sylvester has left 20 comments

sylvester comments on How much money does a Colombian have to have on her to enter Panama

With regards to a Colombian travelling to Aruba, they DO require a visa. According to Visa and Passport information supplied by Delta Airlines: ".....Visa required, except for Nationals of Colombia holding a used but still valid visa for Canada, U.S.A. or Schengen Area....." That being said, I do not believe it is difficult for Colombians to get visas for Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St Martin. Lots of Colombian chicas working in those locations. Colombians can travel to Cuba without Visa, only a Tourist card is required.

sylvester comments on How ARE blacks treated in Colombia (Cartagena to be exact)

CDXXFRIEND, The bottom line is that your experience in CTG should be more positive than negative. Sure racism/discrimination exists, but you are NOT likely to receive anything remotely similar to a KKK reception. You mentioned Atlanta. I have driven from Toronto Canada to Atlanta a few times. Tennessee has a much more overt racist vibe than I ever experienced anywhere Colombia. Not even close. Keep in mind I only exited the I-75 for gas in Tennessee. Couldnt get out of there fast enough. Are you military ? I think you are. Dont stress the racism thing, just go and enjoy yourself. I would recommend renting an apartment as opposed to staying in a hotel. If you need help with that, I can put you in contact with my agent in CTG. By the way, is Magic City still open in Hotlanta ?

sylvester comments on How ARE blacks treated in Colombia (Cartagena to be exact)

CDXXFRIEND, No need to be overly concerned about how you will be received in CTG. I am black and have made several trips to CTG. Only issue I ever encounted was being refused entry into MR BABILLA. I went to several other clubs without issue.

sylvester comments on First trip to Cartagena

Tony the tout eats newbie gringos like you for breakfast ! For sure he will be asking you to buy him some beers, and for sure he will grossy overcharge you. Keep a close count on the number of beers and ask the price before hand. You will also find yourself paying for taxi fares for whatever chica he calls for you. Here again you will be over charged. He will also extract a gringo finders fee from the chica for services rendered. I have seen him in action, quit funny to watch. As for the Decameron, expect some long waits for the elevator, better to get a room not too high up in case you decide to walk up to your room. Its a fair walk from the Decameron to Tony's area of the beach with is directly across from the Caribe Hotel. Just a minute or two by taxi. If you do decide to walk, watch out for the touts following you and trying to sell you worthless trinkets or badly recorded cd's. Best to put on some sunglasses and plug in some earphone and ignore them. They get very persistant. LDV (la dolce vita) is a sure score. Just wave over any chica you like. Be prepared for inflated pricing. Without spanish language skills, you will pay more. Enjoy the trip :)

sylvester comments on New Years in Barranquilla

Im familiar with LDV in Cartagena, is there one in B'quilla as well ?

sylvester comments on Nice guy and Colombian Girls

From what you described above, you will be an easy mark. You will be the next walking ATM machine. You will become very familiar with Western Union as you will receive never ending requests for money for one crisis or another.

sylvester comments on Bringing me amor to Canada

Chriscan, if you could provide more details the forum would be better prepared to advise you of your best options. Things like where you met her, how long you have know her, her level of english, your level of spanish would be a good start. From what you have described above, the chances of obtaining a visa are not good. Have a look at the following website for information regarding immigration to Canada. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp Considering her lack of education and employment history, the chances of a skilled worker visa are less than slim and none. Depending on the amount of time you have spent with her, there is no guarantee a spousal visa would be granted if you do in fact marry the girl. If your situation resembles a marriage of convenience, red flags will go off and your application will have a high likelihood of denial. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will ask for documented proof to support whatever time frame you claim to have known the girl. They will ask for things like emails, letters, and phone records. If you try for a visitors or student visa, CIC will check to see if she has the financial resources to support it in the form of bank statements. Making a lump sum deposit in her bank account wont help either. CIC will check her banking history. Further, if the hear the word boyfriend or surmise there is a boyfriend in the picture CIC will deny her entry. CIC will need to see something to indicate that she wouldnt overstay a visa. If she doesnt own real estate/have a proper job to return to/have thousands of dollars in the bank, you can pretty much rule out a temporary resident visa. Whatever route you take, good luck. Just as an FYI to others, Canada does NOT have a "Fiance Visa."

sylvester comments on My First Colombian Experience in Bogota, Cucuta, and Villa Del Rosario

Poors girl from Colombia in St Martin There are many Colombian girls employed as sex workers in places like St Martin and Aruba. Fairly easy for them to obtain temporary work visas for these locations. They learn english by spending a lot of time with tourist men.

sylvester comments on getting prints from digital in Bogotá

Do yourself a favor and buy a portable digital printer back in your home country when you get a chance. Once you have one, you will wonder why you didnt get one sooner. Canon makes some nice ones.

sylvester comments on Border crossing Columbia-Panama

So you say you are fluent in spanish, have a lot of south american travel experience, and even spent a year in Medellin. So how come you can't spell Colombia correctly ?

sylvester comments on Colombians - The most educated hispanics in the US

Report is flawed I have to take issue with the report mentioned by the OP. Those numbers are suspect. The literacy rate of all the mentioned countrys do not co-relate to the ranking as stated in the report.

That report ranks the Dominican Republic higher than Mexico, Panama, and Belize. I find that quite interesting considering the DR literacy rate is well below Mexico, Panama, and Belize (as reported by the world factbook).

DR- 84.6%
Mex- 92.2%
Pan- 92.6%
Bel- 94.1%

What I find completely absurd is the report ranking DR over Costa Rica. Costa Rica has a 96% literacy rate which is higher than Colombia's 92.5%. Cuba is at the top of the scale with a 97% literacy rate.

With repect to Dominicans, the report is way off base.

sylvester comments on My first trip to Columbia...

Spelling, or lack there of.......... Im with Colombiche on this one. Im Canadian, I live in toronto, and I can spell COLOMBIA and CARTAGENA correctly. Just like fingernails being scraped across a chalkboard, the wrong spelling just bugs me. I dont know why, but it does.

sylvester comments on visas

Immigration Marriage notwithstanding, there will be nothing quick about going through the Family Class sponsorship process with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Bottom line, they will want to make sure your relationship is real and not a marriage of convenience. You will have to supply a lot of documentation to support your application for a spousal visa. They will not take your word for it.

As you have already failed with the TRV, you can expect some extra scrutiny of the validity of your relationship. Relationships of less than a year may garner further skepticism from CIC.

Depending on your particular circumstances you can expect to wait up to and over a year for your bride to finally get to Canada.

Good Luck.

sylvester comments on

Regardless of whether the wife is allergic or not, she does not share your affinity for sleeping with fur bearing animals. Why should she be subjected to spending the night with your cat ?

sylvester comments on Direct Flights from Canada?

Visit the Air Canada website for direct flights from Toronto to Bogota.

sylvester comments on How do I get a Colombian Divorce?

They are laughing at you.... It is obvious that your wife and her family had an agenda to separate you from your money for their gain. Whoever recommended your wife to you did not have your best interests at heart.

You are not the first, and wont be the last gringo to find himself in similar situations. There are many stories much worse than yours. I know of one who lost his canadian home to his dominican wife. Long story short, he met her in the Dom Rep, promptly married her, imported her and her daughter to Canada. The honeymoon was short lived and her true intentions came out.

You should examine the risks of abandoning her versus legally divorcing her. If the risks of tolerable, dont waste and dollar on her. Simply cut her off.

sylvester comments on Apartments in Cartagena

You may want to consider renting a hotel room for a few days, then hunt down an apartment once you are there. It shouldnt be too difficult as it seems everybody knows somebody renting something. Just ask around.

sylvester comments on cellphones in colombia

With regards to the cell phone, I wouldnt bother importing any phone. Better to buy one down there. You can get one for cheap. I bought one thru comcel for $45USD.

If you do buy a phone in Colombia, most stores require you to supply a picture of yourself. I brought an extra passport type photo for that purpose.

sylvester comments on DISGUSTING MOMENT IN CARTAGENA, WATCH OUT!

Ah yes, those pain in the ass vendors who irritate you to no end. Im with morphus on this one, being nice just doesnt work. When the "no gracias" has no effect, I ignore them. If they are still following me, I have no other option than to resort to the "F--k Off."

As soon as you buy something from one of them, 10 more line up to sell you some crap. The vendors are rude too. When they think you dont understand spanish they insult you while smiling in your face. I have surprised more than one of these ignorant bastards.

I like to go for long walks and those pest are worse than mosquitos. Even the taxi drivers start harassing me offering their tour guide services.

These vendors take kindness for weakness to forget that.

sylvester comments on Cartagena Internet Access

I was in Cartagena in January and February of this year. All the internet cafes I used in Boca Grande and Laguito were high speed. I didnt encounter any dial up.