markiev has left 33 comments
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markiev comments on SALSA CLUBS in Bogota? (ON1 NY/LA STYLE) Check out club anconda...Forgot exactely what part of town it was in but it is quaint and they play awesome traditional(old) salsa.
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markiev comments on The joy of the telenovela El Zorro was filmed in villa de leyva....Just had it's final episode here in the states(telemundo) and I thought it was a very well done novela....Esmeralda and Maria angel were Hottttttt!!!!!....I believe the episode are still going on in Colombia.
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markiev comments on Cartagena for studying Spanish As the other poster said, just use common sense and you'll be fine.....Don't go to areas that look sketchy and beware of all those paquete chilenos that will come your way..Got a love those costenos...Ay ombay...que ma mano.. quibo mano....echale un ojo...jajajaj
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markiev comments on Exact dates MISS COLOMBIA CARTAGENA 2007? I was there in 2003....Awesome time....Checkout my Sig.... Ihad an interview with RCN in plaza santo domingo and later was ablr to speak with my favotire candidate(sra. cundinamarca)....
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markiev comments on �lvaro Uribe vs Felipe Calderón Calderon has yet to be tested....Uribe has shown to be a very able president and arguabley one of the Colombia has had for quite some time....The Constitution was changed to allow him to run again..Time will tell with Calderon...
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markiev comments on WHAT ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TOWNS TO VISIT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE OF MEDELLIN You guys forgot to mention San Antonio de Pereira. This is along the same route as Rionegro..Great town to visit during the day or on a fri or sat night to have dinner and partying and there is a shop that specializes in desserts(at least 30-40 different types) .....Although they are not pueblos, I think it is worthwile to visit Envigado and la sabaneta...I remember having an arepa and a awesome tasting pure hot chocolate drink in la sabaneta(tons of little restaurants)..As far as driving, if you know where you a going you'll be alright...Santa fe de antioquia might be better by bus or taxi.... I love Antiouquia
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markiev comments on Cartagena or Mededeliin? Well then it sounds like elmo chooses Cartagena....I know that city all too well and can only say it's a nice place to visit(for a week or two) but not to live....If you look at the photo I was at the 2003 miss colombia pagent and by chance had an interview with RCN...I was able to see the interview the following day on the news(pretty funny since I had a few beers earlier that evening)...Don't get me wrong, if you want to party it's a great city, especially during christmas and new years....Living there day in and day out wore me out...Here's an intersting comparison between los costenos y los paisas: in Cartagena my "friends" would invite me out to dinner and a night of rumbeando and expect me to pay(being the sterotypical "rich gringo.") My friends from Medellin would invite me out for dinner and a night of rumbeando and we would all split the bill evenly....... Oh yes, one more thing I thought the word Cachaco was slang for people from Bogota...Anyway we do agree that Colombia is an awesome country!!!!!! Que tengan un buen dia a todos
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markiev comments on Cartagena or Mededeliin? Hey elmodefoque, el parque lleras and el poblado are hardly representations of Medellin and antioquia...You stayed in the most exclusive sector of medellin...Maybe if you ventured out beyond these two spots you would have seen what Medellin is all about....Again the surrounding countryside with all of it's pueblos is incredible..I can remember going to this small pueblo about an hour away called san antonio de periera for dinner and and a night of aqaurdiente and it was awesome..Another place in Medellin(not in el poblado) I think it was near laurleles, had an awesome live band and very cheap pilsen beer on tap. How about santa fe de antioquia, la sabaneta, concordia...etc. etc.. And the ride from the airport is a piece of cake...anyway good luck on your decsion
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markiev comments on Cartagena or Mededeliin? No contest....Medellin is cien veces mejor que cartagena...So much more to do and see in Medellin...Antioquia is a beautiful departamento with a green and lush countryside..I stayed at my friends apt in el barrio estadio and loved every minute of it....cartagena is nice to visit for a week or two but one grows tired of the heat and disorganization.....Medellin all they way!!!!!!
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markiev comments on plastic surgery in colombia One of my wife's best friends is and ear nose and throat doctor specializing in excatlely what you need. His office is in Bogota and he speaks very good english....Let me know if you want his office phone number in Bogota....
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markiev comments on Looking for Advice on Spanish Lessons and Lodging I just realized I have that night off from work because the wife is taking her TOEFL test...I'm not sure what time she finishes but if it is early enough we'll head up there for some arepas and an augila(or two)..
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markiev comments on Looking for Advice on Spanish Lessons and Lodging I've been to all three cities and lived in Medellin for two months taking spanish classes at Eafit university. Medellin by far has the best climate and the surrounding countryside of antioquia is incredibly beautiful(as are the ladies).....I've been travelling to Cartagena for the last 12 years and can say I could not live with the costenos, the climate, the disorganization of the city and all the "paquetes chilenos" that are thrown at the foreigh traveller. It's a great ciy to visit for a couple of weeks in my opinion....Bogota is a very big city that has many universities to choos from..If I recall, Nueva Legua charged an arm and a leg for tuition. I actually went to one of their classes in Medellin and that made me decide to choose eafit instead....I'd say bogota is your best bet. You can choose private and/or public universities..Do a search and you should be able to finds some threads on this topic....Remember, Bogota has the transmileno, an above ground metro system that is very efficient and cheap......Let me know if I can be of any more help....Markitos
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markiev comments on Why don't gringos learn Spanish? I'm a little late on finding this thread but would like to share my story....A few years back while flying to Colombia via lovely Copa airlines through Panama i was seated next to an older american lady. She told me that every winter she would fly to Chile and spend 3 months over there to avoid our(usa) winter...I was taken aback by her arrogance and ignorance in not wanting/caring to learn spanish. She could not speak one word of spanish..As we stopped in panama for our layover i ran into her in the only restaurant in that airport struggling to order from the menu. She looked to me for help and I politely refused...The arrogance and ignorance of many north americans is in my opinion why we are looked at with such disdain around the world.
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markiev comments on Gringo from Nj thinking to move to colombia to live for a year. Bad idea...One must have some concept of the language before trying to live there..Why not just go live in Miami...Tons of Colombianos, cubanos y boricuas...
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markiev comments on Helping Colombia is in our national interest Thanks Simon!!!! My wife is from bogota and does not like the "cold" north americans and the ignorance that most have towards her country...Sure colombia has problems, but so does this "lovely" united states.....Most of my closest and most trusted friends live in Medellin, Cartagena and Bogota...All are professional who do not use drugs and view themselves as succeseful citizens...And all agree that uribe has mad a hughe difference in their economy and the security of the country...Before people bash(gringos) on Colombia they should take a look at the united States and realize that it is not the paradise that others think it is...Remember folks, the real drug problem lies within the borders of the U.S., Canada and europe...Without the demand there would be no market....Gracias por leer mis dos centavos...
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markiev comments on who knows about pre-columbian gold?? Hey Kat1, that's a nice foto of the lake...My wife's friends have a finca near the town of guatavita and we found some locals willing to rent us some horses and took a horseback ride up to and back from the lake..I was there about 1.5 years ago loved it....The story of the lake is very interesting
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markiev comments on who knows about pre-columbian gold?? La laguna de guatavita Just head up to la laguna de guatavita, which is about an hour outside of Bogota and go to the site where it("el dorado") all started....Just drain the lake and you will have all the pre-columbian gold you'll ever need!!!!!!!!
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markiev comments on Helping Colombia is in our national interest Colombia may be the largest producer of cocaine but it is not the largest grower of coca...I believe that title goes to Bolivia, peru and Ecuador...Colombians are just smart enough to produce the final product and the idiot north americans and europeans are dumb enough to use the product...Supply and demand. And I agree that Uribe is an awesome president and has made a hughe difference in the economy and how colombians view themselves as a peoples....
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markiev comments on Hotel Rate Shock give them a call It's probably 20 min from the airport and very close to el parque 93. It's on the street mentioned above which has that upscale grocery store that for the life of me I can't remember it's name. It porbably has about 20 rooms and again it is a very nice place with very good staff....the clientel I noticed were professional in their 30's to 50's....Hope this helps...markiev
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markiev comments on Hotel Rate Shock hotel la mansion While visitng my girlfriend(who is now my wife) in Bogota I always stayed at la hotel mansion which is a small but very nice hotel and located very well..It's on transversal 17a con el 102. It is across the street from a bodytech gym and an upscale grocery store..also it is within walking distance to the transmileno...I believe I was paying about 90,000 pesos a night...here's the phone number: 257-8017.....Markiev
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markiev comments on Brief travel guide to Cartagena Gestemani is not the safest place...Look for places inside the old city and in boccagrande...I stayed at the centro hotel two different times and thought is was fine for the price...It has a very nice atmosphere to it.....Markitos
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markiev comments on colombia restaurants in bay area thanks microllo Thanks Microllo...we'll definatly check out la candelaria and the next time we are in the city well check out the other..que tengas una buena fin de semana...markitos
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Two more universities Hey el canuk, my wife graduated from one of the best universities in Colombia which is called Ponticia universidad Javeriana. It is a jesuit university(similar to santa clara university out here in the bay area) located in Bogota and is extremely well organized. I have been to it numerous times with her as she graduated from their dental school and is now doing a post graduate long distance course from here in the states. They have a spanish program for foreigners and if any university has the letter of permission I would imagine they do. My wife also mentioned they can set you up with people to stay with or find you an apt near the university....
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Hey el canuk, I have to go to work but my wife is from bogota and she mentioned a couple of very good universities that probably have what you are looking for...I'll get the names of the universities and post the after work..Bogota may be a better option because it is a huge city with losts of universities and is very organized...
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markiev comments on colombia restaurants in bay area thanks guys...I gone to el rinconcito twice with my wife(who is from bogota) and we both agree there is a lack of ambiente...It's just too "gringo" for our tastes. I'll check out the other places..Markitos
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eafit's phone number I just googled eafit and here is the phone number of admissions and records....(574) 261-9500. I do have to agree with some of what the other posters have said and one being getting in line..The problem I had over there was nobody else respecting a line and cutting in front of the other people. I took the metro everyday from el barrio estadio hacia Eafit and never had any problems. I originally was going to study at la escuela de ingeniera en medellin but after one day of "trying" out their classes and the prices they were charging EAFIT was the only viable option in medellin. the instrucction was not the best, but I did have 5 years of university spanish under my belt before I went so that was a huge advantage. Do you have any basic knowledge of the laguage?? I had a great overall experience in medellin and have some lifelong friends because of my trip...And in my opinon el acento paisa is the most unique in the spanish speaking world...I live out here in the bay area of california y los mexicanos no pueden adivinar de donde viene el acento mio...I say go for your trip and sure their are some negatives to the university but the positives of the overall experience outweigh all the negatives....And by the way, the women of medellin are some of the most beatiful I have ever laid eyes upon..some are stuckup but for every 1 that is stuck up there are 4 or 5 that are really down to earth....If you need anymore help let me know as I have been travelling to Colombia for the last 12 years...Markitos
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markiev comments on My Cartagena itinerary - input requested I've got the place for you to go!!!! Head over to "Tu Candela". It's in the old city directly across from the huge clock tower. It's small but very quaint and I believe they don't have a cover charge....I have not been back to cartagena in a year and half and really miss that place!!!!! I'll be back in colombia for 1 month in dec/jan
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