Miamigo has left 102 comments

Miamigo comments on Cheap card to call Colombia from the US?

I have relied on the PinFree service from MultiPhone (http://www.multiphone.net) for the past 5 years. They just dropped their prices for calling the 4 major cities (Bogota, Medellin, Barranquilla, Cali) to 3.9¢ per minute (it was 7.5¢). Other places in Colombia are 5.3¢ per minute. Cell phones went up a short while back to 15¢ per minute, though. Still, I have found this to be by far the most reliable and easy service to use. The PinFree number has been programmed into our cell and landline phones forever, it seems -- it recognizes your number (you can register as many different numbers to call from as you want) and you just dial the number in Colombia from there (or, as we do for frequently called numbers, have that number pre-programmed automatically into your phone as well). I have tried cards and what were at the time cheaper services, and I have found this to be the best.

Miamigo comments on ¡Raúl, siempre serás un comandante de hombres libres!

Yeah, hombres libres. I hope you get hit by a bus, pal.

Miamigo comments on Why No Applause When Colombianos Landing in Bogota???

I sometimes hear applause either landing in Bogota or Miami. My impression was that it was people who don't fly much and as scotty said are just expressing relief the plane is on the ground.

Miamigo comments on FAVORITE COLOMBIAN FOOD, THE BEST AND THE WORST

I live on Milo.

Miamigo comments on Shakira unplugged

I like the DVD that came out back in 2004, Live and off the record, lots of nice eye candy and the music is pretty good. Her band rocks and so does she. She plays the freaking drums, too.

Miamigo comments on Cost of apartments in Nicholas Federer neighborhood of Bogota

It's Nicolas de Federman. My in-laws still live there in the big apartment where my wife grew up. It is a great place, centrally located and safe (and not above 72, haha). There are a lot of at least 5s, but places on 1st floors are cheaper and there are smaller places on the northern end near 63 and west of NQS. If you like the Galeria, there are cheaper places to be found on that side near there on that side of NQS and around El Campin.

Miamigo comments on How long will it take to become fluent in Spanish?

los cubanos no hablan español, hablan epañol.

Miamigo comments on Bringing American Express travelers checks to Colombia ? DON’T

Why does anyone need to carry around cash or travelers checks, what's wrong with an ATM card and a credit card? You can pull out 500,000 pesos at a pop, at least at Davivienda ATMs, and if you need to pay more than that for something, you just use a credit card. What do you need to pay for in cash that's more than what you can pull out of an ATM?

Miamigo comments on Colombia EARTHQUAKES?

I believe it was the one in Armenia in 1999.

Miamigo comments on Is there cheap shopping in San Andres?

DVDs, too, bet you can pick up the Bourne Ultimatum there already.

Miamigo comments on COLOMBIAN TALENT/ANOTHER NOVELA POST...

Dear Ben Silverman: I got an idea. How about calling it "No Tits, No Ticket"?

Miamigo comments on COLOMBIAN TALENT/ANOTHER NOVELA POST...

If NBC really had balls, they would go with the real translation of the title, Without tits there's no paradise. Is saying "tits" still forbidden on American TV? Did anybody see Maria Adelaida Puerta in Soho showing her natural tits? Can I say "tits" here?

Miamigo comments on im now in bogota

El Independencia de Colombia was July 20. Today is the Batalla de Boyaca -- when Santander won the Super Bowl against Spain in two hours. It only seems like everything is closed because everybody is shopping in Unicentro.

Miamigo comments on U.S. abandons Colombia

No more posting links here? Here's the link to the post from 2005: http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/post/war-possible-in-the-next-few-years-between-colombia-and-venezuela/

Miamigo comments on U.S. abandons Colombia

Carlos Alberto Montaner is a crackpot Cuban. He's been writing the same crap for years. Look at this article he wrote that was posted here at PBH in January 2005.. He still thinks Chavez is out to succeed where Bolivar failed. Like that's going to happen. Goes to show you that Miami isn't the only place where nutty Cubans live, some of them live in Spain, like Montaner.

Miamigo comments on Who else is gonna see 'El Cantante'?

Yeah, Hector was great, but I could dance to Fruko y Sus Tesos all night long! EL PRESO!!!

Miamigo comments on Finaliza drama de inmigrantes ilegales en Bélgica

Pues, concedieron un aplazamiento de 45 dias a los hermanos Gomez en Miami, pero solo despues de unos deputados y uno de los senadores de la Florida presionaron al Servicio de Inmigracion. No creo que el Congreso aprobara su proyecto privado de todas formas, pero quien sabe . . . .

Miamigo comments on Car or bus travel to Armenia from Cali - how safe?

I don't wear them in downtown Armenia, but I've worn shorts in the rest of Quindio, you know, Panaca, the Coffee Park, even stumbling around Plaza Bolivar one night in Tebaida. You don't stand out in shorts in those places. Well, maybe Plaza Bolivar in Tebaida at night.

Miamigo comments on Friends try to stop Killian grad's deportation

They did pay state taxes because Florida uses a sales tax instead of an income tax. Plus, even if they rented all of that time instead of owned, somebody was paying property taxes with that rent, and property taxes pay for school. At most they lived off of and used federal services, but what are those here, heh, hurricane relief, we all know the feds do a heckuva job with that. Yeah, they overstayed and should be deported, but I don't like it, This is a good family and a good kid. Plus the kid is always going to be known as gringo in Colombia because he'll have this American accent.

Miamigo comments on Colombia Peso Declines to Four-Week Low on Credit Quality Worry

The only good thing about the peso hovering around 2000 is that it's easy to figure the dollar conversion in your head, just drop the last three zeros and divide by 2.

Miamigo comments on Hello i'm new to this forum and Going to Bogota For the 1st Time.

LEYENDA is mejicanoamericano so he doesn't look like a gringo, nobody is going to target him in zona rosa so it's as safe there for him as it would be for anyone who isn't a gringo. If there are worries about FARC throwing a grenade you might as well tell him to go party in Plaza de las Americas instead because it would be safer in that respect and no one is going to target him as a gringo there because he doesn't look like one.

Miamigo comments on Safety question regarding LA COSTA DE COLOMBIA

it's very safe, just like the area north of Bogota North of calle 72? What about Chapinero and Federman?

Miamigo comments on And So, ... The Legend Goes... "Don't Climb Monserrate with Your Novio; It is a Curse! And, the Two of You Will Never Marry.'

I proposed to my wife at San Isidro, no divorce.

Miamigo comments on AA flying into BAQ again, since when?

Yup, they're doing this so they can get the Department of Transportation to deny Spirit Airlines' application to provide service from Fort Lauderdale to Colombia. So this is not good news for a lot of us because it means they're trying to keep out the competition and keep their prices high.

I'm wondering why American 't isn't going to offer service out of Fort Lauderdale like Avianca does. God knows there are a lot of Colombians in Weston and Pembroke Pines. I usually fly AA out of MIA but I've flown Avianca out of both Fort Lauderdale and Miami because Fort Lauderdale was cheaper. Although Avianca does not show movies on the Fort Lauderdale planes.

Miamigo comments on U.S. Warns of Travel to Colombia Resort

Sounds like these guys were trying to pull a Bogota Beer Company attack in Melgar. The only reason we go to Melgar is Kualamana -- not the bars or the rest of the city outside of CAFAM.

Miamigo comments on is there western union/moneygram agent in colombia ?

More like Colombia's Tylenol, it's acetaminophen.

Miamigo comments on Melgar Anyone?

It's been a while, but getting this thread back on topic, what is the deal with this warning, we were planning on going to CAFAM in Melgar in a couple of weeks, which is gated so I'm not worried about safety there, but on the road to Melgar from Bogota you're sometimes stopped by the army, so I'm wondering if FARC is going to be stopping cars on the way o Melgar or whether they are just targeting U.S. militarios in bars in Melgar itself.

Miamigo comments on Caldas, Manizales, Buga, Which One?

Caldas and Manizales are the same option Caldas is not a city, it's a department, and Manizales is the capital, so maybe your options are really Buga and Manizales. Buga is north of Cali, so you might want to go in between Buga and Manizales and go to Quindio (a department whose capital is Armenia), which is lovely and has a lot of things for tourists, like the Parque Nacional de Cafe, it's got lots to do, and Panaca, which is an agricultural theme park.

Miamigo comments on New Colombian-American movie

plus she is certainly worth posting a few of her pictures in this thread:

Miamigo comments on New Colombian-American movie

Ana Lucia Dominguez is totally hot, hope it's R rated if you know what I mean.

Miamigo comments on Why?!!!

We lived there and went to Exito more for the convenience, I guess, plus we weren't on a budget or anything, but we didn't buy electronics or things like that, I think the closest we got to appliances was a space heater, usually it was just clothes and other stuff for the baby, plus things you'd pick up at Target in the US, I also get trips to Exito or what we bought there confused with trips to Carrefour, same kind of place but I think it's a little cheaper, our closest one was off of Av 30 near Cll 28, around there somewhere, the Exito we went to was the one in Chapinero.

Miamigo comments on Elige tu reina

Santander probably had one of those surgeries where they remove the bottom ribs, look at Thalia you'll see she had the same surgery, I don't like that kind of surgery at all because it looks unnatural, but a lot of the women here had something done, for example, Meta had her boobs and nose done, I'm wondering if Choco had anything done, tiene un rostro hermosisimo, tambien una cola espectacular.

Miamigo comments on French Guyana

Jonestown was two Guyanas over, in plain and formerly British Guyana, which is next door to Suriname formerly Dutch Guyana, which is next door to French Guyana, where you will find Devil's Island off the coast. I personally would never want to go to any of these Guyanas even if you paid me.

Miamigo comments on Elige tu reina

It's the same here, Colombiche In Miami, people say the same thing about Colombian and Venezuelan woman, I've got Cuban friends who are always talking about "South American chicks" and they mean just Colombians and Venezuelans, it is kind of a stereotype but like many stereotypes there is a kernel of truth.

Anyway, you're right, i feel chismoso but the women here are rightly or wrongly asking people to judge them on their physical characteristics so here we go!

So, you didn't know Michael Jackson was chosen as Srta. Bolivar???

Miamigo comments on Why?!!!

that's what she said to me last week, kernow I suggested going in there to kill some time and she said, "No, I hate Target." She never said anything before but she is 7 months pregnant with our second kid now so who knows, it could be the hormones swinging back and forth. She always has disliked almacenes in the mall and prefers the smaller stores there, though.

Miamigo comments on Why?!!!

Rubiazo, Exito is not just for suckers and gringos My wife and I even have an online account at Virtual Exito so we can buy stuff not readily available here in the US and have a family member or friend bring it up on the next trip. We're no suckers! My wife hates Target, though, so I can't explain that because I always think of Target as kind of an American Exito.

As far as appliances go or at least electronics, the Asian made gear seems to be about what list price is here, not much of a difference really, but anything US made, like Hewlett Packard for example IS about twice the price.

Miamigo comments on Elige tu reina

I'm going with Meta, Atlantico, and Cundinamarca I'm disappointed in both paisas. You can see a helluva lot better looking women in the street in Armenia or Medellin.



harocha, my wife thinks that only third-world countries make a big deal over their beauty contests, and that Colombia should move away from this kind of thing.

Miamigo comments on have you visited Melgar, Colombia?

CAFAM/Kualamaná I've always gone to Kualamaná in the CAFAM (gated) community in Melgar. The town of Melgar itself is full of hookers and rowdy bars. Kualamaná is a wonderful resort hotel that is dirt-cheap by U.S. standards -- huge pool (with a built-in "wet" bar) poolside cafe, good restaurant and bar, miniature golf, tennis, etc. The service there is top notch. There's a small amusement park for the kiddies just down the road in CAFAM plus a supermarket, so you never have to leave CAFAM if you don't want to.

Miamigo comments on The ever-present CityTV

Just a license El Tiempo paid to use the name, that's all. I don't think there's any other connection.

This is a good opportunity to post a picture of Jessica Cediel, who hosts the Bogotaniando segment on Bravissimo on CityTV weekend mornings.

Miamigo comments on Bogota ranked 210 out of 215 for safety

I don't see Bogota being that I don't see Bogota being that far down on the list either. But then I always see a pattern here in this thing. The pattern is Anti-Americanism. Colombia is seen as a friend to the US so there you go, they are not going to get a break.

Yeah! That's why they ranked Caracas number 193. We all know that Bush and Chavez are practically butt buddies, and Venezuela is not going to get a break.

Try thinking before writing, or don't write anything at all.

Miamigo comments on MORE ABOUT PISTACIOS

This is a myth You can very easily get pistachios in Colombia. I bought some recently at Carulla at 85 con 15. Go to the soda aisle, look at the Coca-Cola Light, then turn around and look at the other side of the aisle. You see those cans that say "PISTACHOS"? Guess what they are?

Miamigo comments on for women visiting colombia

Ask your aunt to get some toilet paper I bet she'll bring back some leaves.

Miamigo comments on Venezuela or Colombia

Hmmm .... I can offer a decent comparison in many respects because before I met and married my (Colombian) wife, I had a Venezuelan girlfriend from Caracas, where I spent some time with her.

Caraqueños are similiar to costeños in their speech patterns, that is, they talk in a rapid-fire fashion. But as someone said, if you don't speak Spanish, you won't know the difference between costeños y caraqueños and, say, someone from Bogotá.

(I've also met a few people from Maracaibo, which is Venezuela's second largest city and the center of oil operations. They are called maracuchos and are looked down on by caraqueños.)

El centro (downtown) in Caracas is as dangerous as el centro in Bogotá. There is petty crime in both places as there is in any large city. It's always been this way. However, Caracas is probably even more dangerous because of the political situation. Chavez's supporters can be nuts. So can the opposition. The political tension is palbable. Nothing like this exists in Bogotá, despite the recent resurgence of some FARC operations in the countryside.

I visited the countryside outside of Caracas, specifically 60 km or so west of Caracas, where my ex's family owns a fair amount of land, and the Circulos Bolivarianos -- Chavez's kind of private People's Army -- have clearly been operating, breaking into vacant weekend homes and things like that.

The east of Caracas is like the north of Bogotá -- it's generally safer and where the wealthy live. The physical condition of this area has deteriorated somewhat because of a purposeful neglect by Chavez, who has few supporters in this area. (I was last there during the strike of 2002, and I can imagine it has only gotten worse.)

Unlike Bogotá, Caracas has a subway system. The farthest east it goes is the Plaza Francia (the symbolic heart of the Chavez opposition). It's really the only way you want to go downtown.

Anyway, back to the people: wealthy Venezuelans are about the same as wealthy Colombians. The Venezuelan women are generally louder, but that's compared to cachacas and paisas, not costeñas (who are freakin' loud in my book, too). I don't think they are any more or less attractive than Colombian women. That's a myth the Venezuelan beauty pageant machine has created.

I'm used to your basic white arepas, but in Venezuela, an arepa is what I know as an arepa de choclo, you know, yellow corn instead of white corn with a pancake kind of consistency, and they stick queso blanco between two patties.

Speaking of cheese, some of the best queso blanco I've ever had is in Venezuela, it's just called queso a mano. Since it is handmade, it's not the kind of thing you find everywhere. Other Venezuelan goodies I liked where cachapas, which are basically Venezuelan pancakes, and golfeados, which are kind of like cinnamon buns only richer.

Ten years ago, I would have said Venezuela is better if only because it was safer, but Chavez is sending the freakin' country down the toilet. I read that on his weekly radio program yesterday he said that socialism is better than capitalism and that he was going to build socialism in Venezuela. Holy freakin' mother of God, this guy's going to be like Fidel. They've already got the equivalent of Little Havana here in South Florida, it's a middle and upper middle class town in the western suburbs of Broward County named Weston -- they call it "Westonzuela."

Miamigo comments on Top things to do/see in Colombia

ColombianoX Hermano are you Quindiano? One of my aunts still lives outside of Circasia.

Miamigo comments on has Simon Bolivar been the problem of the last 500 years of bloodshed

Tinto Lentils, but also a bowl of guayabas and fragrant farting.

A great scene in the book is when the barge he's riding on down the Magdalena is almost swamped by a giant steamship going the other way. The name of the steamship is El Libertador.

Miamigo comments on Colombian names for baby girl (save my marriage)

How about . . . Usnavy? I think Usmail is masculine.

Miamigo comments on Flying with Avianca oh my god

Whiners! I have had no serious problems with Avianca either. I've had the same kind of problems with American. It's an airline, period. I fly Avianca because it's cheaper than American and there is not enough of a difference in service to warrant paying the difference in price.

Miamigo comments on has Simon Bolivar been the problem of the last 500 years of bloodshed

If you want my opinion That cocksucker Santander and that Venezuelan separatist bastard Paez were much more responsible than the great Liberator. If it wasn't for them, Colombia might have been not only made up of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, but probably the Southern Cone countries, too, because he was in contact with Jose San Martin, the Liberator down there. That would have been one hell of a country, with Bogotá as the capital.

Miamigo comments on Colombia's Sandino Has Come a Long Way for Oscar

From the Sunday NY Times

From Drug Mule to Miss Colombia

By MARGY ROCHLIN

Published: February 13, 2005

S she stretches out on a striped lounge chair by the Four Seasons swimming pool in Beverly Hills, 23-year-old Catalina Sandino Moreno observes the oil-slicked sunbathers taking in the warm afternoon sun. It's not an unusual Los Angeles backdrop, but something about the way emotions ripple across Ms. Sandino's oval face makes it seem as if she is quietly absorbing every detail. It was this same expressive yet thoughtful quality - a kind of transfixing curiosity - that the writer-director Joshua Marston instantly noticed about Ms. Sandino, a fledgling Colombian actress, while searching for the lead in his debut film, "Maria Full of Grace," about a poor, rebellious, pregnant teenager who leaves her job on a flower plantation to become a drug mule.

"I needed someone who could be loose, natural, play a kid - but she also had to have a weight and mystery in her eyes," Mr. Marston said. "Catalina was all of those things." Recently, Ms. Sandino became this year's least known Academy Award nominee in the best-actress category. Speaking here with Margy Rochlin, she explains her own method of navigating United States customs, why it's important to eat airplane food and what Colombians really think of the Oscars.

MARGY ROCHLIN Where were you when you heard your best-actress nomination announced along with film vets like Annette Bening and Kate Winslet?

CATALINA SANDINO MORENO I was in New York. I couldn't sleep. I turned on the TV and called my mother in Colombia. I'm like, "Mom, 8:30 is the nominations. I don't want you to know from another person what happened." Then they said my name and it was the both of us screaming and screaming. My mother was crying. Then the phone broke. I thought: "Oh, my God. I hope she is fine." Four hours later, I got through again and said, "What happened?"She said, "So many reporters from Colombia called the house that they broke the phone."

Q. Here you are, nominated for a top acting award, yet in Colombia, you couldn't even get soap opera work. Why was that?

A. In Colombia, in all of the soap operas, there's a beauty queen, a model and the guy lead is from Ecuador or Peru or Venezuela, but not from Colombia. People like to see on the screen tall, skinny, beautiful models with blond or black hair who dress sexy. The way I dress and the way maybe I am, they didn't like me.

Q. Part of your growing legend is that you heard about the "Maria" open-call auditions from an anonymous stranger who saw you in a play and called your mother to say you'd be perfect in the lead. True?

A. Yeah. I don't know who he was.

Q. He never came forward?

A. I've never heard from anybody who said, "I was the one." I think he had something to do with TV or something. He called my mother and told her where I should go, everything. It's odd that he's never introduced himself to me. Maybe he was an angel. Just someone who appeared in my life and changed it totally.

Q. You were born and raised in middle-class Bogotá. Did playing Maria transform how you view the world?

A. In Bogotá, I lived in this little bubble. I had everything I needed. Apartment. Doorman. I went to a British school. My friends and family were fine. Nothing weird happened to me or my brother. Everything was cool. So it's scary when you are realizing that in your country, it can happen.

Q. "It" meaning that you would need money so badly you'd turn to drug smuggling?

A. Yes. Before, I was like: "Oh, drug mules are bad people. It's so good they're in jail." Then I realized that they're risking their lives, that they do it because they need to, not because they're greedy. The last time I went to Colombia, I heard this story about a woman who was raising five or six kids. She didn't have money, so she made a surgery on her dogs and stuffed drugs in them. If you hear that, you'd think, "That woman is awful and should be in jail to do that to a little animal." But that woman was just trying to survive, to make money for her family without risking her life or the life of her babies. It's really sad.

Q. Because of this role, are you recognized by United States customs officers?

A. I was coming from Spain and I was going through customs and gave them my passport to stamp. These two guys were like: "You're the girl from 'Maria'! Can I take my picture with you?" I was like: "Yeah! Of course! But can I take a picture with you?" It was awesome. A year before, the customs were the ones stopping me and causing me a headache. So I took a picture of him with me because I know that Josh wouldn't believe me.

Q. In one memorable scene, your character chokes down latex pellets filled with 10 grams of heroin. How did that work for the cameras?

A. They were digestible, thank God. My mother is a pathologist, so when I told her that Josh was making me swallow the pellets, she was like, [sternly] "I need a word with him." We had a meeting. She said, "What are you going to make my daughter swallow?" Josh calmed her down, saying, "There's going to be no latex, no drugs." I think there was, like, a sugar powder inside. I think I ended up swallowing eight pellets. I didn't see them later, but I didn't search for them, right? No, thank you.

Q. Did the role teach you anything about being a young female who is traveling internationally by herself?

A. Drug mules can't eat. It's a big clue. Lots of times, the flight attendants tell customs, "These are the girls who didn't eat." So I eat on the plane.

Q. That's horrible. Plane food is so bad.

A. I know! It's awful. But every time I fly from Colombia, I eat half the chicken or half the meat. The other thing, of course, is that you should try not to look nervous.

Q. Aren't the eyes of designers on you at this time, as well? Someone's profile will be raised just by getting you to wear his or her dress to the Oscars.

A. Really? I didn't know this. Everything is so new for me. I don't look for names of designers. If I like the dress and it fits me and I feel pretty, then I'll put it on.

Q. What about your red carpet walk? Have you been practicing?

A. People tell me: "You're going to the Oscars. You have to learn how to pose." But I'm just going to have to be more conscious about cameras, about people taking pictures. The other day, I was watching Cate Blanchett. She's so beautiful, so stylish. She knows how to do it. I'm just like - [gives a perkily cheerful smile].

Q. Did you grow up watching the Academy Awards?

A. No, never. In Colombia, the big thing to watch is the beauty pageants. It's an event. You gather with your friends. Eat popcorn. Watch Miss Universe.

Q. Why Miss Universe?

A. Because we have somebody there - a Colombian representative. So, yes, this year everyone is watching the Academy Awards. This year, they have me.

© 2005 The New York Times Company

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/movies/oscars/13roch.html?oscars

Miamigo comments on Juan Valdez coffee shop in nyc

I don't think they're directly competing with Starbucks Starbucks is for a different crowd. I don't know. I do know that the juanvaldezcafe.com website is working. Peter could even have put his complaints about his experience in the suggestion box there.

http://www.juanvaldezcafe.com/jvcafe/sugerencias.jsp?idioma=espanol