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rocinante has written 22 posts
I don't know the way or the place - Subjunctive!
I don't know all the gramatical terms because I forgot them. But allow me to explain a use of the subjuntive that get's little airplay but is extremely important. Usually subjunctive users focus on desires, wishes, demands, hopes, and emotions followed by QUE + SUBJ - "Espero que Lina TENGA su libro" - "I hope Lina has her book." A previous poster speaking here about the SUBJ said "Just learn the key phrases ["Espero que", "Ojala que", "Quiero que", etc...] because as we know forming it is ...
How to take a taxi.
How to take a taxi. 95% of the drivers don't own the cab and pay a daily rent of about 60K. They also have to pay for their own gas. They work 7 days a week and when they are sick they often work for the 60K to pay the cab rent and go home. Something to note: the hand motion for "come here" in Colombia is the same as the "shoo, go away" hand motion. This hand motion is sometimes used to hail cabs but the extended arm works and is what I use. There is a minimum fare of 3.200 pesos. The ...
How to take the regular bus
How to ride the bus. Not that many here acrualy ride the bus but some lurkers might find this helpful... Busses can pretty much be hailed from anywhere but a stop is recommended on the busier streets like Oriental Las Vegas, La 80, La 30, Av Poblado etc... as the driver can easily blow you off. If you look rico and have a few bags and don't stare down the bus in your hail during its approach the driver will assume you are hailing the cab behind him and keep going. A bus stop or a dirty fa ...
Rainy Season Early in MDE yet again
I have been holding off not to jinx us again but I just can't do it any more. The rainy season in the fall started 2/3 weeks early and ended 2/3 weeks later. We have been getting rain steady for the past 10 days and I thought it was just one of theose things - but after day 6, 7, 8, 9 and now today I am convinced were are getting our late March through April rainy season starting beginning March. Only one day in the past 10 did we not have rain. El Niño? Global warming? Revenge from las FAR ...
03/19 - Peso/USD Close 1821.00
Friday 2/29 - Peso/USD Close: 1839.5
Gangas Grandes
It starts today. This time two years ago you could buy toilet paper in the big packs at about 7 cents a roll. If anyone sees anything outragous like cheap ass wipe, food, booze or domestics, please post here. I'm hitting Carrefour and Exito today but I don't really need that much. I will keep my eyes open. ...
2 passports, 1 question
Passports from Colombia and the US. Both show born in the US. Does anyone have both and if yes which do you show where when travelling back and forth? The glitch is you can't leave Colombia showing your Colombian passport if there is no US visa in there. The airline sends you home. So you have to show US. When re-entering Colombia and showing the Colombia passport (here I get no entry stamp on the US passport) and then stay in Colombia for 10 months, when leaving Colombia you will need ...
La marcha contra las FARC. Medellín. Muchas fotos
Estaré allí. Cuéntanos, por favor, y haré lo mismo.
Safety factor not often spelled out. Mor on numbers
Can you survive without incedent visiting Colombia as a tourist? Absolutely. However your chances of experiencing a not too friendly incedent are MUCH greater here than in your closest home city and are much greater if you are a tourist than if you are a local. The important stuff: "Just take the precautions you would take in any big city", "The murder rate in Medellín is lower than Detroit, and DC and Baltimore" While all of this is true let me clear something up. Every city has a cri ...
Twas the night before Spanglish Navidad
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the casa, Not a creature was stirring -- Caramba! Que pasa? Los ninos were tucked away in their camas, Some in long underwear, some in pijamas, While hanging the stockings with mucho cuidado In hopes that old Santa would feel obligado To bring all children, both buenos and malos, A nice batch of dulces and other regalos. Outside in the yard there arose such a grito That I jumped to my feet like a fightened cab ...
Pretéreto vs Imperfecto
Pretéreto vs Imperfecto - two aspects of time. reprinted and altered froma previous post of mine in Friendly Talk Zone... Pretéreto vs Imperfecto: Pretérito is for completed processes in the past - a process that has a start, some duration and an end - or a specific event that took place. Quite often the Preterito will be used to describe actions that happened a certain number of times (I ate three hotdogs - or - I called you 3 times - ALWAYS take the preterito). The pretérito has no c ...
Levels of politeness in requests or, asking for things.
Note – never does someone walk up to a stranger and say “¿Que hora es?" however it is in all the Travel Spanish Books and yes that is the translation but uh... Here is what I believe to be the setup and the level of politeness and I will use the MAIN VERB DAR (to give) in every example. Realize that “me gustaría‿ (“I would like‿) construct, and “Querer‿ (in the Conditional and Imp Subjunctive) are used as well when asking for something politely, but that’s for another post ...
Peter - Request for Spanish Language Forum
Peter, I know we already have tons of forum categories to choose from accross the top but if you could be so kind as to add another category (is there room?) Spanish Language, that would be aewsome. I have seen quite a bit of requests in the past for this. I'm currently an infrequent poster but everytime I pop back in I see a need still exists. Also I remember a post of Colombian Slang, Dichos etc.... Is that still around? ...
State of PBH - A poll
Fancy new Webby - Thanks Peter. One never knows what will happen these days. I see ManLred and GIB are back and no sign of POW WOW. The format has changed and I can't type a plus sign. Overall things seem to be the same here. Can anyone comment on the direction of PBH going forward? I don't have tons of time right now to dig into the site but I'm wondering in a nutshell what features are gone and what has been added and how the overall tone of the site has prospered. Can we still search on ...
If this policy were to be followed
Some BOZO sent me this. Obviously not too intelligent, but there are many who would agree with the words I am about to paste into this post.
The reason for starting this thread is comment on WHAT WOULD REALLY HAPPEN TO THE US if this "Plan" were to be implemented.
Here's the email text:
WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY U.S. PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH?
"My Fell ...
las vacas son estúpidas
From "Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress" -this is the intro to an essay by Michael Fairbanks
Blame the Cow For No Prosperity.
The monitor Company worked for the government and private sector leaders of Colombia to study and provide recommendations on how leather producers in that Andean nation could become more prosperous by exporting to the United States. We began in New York City to find buyers of leather handbags from around t ...
second language acquisition and the adult learner
Excerpts from a previous thread which is now locked. Peter and Tinto can we please one day have a Learning Spanish Forum? "Holding your own [in Spanish] after 5 years of immersion vs. being able to speak correct Spanish from an engineering standpoint in a firm regulated by the government is two different things. I don't mean to take the wind out of your sails either and there are people who achieve near fluency with total immersion and zero [gramatical] classes (By rocinante on 2006-08-21 20:50:32. 43 comments.
twas the night before Spanglish Navidad
'Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the casa,
Not a creature was stirring
-- Caramba! Que pasa?
Los ninos were tucked
away in their camas,
Some in long underwear,
some in pijamas,
While hanging the stockings
with mucho cuidado
In hopes that old Santa
would feel obligado
To bring all children,
both buenos and malos,
A nice batch of dulces
and other ...
Here we ___, in Colombia they ___
Here we take warm/hot showers
In Colombia they don't even have hot water (OK so the hotels do)
Here we put your trash on the curb. Very early in the morning a crew quietly collects the garbage
In Colombia (Medellin) all of a sudden a truck that has a guy ringing a loud bell making a huge racket comes clammoring down the street. Everyone at that point collects their garbage and runs out to the truck.
Here at a sporting event or concert you buy a ...
Your Col. Spouse in the US: Homesick or Happy?
Although closely related to another topic I just posted, I feel this is different enough to warrant it's own post.
For whatever reason there are Colombians, mostly women, who are getting married to Americans and relocating to the US. This involves a marriage or ceremony in the US perhaps a marriage or ceremony in Colombia and a life of marital bliss. ~BUT~ I've come to learn just how family oriented Colombians are. What is the driving force for these people to up their roots and r ...
You dropped everything and relocated to Colombia
The biggest, best, most magnificent part of any present country or culture is hands down the people. I went to Italy, Spain and France in the Spring of 2001. I saw life in a different way. I decided then that my days in the US were numbered.
Weather it's a quality of life issue or something else, I see that many expats here in this forum have decided that a permanent or semi permanent change of scenery was in order.
The topic I'd like to discuss:
I a ...
Medellin for 4 days - what to wear?
I live in NYC and will be arriving in Medellin noon this Friday for a four day weekend.
Although I'm a tan guy, look Italian, and Spanish people in the city think I’m Cuban (?) and are constantly walking up to me speaking in Spanish, I know I'm easily spotted as a tourist in Colombia. I am not trying to get around that. However I am interested in not sticking out like a turd in the punchbowl.
What are some usual types clothing to wear while bumming around town? J ...
Robledo, Medellin
Robledo Miramar to be more exact. I'm not sure exactly how addresses work but Robledo was listed by a previous poster as being a dangerous area. I did a search on this site and only came up with that. If anyone can tell me more about this neighborhood, good or bad, I would greatly appreciate it. How far is it the closest metro stop? Can you live there without a car? Things like that. Thanks in advance. ...
dual citizenship
one is Colombian, one is American. Through marriage or miracle, is there a way for both to somehow attain dual citizenship?
Juanes Tickets in Medellin
I am loking for someone who can help me obtain 2 Juanes tickets for 16 de octubre in Medellin. In the US there are ticket brokers who sell tickets to events (US open, Broadway shows etc....) that are hard to get because they are events that are sold out. I am hoping that a similar service exists where I can pay to purchase tickets for this show. I don't know how tickets sales for such events take place in Colombia. Are tickets in sale in advance of a show or is there a queue of people waiting to ...
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