sirwhale has left 50 comments

sirwhale comments on An afternoon in Valdivia pics

Viña isn´t worth a tourist trip. there´s nothing to see there. Go to Valpo po.

sirwhale comments on Colombia and Chile

Living in Bogotá has to be compared to living in Santiago. Valdivia just can´t be compared to the capital of Colombia. There´s one thing for sure though, i found that the nicest girls in Chile were in Valdivia.

sirwhale comments on An afternoon in Valdivia pics

To be honest i was dissapointed with Valdivia. All the Chileans used to go on about was that Valdivia was so beautiful and all this german influence down there. Unfortunately it was destroyed by an earthquake and now I don´t it´s so beautiful, Valpo beats it hands down. It´s surroundings are beautiful however and that´s where you should head to.

sirwhale comments on Colombia and Chile

oh and for the best Chilean music, don´t look further than Los Jaivas.... their song Mira Niñita is absolutely beautiful

sirwhale comments on Colombia and Chile

I´ve got to admit i prefer Colombian cumbia to the Chilean variety. Johnny is right about the wildlife, you can see a lot more in Chile considering it has so many climates although I can´t say that Antioquia isn´t beautiful. If you wanna try a good Chilean dish, get yourself to the coast and order a "Paila Marina". As for the birds i find you get some nice Chilenas but overall the Colombianas win. My polola was a looker but was half german so that doesn´t count. I remember las December when we had over 20 temblores in 2 days, now that was fun when giving classes on the 15th floor. 18 is great, i love the Chilean Chicha they sell for about 2 weeks around the date... Just couldn´t work out why they deprived me of it for the rest of the year in such a capitalist country!

sirwhale comments on

America is by no means anywhere near socialism.

sirwhale comments on MARCHA CONTRA CHAVEZ 4 DE SEPTIEMBRE

El Expatriado tienes toda la razon. I work in a state school in Rionegro and the majority of the teachers and parents there don´t like Uribe and that´s on top of the Paisas I´ve met in Medellín who are against him too. Not that they´re for Chávez either though.

sirwhale comments on MARCHA CONTRA CHAVEZ 4 DE SEPTIEMBRE

I think Bolivia is a special case, one that can´t be compared to Venezuela. I think I do remember reading recently that corruption has risen 200% since Evo Morales was voted in. Anyway, anyone who critices Evo Morales should really go there and see how happy the people are... the majority that is, not the people in Sucre. It´s as if they´ve finally found their voice and are ready to use it and stand up for their rights.

sirwhale comments on Teaching English Medellin

I´m with dtbrooklyn More teachers than learners... idiot. I´m constantly turning down offers of private classes. These people come here for help but it´s very typical on this website for the internet warriors to come out and thear them to pieces. These people mustn´t have much of a life if this is what they come on the net for. Oh and by the way, i´ve read so much about these BRILLIANT Colombian English teachers in Medellín that can´t be beaten by the gringo idiots. Then please tell me why 50% of colombian teachers only have a level of B1 in English. And why have EAFIT hired two colombian teachers, just out of uni, never left the country to teach on our team when i´m having to correct their grammar all the time before they go to teach a class. Let´s get the facts right here and stop bullshitting people because you have no life.

sirwhale comments on New to Medellin

I live right next to EAFIT, i mean across the road in front of the Las Vegas Clinic and I´m paying 520,000. Thats with all bills, internet, cable and tv in room plus cleaners who wash and iron my clothes, change my bed sheets etc. I´d prefer to pay less but as i have to be at the uni for 5:45 in the morning I´m not gonna live anywhere else. Prices around the campus are slightly higher but i´ve looked at rooms near aguacatala for example for around 300,000 a month. I work for EAFIT by the way and they´re always looking for native speakers from what i understand. The problem is the VISA process and the never ending beaurocracy that will end up taking nearly 2 months before you can start working. They wouldn´t even let me do my training or anything before i´d got my visa stamped into my passport.

sirwhale comments on Advice about Medellin for un gringo con sabor.......

I really like parts of Belén, like Belén Fátima.

sirwhale comments on English teaching job in Medellin

I think if you get a contract it´s the law that they fly you home. Although I´m not sure. But when i got my work VISA this was an important part that was sought after by the woman in the consulate. EAFIT also gave me a "prima" of 800,000 pesos for the "inconveniences" of coming from abroad and the whole visa process which they didn´t pay for. This is a university though... and so far its been one good story after another. Great support for the teacher, they treat us VERY well and ten million times better than how i was treat in a private institute in chile. The CELTA here is a highly valued here and many english teachers don´t speak english that well (in chile they spoke it well). The problem is the bureaucracy in Colombia is terrible, the worst I´ve come across and so the school get put off by the VISA process. Some of the teachers is work with in EAFIT don´t speak that well at all if you ask me, but so is the demand here where the government impedes the employment of foreigners while on the other hand wants everyone to learn English.

sirwhale comments on Sending letters in Medellín, again

ok thanks for all the help. i have to send an original letter to england to prove that im not earning over the threshold to start paying back my loan. I also used to send a lot of letters from Chile and if i can find something around 10K i'd be quite happy start again. Letters are ten times more personal than emails. I'll hop down to exito on call 10 soon to see what i can do. Christian

sirwhale comments on DAS change bank again

I also went on the ´´concurso´´ that is DAS, they don´t even tell you which banks let alone the Banco de Bogotá. I managed 3 attempts which beat a girl i met that checked 5 banks before getting the prize.

sirwhale comments on opening bank account - which bank is the most easy to transfer money into?

As everyone on this forum loves to correct people´s English, i thought I´d jump on the band wagon most easy = easiest

sirwhale comments on aussie boi in columbia

I've only read half this thread and although I've never been to Australia, this guy seems very northern English to me. I just by his dialect I'd say he's from Manchester. Could be completely wrong though.

sirwhale comments on US Military bases in Colombia!!!!!!

This was the logical next step for the yanks. I mean who really hasn't seen this coming? I've heard a number of Colombians talk about the great aliance with America.... Bollocks, read between the lines. America exploits. How much money is it earning from the loans to Colombia to buy weapons from American businesses? How many secret concecion deals do the Americans have to exploit Colombias rich natural resources because Colombia can't afford the rediculous loans the Americans dish out?? This is the foot in the door... one step at a time the Americans are continuing the exploitation and control of ''their backyard'' When we went to the falklands the Americans seriously considered not giving any support of any type as they thought the a British victory would destablise the right wing dictatorship and allow one of those stupidly feared left wing groups to take power. So much for alliance, those wankers have no allies. Britain went to war in world war one as we had a verbal agreement with France.

sirwhale comments on Sending letters abroad

Adpostal, cool thanks. Just trying to find a branch now. Google maps hasn´t mastered the road naming system of Medellín yet.

sirwhale comments on Teaching English in Colombia

Sorry Span Colombia but I´m not sure I agree on the wage comment. I often find it´s the Americans who complain about the pay and find it hardest to live. I lived on it in Santiago de Chile and I´m gonna be living on it here. You should spend what you have and money isn´t the only thing in the world. I live very cheaply, I havn´t bought clothes in agggges and drink the cheapest drinks, only east at the cheapest places. But my quality of life is good, as in I´m enjoying myself. If you´re coming here for the experience then you´ll have a good time. You´ll learn a lot and meet great people. I´m slightly luckier than spancolombia as this time i´ve managed to land myself a good job with back to back classes and they´re gonna be paying my flight home, although i will be getting up at 5 every morning. Plus I´m living in Medellín which is much easier than Bogotá due to its size and lack of decent public transport. I´d say if you´re gonna be teaching at a private institute, stay away from the big cities. Don´t get me wrong I´d love to earn more money and be able to go out more, travel more but you can still live a simple life and enjoy yourself. If you find a friend with a car you can get out and take advantage of all the bank holidays they have here. You should get your certificate before coming here and apply for jobs in Unis. It´s always worth trying.

sirwhale comments on French tourists seen as world's worst: survey

I used to work in a restaurant in Granada just outside the entrance to the Alhamabra. We had massive groups of tourists from mainly european countries. The Russians were by FAR the worst, the french wern´t bad at all, quite cheerful actually. The greeks were particulary difficult to deal with too.

sirwhale comments on Good place to stau in cucuta? quik replies please

Cheers Logi. Tomorrow i have to head into cucuta to pick up what EAFIT has sent me. I met a cucuteño in chile when i was there and i´ve got in touch and he´s gonna see if a family member can put me up tomorrow and sunday to save a bit of cash.

sirwhale comments on Gotten mugged in Medellín

I´m just not sure I´ll ever understadn anyone who carries weapons with a high potential to kill. If you get it out and use it, you´re probably going to kill someone. Is that really what you want? Maybe you don´t see it from the side of taking a life, but you have to think about the time in prison once you´re caught, or the possible backlash from the victim´s friends. Eitherway i find it hard to see why its benficial. I like your belt idea, that why you can give someone a good claught without endangering their life too highly. Why not stick to that? unless you have baggy jeans of course.

sirwhale comments on Good place to stau in cucuta? quik replies please

I think you´re quite the pesimist stephen. The things that have happened to me are nothing short of normal. I´ve been in Colombia over a month now and should be able to survive a few more weeks before i get paid. I have a good job at EAFIT and should be earning 1,600,000 to over 2,000,000 depending on my hours... plus the classes are back to back, i get free intensive language classes of any of the 7 they teach and as i live next to the uni i can use the swimming pool frequently. Not to mention the girls ill meet working there. Dark cloud? Take your sunglasses off mate ;) BTW I´m staying in san antonio now for what should be 18,000 a night but they made a mistake and i got it for 12,000. The official rate for the Bolívar is noway near the rate here. I can´t believe how cheap some produce is here.

sirwhale comments on Good place to stau in cucuta? quik replies please

Right im gonna go back over the border and ask a taxi driver to help me find somewhere, Im sure its gonna cost me a lot but cheaer than the bus back to medellin right now.

sirwhale comments on Good place to stau in cucuta? quik replies please

I´m trying to wait for a reply from the Uni, they should be sending the letter from airport to airport, at least thats what the consulte requested. I´m considering staying in San antonio at the minute. What ever is cheapest. If i went back to cucuta, would i have to bother with the stamps? i see hundreds of people just crossing the border. Instead of doing them again now, again on monday morning and again to go back to colombia, i could just do it once everything is done.... bad idea?

sirwhale comments on Gotten mugged in Medellín

When i was in Chile I was going to sell it, as i was sure it was gonna get robbed anyway. I never got round to. Luckily I have travel insurance, we´ll see what comes of it. Thanks for all the replies, I wish I´d known more about the area before going. It was actually some Colombians that sent me down there to find some cheap sheets for my bed... turned out abit more expensive. They didn´t say anything about the area but afterwards when i told my story I was given a lot of advice about moving quickly etc etc. Ifs and buts but lessons learnt. BTW, I refuse to carry knife.

sirwhale comments on

Alright man, what is CAI?

sirwhale comments on Gotten mugged in Medellín

I left quickly because I´ve been here about a month. I´m not sure what happens in these cases. The rest of his gang had gone down the road, the single police officer walked off with the one that grabbed me. The group of people were very serious about me getting out of that area, and as a sensible person I listened to the people that live there. I´m not actually sure what i would have done there anyway????? Just stood there?

sirwhale comments on Gotten mugged in Medellín

I was near plaza botero, actually heading that way to get a map from the tousit info there. Just one road away where all the compraventas are. I was walking down and had earphones that lead into my pocket when some guy grabbed me from behind and there was a slight struggle. I was shocked for a second before realising what happened, i checked my pockets and they had got my phone but not my wallet. I turned round and saw the guy simply walking off and the first thing that came into my head was to get him. I think it was probably a bad idea now but at the time it was just instincts. As i got close a couple of his mates appeared from what i could remember and squared up to me saying things like ´´que pasa?´´etc Thats when i realised it was probably time for me to leave, but luckily a policeman popped out of nowhere and asked what was up. I pointed at the guy (by this point the group were backing off) and told him he had robbed me (bad idea??) he got the lad but he´d already passed the phone to a mate. A large group of witnesses had gathered around us by this point but were too scared to back me up. The policemen simply took the lad off in one direction but didn´t really say much to me, only what sort of phone it was. I looked around and the group of people basically told me to run. I looked at them for a second and they got really serious saying get out of here now before the rest come back for you... so I did just that. I got away quickly and got the map i wanted as its next to a police stand anyway, then just got the metro back to El Poblado and made sure no one was following me. The ting is i´m not sure what the protocol is in that situation... I asked another colombian and he said i did the right thing telling the police. I´m sure it could have been much worse. I wasn´t really shook up, just adrenaline really. Its something i always new could happen and there´s been a lot of people in the hostal i was in that have been held up with knives. I just wish i hadn´t been stupid with the headphones... ifs and buts. My insurance company is travel insurance.... Nomads... I´m gonna have a go at it, but you know what insurance companies are like. Does anyone know the road on which the police station is where i can go. Thanks for the help. By the way, it hasn´t knocked my confidence at all, i just liked my phone a lot. Ill be more careful next time.

sirwhale comments on Here is the big oportunity for all you guys who wants to teach english

I´ll be starting this program with EAFIT in a couple of weeks! Wish me luck.

sirwhale comments on Voluntary work in Health - MDE

Gracias Eli, estás llena de ayuda!

sirwhale comments on Where can i find rooms to rent in medellin

I like your judgement from my tiny profile picture :S I'm actually 23, and there's your reason why i want to live with young people. They main question of the post however, was where i could find people advertising rooms except for el colombiano.

sirwhale comments on Elicolombia

Hola Eli, anoche acepté el trabajo en EAFIT, parece una buena oportunidad. Ya no me siento tan solo, y estoy mirando al futuro y una vida en Medellín. Gracias Christian

sirwhale comments on How Many of you PBH'rs ARE LIVING IN MEDELLIN?

I shall be on my way back there tomorrow to set up camp.... just as soon as i recover from food poisoning

sirwhale comments on to work or not to work in Rionegro

They rang me today and explained the job, I´ll be working from 7 in the morning till 1. They´ll sort out free transport from Medellín so i can live there. I´d also be able to take free language classes. It seems like i´ll be well looked after so I´ve told them today that i´ll take the job. Thanks for your help and maybe I´l come back to Bogotá to teach in the future.

sirwhale comments on Are there any English teachers in Bogotá around?

Yea the work visa situation really sucks, in chile i worked for a year on a tourist visa at 3 different places. No problem. I'm going to print off my CV now and look to find the addresses of the Universities in La Candelaria. I really like the area and would love to live here, although I'm pretty sure I'll have to live somewhere more convinient due to the amount of travel I'm expecting to do. I like the idea of wall street if i don't have to travel around as it really affects your life. I mean i was fed up of it in Santiago which has a great public transport system. I'm going to look at all opportunities here. I've learnt my lesson in Chile, I'm not just gonna accept anything, now i have room for manouver and a bit more patiences. I got speaking to a costeño in a cafe yesterday and he said he wanted classes and his coleagues would as well, so I seem to be off to a good start. Lets hope i can find somewhere that´ll get me a visa...

sirwhale comments on Are there any English teachers in Bogotá around?

do you mean monthly wage would be 1,600,000?

sirwhale comments on to work or not to work in Rionegro

Yea douglas, that's what i was thinking. It'd be a different experience living in rionegro, i'd be much more involved with the culture, thats why I'm considering it. Plus i wouldn't be a slave to public transport like i would be in Bogotá where I am now. I´ve spent the day in el candelaria and i really like it. I do realise however that this is a tiny part of the city and as an english teacher i´d be all over the city travelling like i was in santiago, although here there´s no metro. Are there any other English teachers here? How much should i be aiming for pay wise, 20.000 an hour? today i got talking to a costeño and he said he wants private classes and some of his colleagues do to and took my email. How much should i be charging for private classes, 30.000-40.000 an hour? thats if i stay of course. But i have to say from what i´ve seen of bogotá i´ve liked it more than medellín. John thanks for the offer. I enjoyed the gold museum, very immpressive. Bogotá already seems to have a lot more culture than santiago. I´m in a hostal tonight and i want to do as much research as i can on the net so i can soon make a decision about my life. I lived in spain with cucuteños and one of their cousins is gonna let me stay at his house as of tomorrow to save abit of money. I might try menizales or might not, like i said i want to talk to some english teachers first. Thanks for all the help. Oh by the way douglas, do you think i´d mainly be teaching kids in rionegro? as i have no experience with kids....

sirwhale comments on miloandlo

Hi there, I´m currently going around Colombia looking for somewhere to start teaching English and I was thiking about Barranquilla. I´ve just been in Medellín and I´m now in Bogotá. What´s the job market like there? is it a cool city? I have the CELTA and a year´s experience in Chile. Thanks alot Christian

sirwhale comments on to work or not to work in Rionegro

They´re offering me 20,000 an hour with about 20 to25 hours a week. I thought it was an ok deal, the contract would be for 6 months and i dunno wether i´d want to live in rionegro or not. It´d be another experience. I´m now in Bogotá, just arrived to see what i think of it as i´ve had mixed reviews and i really want to go to the gold museum. I´m also intreaged about Menizales as i´ve heard of people teaching there and that it´s nice. I´ve written a 2 page personal statmente and now they want a phone interview so we´ll see what happens.

sirwhale comments on to work or not to work in Rionegro

I'm in the Black Sheep Hostel, which is full of gringos so my loneliness levels have dropped. Although I'm still thinking a lot about my Chilean polola and not sure I made the right decision to leave... for the 1st time in my life I really don't know what to do next. I haven't been round with CVs yet as I wanted to chill out and take things one thing at a time. I just sent my CV to that university after someone said about it on my first post. I had to do a test and a two page report during friday night! I still have a return flight to Chile in July, which i wasn't originally planning on taking but it now gives me options. I'm thinking now that I could deposit all my belongings in a hostel and just take off around Colombia with my backpack before going back.... I have no idea.... maybe I'll head to Buenos Aires..... I'm going to go to rionegro today to see what i think of it and if enough is going on for young people for one to survive there 6 months. Thanks for the help anyway

sirwhale comments on Elicolombia

Gracias por la ayuda! empezaré a buscar trabajo mañana - en cuanto tenga trabajo, tendré amigos. Bueno eso espero. Solo que tenía una chica en chile, y vivimos juntos además. Así que ahora estoy solo y es muy fácil mirar atras.

sirwhale comments on Finally in Medellín, but feeling lonely

I´m looking up all the schools now in the yellow pages, there seems to be millions for a small city. Google maps isn´t giving me much confidence either.

sirwhale comments on Finally in Medellín, but feeling lonely

Thanks for the help guys, especially Eli. My girlfriend was Chilean so my spanish is good, although im having to get used to this new accent. Leaving a loved one behind is difficult, especially when you´re far from friends and family. Oh and yea i´d say the majority of Chilenas aren´t the best, but there are some stunners, and thats including my ´´polola´´ ;)

sirwhale comments on Flight from Santiago to Bogota

I just flew from Santiago to Medellín with Copa and it cost me 330 pesos chilenos through a travel agency. That was the cheapest i could find. I´d imagine with the larger traffic to and from bogotá and santiago that it´ll be cheaper on that route.

sirwhale comments on Who exactly is a Gringo in Colombia?

Sounds pretty much like Chile then, but they do like us here. johnny2008 Ohiggin's parents were techinically British, seeing as Ireland was part of the United Kingdom back then. In Valparaíso there is even an Arch donated by the ´´Colonia Británica´´ and O higgin´s face appears on it. Its also true that they like the brits here, the music, especially that of Manchester from the late 80s and early 90s is popular. Plus it goes hand in hand with the Anti-American movement (although Chile is pretty fucking right wing) that is slowly but surely bringing British English back in fashion down here. When i lived in Andalucia I had it much worse than here, they generally don´t like us Brits in Spain, not surprising with all the idiots who live there and don´t speak Spanish...

sirwhale comments on

is that a lot of money for rent? I'm moving to medelling next wednesday from Chile. Being an English teacher here i already live a modest life, so ill be looking for the same over there.

sirwhale comments on marlydog1812

alright mate, i read that you're off to colombia for a year. where abouts are you off to? I've been in chile for a year and im off to medellin to teach english next wednesday! slightly nervous and excited. Coming to chile wasn't so different, i don't feel unsafe here and the culture trys hard to be western/american/european, i recognise that colombia is gonna be a big change. Christian christiano282 at hotmail.com

sirwhale comments on dtbrooklyn

Hi I saw your post on living costs in Medellin and I´ve now seen that you´re teaching English there. I´m going to be arriving on the 3rd of June and was wondering if you could give me any tips on where to look for work within the city. I´ll be coming with only 2.5million pesos colombianos and so i´ll be quite desperate to find work. I´ve got a year´s experience here in Chile and i have the CELTA plus a diploma in spanish, i just hope there is work out there and that my timing is good. Cheers Christian

sirwhale comments on Papasotee

Alright mate Thanks for the post. I get the feeling a lot of the people here like to waste their money. I´ve been living in Chile for a year and living off what i´d say is the equivalent relative to the costs of living. No i don´t have money to go out to restaurants at night nor go out boozing much, but we drink cheap stuff in house. Just like the student life style. I´m pretty sure ill manage on 1.4 million a month easy. I´m going to be going there with about 2.5 million only to find a job teaching english. This is what most concerns me but tis an adventure. Ill be in Medellin by 3rd of June. When are you going? and what will you be doing? Christian