webjacks has left 28 comments

webjacks comments on Salaries in Colombia

Actually, I don't have my BS or BA, just an associates degree from way back. It sounds like I'm not doing too bad here then... I make $1'000,000 COP per month as a salary and another $1'000,000 COP for a living allowance (bonos).

webjacks comments on Transferability of work visas

PBHjon, I think that in part they both might be correct. Your work visa is tied to the company where you work. The name of the company is written into the visa stamp in your passport. I started working here in Colombia in a language institute, then later transfered to a private school. I was told that all I had to do to was go to the Ministry of External Relations to change the work visa (no extra fees were involved). Then I needed to report the change to DAS. The priavte school had a lawyer who actually did the paperwork for me, but I think it was fairly simple. My case might be a bit different from yours though as I have a resident visa for Colombia. If you are interested, the school where I work is currently looking for another native English teacher. We are however, not in Medellín.... rather Manizales.

webjacks comments on Manizales Trip

http://www.mountainhousemanizales.com/webmountainhouse/index.html

webjacks comments on Manizales Trip

JR, When are you planning to come to Manziales and how long are you expecting to stay? I have been living here since December 2006. As I live here, I haven't used the hotels much, but I can look into it for you. What kind of a budget are you looking at? Someone posted a note about the Mountain House earlier... Manizales a very nice city. We aren't too far from Nevado Ruiz. It's a nice destination for a day trip. There are hot springs in the area too. There is also an eco-park, Los Yarumos. They have an ice skating rink there and you can go rapelling there. As well, there are nice hiking paths there. El Recinto del Piensamento is also a nice place to visit. They have a mariposaria there. As far as the night life goes... you can go up by Cable Plaza (la zona rosa). There are a couple of nice clubs there.

webjacks comments on Teaching English in Colombia - ¿On-line Resources?

Thanks Just wanted to say thanks for the English links and I thought I would share some that I have found. The Central Coast Alliance for Health has a nice list of Spanish/English Health Care vocabulary, (Managed Care Glossary of Terms). This is a PDF file.

The British Council has a lot of helpful resources as well.

-Webjacks -------------------------------------------------- www.webjacks.us/htmls/colombia.html --------------------------------------------------

webjacks comments on Need info on Caldas (near Manizales)

Caldas Information Hi Bruce,
Manizales is a city of about 400,000 people. It is called the "City of Open Doors". It's up in the mountains and has a very nice, cool climate. The volcano Nevado Ruíz is about an hour's drive. On nice days you get a good view of the volcano (usually in the mornings). There are also hotsprings in the area. It seems to be pretty quiet here most of the time. If you like coffee, it's a good place to be as it is in the zona cafetera.
You mention 'near Manizales', are you talking about Villa María or Chinchina? or Riosucio?
- webjacks -------------------------------------------------- www.webjacks.us/htmls/colombia.html --------------------------------------------------

webjacks comments on Photographers and Photography

Photography in Colombia If you are around Manizales, photography is a big hobby of mine.


Feria de Manizales 2007


























~ webjacks



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webjacks comments on Learning Spanish book

Spanish Books I have three books from Barron's that I have found to be very useful. One for Grammar, Vocabulary and Verbs. They are very reasonable in price too. Spanish Grammar ISBN: 0-7641-1615-0 $5.95 USD $8.50 Canadian Spanish Verbs ISBN: 0-7641-1357-7 $5.95 USD $8.50 Canadian Spanish Vocabulary ISBN: 0-7641-1985-3 $6.95 USD $9.95 Canadian You can look them up on www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com

-Webjacks

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webjacks comments on What is the point in having a temp. cedula after getting pensianado visa?

Temp Cedulas
Asmara04, I got my Temporary Cedula in about an hour here in Manizales. They told me that they would give me a call when my regular cedula got there, but not to expect it for another 2-3 months. They were going to send all of the paperwork, pictures, etc to Bogotá. I did give them a perament address here in Manizales too. After I got my cedula, I took it to a shop to have it laminated. -Webjacks -------------------------------------------------- www.webjacks.us/htmls/colombia.html --------------------------------------------------

webjacks comments on What is the point in having a temp. cedula after getting pensianado visa?

Cedulas I believe you are still required to get your cedula. You will need it to do just about any kind of business transaction in Colombia. For example, you cannot buy a cell phone here without one. I just got my cedula last week and it only took about an hour in the DAS office.

-Webjacks


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webjacks comments on la Isla de San Andrés

Gracias Thanks for the info. Snorkling sounds really great. We will be staying at the Sol Caribe. My girlfriend has friends who have shown us photos. Everything looks good. I'm sure mi novia will like to take advantage of the shopping. I would guess that we'll make it over to Johnny Key too.

-webjacks
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webjacks comments on San Andres, Just as beautifull as it is....our dream come true.......

Thanks Aztec. Thank you very much Aztec, that was exactly what I was looking for. Can I request the Spousal Visa (TS) at the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores in Bogotá?

I am looking at the web site of the Colombian Embassy in Washington, D.C. (USA) and it states that 'A foreigner with a tourist visa CANNOT get married in Colombia. Decree No.2668/88 and 1556/89'. Is San Andres not part of Colombia? Or is this just a case that marriage is a civil matter and every department handles it differently?

Gracias,
-webjacks


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webjacks comments on San Andres, Just as beautifull as it is....our dream come true.......

¿Y Despues de San Andres? Hello... just a quick question. What did you do after you got married in San Andres? Did you apply for a spousal visa? I am curious about what happens after as I have been discussing San Andres with my colombian girlfriend. I have read that you need to go to Bogotá to request a spousal visa and there is more paperwork if you want to be able to work in Colombia?

Gracias,
-webjacks

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webjacks comments on Brief travel guide to Manizales

Places to Eat / Food to Try

Restaurant: La Locura. Cra 23 Calle 65, Cable Plaza.

Comments: There is a "La Locura" located on the second floor of Cable Plaza in the food court and also one in the "La 14" grocery store located below the parking garage of Parque Caldas. They offer sodas and meat pastries. A Hawaiano costs $2.400 COP (about $1.10 USD) and contains ham and pineapple. A regular soda, Apple or Pepsi, costs $1.400 COP (about $0.63 USD). The "La Locuras" resemble permanent hotdog stands more then restaurants.

~ webjacks -------------------------------------------------- www.webjacks.us/htmls/colombia.html --------------------------------------------------

webjacks comments on Brief travel guide to Manizales

Internet Cafés in Manizales

Café Internet: Tecnocomp, Informatica y Comunicaciones. Calle 62, No. 23-26. $2.000 COP per hour (about $0.90 USD).

Comments: Tecnocomp is located just down the street from Cable Plaza and just up the street from the stadium, "Palo Grande". It is a very short distance from the Mountain House, perhaps a five minute walk. There is a Crepes restaurant just above the café. It is a nice, clean place to check your e-mail, scan or print documents, make phone calls. You may use their computers or your own laptop if you wish. They also offer coffee, sodas and juices.

~ webjacks -------------------------------------------------- www.webjacks.us/htmls/colombia.html --------------------------------------------------

webjacks comments on work visa

Work Visas If I have an offer from a school, what steps can I take to obtain a work visa? I know that I cannot get a visa while in country... DAS has told me that I need to have the school contact the Minesterio de Relaciones Exteriores. After that... I'm not sure.

-webjacks

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webjacks comments on Limpiezas Sociales

Thanks Bufalo,
I was surprised to hear the term, but figured that it was probably something done more in the past. The man who was talking about it was in his 60s. He was talking about how they used to go around in small groups to kill 'unwanted' people, like drug addicts, pedafiles, etc. in the community. The way I understand it was that a 'friend' of the police would inform the police that they were going to clean up. Then the police would look the other way. It was all done under the table so if someone got caught, they could still be arrested for it (but if a drug addict turned up missing, no one would go look for them).

- webjacks.


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webjacks comments on English student help in Manizales?

English in Manizales Hello xcharliex,
I am not an English student or a colombian for that matter, but I am in Manizales and I do speak a far amount of Spanish. If I can help, let me know.

-webjacks


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webjacks comments on ¿Manizales?

Traveling to Manizales I was just wondering as I am planning to be there for Christmas and the New Year. I thought it would be cool to meet up with some PBH people.


-Thomas

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webjacks comments on Travel guide and book

PDF Versions of Travel Guides If you wanted to post PDF versions of travel guides, you might try uploading them to someones web space, then just posting a link to them within a message. ¿Something like this?

Just a suggestion... -Thomas -------------------------------------------------- www.webjacks.us/htmls/colombia.html --------------------------------------------------

webjacks comments on Travel guide and book

Travel Guides and Books (PDF) I am planning to be back in Colombia soon (Manizales), I would be happy to contribute...

I have not had a chance to try this software yet, but it looks interesting. You might be able to use it to create PDF files (and it's free to use).

http://www.cutepdf.com/

-Thomas

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webjacks comments on just looking out my bedroom window.another gorgeous day.i think i will go out for a ride on my mountain bike

The View From Your Window: I like the view from your window... where are you at? It looks like Manizales to me.

-Thomas

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webjacks comments on how can I get to Manizales?

La Zona Rosa Actually, la Zona Rosa is the area near Cable Plaza. I have several pictures from that area in my web site. The center malls would probably be Parque Caldas and Cable Plaza. I'm not sure how many foreigners you will see. I saw maybe a handful of them while I was there.

As for driving to places like Parque Nevados, Los Termales, I don't think you'll have any problems. I would guess you'll be traveling with someone from the area? They should be able to advise you. I went to most places by bus or car and never had any worries.

I saw two places where soldiers were stationed. There were three standing at the entrance of Los Termales del Otoño outside of Manizales. They were very friendly, I stopped and spoke with them for a bit (they even posed for pictures). The others were by a tunnel on a road about an hour away from Manizales near a small town (can't remember the name of the town... though it started with an S). We drove about half the distance between Manizales and Pereira then took a right turn and went about another half an hour. I was told there were soldiers in the area because it was just before elections and they were expecting trouble. They had sand bags stacked up in little forts at both ends of the tunnel.

As for surrounding towns and cities, there are a couple of nice places. I went to La Enea (where the airport is located next to Manizales), Villa María also a small town next to Manizales, Chinchina (about half an hour away). We spent a weekend in Santa Rosa and that was very nice. We went to the termales there and then to a discoteque in Dosquebrados (next to Pereira). We got back to the hotel (Hotel Santa Rosa) around 6:00 am. I was happy to learn that check-out there was 3:00 pm. My friends seemed to think there are better clubs in Pereira than Manizales (they are from Manizales). If you have the chance, I would recommend a trip to Parque del Café. It is near Armenia and not too far of a drive from Manizales. It's another nice destination for a day trip. Pereira also has a nice little zoo just across the street from the airport.

webjacks comments on how can I get to Manizales?

Things to do in and around Manizales Josergar, the airport is probably only about half an hour from downtown Manizales and the road is fine. You shouldn't have any problems. As for things to do in Manizales...

There are a couple of nice parks in the area:
Bosque Popular, El Recinto del Pensamiento, Parque Nacional Nevados del Ruíz and Los Yarumos come to mind right away. El Reciento and Los Yarumos offer tours/hikes with explanations of local plants and animals. In 2004 I went on a hike in Los Yarumos where we rappelled down three small waterfalls. They have an ice skating rink there now. I was there in Feb/Mar of this year. We took a day trip/tour to Nevados del Ruíz in 2004. The trip included a stop at a hotel with hot springs. Bosque Popular is a nice place to visit on the weekends. El Recinto has a mariposaria there too, if you like butterflies.

Chipre is also a nice place to visit on the weekends, it has a nice view of the surrounding area. There are a lot of small stands/stalls selling obleas, ice cream, and other small treats. They also have a colonial monument/statue there.

Cable Plaza and Parque Caldas were nice shopping centers, with a lot of people. Cable Plaza has a movie theather there.

www.cableplaza.com.co/Cable_Plaza

There are lots of bars/restaurants near Cable Plaza. It’s a nice/popular area to hang out during the evenings.

Plaza Bolívar is a nice place too, especially if you like people watching. The Cathedral is there and it’s just a short walk up from Parque Caldas, right downtown. There is a gold museum inbetween Parque Caldas and Plaza Bolívar also.

You might also check out Los Termales del Otoño, it is just outside of Manizales (probably about half an hour out by car). I'm sure there are quiet a number of nice fincas you can visit too.

They also have a professional soccer team there, Once Caldas. The stadium is called Palo Grande. It's just a short walk down from Cable Plaza.

www.oncecaldas.com.co

If you are interested in seeing more photos from the area, I have posted a some from my trips to my personal web site:

www.webjacks.us/htmls/colombia.html

I hope this helps...

webjacks comments on What is Manizales like?

Los Yarumos Saludos Toneloc24, You might also try el parque Los Yarumos. I was there about 2 weeks ago with friends to go ice skating. In 2004 we were there to go rapelling down some waterfalls. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

I like Villa Maria tambien. My friends took me over there for chorizos.

webjacks comments on Hello from Pereira

Pereira / Dosquebrados I was in a club called 'Mango Biche' over the weekend in Dosquebrados. It was great. There were 3 Chicas Playboy there. The music was great. The women were spectacular. We also went to the termales in Santa Rosa, also a nice place to visit.

webjacks comments on Pereira

Prepago Teléfonos I am currently in Manizales visiting friends and I have seen a number of advertisements for pre-paid phone for about $30,000. I believe that you can purchase a card of 15 minutes for about $20,000. These are from Comcel. I'm sure that there are similar deals in Pereira.

webjacks comments on What is Manizales like?

Manizales I was in Manizales during the summer of 2004 for 8 weeks. I had a great time. I was very well received. I was able to see Once Caldas play against Boca Junior (very good game, nice finish). The weather was good, not too hot nor too cold. Driving was interesting with all the ups and downs, one-way streets and pica-placa. I liked the restaurants (bandeja pais?) and clubs. I took a trip up to see Nevado del Ruíz. It is spectacular. I am looking forward to going back.