tropicalshirt has left 309 comments

tropicalshirt comments on Fat People might want to avoid Peru

It wasn't you PCL in Tolu was it? JAJAJAJAJA!!!

tropicalshirt comments on Fat People might want to avoid Peru

Not true. People from cold countries are fokked! Joking, seriously your not right about this. I swear with my life that was not the reason (overdramitics intended) Not smiling when your with your novia, her family and having the timeof your life? Some people just cannot smile whether they are in the UK/USA or abroad. Where they are does not change them. People in Brazil know people from England for being "cold". This is what they say when you ask them about English people. Whether most are cold or not I don't know, but I think most gringos are so uptight, smile so infrequently and are so emotionally inward looking that smiling does not come easily. If you think this is'nt true I hope you don't consider it offensive. Maybe they find it hard to enjoy themselves? LOL What I see is people with great luck, so much and being treated so well and still looking like they're pissed off. Have you not noticed how people have different smiles in Colombia??? Of course they are going to smile while they try to rip you off as well(and like cold English people, not always going to rip you off) but what a nice smile! Emotion PCL, for my friends everything, for my enemies the law!

tropicalshirt comments on Fat People might want to avoid Peru

I don't know PCL, fat gringos aren't too bad. Most of them smile at least. I hate the gringos who can't smile. They just can't smile naturally. I'm not making this up. They just can't manage a natural looking smile. Fok, some of them just never smile. I remember seeing this gringo in Tolu draw up in a car with a novia and her family. This fokker could not smile. Everyone with him was smiling, his novia, the family, but not sad fok face. Too many gringos like this. How come they never get melted down for face cream?

tropicalshirt comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

Any football fan will know this happens all the time, sometimes without such a direct result to the match but the game is full of trying to get an advantage, fair or foul. When it happens for you, well it happens...? When its against you... hijo de puta!!! What Henry did was only different beacuse of the importance of the match. Sure you can blame him but not that much. I don't think the French care one bit. If they care so much they would replay the match. They don't care a bit. Shame they never went out though.

tropicalshirt comments on Dar(n) PBH is a Yawn the last few days

This forum used to represent a country of sicarios, scopolamine druggings, gringo suckers, guerillas, paracos, knicker thieves, fancy scams, beautiful women, lost women, coca and drug lords. Now we get Snyder's Pretzels! http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/post/snyders-pretzels-in-colombia/ "Yes, I was suprised to see a variety of Snyder's Pretzels - the traditionals, sticks and the little nugguts in a variety of flavors at my local Olimpica. Of course they were between 10,500 and 12,500 depending on which item." Thank you larry for the information and please do not consider me offensive. Its obvious Colombia has changed somewhat? But how? Only in the cities...

tropicalshirt comments on Fat People might want to avoid Peru

Sounds like misinformation, something sensational to put in the news rather than a problem at home. "Police dubbed the gang the "Pishtacos" after a Peruvian myth dating to pre-Columbian times of men who killed to extract human fat, quartering their victims with machetes." Those police have a way with words. International ring, think it was a couple of Italians. Anyhow, where can I get some of those extra large candles?

tropicalshirt comments on Rio or Colombia?

"So much for Brazil being a paradise of equality of the sexes!!!!" I never said that or implied that. Compare a best of brasil/music of to a best of Colombia/music of CD. Tchauzinho

tropicalshirt comments on Rio or Colombia?

La Huella, If you compare Brazilian music to Colombian or Spanish speaking South America, I've noticed that Brazilian music has a far bigger mix of females as lead singers in all the main music genres: bossa nova, MPB, samba, forro etc. It seems to me like 50/50. Famous Brazilian female singers/musicians are just as likely to be female as male: Ellis Regina, Gal Costa, Bebel Gilberto, Fernando Porto, Joyce, Marisa Monte, Maria Rita, Rosalia de Souza, Maria Bethania, etc When I hear salsa, vallenato, cumbia etc, the main singer is more often, in comparison, a male. I like Colombian music. But the only female singer I know off hand is Toto la Momposina. I'm more likely to know who is Miss Colombia. El salsero is a he. Does this represent a culture where females are more involved? My experience of brasil is far greater than Colombia but I have been to all of latin america and IMHO I think it does. There are huge problems of female stereotypes and violence towards women in brasil, but compared to the rest of latin america it is more open. It was a struggle for the Brazilian female football team to get to level of recognition they have but they got accepted, just like all the female singers and across many fronts the status of women is improving. Machoismo is far less in brasil. I've never experienced machismo living in brasil. I've experienced it travelling throughout Spanish Latin America, it is a well known part of the culture. Ask about it in brasil, its different. I agree that there are similarities, but they are very different countries. OK, the end. And whilst there are not necsessarily better looking women than say Venezuela, there are more generally good looking women in Brazil than any other country. Why? Beacuse there are more mixed race people and they are usually better looking. I think so!

tropicalshirt comments on Rio or Colombia?

Rocco81, Yes, been all over the south, from small places on the border with the Parana to Porto Alegre. Blumenau is the town most famous for German descendants. In Curitiba you've got several museums representing the immigration of indivisual groups, i.e. German, Ukrainian, Polish, Japanese etc. The strange thing is, that 100 years later, the only thing I found actually surviving from most of these different groups and cultures in Curitibia were cakes. The rest had gone. Brazilian culture is very strong. Where ever you go in the country people will tell you Brazilians eat this, do this at 5:00PM, that this is the best of that, etc. One of the reasons for this has been the impact and importance given to television in Brazil to get this message, and others, across a vast country where print media has never had a huge impact. The Brazilian government provided subsidised tv sets and satellite tv to towns and villages for free. Today you can go to small towns and villages and see large tv sets set up in the middle of town for all to view.

tropicalshirt comments on How do you call the letter V

What a Uvaca!

tropicalshirt comments on Rio or Colombia?

Compared to Colombia Brazil is much, much bigger. It is also far less involved with the USA. These things have made Brazilians look inwards rather than outwards. They have a huge internal market and most live miles from any foreign country (Those on the north east coast are closer to Senegal and the African coast than the land border with Bolivia or Peru). Getting a visa to live in Brazil, or a work visa in particular, is very difficult compared to Colombia. Brazil is a huge country with a fastly growing population larger than the rest of Spanish speaking South America. But it is still one of the Worlds least densly populated countries due to the size and the Amazon. The amazing resources within this country are starting to make themeslves evident from the booming economy to the abundance of food. You cannot compare food in Brazil to Colombia. The food in Brazil comes in portions that makes Colombian food look like baby sized. Most hotesl in Brazil offer breakfast, even at the cheapest level. They often have so much food available it is mind boggling. Look at the current Brazilian football team. They are getting bigger. This is happening all over the country as the resources are opened up. The food is also far better quality. Brazilians are more laid back than other Spanish speaking South American countries and Colombia. You could compare them to Colombian costenos more easily, but they are still more laid back and less formal in clothing, mixing with and approaching people, and most of all telling you their life story, their views on anything and everything and all their problems. You take a bus for an hour or two and if their is someone sitting next to you this will happen again and again. Like the rest of Sul America this is often aqui e agora but it is more interesting. Finally, Brazil has had a very different history to most of Spanish speaking South America. Firstly, they had problems in the 60's ono. with a military dictatorship and the left but the scale of the problem was never equal to the problems in Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina or Chile. Secondly, the Portuguese developed a policy of mixing with the local population (i.e. having lots of babies with locals) to gain control, together with the largest number of slaves taken from Africa of any country, and the huge immigrations of people from as far as wide as Japan and Ukraine, has created a culture and country that has huge problems, but is perhaps the most mixed racial and open countries in the World.

tropicalshirt comments on Rio or Colombia?

Turnmeon, The three biggest tourist attractions in Brazil are Rio, Salvador and Foz de Iguacu. Salvador is a big interesting city but too much tourism can make it difficult. I would suggest spreading out and tourists or otherwise visiting other places: Recife is my favourite, Joao Pesso, Natal, Fortaleza, Sao Luis and Belem are all good. There are great places to visit from all of these cities. Try Sao Luis, a city of just over 1 million people with a famous bumba meu boi festival. It has unique food, a World heritage centre and you are in the fascinating transition zone between the north east and amazonica. From this city onwards all the best Amazon frutas are available (babacu) and boat travel is available to some close (Alcantara) or really remote and interesting destinations (cururupu, turiacu etc).

tropicalshirt comments on Cucuta and in to Venezeula...

Cucuta is not so bad, lots going on nearby but the city itself is very green and OK. Make sure you know the black market dollar rate in Venezuela. Currently 5.3 bolivares to buy. They will offer you much less and then less. Have a rate that you want.

tropicalshirt comments on Bogota vs Buenos Aires

Of course the food is good. But I don't see it as a multicultural city whatsoever. Come on down to London, I got everyone from everywhere living next door.

tropicalshirt comments on Bogota vs Buenos Aires

La gente. Imagine a city of 13 million Italians...

tropicalshirt comments on Rio or Colombia?

Bickerss, Salvador, Rio same thing. Have a look at: http://www.cearaexplorer.com.br/ and: http://www.pbase.com/alexuchoa/ceara Ceara is known as terra de luz. Lots of sun. The carne de sol comes brick size. Here the coast turns from north / south to east / west and the sand piles up into huge dunes, hundreds of feet high. The beaches are very different from Pernambuco or Alagaos. There are great beaches north and south of Fortaleza. The most famous is Jericoacoara but there are many more I would suggest if you are not seeking a party. You can get to all these places by bus. There are hundreds. Sometimes there is just one bus a day or less, and that bus takes 8 hours or more to bump its way there, but you can visit some relatively amazingly remote beaches like Almofala, populated by the Tremembe people, where you will be the only tourist for sure. Or you can visit hundreds of miles of beaches and still have them to youself. Get the footprint guide to Brazil for starters. Icarai de Amontada is good, or Lagoinha more closer or... Make sure you go inland too. Monsenhor Tabosa is the highest point of Ceara. Its on the website above and off the beaten track for sure. Fortaleza airport has the best food in any airport, sopa de canja and agua de coco. Has it changed? Fala portugues e danca forro!

tropicalshirt comments on Rio or Colombia?

As bickers says, Brazil is expensive compared to South American countries due to the booming economy and investment flooding in. Over the past several years the currency has move from 6 reais to 1 pound (2003), to currently 2.8 reais to 1 pound. Brazil has really taken off as a World economy, but it is the super rich who have got even more super rich. The difference between Rio and the northeast is hard to exaggerate. If you visit Rio at the airport you are probably likely to be tagetted for a scam on the bus or taxi. I was visiting Fortaleza a few years back and two locals paid for my bus at the airport when I asked which bus went to centro. That is the northeast and Fortaleza is a city of 2 million people. International tourism has been slow to take off. More tourists used to visit nearby Argentina than Brazil due to safety fears and impressions of poverty and the lack of infrastructure. In such a big country it will always be difficult for tourism to cover and it is has been the biggest pleasure in my life to be in north east brasil. I guess it will change but very slowly. The culture of the littoral and sertaoes are still very strong.

tropicalshirt comments on Rio or Colombia?

Rio or Brazil turnmeon? Tell me and I am pleased to help. Rio has the location of perhaps the most beautiful city in the World and the locals (cariocas) are the most obsessed party people you will come across in the World. Food is very, very good: everything and everywhere. Compared to Cartagena it is much, much faster. Downtown, along Avenida Rio Branco it is more like New York: skyscrapers, office workers, shops, very, very packed. Rio is divided into two zones, zona sul and zona norte. Zona sul is richer, zona norte is where most will not likely go. IMO Brazil is the best country in the World, but not Rio. Go northeast to Alagoas, Pernambuco, Rio Grande de Norte, Ceara, Piaui, Maranhao and Para. The real brasil! This splits Brazilians I know. Some agree totally, but some say that that brasil is only one view that is viewed by foreigners as being "exotic". Just one state I mentioned, Maranhao is the size of Italy, Bahia is the size of France etc, so I am not talking about a small area and I don't think it is the best for any exotic qualities. The best thing is the nordestinos, the people of the northeast.

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

“And one by one the nights between our separated cities are joined to the night that unites us.” Pablo Neruda Chao guapa before they throw me out!

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

Mi dios! Soy estrato un e bonito. Que mas necesita? jajajajaja!!!

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

Con mucho gusto. Si fuerras el diablo, me gustaria ser portero de los infierno porque sabes que es lo mss bonito de mis ojos? El reflejo de los tuyos.

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

Gracias! Madre mia! I will actually be there in January. Watch out for possibly the most tasteful tropical shirt Santa Marta has ever seen! Maybe not that difficult...

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

jajajaja! Well I did get called that in La Puerta, Santa Marta. But be careful... she wasn't my type, you are, and I'm a Colombian visa hunter!

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

Your welcome. Probably the best group to start with is intermediate. Beginners and advanced classes often require a bit of experience to be successful. Importantly, as a beginning English Teacher be prepared for the need to study grammar points intensively before you teach them. You have to be an expert on what you are teaching. As no English speaker knows the present perfect etc it means you study it before you teach it and also spend the time needed for lesson planning = very time intensive but the only way.

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

Thanks guapa ;-) Depending on the words you need to teach, pictures and photos of famous things/people are very useful and you can give students a picture/photo they have to do a presentation of to their partner, or the class. With vocabulary I am sure you are teaching meaning, pronunication, type of speech etc, and if you are doing this how you structure the lesson is down to you. Put your charcater into your teaching style and I am sure you will be successful.

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

Fernando, You can teach absolute beginners with no knowledge of their native language at all. Using everyday objects and props with gestures you can teach words and phrases and get people speaking English in the first lesson. Drilling (getting the students to repeat the phrase with modelling from you) is very important at this stage, but do not focus too much on accuracy just get them using the language. For higher levels, eliciting, as span suggests, is important as are concept check questions: asking questions using language more basic than the target language to check understanding. I suggest reading some books if you wish. For starters: Teaching English as a Foreign Language (Teach Yourself Series) (Paperback) by David Riddell http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaching-English-Foreign-Language-Yourself/dp/0340868562/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258224961&sr=1-4 The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th Edition) (With DVD) (Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers) (Paperback) by Jeremy Harmer http://www.amazon.co.uk/Practice-Language-Teaching-Handbooks-Teachers/dp/1405853115/ref=pd_sim_b_4

tropicalshirt comments on How do you teach English if you don't speak Spanish?

onthemoon, I don't know what your doing but it may be an idea to make your own lessons on the specific language points you are trying to teach. What do I mean? Well, S A R S is an acronym in the TEFL world for using English coursebooks standing for select, adapt, reject and supplement. So look what activities are interesting and what will get the students talking and reject the others. I always made my own activities and got people talking by using the interests of the students and contemporary and interesting situations and discussions. You can adapt this wherever you are. In Colombia get the brats (sorry students!) up at the start of the lesson and have a list of words that you think will interest them / get them talking and get them to choose sides and choose a side and then argue against each other, e.g. Money / Friends, Venezuela / USA, Internet / mobile phones, Gringos / Ecuadorians, etc etc. Be creative in all stages of your lesson and use their interests and contemporary issues in whatever town you are, to get them talking (if they are 10 years old, the goings on of the local mayor may not be possible). Use more pair work, group work etc. Split the class in two and get them to be competitive. Have prizes. The only thing better than competitve activities is students talking about themselves and their opinions, they love that above all. Work the class as a whole. For example in teaching family vocabulary, get them up and tell them a situation and they all have to take a role in a family for a family photograph, this approach means nobody is left out. Use as many different types of activities as you can to achieve the learning aim of the lesson, e.g. roleplays, discussions, games, listening activities, jigsaw activities (giving two groups different sets of information so they have to get information from the other group etc). Make posters showing different situations and put them up around the room so students have to decide what they would do in that situation, e.g. this works good in teaching ways of being polite or firm. There are many other ways, try music, just get them to choose there favourite and how it makes them feel. Always elicit as much as you can. Get them up to write on the board. Be open, outgoing and make the students talk and learning the most important aim.

tropicalshirt comments on Time to put Colombia high on the list, Beautiful People

Seriously PCL, I was in Helsinki this year and it was a strange place... The only thing going on were boats to Tallinn.

tropicalshirt comments on Time to put Colombia high on the list, Beautiful People

PCL, Its Finns not Fins!!! And here is a photo of a couple of the beauties!

tropicalshirt comments on Time to put Colombia high on the list, Beautiful People

By Haddeman on 2009-11-12 04:04:51: "Swedes are also the top of the most boring people in the world,most have the personality of a large pine tree." LOL A lot of people seem to like that kind of personality in MANY countries of the World! There is no accounting for taste.

tropicalshirt comments on Three Restaurant Recommendations in Medellin

John, Thanks for the tips. The "trucha a la plancha" always tastes good in Colombia hey. I had the best one from a restaurant near Pitalito for 7,000 pesos. It was from the stream in the backgarden with a no fishing sign.

tropicalshirt comments on Time to put Colombia high on the list, Beautiful People

Kat wrote: on 2009-11-12 01:31:22: "I think IMO, Blondes girls then I will go for the nordic girls they are stunning Brunettes I wil go for Latinas, specially Venezuela and Colombia. " Kat, try Russian girls if you must consider blondes! Far better due to the influence of races to the east.

tropicalshirt comments on Time to put Colombia high on the list, Beautiful People

Hola Kat! I've spent a bit of time on this... I have to say Venezuelan women are better looking than most Colombianas. More sol, different influences? Who knows. But you see, Colombia gets far more tourists than Venezuela. I do not wish to go to Venezuela again, I prefer Colombia by far. What have you got to say about the "ugly" British??? jajajajajaja!

tropicalshirt comments on Lula criticizes Colombia

Thanks for the article. I think Lula has the best intentions for Latin America, though of course Brazil is the superpower of the region and a growing one of that, and they have the strongest geopolitical power in the region. Lula came from an extremely poor background and made it to the top job in Brazil with a will to change wealth distribution and the economy in Brazil. Not so easy, but he has made a difference, and he is not seeking to change the constitution to continue as President, as many Latin American leaders are but is stepping down. It will be interesting to see how the next in charge flex the geopolitcal power of Brazil and how our opinions of Brazil change. When the Castros leave Cuba it will be Brazil, not the US, investing most in industry there, Brazil recently introduced a 2% tax on all foreign investment due to its concern over its strong currency due to the huge amount of money flowing into Brazil for several years (it has had little effect), next year it is set to take over the economies of Italy, France and Britian and in 17 years it is forecast to be the 5th largest economy in the World http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8345071.stm The actual headline of the artcile is Obama has forgotten about Latinamerica, claims Lula da Silva.

tropicalshirt comments on Colombians and arroz blanco.

By roccatanski on 2009-11-09 09:23:46: "I never really got the whole plain white rice thing either,I asked for butter once for the rice and it was big production and finally they said they have no butter,a restaurant with no butter I thought that was strange." Then you should of asked for butter for your potatoes. That would of worked ;-)

tropicalshirt comments on Colombians and arroz blanco.

Have a sancocho de galinha: potatoes, sweet potatoes, yucca and plantain. No rice! Then again, I have always had it served with a plate of... rice!

tropicalshirt comments on span_colombia

You need any help, just shout!

tropicalshirt comments on span_colombia

Good luck with the Portuguese learning. Vai nordeste!!!

tropicalshirt comments on kat1

Buenas, London. Just where I work there are Colombians, Ecuadorians, Brazilians, even the occasional Venezuelan. Mostly cleaners, some as electricians etc. Cheap labour. The Ecuadorians all got British citizenship. None of the Colombians I know want to go back, except for Christmas. In their opinion they want to make money they can't get in Colombia and get onto a better job in the future.

tropicalshirt comments on What Do You Hate About Colombia?

I hate how the best dancers I have seen in the World are not recognized outside of the Cali Salsa festival. You see the garotas do the Samba in Brazil or the homens do the Caopoeira like a dance, and the Cubans do salsa tradional, but you do not see tricks like these calenos do anywhere else...

tropicalshirt comments on kat1

Apologies Kat, I know they are not desperate. I just was aluding to and agreeing with what you said about gringos and colombianos preferring. They are certainly lucky compared to the ugly British. Woops!

tropicalshirt comments on What Do You Hate About Colombia?

Seriously, when travelling between cities I hate to see how people live on the smallest edges of land on these mountain roads imaginable. The worst shanty towns in Brazil are sometimes no more than bin bags and sticks and worse than anything else I have seen, but I've never seen people living on tiny plots of land on top of huge precipes as I did all along major roads in Colombia. Same problem of land ownership and in Colombia the displaced.

tropicalshirt comments on What Do You Hate About Colombia?

I hate the roads too! up, up, up, up, up, up.... down, down, down, down, down, down.... (repeat 100 times) La costa is much better, flat!

tropicalshirt comments on What Do You Hate About Colombia?

Shopping centres! I hate 'em! How the fok can you go out to a shopping centre??? I went to one in Cali with about 1000 security guards. They all ended up following me! JAJAJAJA!!! One button holed me and said are you waiting? I told him to fok off!

tropicalshirt comments on kat1

Kat, thanks for accepting me as a friend. I am at your service, my house is your house! Now... what about that list of 30 and 40 year old "desperate" women you posted about knowing in Bogota??? JAJAJAJA!!! What a memory hey!

tropicalshirt comments on Funny/Ignore button - and hopefully a little bit more...

What? Huskies post was just edited from the large cut and paste of the OP???

tropicalshirt comments on Buses Medellin -Peru

Iquitos is still only a boat/plane destination. Nearest bus/truck is at Yurimaguas (3 days boat), or up the Ucayali to Pucallpa.

tropicalshirt comments on Funny/Ignore button - and hopefully a little bit more...

Fok it! I just wanted to get in this post before it gets to 250 posts and you can never read it! Darloup, you got to take the good with the bad in La Colombia!

tropicalshirt comments on Funny/Ignore button - and hopefully a little bit more...

"PBH main problem, IMAO, is that it is split between a genuine informative forum and a social forum." But Darloup, that is the main strength of PBH as well. I don't know the people on here for fok but I can tell that the humour and style of this forum is far better than any over dry informative only forum that does not capture the character of a country. You make a lot of criticisms in this post and if you feel they deserved thats fine. But this post is a huge, long rant at people. I agree with you that winning the argument does not matter. Its only the fokking internet. So maybe don't bother yourself with winning the argument?

tropicalshirt comments on Launch Party for English Magazine, The Arepa. Issue #5

Thanks arepa for a great magazine.