tropicalshirt has left 309 comments

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

ahhhhh!!! oooooo-lindaaaaaa!!!

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

Just 2,000 pesos? ?A lo bien. It states tonight is "Music from Brazil", at the Cultural Centre Moravia including frevo! Frevo is music from Pernambuco, particularly my favourite city in the World - Recife!!! I am already a wizz at dancing frevo (thank you!) but some of you will need lessons - here is a video to help your sorry asses (unless you dance salsa de cali and then I bow to you!) Your welcome!

tropicalshirt comments on cheap fares

pieman Via Spain there are no good deals at the moment. It changes often with Iberia or Avianca so keep a watch on the prices daily as they will change. Problem is often for the longer returns the same deals are not available. Yesterday the best fare I saw was £854, today its £847 with Iberia. Tomorrow, or later, or another time, it will be a different price. I have seen it go down to below £600 via Spain, then the next day be a much higher price. £614 gets you a return with BA via the US (19 Jan. - 21 July with opodo). But yes I too want to avoid those US customs who take your lulos...

tropicalshirt comments on Medellin - Furnished Room Rental in El Poblado

"SAVE MORE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT TRIP: TIP1 - Ask for the plate of the day (El Plato del Dia) AT LUNCH TIME, other wise you may get a basic menu which does not have the best prices. Plato del Dia has several variations of food in most restaruants. USUALLY only 6,500 - 8,000 pesos." I feel like I speak for everyone when I ask... when do we get TIP2? Something about grannies furniture???

tropicalshirt comments on Medellin - Furnished Room Rental in El Poblado

Sorry tips!

tropicalshirt comments on Medellin - Furnished Room Rental in El Poblado

"Our personal knowledge of Medellin hotspots favored by other gringos will help you get off to a faster and more pleasant time here in Medellin." Yes, we must thank you for the handy tits!

tropicalshirt comments on Medellin - Furnished Room Rental in El Poblado

Its a little pricey, no???

tropicalshirt comments on Medellin - Furnished Room Rental in El Poblado

What a lot to read! I think the main points are: "MONTHLY ROOM RENTAL RATE... 1.350.000 PESOS" "You can come to Medellin and spend money like crazy, or make a few good choices and conserve your money." Thank you.

tropicalshirt comments on Curious about what I witnessed last night...

Kenzie Good for you. People look out for themselves all over. This may be in the UK or in one of the poorer countries. I'm glad you made a difference. I've done this myself before, but you have to keep your wits about you at the same time and make the judgement that you feel is right at the time... A few years ago I bought a ticket for a night train from Bayamo to Havanna, Cuba. The train was late so I went over to talk to the staff. They said I had a ticket for the guagua! I said I bought a ticket for train at the train station. So the boss comes out and squares up to me and I square up to him. After these theatricals and the laughter of the locals, the crowd shouted let the comapnero on the train! Well, the train turns up and it is the oldest piece of shit you have ever seen. Parts of the train where from Germany, other parts from Mexico, some pre WW2, some pre WW1. Everyone makes a run for the train to get a seat. A poor lady in front of me falls between the train and the platform, but we manage to pull her up. I get a seat and a train employee comes through the carriage and tells me to watch my belongings, there are many thieves! There are no lights and water is pouring through the roof. The windows are broken and I look around at the carriage and see one man staring at me! Another train employee come through the car and lights up each carriage. Now you can see cockroaches all over the train and the rain is pouring therough the roof. The man on the other side of the carriage is straing at me! I start swearing in English and put up my hood. It is midnight and the train starts. The ride make a ghost rain feel like a Bentley. It is rocking and rolling lik a wild horse. It is so bad it makes you laugh. After 30 minutes we stop and more passengers get on. Three of them head for the man who has been staring at me and there is an argument, he is in there seats and they force him to get up. With littel resistance the man gets up. He has one leg!!! I can see now he is no harm at all, just a little knackered thats all. The train is bucking all over the place and he is standing there on one leg! No one gets up, no one offers assistance. I can't live with myself, I have to get up and give him my seat. I have to. I'll give it five minutes...

tropicalshirt comments on Curious about what I witnessed last night...

"But fok the strangers is the way it is everywhere in Colombia, everywhere." Sounds like Italy! Do they have scolpamine? (sic!)

tropicalshirt comments on The Days Before the Gringo Invassion

Someone has been to everywhere and experienced everything already for a long time. You travel up the remote Rio Aracá... a tributary of the remote Rio Negro... a tributary of the mighty Amazon... and a fokin Frenchman floats down the river!

tropicalshirt comments on Best views of Medellin?

The best views are not always from the top. Take a walk to the market at Plaza Minorista Jose Maria Villa at cnr Carrera 57 & Calle 55, San Benito. There are great views from the footbridge directly outside.

tropicalshirt comments on Best views of Medellin?

Tienes mas curvas do que la carreta para Santa Elena!!! ahhhhh...

tropicalshirt comments on Learning PORTUGUESE from SPANISH background-- pitfalls? suggestions?

SHHEEEET!!! BRAZILS GROWING OVERNIGHT!

tropicalshirt comments on Learning PORTUGUESE from SPANISH background-- pitfalls? suggestions?

Current population of Brazil is given as 192 to 198 million. It is given as 198 million at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html Portuguese speaking South America: Brazil - 198 million Spanish speaking South America: Colombia - 45 million Argentina - 40 million Peru - 28 million Venezuela - 27 million Chile - 17 million Ecuador - 13 million Bolivia - 9 million Paraguay - 6 million (Guarani is also an offical language) Uruguay - 3 million Total = 188 million

tropicalshirt comments on Learning PORTUGUESE from SPANISH-- anybody done this?

listen to bossa nova and learn the words.

tropicalshirt comments on Learning PORTUGUESE from SPANISH background-- pitfalls? suggestions?

Span I've taught Brazilians ingles and they've got great pronunciation, better than my spelling of it for sure. More people speak Portuguese in South America than Spanish. Currently 191 million vs. 187 million. falamos portugues! Remember! Mas means but, which reminds me culo is bunda or bum bum, pronounced kind of like buuuuumm buuuuuumm. Nearly like English hey? JAJAJAJAJA!!!

tropicalshirt comments on Learning PORTUGUESE from SPANISH background-- pitfalls? suggestions?

Many words are of course the same. Some words just change b's to v's e.g. palabra - palavra No more mas, that means but. And some words are just totally different and others derive from Brazilian Indian words e.g. abacaxi is pineapple in Brazilian Portuguese.

tropicalshirt comments on Learning PORTUGUESE from SPANISH background-- pitfalls? suggestions?

I have very bad Spanish but very good Portuguese and I find Portuguese much easier for British English speakers as the pronounciation is generally much more closer than Spanish. JOse not HOse! I also found Portuguese speakers have much better English pronounciation than Spanish speakers. Jogar de bola muinto bem porque com futebol e musica do brasil aprendeu portugues muinto facil. Concentrate on the accent. Listen to this by Celso Fonseca, a Carioca. Very slow and smooth, you should already understand many words but listen for the linking words and repeat after him!

tropicalshirt comments on Learning PORTUGUESE from SPANISH background-- pitfalls? suggestions?

bom dia justonio e bemvindo para a lingua mais bonita no mundo!

tropicalshirt comments on Overweight, socially inept, badly dressed gringos

"you think so??? chittttt jajajajaja" There were many days when all I had was a battered sausage cut three ways with my brethen. You ever had 1/3 of a battered sausage???

tropicalshirt comments on Overweight, socially inept, badly dressed gringos

...a pair of mangos every day. Fokkin paradise!

tropicalshirt comments on Overweight, socially inept, badly dressed gringos

flatline, I know what you mean but there is a much worse thing in Colombian food: its the hydrogenated fat. I think is worse than saturated fat, which is bad as well. Butter etc is no good if you eat too much, but hydrogenated fat is total crap and is now banned in some countries it is so bad. It is the hard fat that clogs your arteries. Where will you find hydrogenated fat in Colombia? Unfortunately I think it is in many things, in many places, as its cheap and you can't see the ingredieants. You go in the Panderia, probably everything is full of it hard hyrogenated fats. You eat those arepas they deep fry in Colombia, what is that in? Everyones hitting them coming home from work, its easier to digest a stone than those things. If you want to be healthy, eat less and eat plants. But I reckon you and me flatline are experts on this. And I'll see you for a kebab some time.

tropicalshirt comments on teaching english.....need info.

mercey, I don't think you'll see many jobs for Brazil advertised. Work visas for Brazil are very rare. They are much more difficult to get than say Colombia. The thing to do is research the topic much more and go there in person. Research which part of Brazil you want to go to as well. Here are a couple of sites to get you started: http://daniellebrazil.blogspot.com/2008/10/danielles-tips-for-teaching-english-in.html http://www.eslemployment.com/esl-articles/teaching-english-in-brazil.htm http://www.brazzil.com/ http://www.gringoes.com/

tropicalshirt comments on Overweight, socially inept, badly dressed gringos

Thanks SiV. But you mean killing not fighting right? Sicarios don't do both???

tropicalshirt comments on Non Lleras places in Medellin?

dwmte7, Do you know the local name of the bar of the two headed calf dwmte? Is it on Cra 52? There are a string of bars along there I have been to and would suggest, but a bit different. I could also suggest La Boa in Boston C 53 for drinking more than anything else.

tropicalshirt comments on Overweight, socially inept, badly dressed gringos

Bill, Excuse me, and not to be specific, but how and why did you, or others, get so fat? Where are peoples brains when it comes to this? Or people like to be big and fat? I think this is sometimes really the case. Fok, everyone likes to drive round in a stupid bigger and bigger tank like car like the BMW X7 etc nowadays. People feel more powerful as a big fat lump and put it over their health until they are ill. But I'm sick of fatties. One sat next to me on a flight from NY to Miami. He was huge. Over 20, probably 25, plus stones. I asked to be moved. I was ignored. So I stood up and wouldn't sit down and then they moved me. Your seeing more and more overweight people in lots of countries. I would say the only place I've seen very few fat people is Cuba. The answer from that is eat less or less often. I had sancocho de galinha followed by sancocho de bangre in deli lunch in Medellin. Very good, and the manager was so impressed he came out and told me how healthy it was! And it was.

tropicalshirt comments on Overweight, socially inept, badly dressed gringos

kalder, "...who think that manhood is a question of paying someone else to do their fighting for them..." I am interested to know how common is this in Colombian culture?

tropicalshirt comments on Room for rent Poblado

flatline sancocho de...?

tropicalshirt comments on Nice Apartment MEDELLIN Good Price

Yep. Rooms in Medellin run about 150,000 to 450,000 on here: http://www.mundoanuncio.com/zona/colombia_12/categoria/habitacion_en_alquiler_3.html Sure it may or not be a better deal due to what it offers but how many Paisas would take it? The Rolos I know tell me that the average price per month in a good zone, estrato 4 and 5, for one studio flat or one flat with one room is between 500.000 and 600.000, plus the cost for the administration $150.000 more or less. That would be long term, a small place etc. But that is what they are looking at. Span, how many cities did you get to trying for the new job? Sicario work is all taken in Medellin ;-) Good luck.

tropicalshirt comments on COP above $1900 again

No inflation in Medallo until we hit the bars! El centro OK PCL?

tropicalshirt comments on COP above $1900 again

Inflation??? What inflation? Interest rates are at record lows, inflation, its all in your head...(and the printing money, falling currency and spiralling import prices JAJAJAJAJA!!!) FOK! My fresh mango chunks just gone up!

tropicalshirt comments on Peso/Pound Trends

curramberochris, By advice Pound is set to weaken further due to such historic low interest rates set to remain for a long time, amongst other things. Britsih interest rate of 0.5 could be stuck here for some time. Eurozone rates set at 1 per cent currently. Eurozone said to be ahead of UK in coming out of recession. Euro set to take over the Dollar as the Worlds reserve currency. Some stories point out that a currency crisis is looming (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aX6RWFyrWJVQ) I guess it will only stay weak, like it is currently. Good news of the recovery will have the effect of pushing it up at times, whilst the realities of the debt etc will put it back and weakening slightly. Last month, Pound was at 3,400 Pesos. This month it went below 3,000. Of course there is the factor of what happens in Colombia as well. How is life in Barranquilla? Only cheaper countries left will be those linked through economics indirectly or directly to the dollar: Mexico, Ecuador, Panama. What about moving there!

tropicalshirt comments on Best City/area to live in Mexico.

Big city would suggest: Guadalajara, Puebla. Smaller city: Morelia, Veracruz, Oaxaca. Depends what you want, you might find a more authentic city to be one with lots of old buildings (but more tourists), or you might find a more authentic city to be one with fewer tourists. Tourism is big in Meixco, but you have a big country and hundreds of cities to choose from.

tropicalshirt comments on What on earth is happening in Cali?

ola larry, saudades para brasil, estou em londres por agora...

tropicalshirt comments on Getting to know Bogotá - first impressions

And that trash can... "In Barranquilla, it would be removed overnight to be sold on the following day for scrap metal" You took that photo at night right? It still there?...

tropicalshirt comments on Getting to know Bogotá - first impressions

I enjoyed reading your post Darloup. But are you sure about those temperatures of 27/28 degrees? Those people in you photo have got a lot of clothes on... What I want to know is.... Can I get a tan in Bogota???

tropicalshirt comments on What on earth is happening in Cali?

larry, praia da costa? falamos portugues! tenho amigos em vitoria mas tudo em londres agora hahaha!

tropicalshirt comments on What on earth is happening in Cali?

Thanks anti.

tropicalshirt comments on What on earth is happening in Cali?

anti, Can't you see the parallels between the population of Recife and Cali/Medellin?

tropicalshirt comments on What on earth is happening in Cali?

larry, you in vitoria, espirito santo?

tropicalshirt comments on What on earth is happening in Cali?

The murder rates in Cali or Medellin are very high but I don't think this is unique to Colombia. For your information Cali and Medellin are very similar in size to a city in Pernambuco, northeast Brazil called Recife. Its a great city but so far this month (October) 172 murders have been committed in the state. This website lists the people killed and details names, how killed, age, sex, etc http://www.pebodycount.com.br/ocorrencia/ocorrenciaTodos.php If you look you will see the names are all local, the ages are all young and the sex is all male. Does a similar website exist for Cali or Medellin? As Gator points out above the reason for the killings in Colombia are the same, more or less, as in Pernambuco, Brazil, "Different gangs fight for territorys and control of barrios." My point is the people being killed in Cali or Medellin are the same as in Pernambuco, Brazil. Differences in culture certainly exist but the same similarities are causing the high number of murders, whether it is the Los Machos or the gangs from Santo Amoro, Recife, it is acute poverty and lack of any importance to these Colombian or Brazilian young male lives. The best option they see is drugs. What you have to look at is who is being killed and what value their lives have, nada With all respect to you PCL and Desi, and others who have a large degree of concern about your safety in Centro Cali etc, (and I'm sure many Colombians share that concern) I have spent years in Recife and similar Brazilian cities, and I feel little different about visiting Cali Centro or Medellin. If I was young, Colombian or Brazilian and POOR, it would be a different story. That is beacuse, as you know, the whole system is contaminated and hasn't changed despite recent advances in urban planning, social programmes etc.

tropicalshirt comments on Who is doing the most for Colombia?

OK, calenas! Why does it have to be a man?

tropicalshirt comments on Who is doing the most for Colombia?

Dr Alirio Uribe Muñoz "Dr Uribe is a member of a lawyers' collective in Bogotá that works on human rights cases, the Corporación Colectivo de Abogados 'José Alvear Restrepo' (José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective). He has faced continuous harassment for some time, which has increased markedly in the past few months. He has been followed several times by men on motorbikes without numberplates." AND THEIR WRITING HERE FOR GRINGOS TO WATCH OUR ASS!!! JAJAJA!!!

tropicalshirt comments on Who is doing the most for Colombia?

Paisas!

tropicalshirt comments on tropicalshirt

With the strength of the real to the pound going from 6 in 2003 to 2.7 currently, they ain't going to be a cheap proposition to anyone even with euros. Brazil is expensive.

tropicalshirt comments on

If its not estrato, estrato, estrato... its sicarios, sicarios, sicarios... I have to agree with you ferran, the majority here have an IQ at the level of an Iguana in heat. The Colombian panties stories? Was that the one in Periera??? "Diana was assaulted on the streets of the Colombian city of Pereira 15 days ago. The thief stripped her of her watch and her wallet, but when he told her to take off her underwear, she feared the worst. However, the deliquent only took that garment and took off running. The victim felt deep relief, but the indignation came later. "If they were fancy garments, okay. But to take panties that cost 2000 pesos (about one dollar) is ridiculous," she said."

tropicalshirt comments on Brasil Rio condos - Olympics coming

bickerss Yes, you can buy in Brazil with just a CPF (like a social securit/tax no.) obtainable for foreigners from your local embassy, or if not in Brazil (you don't need to pay a lawyer at all to get one). More info: http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=2034 http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=896 http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=909 http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=928 http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=1647

tropicalshirt comments on Brazil: Probably the Best Country in the World to Live In

tropicalshirt comments on Brazil: Probably the Best Country in the World to Live In