months back, there were several threads that EVISCERATED her! Talk about, ahem, "flip-flopping" ;-) I have a funny feeling she may very well decide to spend a couple of years just being a MOTHER to her children. She's already lost so much, would she actually campaign and lose even more time away from her family? And if she does somehow win, which I grant is extremely unlikely, that would rule out even more quality time with the family. . . Still, she does seem to have a bit of a "look at me, I'm so different/heroic/special" type of personality which got her into this mess in the first place!

droble77 comments on Hmmm what a coincidence

"Prez Uribe-too bad they couldn't put him in charge here in tracking down Bin Laden. I firmly belive now that if he was in charge on this matter," Mike, I was thinking the same thing too. I tend to vote somewhat left of center, but this guy is my kind of conservative. . . intelligent, articulate, keeps a low profile, i.e., avoids "trash talking" unlike our Texas cowboy. And he actually DELIVERS what he's been talking about since running for office. Has a disciplined, effective team backing him up, etc. etc. blah blah Have you seen the pictures of Uribe multi-tasking, handling multiple cell phones and conversations? Meanwhile, our dear leader can just barely speak English, lol! :-)) Uribe is fighting a more effective "war on terror" than Dumbya. I wish we could hire him! ;)

droble77 comments on Keith Stansell - Colombian Fiance

LOL, after reading that info from sandressi, it sounds like Stansell was successful in adopting the behavior of the local males, practically a colombiano! ;-))

droble77 comments on Are Ingrid Betancourt and the Three Americans Free

What an AMAZING year for Colombia-related news, and we're just halfway thru '08!! I wonder if this was timed somehow with the McCain visit. . . Anyway, hate him or not, I think it's safe to assume the Colombian Supreme Court will back off on Uribe and he basically has a third term in the bag for mission accomplished. Uribe is fighting a more effective "war on terror" than Bush is!!

droble77 comments on BREAKING NEWS: INGRID FREE! AMERICANS ALSO

oops, duplicate post; mods, feel free to delete, got too excited, lol!

droble77 comments on PESO at 1850 ???

Most of the Colombian business elite own export businesses and I'll bet many of them were starting to feel the peso was getting too strong too fast. They've likely just about finished up their shopping sprees at Miami, Panama, etc. so now it's time to focus on the business, lol! :)

droble77 comments on New Airlines to Bogota

Well, I checked the Spirit site earlier today for those $69 fares and I couldn't find them, I think they sold out already, they were probably just a few seats anyway, that's the thing about these Spirit "sales." I do currently see some Spirit flights from FLL to BOG as low as $221 but that's only on certain dates. Check it out if you can. By the way, that fare includes all the taxes but NOT the $15 per way check-in baggage fee. Also, if you reserve seats online you have to pay $5-15 for each segment. As cdy said, I'm keeping my fingers crossed Spirit is still in business early Sept. for my trip to Cartagena, LOL! :-))

droble77 comments on New Airlines to Bogota

Yep, they're definitely red-eyes. I actually like red eyes lol, I can sleep just fine on the plane and you don't waste the daytime traveling; must suck if you're bringing family/kids though. . .

droble77 comments on New Airlines to Bogota

Wow, now that's interesting! Avianca considering a flight into Continental's fortress hub? Maybe that's why CO added the second flight from Houston to BOG recently. . .

droble77 comments on New Airlines to Bogota

Yes, it's the only route JB has for Bog and well, all Colombia really! :) I just did some googling and found on orlandosentinel.com a one-sentence article about JB seeking up to a 2-year delay for the Orlando-Bogota route. I think they're worried about not enough local-based traffic to hold up the flight (plus of course fuel prices). Spirit's flying to Bogota from FLL. Maybe JetBlue wants to move their frequency to FLL? But they'd have to compete with Spirit and Avianca at FLL, not to mention reapply to DOT. This might give an opening for Avianca to start the BOG flight from Orlando. I thought I read somewhere they were looking into it but switched to Wash. D.C. when JB applied for the same thing. . .

droble77 comments on New Airlines to Bogota

The latest chisme on JetBlue in the airliner forums is not good. It looks like JB will hold off flying to BOG from Orlando at least for a while because of current fuel prices and the fear that projected loads are too optimistic. Not sure how this pans out in terms of keeping this frequency that was alotted to them by DOT. My feeling is that this route is a no go at least for this year. . . :-(

droble77 comments on Are Colombian banks really interested in doing business or just pushing paper?

Is it the fear of money-laundering that makes the banks so afraid to take a foreigner's money or is it more complicated than that? There has to be a history here that we're just not getting. Otherwise, it's just crazy!

droble77 comments on How much to bring my car from Miami

That's an interesting way of putting it Rubito. Hadn't seen it from that angle! Although I don't think the tax policy is in place for that reason alone, it is true that car density in certain key areas of Medellin, Cali, and worst of all Bogota can get pretty insane. And the idea of paying $30,000 for the dubious honor of being stuck in a trancon for hours is NOT one that appeals to me. Sure, you're a bit more comfortable if you're stuck in a nice car, but you're still just as f***ed as everyone else. :) I would stick with TM, metro, bike, and buses and put that $30-50K USD in some better investment. . . If you really need to get around quickly in city traffic, I guess a moto is the way to go although obviously, your tolerance for risk has to be pretty high should you go that route. . .

droble77 comments on Buddies concerned over my 3 hour stop in Bogota

I think the direct flight to BAQ from JFK is coming back sometime in June, probably with one of those nice new Airbus planes Avianca is ordering this year. I read somewhere the reasons they stopped the flights was they needed to retire some of the older MD-80 jets (as the new orders come in) plus fuel costs on these older models was getting too high. Hang in there buddy. Those direct flights will be back. :-))

droble77 comments on Message from GIB

Hi lostgringo, All I can say is if he's a "big man and stands out" then acting "like he is Colombian" ain't gonna do much. If he is "very visible" like you say, then yeah, there's a risk there. I try to blend in as much as I can, and be around people I can trust. I'm not a huge fan, but what's the deal with the Crepes & Waffles snipe? It doesn't appear to be just a "gringo" hangout, it's usually busy with Colombians maybe not the poor types though. [On a side note, I think many Colombians make a big stink about C & W and certain other so-called "gringo" venues when quite frankly, I don't see what the big deal is, but that's a whole other social/cultural issue I don't want to get into right now.] Also, if you're trying to insinuate I'm one of those gringo "weekend warriors" relax and back off, that's just the kind of attitude that got GIB into conflict with various people here and we all know how that ended. I don't think I come across as a self-proclaimed expert. But I do find it ironic that one who did present himself as such ended up nearly being ensnared in a very scary situation. Nevertheless, I do appreciate his warning about this new drug and scam and I certainly don't wish him any ill. That is one part of Colombia I do NOT want to know on an upclose basis!

droble77 comments on Message from GIB

"GIB was only angry at some many stupid people on PBH" Well, yeah, because they didn't appreciate the dangers of Colombia. Go figure the irony on that one! And he certainly sounded to me that he was burned out on living in Bog. . . who wouldn't after living thru the exponential growth in traffic, etc. of the past few years? The funny part is that I know at least one guy who definitely lives a bit "on the edge" for months at a time in Bogota, and I don't think something like this has (yet?) to happen to him. Also, there's plenty of backpacker types that come to Bog and party very hard with all kinds of substances, maybe with the low-end hookers too. . . possibly the semi-pro and pro criminals don't usually target them because they already know these types don't have that much money. . . ?? It's weird how shit like this hits some people but never seems to touch others who you might even think are more vulnerable to it due to their lifestyle.

droble77 comments on Message from GIB

Goddam, more scary shit to worry about. As if burundanga was not enough! There's lots of little scams and common thievery in Cuba, but Colombia really takes the cake when it comes to coming up with the most devious ways to part you from your money, and nearly kill you in the process! My question would be WHERE did this happen? I always got the impression that GIB liked to hang out in some of the sketchier areas of Bogota. When I took out money from the ATM, it was at a Bancolombia that always had a guard during normal business hours. That might not stop you from getting jumped by thieves a block away from the bank, but it at least makes it difficult for the bad guys to tamper with the ATM. I would think the ATMs in the malls would also be hard for thieves to tamper with. One more thought, I always wanted to mention to GIB that I thought he had spent way too much time in Bogota, he sounded in a lot of his posts kind of burned out, even angry. . . if this incident isn't a sign telling him it's time to move on, I don't know what is!

droble77 comments on Doing Time In Medellin

I can see how taking pics around those areas can be thought a major security issue. Next time, use some common sense MT. Also, since you're good at making the guards laugh with your anecdotes, you can probably talk them into letting you take a pic or two as long as you talk to them and ask them BEFORE, not after.

droble77 comments on Warning Identiy Theft in Colombia

bhill, the Secure ID token is used a lot in the corporate world, that's what we use in our company. Problem is I'm not sure if you can set that up with any bank, plus if you LOSE the token while traveling you are in for some complications to say the least.

droble77 comments on Warning Identiy Theft in Colombia

OK guys, did a little more research on this and talked to one of our IT security staff. . . Here's an interesting trick you can use in a pinch although you should NOT solely rely on it: 1. Click on a blank part of the web page and type a bunch of random characters. 2. Now click inside the password field and enter ONLY ONE character of the password 3. Click on another blank part of the web page to give "focus" to any other area BUT the password field 4. Type as many random characters as you feel like :) 5. Return to the password field and enter the next character in the password 6. Repeat until all password characters are entered This simple trick can work because virtually all keystroke logging software can't tell when focus is NOT in the password field! Instead of seeing a string of characters that can be interpreted as a user ID and password, you get a bunch of gobbledygook which would take a long time to extract the password from. Keep in mind though that the real password in the text field could still be recoverable in the internet cache if the computer is configured that way! Still, this trick can provide some security in an emergency although you should still avoid doing online banking on a public pc. This SafeKeys thing sounds like a good idea. But with this simple trick, you don't need any additional hardware that you can lose not to mention the time spent setting it up properly.

droble77 comments on Warning Identiy Theft in Colombia

I'm not 100% sure of the portable apps strategy; I'm going to try to ask around at work to some IT security types and/or do some research on my own. I work in IT but frankly I'm embarrassed I don't know more about these security issues, although I am aware of the dangers of keylogging in internet cafes, it's a common scam all over the developing world, not just Colombia. It's probably best to just avoid doing any online banking or checking your primary email account on any hardware that isn't your own. You can setup a temporary email on yahoo/hotmail (with a different password from your main email account of course) and just use "email forwarding" for the time that you are traveling. You can always bring your own laptop but that does suck because lugging that around just means one more thing to worry about. And if it's stolen, since most people don't password protect their pcs, your passwords and personal data is easily available to the thief. It's pretty scary how vulnerable you are if you think about it. . .

droble77 comments on A Debt of Honour

I thought Colombia DID reach failed state level back in those days! The book "Killing Pablo" shows how the U.S. helped to finally get rid of that cancer, although it seemed to me the book was quite clear that things didn't really progress until los Pepes in classic Colombian revenge-style killing mode started to bring the hate on Pablo. And while Plan Colombia has certainly helped big time against the FARC, let's remember that about half that money directly benefits the U.S. "military-industrial" complex. Nothing wrong with that by the way, have no problem with my tax dollars being used like that. Not sure what you're fishing for Kalder, some kind of gringo discount? ;)

droble77 comments on COPA AIR STARTING UP FLIGHTS FROM MCO??

I thought Copa had a flight from Orlando to Panama for awhile already. . . just checked their website and it looks like they now have 2 flights a day, not 100% sure on this but it seems like they added a frequency recently. $288 looks like a pretty good price but once you add taxes, it's just mediocre.