goosekirk has written 18 posts

What a People's Army Gets You

Here's a piece I wrote last week about the bus bombings. This was mainly for friends who don't know Colombia, but I thought someone here might enjoy it, or be willing to offer criticism or correction as needed...

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FARC-EP. In English, it stands for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army. They're the oldest and largest, richest, best-equipped insurgent army in the world. For over forty years, they've been fighting the hopelessly corrupt Colombian ...

Search: Room for rent in Bogota

Looking for a room to rent in Bogota for a few months, preferably between Chapinero and Unicentro. If anyone knows of anything, especially a room in an apartment with banda ancha (or at least a nearby wi-fi that I can leach off), I promise to remember you in my will. ...

New article about Colombia

OK, so it happens to be mine. I had a little piece "published" on a website called Pology: http://www.pology.com/article/05911.html

I predict some people here will take exception to it because it's not a cheerleading article, and some people will take exception because I don't warn tourists to stay away. Have at it. ...

Staying in Colombia longer than 180 days

OK, so my 180 days as a tourist in Colombia is almost at an end. Anyone have ideas for staying longer? I remember Sydneygirl tried leaving and re-entering after 180 days, and they actually enforce the rule. At least at El Dorado... I wonder if I re-entered through Cartagena or San Andres if I'd have better luck.

OR, as Hunter and others have explained, it may be possible to get a student visa. Has anyone done this? Any recommendations for 'visa certified' schools in Bogota where I ...

Baffled by the current crisis

I can't figure out what Chavez stands to gain by making such a big stink about this FARC leader. What's the point? So some bounty hunters grabbed a FARC leader on Venezuelan soil... I would assume that bounty hunters grab wanted fugitives in other countries all the time. Why fight for some FARC doucebag?

Seems like this is really a huge non-issue being trumped up for some political gain... I just don't understand what it could possibly be. Surely Venezuelans don't have any particu ...

Colombian slang

I'd like to learn some more Colombian slang... for example, how many words for "cool" are there? Forgive the spelling, I've only heard these... but I've heard:

chevere
vacano
adulto

and at least two others that I can't recall well enough to even try to spell.

And the other night, a Colombian pal was telling me about girls who are "mareneras" or something, referring to party girls who are only after guys for their money and a good time. A ...

Peter - how about a "swap meet" forum?

I was just pondering selling off a computer, and I hate to post 'for sale' messages in the friendly chat forum. It occurs to me that, especially with what appears to be an upswing in people moving and wanting to move here, there may be some value in a wanted/for sale forum. What do y'all think? ...

Panama to Bogota options?

I've got a friend going to a resort in Panama next month, and he wants to come down to Bogota for a week as well. Is Copa the only decent air option from Panama? I can't believe it costs $400 for such a short flight. Anybody know of other options? It's kind of weird, the resort is on the Pacific side, down near the Colombian border... so close, yet so far away... ...

Utterly shameless self-promotion

Well, not entirely without shame... but some folks around these parts have enjoyed my Colombia photo gallery at www.pbase.com/goosekirk, so I figure someone might be interested in this. My family was bugging me to make a calendar for 2005 from my photos, so I finally got around to it. A day late and a dollar short, sure, but just in case anyone around here is still in the market for a calendar, I put my Colombia 2005 model up at www.cafepress.com/goosekirk. It's my first attempt at "commercializ ...

Best way to sell used electronics in Bogota?

So, I'm in Bogota, and I could use some extra cash... and I have my "old" digital camera just sitting here. I thought I'd hang onto it as a backup, but the reality is I haven't touched it in six months, so hey, might as well get rid of it. But what's the best way to do that here? Pawn shop? Ad in the paper? Wander around Unilago? Any ideas? ...

Recommend doctor in Bogota?

Can anyone recommend a doctor (just a general practitioner type) in Bogota? Preferably one that speaks English, as my Spanish is still pretty limited.

Yes, you can marry in Colombia on a student visa

My novia made some phone calls today to other notaries, and they all said, no, a foreigner can only get married in Colombia with the conyuge visa. So we went back to our friendly neighborhood notary with the paper written by the woman at the immigration office that says, yes, you can marry on a student visa. I wanted to know why there was such a discrepancy.

The notary mumbled that she believed the immigration office had given me bad information, but she dutifully pulled out a hug ...

Getting a student visa?

I've been told by the Colombian immigration office that you can, indeed, get married in Colombia on a student visa. Tomorrow I'm going to verify that with my friendly local notaria. After reading the stories here, offhand, this seems like an easier path than the conyuge visa. The immigration office gave me a sheet showing the requirements to obtain a student visa, but it just gave a list of three or four documents I needed to have - basically, a bank statement and a few documents from the school ...

Tips for Bogota-bound geeks

I've noticed quite a few of us IT types hanging around here, so I thought I'd mention some technology-related things I've discovered in my first week living in Bogota. Sorry if this is boring for everyone else:

First, you need to know where to go to buy the stuff you need. Bogota has a good-sized mall full of tiny stores that sell nothing but computer gear. It's called Unilago, on carrera 15 near calle 79. At first Unilago seems pretty impressive, but pretty soon you'll notice tha ...

Geek seeks geek help

So I'm in Bogota now, staying with my novia. She got a tip from someone for DSL service (not sure which company), and placed the order on Monday. Today, Wednesday, they were supposed to come out and do the install, but instead they called and said there was a technical problem. They could give me 128k now, and get me the 256k I asked for next month... but they would still get me into a contract for 12 months. My girlfriend said no, thanks - it sounded too much like a gyp to her. I know how DSL w ...

Hey, SEATTLEJAMES

I'm down in Olympia, but I get up to Seattle at least once a week. We should go for a beer and talk Colombia. Email me at goosekirk at hotmail.com

One-way flight to BOG a problem?

I want to stay in Bogota for awhile, probably up to my 180 days for a tourist visa. Can anyone tell me if a one-way ticket from the US to BOG will be a problem, or do they need to see proof of a return trip? I don't recall ever being asked upon entry if I had a return flight.

And is there a way to buy an open-ended round trip? Would that be cheaper than two one-ways?

Thanks for any advice... ...

Moving to Bogota too - and need lots of help!

OK, so now I've gone and done it. My girlfriend in Bogota wants me to stay with her, and I want to try living in Bogota for awhile. So I've quit my regular job, and I'm looking at moving down there sometime in early to mid-August, and staying indefinitely. I'm going to try to work over the internet for a few firms here in the US, and I'll keep my bank account here open and so on. I don't know how that's going to work out, but I'm willing to give it a go. Maybe it works great, or maybe I end up h ...

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