gamm2 has left 664 comments

gamm2 comments on Difficulty networking, got side swiped by a Ford Explorer, hard time adjusting

to be able to make a difference you must begin in a place of respect and humility which you are not displaying in these posts...

gamm2 comments on Difficulty networking, got side swiped by a Ford Explorer, hard time adjusting

cvivas - it´s not plain stupid to give up "money" to come back to your country to work to make something better, to give back - to reject the brain drain - to sacrifice a high paying job because you value other things more. one for your million - I think you need to look at who you´re surrounding yourself with because your description of Colombians is unrecognizable to me. And not to sound like Simon - but what´s keeping you in Colombia??

gamm2 comments on Health insurance.

http://www.colmedica.com/

gamm2 comments on Trip report (with pixes) on Parque Tayrona

I wonder where these beaches are according to - Arrecifes ones, which I think is the more traditional route to take. Since you live so close you should look up one of the ecohabs or the cabins with Aviatur and go on like a Wednesday in off season and get a really good price to stay a few days. You can take a bus from Santa Marta to the front of the park (5,000 pesos) and then ride a donkey down to the beaches (if your not up to the hike). I didn´t even know they allowed buses in Tayrona! http://www.concesionesparquesnaturales.com/site/Espanol/Tayrona/Tayrona.html

gamm2 comments on Offered my first job in Colombia today at a bi-lingual school in Barranquilla.

On Nueva Granada´s website, they say there is savings potential of $10,000 - $20,000. Since apartment and bills are paid for, I assume that means the pay is low $20,000´s - $40,000... maybe more...

gamm2 comments on Venezuelan army blows up two bridges in Colombia

so Pacho Santos has shares in El Tiempo and El Espectador???

gamm2 comments on do all good schools in Bogota ask for teaching certificates?

Oh by the way - I've been wondering if I should write a post on this - but I only have to say one thing! The time to apply to international schools is NOW!! They go to the teaching fairs in January and February so they need to know about you before they go to the fair if you want to have a chance. Get the recruitment emails for a bunch of schools, cover letter, resume and send them off. Write again in two weeks if they don't answer. Good Luck!

gamm2 comments on do all good schools in Bogota ask for teaching certificates?

I would say yes in a normal recruitment process for the good schools, there are enough certified candidates that they dont need to take people that are not certified. Your best bet is if they are caught in a bind in the middle of the year and they need a replacement teacher. I have a masters degree in elem ed and only had 2 interviews and got one job because I had no experience!

gamm2 comments on Offered my first job in Colombia today at a bi-lingual school in Barranquilla.

ask for 4 million - so you get at least 3.5 - any contacts at all in the school who you could ask? Im just not sure the difference between cities.... How many native teachers do they have? Is the program set up? You should ask to see the pay scale based on experience and degrees and native speakers - though this could always be doctored....

gamm2 comments on Offered my first job in Colombia today at a bi-lingual school in Barranquilla.

Hopefully contract will include: stipend for apartment and basic bills flights for beginning and end of contract health insurance paid by school things to think about - is the salary quoted in pesos? if not think about what exchange rate they are offering - best would be a floor and a ceiling. If you are being hired as someone already living in Colombia, then everything will be lower - so do your best to present yourself as an out of country hire that just happened to be on vacation... More details of the situation and I could give you more info.

gamm2 comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

I am always periodically thinking about how I could teach in the Alianza Educativa schools instead of their rich sponsoring counterparts. I have experience living cheaply, but I have a student loan and I want to be able to visit my family at least twice a year. Those are just excuses though... I know... In response to the OPs questions about respect for English teachers - a students´ opportunity to have an English class with a native speaking teacher is VERY highly valued, even among the elite families. Even moreso with someone who is actually qualified.

gamm2 comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

I teach elementary school and I never speak spanish to the students - except to show them that people have accents in other languages. Many times they ask me a word in spanish and i tell it to them in english. I try to never tell them the word in spanish though - I explain it another way in English. Its not a problem getting them to talk english to me. The problem is getting them to speak english to each other in the classroom. I stole the language promise idea from some famous language school in the US and i talk with them about how much more they could learn if they commit to speaking english only in the classroom. It works ok.... but still there is a lot of spanish. Whenever I hear it I say language promise!! to them. Of course its a totally different context than in the United States where the dominant language is English. There I think it is great if students speak some spanish or the teacher speaks some spanish to help clarify things - because in the US immersion in English is definitely going to happen, no matter what.

gamm2 comments on Tomatoes are lovely

thats because there is not the desire to make everything look perfect as there is in the US. Notice the differences between fruits sold in the US and other countries. US consumers demand perfection and what do you think happens to all the non perfect fruit or what do they put in the fruits to make them that perfect. that was one of the first things i realized coming to colombia. A banana that has a few brown marks on it still tastes really good.

gamm2 comments on

Andres Felipe is totally cute Greg! You´re talking to him in English as well right??? because he certainly seems to be getting enough Spanish....

gamm2 comments on Cartagena and Colombia: First Impression

"It was very clean with efficient staff who didn't look like they're from the ghetto - basically the total opposite of 99% of McDonalds in the US." That comment seems kind of racist....

gamm2 comments on Spirit Airlines -- is there a catch?

the thing I hate about spirit though is that I cant do a multi destination flight. At christmas I want to leave from bogota and go back to cartagena, but nooooooooo!! And then I cant buy a one way flight with origination in bogota. I think I may have ended up changing it at my local spirit counter last year - but I cant remember if I paid the difference in the flight costs or just a change fee....

gamm2 comments on Spirit Airlines -- is there a catch?

its very clear that you are getting charged extra for choosing a seat and for bags on the website. Traveling alone, I have always been able to choose an aisle seat for free, just at normal check in. I also only take a carry on - (because of the short connection time as well)

gamm2 comments on Pablos son says sorry

When does the movie come out in Colombia?

gamm2 comments on Carlos Vives In Concert in Colombia

Thanks for the heads up - I will either be at the Bogota or Santa Marta one! And its so awesome that there is actually something worth using the exito points for. I have like thousands of them, but never wanted to buy anything they offered!

gamm2 comments on Los pecados de mi padre, Documental

when does it play in colombia??? Just saw Dr. Aleman like a year after it came out in the Berlin Film Festival. Hopefully this movie will be better....

gamm2 comments on Spirit Airlines -- is there a catch?

they are fine (have flown them many times) - just have low expectations and remember how much you are paying. Their advertising - would you pay $200 for a coke or would you rather just buy one yourself.... They also have always made the small connection times (ft lauderdale to wherever) that everyone always told me would be impossible to make.

gamm2 comments on Doctor Alemán, New Movie (in Colombia anyway)

really annoying gringo - that german guy. he was trying to be "down with the people" and look where that got him.

gamm2 comments on 3 days in Leticia 3 days in Santa Marta what to do?

Tayrona!!

gamm2 comments on Two Bogota pubs

The one next the Las Aguas station I think is called Beer Classic Pub. I think they have another location on Av. 19 and Calle 122 right next to the Bogota Beer Company and on Av. Caracas and Calle 63.

gamm2 comments on Taxi drivers income

Why is there the myth of so many engineers as taxi drivers because it is better money then?

gamm2 comments on

Brians - why didn´t you go out somewhere instead of room service both nights?

gamm2 comments on What Do You Hate About Colombia?

haha emerson and johnny - i hate those things about exito too.... so weird

gamm2 comments on December flight deals to Bogotá

Yeah Spirit seems to be consistently around $500 to a second city after Ft. Lauderdale. (December or July). Aires has somewhat cheap flights to ft lauderdale as well.

gamm2 comments on Fort Express is Great

I´m interested larryrn. Do they have a website or maybe an email?

gamm2 comments on sweet potatoes/ yams in Bogota for Thanksgiving?

I tried last year and never found them...

gamm2 comments on paying for PBH?

What is wrong with you Greg? I don´t remember you acting like this before....

gamm2 comments on Is it safe to take a bus from Bogota to Cartagena?

I´ve done it - do it at night obviously and hope your bus driver is not a fan of violent movies!! or it will be very painful...

gamm2 comments on Comparing prices of office stuff in Colombia vs. Amazon.com

I heard a rumor that Best Buy is opening across from Unilago in Bogotá.... I wonder what that would mean for electronics prices....

gamm2 comments on

I´ve had messages sent and not received them in the past week as well....

gamm2 comments on How long is a foreign Driver Licence valid in Colombia?

It´s $120.900 in Bogotá. It´s called Convalidación de licencia extranjera - validation of a foreign driver´s licence. http://www.simbogota.com.co/simBogota/main/sistema.jsp Requirements: Photocopy of your valid foreign dirver´s licence. Be able to read and write Photocopy of your cedula de extranjería Translation of your foreign driver´s licence made by your country´s embassy or MRE, although you can provide an apostilled copy with an unofficial translation and a document explaining what category it would be equivalent to. Fill out a free form 3 x 4 blur background picture Original payment receipt Be old enough Know your blood type

gamm2 comments on Buy Avianca flights without the gringo tax

I have nothing against Aerorepublica - at least they dont have issues with closing the cabin door properly...

gamm2 comments on Best place in Bogota to buy DVDs?

Universidad Nacional

gamm2 comments on Buy Avianca flights without the gringo tax

Leticia???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in Avianca is 88,000 each way??? I want to go to Leticia...

gamm2 comments on Help me hiring a maid - protected legally, paid properly, etc.

Rikkito - I said the same thing when I came to Colombia... but then the maid came to clean up just once and it was so nice and such a luxury that I could actually afford - it is quite easy to get used to it. I still say that I will never have a "ninera" for my kids... I really dont like what I see from that, but I guess you can never judge...

gamm2 comments on Help me hiring a maid - protected legally, paid properly, etc.

I have a maid that comes once a week (evening) that I pay in cash. She has a full time job with a family and a contract that pays her everything according to the law. So if I did pay the extra percentage that would go to her pension or health, we figured out that it wouldn´t actually increase her benefits. If you have a maid that comes a few times a week, you should really get together with the other people she works for and contribute to health, pension, and cesantias. Those maids do have rights to the percentage of the time you are working for. I knew a teacher at my school that had the maid come once a week and just paid her cash. After a while, she fired her and the maid (sued) her for not paying all the contributions she was supposed to pay. It became a big problem and our school emailed us and told us to make sure we are paying all those things.

gamm2 comments on Strikes in Colombian Universities

Ha Ha Yeah - even in spanish for extranjeros, we had to go get copies of the book. I kind of wanted to go buy the real book, but I got the feeling I would look bad with a real book (even among foreigners..) Plus I could never find the bookstore..

gamm2 comments on Getting to know Bogotá - first impressions

Thanks for the post Darloup! After a year and some in Bogotá, you reminded me that Bogotá really is a cool city! I have to make sure I keep taking advantage of everything and don´t get stuck in my own little neighborhood. For example.... drink coffee and watch TV on a Sunday morning - or go to the ciclovia.....

gamm2 comments on Avianca - disgusting

PM me and I could help you get a ticket at the Colombian price from abroad.

gamm2 comments on

hmmm I was just there - were you the gringos in the corner on the patio...??

gamm2 comments on Just bought my one way ticket to medellin will i have problems entering without a return ticket

Continental tried to give me a problem... but I just explained the situation and acted all appalled like I have never been asked for this before.

gamm2 comments on Strikes in Colombian Universities

I took a spanish class at Nacional for 8 weeks (M-F) and I think class was canceled twice due to disturbances on campus. Also, one time while I was exiting class a bunch of guys in masks and all in black came running by. I was kind of SCARED, but then I realized that they were putting grafiti on the walls and the other ones were "guarding" the grafiti artists. Just walking though the campus - a lot of stuff that you read is SCARY and every time you walk in there is a US and Israel flag with like skull and bones painted on it. I felt kind of conspicuous at first, but then I think I just blended in. I always saw a bunch of grafiti about Wasserman (who after last night I realize is the Dean or president). I think its completely wrong to kidnap him, but whatever - my only news about that came from RCN news in English which is very little. Another weird thing, is that in my spanish class I was discussing with my professor about why there are graffiti on some buildings and not others (usually the really nice buildings). And then we were talking about Ciudad Bolivar and I dont know what, but he got all weird and said we couldnt discuss those things because there are always people listening.... And this was a professor that had been at Nacional for at least 30 years...

gamm2 comments on US bank recommendations?

I use a capital one credit card for no foreign transaction fees and etrade for a checking account with no ATM fees.

gamm2 comments on

oneforyour - viajero is colombian. Are you afghani?

gamm2 comments on tickets for Colombia-Chile World Cup Qualifying Game

I tried tuboleto.com and it wasn´t on there. I read some article that ticket sales are way down, so I guess it should be easy to get it day of....I thought it was going to be in Bogota... :(

gamm2 comments on Raising a kid(s) in Colombia??

Raising bilingual kids in the US is hard! The Enlglish language and culture is soooo much more dominant in the US that there is a very good chance that the kid will not end up speaking both language equally well. If I was going to raise bilingual kids in the US, than I would almost have to speak spanish to them at home. Therefore, to me it seems better to raise them in Colombia. Then I could speak English at home, go to the US a LONG time in the summer, send them to a bilingual school and they´d be pretty balanced. Only thing is the class structure in Colombia doesn´t make me happy to raise kids in. For good schools, the kids are going to be surrounded by very wealthy kids who many times spend more time with the empleada than the parents...