roquero has left 31 comments

roquero comments on What is the name of the guitar you see with joropo?

There is a music store here in Miami on Calle Ocho that sells them and other variations of the guitar used in Latin America In Colombia, one of the best towns to buy hand made string instruments is Marinilla- just outside Medellin

roquero comments on When will there ever be direct Miami San Anndres service?

Copa offers some vacation packages too, on their web page

roquero comments on When will there ever be direct Miami San Anndres service?

You don't have to stop in Bogota to go to San Andres- Copa has connecting flights from Panama City direct to San Andres, just a short hop away Much quicker than the Bogota route!

roquero comments on Bolivia's Richest Region Votes Solidly for Autonomy

Carajo! You know, english was not my first language, but I think I speak and write it well enough to be clearly understood by those people who are native speakers. Here is my statement in quotes: "Let's see what happens, and hope that the next president of the USA pays more attention to what is going on in our backyard, rather than focusing all our attention on the other side of the globe." Note that I said PAYS MORE ATTENTION I did not say CLEAN UP I did not say INVADE or INTERFERE PAYS MORE ATTENTION, as far as I understand the meaning of the term, means be more aware, be more sympathetic, do not ignore. Or does it mean something else? I am amazed by the things people infer from such a simple statement. I think it reveals more their prejudices than any they ascribe to me.

roquero comments on Bolivia's Richest Region Votes Solidly for Autonomy

My own country is Cuba, Mr. High and Mighty There is no imperialistic implication in my post, other than your own paranoid derivation. El mundo es una aldea

roquero comments on Bolivia's Richest Region Votes Solidly for Autonomy

As someone who is very familiar with the country directly to the south of Santa Cruz, Paraguay, I sense that the region of Santa Cruz has more in common with its southern neighbor than with La Paz. It seems that a union of Santa Cruz with Paraguay would be a more natural alignment than the current situation. The indigenous people of the southern provinces have more in common with the Guarani descendants of Paraguay than with the Aymara and other tribes up north. Keep in mind that Bolivia and Paraguay fought a bloody war over the Chaco region, which separates the populated area of Paraguay from Bolivia, in the 1930s, and that Bolivia lost that conflict. Paraguay so far has been a loyal US ally, and has permitted the US to operate an airstrip in the Chaco region, something which Hugo Chavez has been bringing up as evidence of a US plot to eventually foment armed conflict with Bolivia. Also, a major player in FARC, Rodrigo Grande, was implicated in the kidnapping and murder of ex Paraguayan president Rafael Cubas' daughter 3 years ago. Paraguay found email correspondence from FARC that provided evidence that FARC had provided money and training to the kidnappers. We'll see what develops when ex-bishop Lugo takes office as President of Paraguay in August. One of my best friends there, who is a relative of Lugo, tells me not to worry, that Lugo will not follow in the footsteps of Chavez or Evo Morales. From what I see, he will probably be more like Lula of Brasil. Let's see what happens, and hope that the next president of the USA pays more attention to what is going on in our backyard, rather than focusing all our attention on the other side of the globe.

roquero comments on Warning Identiy Theft in Colombia

the hardware is a snap to set up I downloaded SafeKeys, unzipped the file, and just used my mouse to click on the SafeKeys keyboard, selected the text in the window, and dragged it to my web browser window No hay nada mas facil!

roquero comments on Warning Identiy Theft in Colombia

here is an article that covers keylogging in depth and talks about how to prevent it: http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2006/posters/herley-poster_abstract.pdf

roquero comments on Warning Identiy Theft in Colombia

Here's a nifty portable app you can download to your flash drive, that I forgot to mention- the following excerpt describes in detail: "‘Bad guys’ often use a something called a keystroke logger to steal passwords from regular folks. Keystroke loggers are nifty tools for bad hackers because they are simple programs that can be easily installed, despite an Internet cafe’s best security efforts. Don’t be fooled though, most Internet cafes (especially overseas - even Europe could care less about security). All the keystroke logger does is record every single thing typed into the keyboard - then it just emails the entire text to Kazakhstan (for example). Anything you type, from emails, passwords, to credit card numbers. And it will be hard to do anything about it while you’re traveling and quite possible ruin your vacation. The easy way around this is to download and install Safekeys to your USB thumb drive. It creates a little keyboard on the screen you can click with the mouse." Here is the link: http://www.aplin.com.au/?p=204 More details from the developer: ADVANTAGES: * You don’t use your keyboard (keyloggers cannot record the password) * The utility changes width and height each time, as well as its placement on the screen (to fool mouse-loggers, buttons will always be in different positions each time you use the program) * Nothing is stored in the clipboard (clipboard loggers cannot save the password). * You can use upper-case letters and symbols (such as ! at #${}) by pressing the CAP button - no matter how complex your password is, the utility can type it. * …and now the last pressed key is not highlighted at all (minor bug fix from previous version). I think with this app you will be safe Nothing is 100 percent foolproof but I would be confident using the portable Firefox browser and this app

roquero comments on Warning Identiy Theft in Colombia

Do what I do Get yourself a little portable flash drive that you can carry in your pocket A 2 GB one will do fine, but you can get up to 8 GB at a reasonable price Then go to http://portableapps.com Where you can download all kinds of programs for your flash drive so you don't have to use the inter net cafe's browsers Download the free Firefox browser to your flash drive From http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable Then you can take your browser with you, bookmark your financial pages, access your accounts with saved passwords on the browser and avoid having to use the browser at the cafe There are other neat applications on the page such as Thunderbird to access your email from prying eyes All you have to do is plug it into the USB port of the computer Just don't forget to unplug it and take it with you when you leave the Ciber! Mozilla Firefox®, Portable Edition is the popular Mozilla Firefox web browser bundled with a PortableApps.com Launcher as a portable app, so you can take your bookmarks, extensions and saved passwords with you. Download Now

roquero comments on Colombian tasty treats without meat?

Island Girl, as a fellow vegetarian, I can tell you it is difficult but not impossible to find vegetarian fare in Colombia There is a chain of restaurants called Crepes & Waffles that offer lots of great options and tasty food for veggies, they are in most of the major shopping centers in the big cities. In Medellin there is a chain called Lebon that has similar offerings and is also very good. Of course, there's always pizza, although Colombians for some strange reason don't put tomato sauce on their pizzas. Barranquilla has lots of Lebanese restaurants, many of which have veggie options. If all else fails, ask your server if they can prepare items especially for you- I even had a well known restaurant in Medellin prepare a Bandeja Paisa for me, veggie style!

roquero comments on Translate pension info

Salario Mínimo Legal Vigente= Legal Minimum Salary in Effect Cantidad de SMLV= Quantity of Legal Minimum Salary in Effect Valor de SMLV en Pesos= Value of Legal Minimum Salary in Effect in Pesos Valor de SMLV en Dólares= Value of Legal Minimum Salary in Effect in Dollars Cotización en Pesos= Quote in Pesos Cotización en Dólares= Quote in Dollars

roquero comments on

This happened to me before with BOA in Colombia, and it turned out that they do block your ATM card if you don't notify them that you are going to Colombia There is a special number you need to call [not the regular customer service number], which is in this message that they sent me: "We ask that you contact us prior to future trips at 1.877.833.5617 and provide the dates of travel to ensure uninterrupted use of your card. As you are currently outside of the United States, we welcome you to contact us at 1.770.491.4064 so that we may resolve this for you. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." American Express does this occasionally too. Whenever I take a trip now, I always call my card services to tell them where and when I am going.

roquero comments on Leticia / Amazon Lodges?

You could fly Copa Airlines, Cali to Manaus through Panama, and then Manaus to Tabatinga on the Leticia border with Trip or Rico airlines, but it would be cheaper and faster to go through Bogota [so yes there is a way] Satena now flies to Leticia from Bogota on Monday Wednesday and Friday Beware of Aerorepublica- they have been known to kick people and/ or luggage off the Leticia flights for being "sobre-peso" [overloaded]- it happened to me and I had to send some of my luggage via air cargo Apparently Aerorepublica sends a lot of cargo on the passenger flights to Leticia, so they sometimes find the plane overloaded and start bumping passengers and/ or luggage [in Leticia Aerorepublica is jokingly referred to as "Aero-cocha"]

roquero comments on Leticia / Amazon Lodges?

2 weeks ago I went on a day trip to Reserva Natural Marasha, which is across the river in Peru [about a 45 minute boat ride from Leticia] The lodge is fairly new [thus it does not appear in most guide books], and very isolated [you have to walk far into the jungle to get to it, so bring your rubber boots], but the service is great and the food was awesome. They have a baby ocelot that lives nearby, plus other animals, and a lake right on the lodge. I didn't stay overnight but they do have facilities if you want to do it The Website is: http://www.reservamarasha.com/ If you're interested in the services of a local Letician who can guide you around the tri-border area, send me a PM- he only speaks Spanish and Portuguese, but knows the area backwards and forwards.

roquero comments on /

We're all Mexicans to the majority of the USA americanos I remember we moved to a small city in Ohio in the middle of my sophomore year in High School, and the gym teacher at the new school read out the role call of students in the class. When he got to my name for the first time, he said in his best Appalachian drawl, "you speak English son?" This guy used to be an ex-marine drill Sergeant, he had the typical buzz cut hair style [think Sergeant Carter of "Gomer Pyle"], and I answered in my best Gomer Pyle voice- "Hell NO!" The class erupted with laughter, and the pissed off teacher flunked me, even though I transferred in with an A from my previous school for that subject. I would get ignorant comments like "I bet your mom makes great tacos and burritos" [My mom never saw a taco or burrito in Havana, and even in the States she wouldn't touch any of that stuff] Not only do they think most of us are Mexicans, but to some, we are ignorant savages as well. When my family left Miami and went up north for the first time, our next door neighbor heard that some Cubans had moved in next door She came in to introduce herself, and proceeded to demonstrate to us the wonder of modern appliances like television and air conditioning. I was only five years old, but I thought to myself- "Esta mujer esta tostada del queso" [Cuban slang for - this lady is off her rocker!]

roquero comments on Socialist Revolution in Colombia

One of my Uncles who stayed behind and served in Castro's government was a friend of Che's Che even stayed and slept at his house when he visited Pinar del Rio Another Uncle from my mother's side told me of how Che executed one of his best friends That uncle's friend was involved in the anti-Castro Underground, got caught, and was sentenced to die by firing squad in a week's time The wife of the accused went to see Che to plead for his life She got an audience with el Che, and said to him: "Please Comandante Guevara, do not execute my husband, jail him for life if you must, but spare his life" Che smiled at her and said, "Señora, I understand the anguish you must be going through. I'll tell you what, I will end that anguish." Whereupon he called his aide and said "Bring the prisoner out now" The wife thought her husband was being spared, but it turned out that Che had the man bought out and executed in front of her. After the execution, Che smiled at her and said- "See? Now you don't have to wait anymore- I saved you the grief of waiting!" From what I've heard of those who knew him, that was a side of Che that doesn't get played up in all the romantic revolutionary mythology- his sanguinary, bloodthirsty cruelness. Another Uncle who served in the ministry that dealt with banking told me of a meeting shortly after the revolution triumphed, where Fidel gathered the ministers along with the honchos of the revolution together and proclaimed- I need to appoint a new minister, who here is an "economista"? Che raised his hand Fidel looked surprised and said- "Che, I didn't know you were an economista!" Che said, "Oh, I thought you were asking for a comunista" With that Che was made head of banking and the peso bore his signature from then on.

roquero comments on Socialist Revolution in Colombia

As a victim of one of these so-called Revolutions [or as we call them "Robo-lutions", I can tell you that they may look romantic from afar, but they never pan out. My parents and other relatives have told me of several experiences they had in my native Cuba with the current owner of that island One such incident is really indicative of how these "revolutions" roll out [and probably a good indication of how Hugo intends to "Fidel-ize" Venezuela]: My Uncle and Aunt were at their house in Varadero, along with my parents and some friends of theirs, when El Comandante shows up univited at the party. I'm guessing this is circa 1960, sometime before the Bay of Pigs, and there was a fishing tournament in Varadero that Fidel attended Anyway, Fidel shows up at my aunt's party with his retinue, and attempts to hit upon a lady friend of my aunt's. El comandante was known as being muy mujeron, but this particular lady wanted nothing to do with him or his charms. My Aunt talked for a while with him, because a lot of Cubans at the time were afraid that the government was going to start taking away their businesses, as they had started doing with the US companies in Cuba. El jefe surprised my aunt by knowing all about my family and what we owned. He knew all about the history of my family's business, how it was started by my grandfather, who started with nothing, and how he had built up his company into a successful enterprise. Fido told my aunt not to worry, that my grandfather and uncles had nothing to fear from him. He said he knew that my family achieved their success through the fruits of their own labor, and the people who the Revolution was going after were not them, but the "latifundistas" who exploited people through their mass land holdings. My uncle told me that shortly after that encounter, a government henchman walked into the offices of my family's business in Havana, and told him to get out, that his business now belonged to the government. I would really recommend the book "Manual del Perfecto Idiota LatinoAmericano", which does a good job of defrauding these so-called revolutionaries and their illogical rationales. Colombia doesn't need a Chavez- maybe a Lula would do the country some good. At least Uribe has brought some measure of security to the country, more so than I see in my travels through South America in countries like Brasil and Paraguay. [talk about insecurity- a friend of mine in Asuncion has had his cell phone robbed 5 times in the past 2 years- another friend recently suffered a home invasion from 2 armed thugs- many Paraguayans I talked to longed for the days of the old caudillo Stroessner, when they could leave their doors unlocked without any worries]

roquero comments on Buying property and living in Leticia

Nope, no FARC in Leticia On the contrary, one of its selling points is its peaceful nature You'd have to go to the outer reaches of Amazonas to find the FARC

roquero comments on

Spirit MacGringo- I just got an email from Spirit with some new sale fares, and they are offering Fort Lauderdale to Grand Cayman for 5 cents for certain dates in February!

roquero comments on Medellin Living.. Well Moved into my 1st Apartment Viva Medellin

security? that's not security- that's a locura! Cali, I'm all for security, but checking the same piece of equipment FOUR times in the space of a half hour, while delaying a flight almost 90 minutes, is not security- it's just stupidity!
I fly over a dozen times a year, and I never get singled out- TSA agents even pull over grannys in wheelchairs before they stop me to do a second search!
The post 911 world has nothing to do with it, as I said it's just stupidity, and lack of communication- all the Avianca agents who made me go through the same routine over and over should have communicated amongst themselves.
Once again, F**K Avianca!

roquero comments on Medellin Living.. Well Moved into my 1st Apartment Viva Medellin

Avianca I too will avoid Avianca in the future.
I go to Medallo maybe once a month, usually with American or Copa from Miami.
By the way, Copa is pretty good, even though you have to change planes in Panama- the layover is only an hour, and it barely takes an hour from Panama to Medellin.
Plus Copa has much better service and food than American [I'm a vegetarian and American does not offer food options from MIA to MDE, Copa does]
Copa has cheap flights on their web site if you book in advance [plus they interline with Aerorepublica]
Now, let me explain my recent surreal and horrific experience with Avianca.
New Years day, I took their evening flight to Miami from Medellin.
I arrived at the airport 4 hours early.
Believe it or not, it took me 3 hours just to get to the counter, pay the tax, and get past immigration and the first security check, where they made me take out my computer, turn it on and off, and thoroughly went through all my carry-on items.
That was the normal security procedure. I'm used to it from so many flights to Medallo.
But wait, there's more!
Once at the Avianca gate, a lady in a Avianca uniform subjected me to another security search.
For the second time, she made me take out my computer, turn it on and off, and then she took out the battery and ran both the computer and the battery through the xray.
She asked me what I used the computer for, which I thought was a stupid question.
But I answered her politely- I use it to communicate, to work, to do research, etc.
I thought that was it, but just before boarding the plane, yet ANOTHER Avianca nazi lady thoroughly searched me and patted me down, and yet AGAIN made me take out my laptop, turn it on, turn it off, take out the battery, run it throught the xray, etc.
OK, this was getting irritating.
But I held in whatever anger was brewing!
As I got on the plane, buckled my seat belt, and waited for takeoff I thought the nightmare was over.
BUT NOOOO, as the late Sam Kinison used to say, they weren't through with me yet.
No sooner did everyone board, and I was snug and secure in my seat with my seatbelt, than I hear Avianca page me over the intercom, asking me to take all my items and deplane with them.
I was made to take the computer out ONE MORE TIME, turn it on, turn it off, take out the battery etc.
And here's the topper-
After they ran it throught the xray for the umpteenth time, out comes a soldier with a dog, and the dog starts sniffing the computer.
At this point, I was about ready to just hand them the friggin' computer just so I could get the heck out of there.
Then it went from absurd to surreal.
They made me take the batteries out of my mp3 player and digital camera.
According to the Avianca nazi, all batteries have to be removed from electronic equipment during the flight.
I never heard of this silly rule, and no one bothered to enforce it upon the rest of the passengers on my flight, many of whom were listening to their mp3 players, working on their laptops, or watching DVDs on their portable players during the flight.
At this point, my latin temper got the best of me.
I speak perfect Spanish, i spoke it before I EVER spoke English, and I let them know what I thought about their stupid "security" procedures.
I also told them I would not book any more flights with Avianca, to which the Avianca nazi curtly responded "that's your decision to make"
Luckily, I refrained from any dirty words or insults, or I might have got booted off the flight for sure, but when I got back to my seat, I was seething.
The flight left almost an hour and a half late, and as we were taxiing the stewardess announced over the intercom that Avianca was sorry for the late departure, which were due to "security measures".
All the people beyond the initial checkpoint who searched me wore Avianca uniforms [save for the soldier with the dog], and I have NEVER had to go through anything like this the dozens of times I had to fly with American or Copa from Medellin to Miami.
I say f**k Avianca, it almost made me never want to return to Medellin again, and I will only use them as a last resort.
Beware!

roquero comments on

Grand Cayman MacGringo- the cheapest flights to Grand Cayman are not from Miami, but from Fort Lauderdale next door, with Spirit Airlines
As a matter of fact, if you check out Spirit's Red Light Specials from time to time, you can get flights for under a hundred dollars [I nabbed a flight to Puerto Rico for under ten dollars. Of course, once you added taxes, it was much higher, but still...]

roquero comments on buying property in colombia

Bringing in cash Thanks robi, I will check but in this case I won't need Western Union, as the amount is roughly 2500 dollars and I will bring it myself
As I understand it, you can bring in under ten thousand dollars to the country without having to report it
There's also the ATM option in this case
That's great that an attorney is not required, most people here in Colombia do not have a high opinion of that profession

roquero comments on buying property in colombia

buying an inexpensive lot I am considering buying a lot [property only, no casa] in Colombia that costs under $3000
If I buy as a foreigner, do I have to file forms 4 and 11?
The amount of money is not that high, so I could bring in the funds as cash within the legal limit, thus not requiring bank transfers.
I also have the option of giving the cash to my Colombian partner and having them buy it in their name- what forms would be required there?
I would appreciate any advice
As I understand it, only a Notary is required- attorneys not neccesary
Opinions?

roquero comments on 'the return ticket debate

My experience I went on a one way ticket with Avianca last year, from Miami to Medellin, and they asked me for evidence of a return ticket.
Luckily, I had booked one with Copa.

roquero comments on PLEASE! SAY IT AIN'T SO.

You have a better chance playing the lottery Giving an affidavit of support just increases suspicions that the applicant is going to stay permanently in the USA
From what my friends have told me, the interviews are like cattle calls.
They do dozens per hour, and you sit across in a booth looking at the consul through a glass window, and the process is relatively short.
The majority of applicants he talked to while he waited had been turned down multiple times.
As an overseas diplomat in a US South American Embassy told me one time, you are guilty until proven innocent of wanting to immigrate.
He also said it's up to the individual consul, and if they don't like the look of your face, they can turn you down.
It's a crap shoot and you can keep trying, but the rejection gets stamped on your passport and how many times are you going to throw 100 dollars down the drain?

roquero comments on San Andres Question?

Getting to San Andres- alternatives? Any alternatives such as boats or cruise lines from Coastal Colombia, going to San Andres, besides air travel?

roquero comments on Meeting Opportunity for PBH members in Southern Florida

Miami Hello- I live in Miami- usually when I go to Sobe I go to Lincoln Road, and avoid Ocean Drive, but I may stop in sometime

roquero comments on Medellin

Medellin In El Poblado, go to the Parque Lleras area, which is where the nightlife and hotspots are.
Oviedo Mall is a nice shopping mall in El Poblado if you're into mall.
Go to El Centro- Plaza Botero is interesting for the Botero sculptures.
On Sunday nights in el centro, in Plaza Bolivar, are impromptu comedy performances on the plaza- the majority of the audience and performers are gay, but straights attend to, and the cost is free.
The Jardin Botanico near Universidad de Antioquia is a nice place to stroll on a sunny afternoon.
El Parque de Pies Descalsos is also a worth a stroll, near el centro.
The new public library in El Centro has some interesting exhibits.
Have fun in Medellin- I just got back from there!

roquero comments on Should I go to School in colombia?

San Andres Trying to find flights from mainland Colombia to San Andres Island during Semana Santa [Easter week], but the flights are either full or ridiculously expensive.
Anyone know of any boats or cruise ships that go from coastal Colombia?
Any info would be greatly appreciated- trying to get there from Medellin.