litost has left 754 comments

litost comments on Los turistas Colombianos

aztec, for reminder:
"With aztec, for reminder:

"With all these Colombians around, it's hard not to think of Billy Crystal going around saying "It's not how you feel, it's how you look and you look marvelous!". That should be the Colombian national motto. Is there another people on the planet that is more concerned with the superficialities of life? Everything is about appearance and judgements based on appearance. In fact, that and shopping is really all that concerns them. Seeing and experiencing new places is completely irrelevant. In fact my wife told me that Colombians unlike Americans don't care about doing things outside like hiking in unspoiled natural areas or walking along the beach or seeing fascinating old and historic places. The outlet malls in San Marcos - that's what it's all about! It's as though I went to Australia, skipped the outback, Ayers Rock, the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef and instead went to a couple of malls in Melbourne and Sydney. That would be a Colombian's ideal trip. It's a good thing they can't get visas to visit the outside world - they have no interest in it!"

you can't say this guy wasn't asking for these kind of responses...

litost comments on Tomorrow...

Congrats, Cartago's not the nicest place in Colombia that's for sure but not as bad as some might imagine either. Just be very careful about the girls you flirt with (or more like those who will flirt with you) and stay away from drugs and trouble. Pereira's only some 30 mins away, much more to do there...

litost comments on Los turistas Colombianos

The kind of attitude you mention, UC, speaks very poorly about your wife's family and not Colombians as a whole. I start to understand why you call this place PBsH and so proudly contribute to it being that way.

Now excuse me I have to get back to my shopping (btw, around where you live is there any other interesting american activity besides shopping?).

litost comments on Moving to Colombia

You could live quite comfortably (assuming you're single and not expecting an overly luxurious life) on the 2.4 million a month. Unfortunately it wouldn't allow you to pay off a debt in euros of course, and you would really have to save up a lot to be able to travel internationally. Do keep in mind that the minimum wage being 400 thousand pesos a month, and the average income just a little above that amount, being offered 2.4 million right out of college is not bad at all.

litost comments on Moving to Colombia

40,000 euros, that's almost 120 million pesos per year or 10 million pesos per month... no way in hell (sorry) you're going to get that much for a starting position no matter what multinational we're talking about. You'd have to be extremely lucky to get half of that, 5 million per month, most likely the offers start at around 2-3 million. And that's if you actually find vacant positions, there's a lot of qualified colombians looking for management jobs and a high unemployment level. I would recommend you trying to find a job before jumping over there, with european multinationals operating in Colombia. That way you might have a better chance of getting paid closer to european standards too. Still, it's tough taking off, but if it's what you want go for it, you might just get lucky.

As for the costs of living, I'd say that living on 3 million in Bogota can give you, very roughly speaking, similar level of living on 3 thousand euros in big european cities.

litost comments on 'The World in One City'

I haven't been to London yet but I actually find Paris much more cosmopolitan than NYC. I have no figures or statistics, it's just my feeling, but I'm probably biased as I've lived here several years and absolutely love the city. It just seems to me that here the native culture of all the immigrants and foreigners remain very much alive, whereas in NYC everybody ends up getting 'americanized' very quickly. Did you know that colombians are, by far, the largest immigration group from Latinamerica in Paris?

litost comments on Colombia to put in bid for 2014 World Cup.

Glad to disapoint you G5
Glad to disapoint you G5

litost comments on Colombia to put in bid for 2014 World Cup.

G5, the fact that the security concerns would hurt the chances of Colombia, doesn't mean it's necesarily true. As usual, it is the rest of the world's PERCEPTION of the security situation that hurts Colombia. In reality, I don't think Colombian cities are any more dangerous that Brazilian ones... and there are even plenty of recent statistics to back this up. But no way in the world people are going to admit that Colombia is just as (un)safe as the very visited and admired Brazil. It seems the rest of the world is very happy to keep Colombia in an image of a place with bombs going off everyday, people being kidnapped everywhere, drugtraffickers roaming freely, oh yeah but wearing sombreros mexicanos and listening to rancheras.

litost comments on Melgar - current situation on safety and weather

Be advised though, it is NOT a pretty place... with the exception of some high-end condos in areas like Carmen de Apicala which are more towards Girardot. Still it can be some pool & party fun for a couple of days, just don't go expecting too much of the place.

litost comments on Colombia to put in bid for 2014 World Cup.

I recently spoke to a southafrican girl here in Paris, and she told me how amazed she was that there was gonna be such a big event in her country so soon... for example she talked about new stadiums being built in the middle of nowhere, the very high levels of urban violence in the big cities, not to mention the fact that there is close to ZERO soccer culture in that country. I just hope they don't screw it up cuz it would be a very bad precedent for other developping countries like Colombia who aspire to host the games sometime in the future.

litost comments on Colombia to put in bid for 2014 World Cup.

Ok, I also think that Colombia's chances are very very slim, but why not allow ourselves to dream a little? After all it would be a good cause, bring people together, look towards the future, improve infrastructure, get serious about tourism and services, etc. I actually think that if it wasn't Brazil we were up against, Colombia would have a good chance of getting it, it is after all the second most populated country in South America and has many cities potentially capable of being locations for the matches. There's the obvious "big 4" Bogota, Medellin, Cali and Barranquilla... and then other cities such as Pereira, Manizales, Bucaramanga and Cartagena could surely pull it off as well.

Security concerns, even if it's not openly said, will probably be the main reason Colombia won't get the World Cup. But I do think it is a good thing that "third world" countries get the chance of hosting the World Cup, it is totally unfair to consider that only the richest developed countries can be considered for an event that in its essence has more to do with passion for a sport and not so much the big and fancy stadiums dressed in publicity.

litost comments on Flying in to Bogota

I think that hotels in the calle 85 area would be out of his budget. For mid-range prices in what is still a nice and interesting neighborhood, look around Chapinero Alto. Roughly calle 53 to calle 72 around the carrera 7a.

litost comments on Gomezman5

Wait a second, is this kindergarten or something? I thought the times of popularity contests and clicks was long behind for all of us. Accuse me of of being from the so called Go Go Team (so much for civilized adult discussions), but I think Tinto hit right on the nail with the reason why some of us end up getting personal on G5. My sentiments exactly, no need to dwell for paragraphs on.

Frankly, from reading your posts I have to be honest and say I don't like you either! But wait... don't cry... I'm just kidding. Don't tell the teacher!!!

OK mods, I understand if you delete this post but why not delete this whole meaningless thread while you're at it?

litost comments on abortion in bogota

I think we can all see who gets his "panties in a bunch" just because we don't agree 100% with what he says... after all, people like juancegomez, juanalejo and I are simply colombians who have lived there most of our lives!!!

litost comments on Los turistas Colombianos

it's 'amarrado', like 'tied down' but also means cheap/stingy.

on the expiration issue, listen to Juanalejo... there is NO expiration date on colombian driver licences, the "exp:" means the "expedicion" or date it goes into effect.

litost comments on Colombian Sayings

Ok I'll try to explain this word game...

First you have to know that 'pelado' means peeled or more like shorn (or used out), but is also used for being broke. So it is yet another expression that refers to being broke. 'Chimbo' is colombian paisa for the male reproductive organ... so literally the saying would mean 'More used out than a newlywed's chimbo'.

litost comments on Colombian Sayings

I hope I don't get censored for this (very vulgar) but it is really one of my favorites...

"Mas pelado que chimbo recien casado"

Now colombia-lovers, let's see how many can get it.

litost comments on Colombian Sayings

Portena, rest assured that the sayings in Colombia are as colorful and diverse as the country itself. The problem is I'm really bad at remembering them and rarely use them because I've dedicated my linguistic skills to being fluent in several languages and always learning new ones. But I love it when I talk to someone who uses expressions in like every single sentence. Very creative and some downright hilarious.

litost comments on Colombian Sayings

I think an equivalent would be 'de Guatemala a Guatepeor!'

litost comments on Buying a cellphone as a foreigner in Colombia

I'd say especially because if its to another carrier it can be 3 times cheaper than calling from your own phone!

litost comments on Buying a cellphone as a foreigner in Colombia

Yes there are call centers all over the place, but what's even better (or worse?) is that you have people standing around on the sidewalks of all the busy streets selling minutes! Some are dedicated to just that, and other times it's the same ones who sell candy and cigarettes on the street.

litost comments on Travel guide and book

Precisely because there are bound to be conflicting views and opinions, an emphasis should be made on giving FACTS and useful TRAVEL INFORMATION about places. Naturally people will also want to give their impressions and personal opinion about a place, and I think that's OK, it just shouldn't turn into a boxing ring or get way off-topic like on the FTZ.

litost comments on First Black Colombian General

Dolce & Gabbana agrees Gotta love the diversity in Colombia!

http://www.eltiempo.com/credencial/2006-12-06/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3354439.html

litost comments on Ciudad Perdida

galecito, you might've already tried but do a Google Image search and you come up with some pretty cool pics of Ciudad Perdida. The links send you to different sites, usually trip reports of foreigners who have done the hike.

litost comments on First Black Colombian General

I think some uninformed foreigners go to Bogota and Medellin, and not seeing black people in important positions come to the conclusion that there is strong racism and lack of opportunities based on skin color. What they don't realize is that the percentage of blacks in these cities and in most of the andean region is minimal, and mostly limited to peasants coming from the very poor regions of the Pacific where on the contrary the black population is predominant. Of course the fact that there is such a high level of poverty in a region is in itself enough to be critical, but what I mean is that given the same education and economic situation afro-colombians have a good chance of succeeding. We still have a long way to go, but the tendancy is quite positive IMO.

litost comments on Travel guide and book

Awesome initiative Peter, I hope to contribute with some of my own experience even though I'm not in Colombia now and it's been a couple of years since I've done serious travelling there. I just hope that the spirit of this forum is respected and people stick to the subject, unlike some of the nonsense that goes on in others.

litost comments on Buying a cellphone as a foreigner in Colombia

Tienes toda la razon Pedro.
Tienes toda la razon Pedro.

litost comments on Buying a cellphone as a foreigner in Colombia

Maybe in some cases of particularly long stays it may be useful for someone visiting to get a cell phone, but my general advice to foreigners would be to just use the marvelous "minuto" sellers you find pretty much in the streets or call centers in all the neighborhoods in all the cities and towns in Colombia. Ranging from as low as 200 pesos per minute to 500 max in posh neighborhoods. The problem with the prepaid phones is you could be paying well above 1000 pesos per minute, same thing for text messages.

litost comments on Planning on budget-retirement in Bogota

michaelz, your description of Bogota is highly subjective and easily debated. Unless you enjoy sweating like a pig all day, it probably has the best weather (spring or fall like) in the country out of the big cities after Medellin (which for me gets a little too on the warm side). It has the best restaurants, bars, discos, shopping, schools, universities, museums, theatres, concerts, libraries in the country. It's the only place you'll meet people from everywhere in Colombia and to some extent from the world. It is probably the safest of the big cities. It has the best connections for travelling anywhere else in Colombia, not to mention for international travel. It has the very unique Candelaria neighborhood. The most open-minded and forward thinking people.

I know the city also has some weak points (traffic and stress level mainly), but I think that there is an abundance of reasons why someone would like to live in Bogota.

litost comments on Ciudad Perdida

Thanx for the report flaco!

I will surely be doing that hike sometime in the next few years, just gotta find the time... I'm more familiar myself with the Parque de los Nevados and may write something about it soon, have you been?

litost comments on Beautiful country, yes. Beautiful people, ?

lmfao!
lmfao!

litost comments on New moderator

Ok just to answer G5 (without getting into the discussion jeje) I usually just quickly scan these types of discussions and only occasionally respond, for several reasons: 1- I'm at work, 2- English isn't my native language so it takes time to get my point across, and 3- I prefer to participate in informative threads where I feel I can be helpful.

Gotta go!

litost comments on New moderator

I'm not in this discussion, but I just want to point out that the poll asked "where do you live", not "where do you come from" or "where were you born". Since I am now living in Paris I clicked on "others", but excuse me for saying this I think I have a lot more background enabling me to talk about Colombia than somebody who's been there a couple of years chasing around paisas and throwing around cookies.

As for Desi, she may not be colombian but she has showed us over years, without a shadow of a doubt, that she is profoundly interested and deeply understanding of colombian culture (albeit somewhat calicentric). I find it natural that she be a moderator on this site. The colombian moderator may sound like a good idea, but personally I think it would be very difficult to distinguish nationalistic pride and bias from the enforcement of the rules of this site.

litost comments on Beautiful country, yes. Beautiful people, ?

Do you even wanna hear the lack of human warmth I (a colombian) have experienced in the US and Europe... come on! Stress, rudeness, nastiness, paranoia, selfishness, etc. exists everywhere and Colombia is by no means an exception. Particularly in the cities, which by the way it would help to know where you've been observing this 'colonmbian particularity'.

As a self-declared hippy my guess is you'll never be satisfied with modern society's behaviour anywhere you go. But if a quiet, friendly, chilled place to live is your priority I have a few recommendations in Colombia. And it's not gonna be Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Pereira, etc...

litost comments on International English Slang Expressions: Is it Offensive?

MARICA loses any offensive connotation when used among friends (it's like 'mate' in Australia or 'dude' in California), don't worry nobody's doubting about your manhood! It's so harmless even girls are calling themselves marica now... actually given that colombians don't say marica to someone until they're considered a close friend, you should be very happy to be called MARICA.

litost comments on Back in one piece

Desi, as much as I respect you and value your opinion, you often let your emotional love of Cali get the best of you. It is not a President's responsibility to ensure the development and economic performance of every single city in a country. It is an impossible task, even for a workaholic micromanager like Uribe, that's why there are governors and mayors with a very high level of administrative and financial autonomy. A president of a country as complicated on so many fronts as in Colombia has to look after the unity and overall well-being of the country as a whole. If one city is going downhill while the the rest of the country has been on the upside for several years already, I'd say take a cold and objective look at what's going on there. Finding a scapegoat and revisiting old regional rivalries is the easiest thing to do, but gets you nowhere close to the solution.

Medellin had some really terrible years with rampaging crime, violence, drug mafias, the hangover of the cartel days, etc., yet the people from that city managed to keep a positive attitude and in many cases decided to stick around in order to put the city back on track like it is now. Unfortunately, almost without exception all of the people from Cali I've met in Bogota, Miami and Paris over the last few years(wonderful people and some of my best friends btw) say they have no intentions of going back to live in Cali. Yes they are full of joyful memories and at times even nostalgic, but never to the point of seeing a future there for themselves. Sad but true.

litost comments on Back in one piece

Blaming in some way Uribe for Cali's troubles is ridiculous. The city's problems started several years before him coming to office, and the roots of the situation go even farther back. If anything, the local and regional authorities have much more blame to take (on the opposite ideological spectrum as Uribe btw), and well in the end who are the people who elect those people into office... hmm?

Anyways, there are plenty of very nice neighborhoods in Cali, and not just in the South. The area arond the Rio Cali (I think it's called the Oeste, close to that great Obelisco place where you eat empanadas) is very nice, and there are some neighborhoods like Granada with very classy bars and restaurants.

litost comments on Bus robbery story

strobers, I'm talking about buses that go DIRECTLY from point A to point B, without stopping along the way in other cities to pick up passengers. Each company has its own expressions, but to be sure you just have to ask if the journey is 'directo sin parar' (besides stopping for eating of course). Not to say that you're looking for trouble if you get on one of those buses that stops frecuently, but it is relatively safer, more comfortable and quicker. Always prefer the most well known bus companies (also the most expensive usually, but still very reasonable) particularly for long and overnight journeys. Expreso Bolivariano, Berlinas del Fonce, Brasilia, Coopetrans come to mind, their best vehicles are just as comfortable as anything you would find in the US or Europe.

When you mention colectivos and taxis, are you talking about travel from city to city?

litost comments on Bus robbery story

Well I have travelled extensively through Colombia by bus, particularly during my university days which happened to coincide with the rough Pastrana times (1998-2002) and never had any problems. Mostly night buses between Bogota and Pereira, nobody was gonna keep me from going home for fresh air and aguardiente Cristal on those long weekends! Safety's been considerably stepped up in recent years so I think that the risk is even lower, but still some degree of risk pretty much like most of the other latinamerican countries. Taking some basic precautions will make it even less unlikely for you to ever find trouble. I say enjoy the scenery!

litost comments on Bus robbery story

The authorities have come up with several strategies to try to minimize the risk of this kind of robbery. On some of my last trips by bus in august, an employee of the company (Expreso Bolivariano) would get into the bus and videotape everyone's face before the bus takes the road. Somewhat eerie and certainly you feel like they're invading your privacy, but in the end it kinda does make you feel safer that it can deter potential hijackers from following through with their plans. It's also why I recommend using only the best known bus companies and prefering the 'express' service which is faster but most of all doesn't pick up passengers along the way.

litost comments on still alive!!

Yes, unfortunately it is very rare to see wild animals in most colombian cities. Why, I don't know really but I figure that with such enormously varied and rich countryside why would they dwell in polluted and overrun cities? Of course there are squirrels in Colombia, I remember an uncle took us on a hunting trip many years ago in the mountains near Belen de Umbria (Risaralda) but it was mission impossible.

That's one of the pleasant surprises in US cities, one of the only aspects of Miami that I kinda miss actually... the second you walk out the door you can be surrounded by squirrels, ducks, lizards, iguanas, turtles, migrating birds, etc!

litost comments on

Off the top of my head, I know that the Grupo Carvajal is a big employer in Cali and one of the main players in colombian industry. Colgate-Palmolive is also based in Cali for its regional operations. In the 1990s Cali had a booming economy and was seen as one of the most future-oriented places in Colombia... but we all knew it wasn't based on fundamentals and the fallout after dismantlement of the Cartel de Cali has been disastrous. It's a shame, and contrary to many calenos I know here in Paris I don't think Cali is condemned to the depressing état des lieux seen over the last fiew years. But it is in urgent need of serious and capable forward-thinking leaders in order to reinvent itself.

litost comments on Will Medellin be dead around Christmas(Dec 16 -25)?

Feria de Manizales usually starts the first weekend of january and goes through all week to the next one, the last weekend being the biggest party. Around that same time are also the Fiestas de Salento, a load of fun too and much cheaper of course!

litost comments on Australian Girl + Colombian Guy =??

Great idea stayorgo, I hope it'll be everything you expect (I think it'll be even more). As for the tone of some of the responses you got here, I couldn't agree more. Not only are there some self-proclaimed experts on colombian safety and society issues, but it turns out everyone's got a PHD in intercultural relationships and parenting. You seem like a very conscious and down to earth person, I think you'll know whose advice to take seriously (aka Desi, Tinto, and a few others) and to what extent. You also seem very open minded and adventurous, so you should have no problem fully experiencing all the positive things Colombia has to offer.

Don't miss the chorizos and termales in Santa Rosa de Cabal!

litost comments on Mexican Spanish vs. Colombia Spanish

The PR's idea of a 'modern' spanish must refer to one where you don't pronounce most of the letters at the end of words, conjugate incorrectly and slip in english words in every sentence!

litost comments on I WAS WRONG

perfecto Sr. H
perfecto Sr. H

litost comments on New website DE UNA Colombia Tours

Hi Erik, great site!
Just Hi Erik, great site!

Just one thing, when you are mentioning the Termales de Santa Rosa (my hometown) you say it is a small village... but the town has a population of over 80,000, when I tell this to people in Europe they say here it would be considered a pretty large regional city with such a population!

Haven't you seen all the modern buildings in the Centro? Ok, I'll stop

litost comments on Introducing Colombia4you.com

non, ce n'est pas moi... désolé!

See, anyone cand understand french.

I'd love to go to Israel though. When I started posting almost three years ago I was in Miami (very unhappy) and then for a while in Colombia but during that time I barely ever posted. It's been a year since I've been back in Paris (first time was in 2001) and just recently started posting again.

litost comments on Introducing Colombia4you.com

cali, I studied french in college in Colombia and have lived a total of 2 years as a student in Paris. So it's still not perfect but I guess I could say that I speak it fluently. It's tough though, with SO MANY damn colombians in the city of lights :P

I'm studying in the same place Ingrid Betancourt did during her parisian life... but I'm hoping I don't follow in her footsteps!

litost comments on Introducing Colombia4you.com

I'd be glad to point out numerous spelling and grammar mistakes I spotted in the French version, seriously.