jalf12 has left 90 comments

jalf12 comments on Visiting Bogota 4/1-4/16

Botanical Garden in Bogota As I am a Landscaper I found this place very interesting and could not see enough of it in one day. They are able to grow nearly every type of plant habitat in the world. It is a good family destination.

jalf12 comments on Porque la comida de USA no tiene sabor??

Antibiotics & Hormones Well I didn't take the time to read every post in this thread but I would like to say that one difference I notice between the food in the US and that in Colombia (I have favorites in both) is that if you buy a dozen eggs at Walmart it doesn't have any flavor compared to the dozen eggs you buy at the local market in Colombia. The chicken you buy at a Publix will not have half the flavor as a chicken you buy at a local market in Colombia. I believe there are two reasons for this. One is that the majority of the meat and chicken here is pumped with antibiotics and hormones, whereas the chicken you buy in Colombia is fed on table scraps. The second point is that the chicken you buy at Publix was probably killed two or three days ago, refrigerated, maybe pumped with some perservatives, and sits on the shelf a few more days. The chicken you buy in Colombia was probably killed yesterday by the farmer down the street.
As far as preparation goes I think there are talented chefs in every part of the world and many different preferences, if the meal is "authentic" or not is irrelevant.

jalf12 comments on

So all the "CocaCola Asesina" grafitti I see in Bogota, what's that all about? Or they have some influence with the CSCC, and a few judges?

jalf12 comments on Origin of "Gringo"

Green Go! My paisa father in law told me a company had american mercenaries working for them who massacred a bunch of villagers the company didn't like. They wore the green camo outfits so the villagers translated "Green Go Home!". I don't know how accurate this story is but that is the explanation he gave me.

jalf12 comments on What does "Nanay Cucas" mean?

I have never heard that expression is it from a certain area of colombia?

jalf12 comments on First time in South Am

Advice Whatever you act like on a day to day basis, avoid.

jalf12 comments on DE VERDAD QUE LAS GRINGAS SON MEJORES

Es que depende como se defina "materialista". Mi mujer le gusta poner ropa nueva, maquillaje, a veces joyeria, pero tambien ella trabajara una hora lavando la ropa con la mano, y poniendola secar con el aire por que las maquinas pierden mucha agua y electricidad. Mientras, nosotros (gringos y gringas) demoramos media hora bañando en agua caliente sin pensar.

jalf12 comments on

When in doubt,......blame a gringo. What ARE we doing in Colombia? We've fixed (to a livable extent) our own economic problems; why haven't we fixed the rest of the world's by now? Worse, why do we bother trying, it is not our fight? Either way, it is our fault.

jalf12 comments on I want the U.S. going there

"You Can't Help Someone Who Won't Help Themselves" I must be bluntly honest on this subject. My suegro is a firm hater of American Global politics (and I can't blame him). I have read books he has given me about how the money the U.S. has given to Colombia ends up back in our own pockets. Seriously, our Presidents are businessmen. When we give Blackhawk helicopters to Colombia, we buy them from American firms or give our old Vietnam ones that need repaired by American firms. When Bush buys weapons for Colombia he is probably buying them from a firm that is in the mutual fund of the Carlyle Group (of which his father is chairman) and when we help dust a crop of cocaine, we make sure another two go up somewhere else to keep feeding the drug culture in the US. So first, don't think that U.S. aid is the answer for Colombia.
Second, if you are Colombian, realize that only Colombians can fix their problems. After much internal debate (and even a bit of guilt), reading such books as "Con las Manos en Alto", I came to the undeniable conclusion; Colombians are screwing Colombians. Although corrupt US politics may have a hand in the Colombian pie, it is a corrupt Colombian that helped them. If every able man in Colombia were willing to die to elevate his country, Colombia wouldn't need help from anyone. But too many (maybe too tired from poverty) are willing to sell out their country to the highest bidder. So follow others advice if you are fed up with the war in Colombia, pick up a gun, join the army, and fight to the death for what you believe. God knows the U.S. had its civil war (over tariffs not slavery) and brothers fought brothers; but they fought to the death and we are what we are (be it good or bad), thanks to love of our own country. Remember Skybroken, actions speak louder than words, if your sky is broken: fix it. But don’t expect others to do it for you.

jalf12 comments on Colombian Tamales, Natilla & Bunuelos

Those buñuelos, in quindoman's link, I just tried the beginning of this month. Supposedly they were made by my wife's grandma (a true paisa, from Pereriera). They served them with natiila.

jalf12 comments on

UC That one took a while to come up with didn't it?

jalf12 comments on Documenting my plastic surgery in Bogota

Pictures? I think before and after pictures are a must. I didn't see any of your pictures up yet. My wife has small breasts and has thought about implants; I'd like to see the difference and of course the costs;).

Mario,
I saw a porno where it was so obvious the chick had implants; the big tits were a turn on at first, but once she started bouncin' it was obvious half was plastic and it was a turnoff.

jalf12 comments on Requirements for an anullment in Colombia?

Che As dw mentioned Catholic marriages, this is the only kind that require a true "annullment". From my humble knowledge of Catholic theology an annullment is basically saying the sacrament of marriage never actually occurred because of lack of knowledge or disposition of one of the candidates. For example, if someone goes into a marriage intending to use contraceptives (against the teachings of the church) the marriage was not consumated in the eyes of God (and to hell with the eyes of men who cannot see the disposition of one's heart). In the old church (Pre-Vatican II) it was very difficult to "annull" a marriage beause most Catholics were required to take an explanatory course on the sacament of marriage and its boundaries and permanence(if consumated). In the conciliar Catholic church however, you may find it very easy to "annull" a marriage.
If you were not wedded in a Catholic church and recieving the blessing of the church on an annullment is not an issue than all you need is a legal divorce.

jalf12 comments on Women traveling to Cali

CeCe Southern Dyme Answer to questions:
#2. Not sure about Cali but one dress style I have not see in Colombia (for women) is shorts. Girls wear pants or a skirt, I haven't seen any girls weraing daisy dukes in Colombia(but it could be different in Cali).
#4. I think you could get modeling work any where in the world;).
#5. You may not get a full time job in a large institutions with just a student visa, but from what I understand, a native english speaker can find some kind of teaching work relatively easy.

jalf12 comments on DECEPCIONADA DE UN GRINGO

Sentar Cabeza?? Bueno, andale, yo trabajo con unos de Guatamalaaaa, pero no se que quiere decir "sentar cabeza".

jalf12 comments on DE VERDAD QUE LAS GRINGAS SON MEJORES

Bueno, Yo prefiero UNA Colombiana que es muy linda, bella, amable, y buena gente. Al opuesto de muchas gringas que he conocido a ella le importa mas la familia que ella misma. Ya llevamaos cinco años casados. SI, es verdadad que ella a veces se pone materialista, pero gringas tambien pueden ser materialistas y es cierto que EEUU es un pais muy materialista.
Pero no creo quien dijo que las gringas son feas conozca muchas. Aunque yo escogi (o sera que Dios me regalo) una colombiana bonita, hay muchas gringas muy bonitas tambien. Yo creo que cada mujer es diferente y tiene cosas buenas y malas de su cultura.

jalf12 comments on BANK ACOUNT IN COLOMBIA

Bank Account Scam Just a story I heard:

An older woman my wife's family knows needed to take out a large amount of money from the bank. When she did so, someone in the bank called thier troubled friends and gave them her address. When the women arrived home 4 armed men robbed her. She is still worried every day because the purse they stole from her has account statements that show she has millions of pesos still in the bank they could rob her for.

Bank account in Colombia? Not worth it for two months when you can use a debit card (visa) at anywhere in Colombia to access accounts in the US (I don't know about other countries), at a pretty good exchange rate.

jalf12 comments on

SearchingTourist Destinations I believe I first came across it a year ago (also google), when I was looking for some info on places to camp in Colombia. I read a little back then but I think I had the bad luck of reading some of those posts that end up as a bickering contest and didn't look into the site for a while. I came across it again recently doing the same type search as last time and read some good posts. I think the majority of the posts here can be informative and interesting; I've learned to laugh at the bickerfests. One of these days I'll have to join in, I'm a REAL SmartAss when I want to be;).

jalf12 comments on Bogota on our list (relocation)

Botanical Garden The botanical garden in Bogota is one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen. It has sections of nearly every geographical landscape in the world.

I hear it rains a lot in the north of Bogota but I stay in the southern area (Autopisto Sur) (when I go there) and it doesn't rain much there ata all.

jalf12 comments on PBH member's photo blogs

Pics Posted http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/image/uid/8514

jalf12 comments on Chicas Aguilas

Aguila is a Beer Chicas are the hot girls.

jalf12 comments on MAC IS BACK

I Can't Taste Chicken!
Just came back from two weeks in Colombia, eating real meat and chicken fresh off the farm. The steroid pumped hormone fed crap we have here doesn't taste like anything now. Even eggs are flavourless to me!

jalf12 comments on CACHACO, what is this??

EL Costeño y LA Cachaca That's me and my wife; the reverse of the Soapopera. It is one of the few I watched some of with my wife. The one about the whores was funny at first but they all make me sick after the first 10 minutes.

jalf12 comments on Five months in Armenia (and counting)

Off With His Head!! Without Hesitation!

jalf12 comments on Colombian women having second thoughts

Quality of Life Obviously, this is connected to economic, but as I consider moving to Bogota in a year or two, my biggest deterrent is not so much guerrillas or how much I'll make; it's pollution. The striking beauty of Colombia makes it all the more sad how polluted it is becoming. Is it true that sewage lines feed directly into the Bogota river? And there is some joke about a power plant near Soacha that is the only place in the world where shit produces energy? I never realized how much I take for granted the tree hugging environmentalists in the US. Then again Manhatten just smells like garbage to me.

jalf12 comments on Best Restaurant In Colombia

From a guy who eats cheap.... These are not candidiates for best restuarant but for:
Best Arepa Rellena: Arepa Factory - Near Plaza de las Americas
Best Hawaiian Empanadas: Nutribar - Soacha

I don't know if these are the best in Bogota, but they are the best my wife has taken me to.

jalf12 comments on How reliable is

MIA - BOG
By searching numerous dates, I found a direct roundtrip flight for $365 on Lanchile in peak season.

jalf12 comments on How reliable is

Don't Know About Abstravel but if you are flexible with your dates I recommend LANCHILE. In my experience they have the best service, more direct flights, and are usually cheaper than anyone else(if dates are flexible). You can buy your tickets safely online at their website.

jalf12 comments on Colombia Kills 6 Rebels, Peace Talks to Continue

Well here is Nariño... in the southwest corner;

http://nona.net/features/map/placedetail.1761952/Nari%C3%B1o/

jalf12 comments on Colombia Kills 6 Rebels, Peace Talks to Continue

La Llanada I think this might be it:

http://nona.net/features/map/placedetail.1757455/La%20Llanada/

jalf12 comments on Col. most dangerous in S. America for backpackers?

Carter I don't think my little four day excursion is what you would call "backpacking" but you can read about it under another post if you're intersted:

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/node/16076?from=50&comments_per_page=50

It was however for me the first taste of backing I've had since I spent a month in Europe in 98, and I must say I'm thirsty for more. I left all my camping/backpacking equipment with the suegros because the next chance I get at a vacation it will be camping in Colombia again.

jalf12 comments on Uploading Large Images?

Yeah Tomtom! I just took a look at your images, what is that your trophy album?

jalf12 comments on Uploading Large Images?

I've Got Plenty More It's just a matter of taking the time to resize every image, resave in a new file so I still have the good one, and then upload it here.

jalf12 comments on Uploading Large Images?

Check mine out I got some up that aren't too bad. Villa de Leyva. What a trip! 4 Days 3 nights on a budget of about COP350.000!

jalf12 comments on Uploading Large Images?

Thumbnail Well as a thumbnail you can't tell.

jalf12 comments on Uploading Large Images?

Too Blurry The biggest I could get on was sized down to 6 KB but it is soo blurry.
Using MGI Photosuite 111.

jalf12 comments on Chicas Aguilas

Beautiful How did you land that?!?

Hey,

Did you try uploading those on this site? Did it say they were too big? I can't get my pictures on here, I may have to do what you did and put them on another site.

jalf12 comments on Colombian women having second thoughts

Been There, Done That, and STILL Doing It:) I know exactly what you are talking about Mckenna. I actually met my wife on her vacation in the states. After 2 months I asked her to marry me and her first reply was "NO, ARE YOU CRAZY!". I almost walked away right then but I didn't. I realized how much I was asking of her and I think my ablity to understand her won her over. But even after we were married it was very hard for her here. It helped that her sister lived here but after two hard years I think what saved our marriage was going to HER country to have our first son. Whenever I can (usually 2-3 months out of the year) I buy her a trip to stay with her family and I go for as long as I can. We also went there for our second son to be born. They both have dual citizenship which has some benefits. It was never easy for me but I learned how hard it must be for her living here. We'll be celebrating our 5th Anniversary this month. I obviously did ask her to make a decision on something she knew little about but I was as understanding as I could be and offered to go there if I had to. In the end we have both decided our life should be here for now and we go there as much as we can. I can imagine this is a common issue for gringos who fall in love with colombianas because the ones most worth loving are the ones who truly love their culture, country, and family.

jalf12 comments on Uploading Large Images?

hello? ok, I waited a whole hour. Time to put this post back at the top and hope someone sees it.

jalf12 comments on In Celebration of Colombian Scientists, Men and Women, Working Together

ColombianoX? Maybe I'm just another gringo in his own little world but;
Who is ColombianoX??

jalf12 comments on My Experience in Colombia

Have a Friend I think this rule has worked for me now that you mention it; whenever I'm in Colombia I'm with my wife or someone from her family. Probably the farthest I've gone alone is five blocks to the local dentist. Whoever I'm with is usually warning me what not to do or say and it is annoying but I follow their advice. I'd like to say I know enough about the contry and culture to handle myself alone but probably not. I prefer traveling with someone who knows the area whever I go not just for security but because you get more out of the experience that way. I think if I didn't have family in Colombia I would make some good friends and stick with them. I won't say it is as an absolute but having a local guide is definetely the smart way to go anywhere. I can just imagine the trouble my hot little colombiana would get into in the states without me;)

jalf12 comments on My Experience in Colombia

Backup http://www.comebackalive.com/df/kidnapp/goodhand.htm

jalf12 comments on My Experience in Colombia

Kidnappings I remember reading a year or two ago that the country in the western hemisphere closest to Colombia in kidnappings is Mexico which had somewhere around 320/year. Colombia exceeded this number to over 3,000 per year! I also remember hearing however that Colombia is the one country in the world where the US does not follow it's "no negotiation" rule with kidnappers because colombians actually return the kidnapee after they have been payed. Just what I have heard don't hold me too it.

jalf12 comments on My Experience in Colombia

My Experience in Colombia I just got back to the states Thursday night. I also went to Villa de Leyva on the advice of Lotist (thanks man!) and the suegros watched the kids:). I left my debit card and took only cash as my wife insisted. I wanted the liberty of being able to take out money as needed but in the end the 350 mil pesos was just enough.

I don't know about your features dspard bu I'm a 6ft, light skinned, high cheeked, gringo with long blonde hair. We traveled by bus, from Soacha to the Bogota terminal and then to VDL. I kept my beenie on with my long hair tucked in. When we arrived we asked the tourist police (?) about a camp site. The man sitting with them just happened to be the manager of a camping zone in town. We paid 5 mil/person a night (with my wife and cuñado; 15 mil) in the middle of the town (not 2 minutes walk to the plaza) for a converted parking lot/camp zone with bathroom and shower. It was walled in and the mgr kept it locked for us until we called his cell phone to get in. I felt safe in VDL seeing many foreigners and other gringos.

That afternoon we rented horses and went to "el poso azul", a small lake outside of town that is a beautiful bluish-green. I couldn't resist taking off all but my boxers and diving in for a freezing (but refreshing swim). The next day the mgr took everyone from the campsite to the "periquera" a beautiful waterfall with a pool at the bottom. I was the first one in. Later that day, we rented bikes and went to see a giant dinosaur fossil and an indigenous ruin of rocks that honestly looked like nothing less than large rock carved penises. The next day we went to the natural park "Iguaque" and my spanish was so good they didn't charge me the extra 15 mil - foreigner rate:). A five hour clime through a small, muddy trail got us to the lagoon, where the “Muiscas” believed humanity started. They say if your touch the water it will rain and occasionally people throw rocks in and terrible thunderstorms form. It is a difficult climb and at the end we didn’t care much for the lagoon being as tired as we were, but it was an adventure I’ll never forget.

The whole time we cooked hot dogs and other cheap food on the massive log cabin fires I made (former boy-scout).

All of these activites would have cost us a hundred times what we spent had we done them with the "safe" local tourist guide packages. In the end the only thing I regret is not taking the extra tent for my wife and me (we had to share with her brother), but at least we took a private excursion in the rain forest near the waterfall; hehe.
In all my trips to Colombia I've either been really lucky or stayed safe by traveling like any poor colombian on a budget would.

Viva Colombia!

jalf12 comments on Colombia Women - Some pretty tough cookies

WOW Nine children from seven mothers? I won't even ask! But you are the undisputed pro on this subject. As far as Colombianas and staying in shape goes I will say this. I have seen plenty of chunky little colombianas but, I have never once in several trips to Colombia seen a grotesquely over-weight, pouch sagging, obese crying, can hardly walk, fat woman like I see here in the states all the time.

jalf12 comments on Weapons for Self Defense

Carrying Weapons I once got a ride with a professional driver/bodyguard in Bogota. I asked him if he carried a gun. "No gun", he said, "they just get you into deeper trouble." What I got out of it was this; if you pull out a gun the situatuion goes from win-loose to die-live or worse; die-die. I definetly know how you feel though Albatross. I've never been robbed in Colombia (knock-on-wood), but even when my wife starts talking about potential robbers I just feel like kicking someones ass. In the end I take her advice and stay out of the ghetto, keep my mouth shut, eyes forward, and peripheral vision on high alert. I agree with Gibs and others; walk tall, stay alert, and remember whatever you have in your wallet is not worth your life.

jalf12 comments on 2 types of arepas?

Almojabanas - same story I find the same problem with almojabanas; sometimes you get nice, fresh, moist ones, and sometimes you get dry, crummy ones. Same with buñuelos. It seems the colombians I know don't mind either way though.

jalf12 comments on 2 types of arepas?

Arepas
I don't know exactly what "choclo" means but arepas de choclo are the moist ones; I love 'em. I don't like the dry arepas much, I think those are the regular arepas. Sometimes I get a regular arepa thats not too dry or if I'm eating it with a full meal like bandeja paisa it is good. If you get the chance to try an arepa rellena (filled with meat or chicken and cheese) those are good too.

jalf12 comments on Camp Sites or Weekend Getaways near Bogota?

San Gil? Thanks for the advice guys. We will definetly check out Chicaque as we'll be staying in Soacha.
Villa de Leyva seems too expensive for a poor gringo like me. I was hoping for somewhere with more camp sites because it is cheaper and I have little time to make a reservation. I was thinking of San Gil, it seems to have a lot of camp sites and a beautiful natural park but my wife says it is too far; how long is the trip there from Bogota?

jalf12 comments on Feliz Navidad para todos.

Donde Sean..... Donde sean en el mundo que gozen las Navidades!