General Info

[Questner]

Which cities?

I'm following Cali, but my understanding it should be everywhere (that is first weekend after September 1, 2020). As for international flights and tourists allowed in, there is a tug between the government and the airlines. So we shall see, and looks like MDE, CLO and CTG to be open first, and all official letters don't state the exact date as of today. The malady's stats per city is available, so planning for December with right personal arrangements may make sense on the balance.

[Elvis 2008]

This information from the city of Cali says they expect international flights the second or third week of September. https://www.cali.gov.co/turismo/publ...s-en-colombia/.

I have to say FL that this has been shocking to me. The government of Colombia acknowledged this USA Study showing Covid transmission rates on airplanes are, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1....02.20143826v3.

The point estimates we reach based on data from late June 2020 are 1 in 4,300 for full flights and 1 in 7,700 when middle seats are kept empty.

The funny thing is that I had not heard of this study before.

I asked what is the point of banning international travel if the virus is raging in Colombia anyway. I did not expect the government to do a 180 on this, but it looks like they have. The only point in banning international travel then was to hurt the Colombian economy.

The state health department has also signed onto international travel here: https://www.eltiempo.com/economia/se...YwrbAgWi-JxaNo.

And this is huge as well as apparently the president opened things up quicker than the health department wanted to, and the new quarantine extensions were put in place because of the health department. If the health department is okay with international travel and the country can benefit economically from it, I think we will see things open up then.

There is also a breakdown here of cases per department in Colombia. Cali or Valle de Cauca, the department Cali is in, has had 45,000 cases. Antioquia, the department Medellin is in, has had about 75,000 cases whereas Bogota is near 200,000.

One of my chicas told me that Medellin has been pushing hard to open up their airport and that the government in Bogota is much less gung ho on opening up than the other departments. We shall see.

[Rodeo9112]

Bars and adult venues to start to be open September 4th and 5th, 2020.

Which cities?

[Fun Luvr]

Airports start to open to local flights. CLO, for example, from September 1, 2020. However, the borders to be closed until October 1, 2020.

This information from the city of Cali says they expect international flights the second or third week of September. https://www.cali.gov.co/turismo/publ...s-en-colombia/.

[Questner]

I heard on Monday intermunicipal travel will be a thing too. Any word on specifics?

They're not going to make people get into hazmat suits to smash are they?

Airports start to open to local flights. CLO, for example, from September 1, 2020. However, the borders to be closed until October 1, 2020.

[Bango Cheito]

https://colombiareports.com/8-killed...mbia-massacre/

That's pretty far off the beaten path.

I have heard however that all of Valle de Cauca and Nariño are getting that much more dangerous. Maybe better to avoid for the time being.

[Bango Cheito]

Bars and adult venues to start to be open September 4th and 5th, 2020.

I heard on Monday intermunicipal travel will be a thing too. Any word on specifics?

They're not going to make people get into hazmat suits to smash are they?

[Questner]

Bars and adult venues to start to be open September 4th and 5th, 2020.

[MarquisdeSade1]

https://colombiareports.com/8-killed...mbia-massacre/

[Questner]

Which country has a more stable economy, Colombia or Thailand?

Thailand. One can use 'misery index' = inflation rate plus unemployment rate. Thailand has likely the lowest misery rate in the world.

[Turgid]

Which country has a more stable economy, Colombia or Thailand?

[Villainy]

That's what's known as anecdotal evidence. She may be a great gal and all, but even if she does turn out to be trustworthy that doesn't actually prove the point you're trying to make.

All that I'm saying is that when you gain fluency in the language you start to notice all the cultural vectors behind it and that in turn gives you a much better understanding of what's really going on.

Anecdotal evidence? No it was a refutation of a statement you made (see quote below). Now, you may have meant to say it differently, you may have meant to say "you won't be many many Trustworthy people". Etc etc but what you said was "anybody" since I met "somebody" who was trustworthy and I'm not fluent in Spanish, I posit that your statement was wrong / inaccurate / poorly constructed / naive or any number of other adjectives.

That could be used, some of which might be less kind than the ones I actually chose.

I said you won't be getting the kind of interest you (or anybody reading this) think you are getting without fluent Spanish.

Meaning you won't be meeting anybody TRUSTWORTHY.

[Bango Cheito]

Oh dear God! Seriously? Well let me say this. I'm not fluent in Spanish, not by a long shot. I can, however, speak a little more than most. My accent isn't horrible (thanks to growing up in New Mexico and hearing Spanish a lot as a kid). I've met a woman and had profound conversations with her and we became novio & novia for a while. It didn't work out because I'm a bit of a dog at heart and she was kind of jealous at heart so we just weren't a good match. She was as trustworthy as they come and she never asked for a penny not even for me to pay her taxis when she came to stay with me at my hotel. I did of course buy her things and give her money for food and taxis but she never asked or hinted or suggested or anything of the kind.

Another friend who is a little older (and an infrequent prepago) is very reliable. I think in over a dozen encounters she was never later than 10-15 minutes and she lived pretty far from me. I trusted her so much that when I went back to the states (in February) for a week I left my big suitcase with her taking only my smaller one, since it was only a 1 week visit. I left some electronics and other things in the big suitcase knowing the not a single thing would be missing. And not single thing was missing when I returned.

Yes, of course, you multiply your chances to meet people and form friendships or relationships when you develop your Spanish speaking skills. But to say that absent that you can't meet people, have fun and that the only people who will connect with you aren't "trustworthy" is laughably absurd.

Oh and just in case someone thinks they can use Google Translate and get along just fine, well, you're kidding yourself. I have a prepago friend I've been speaking to periodically. I speak to her in Spanish and never use Google translate. She started responding back in English using Google translate (she only really knows a few words) well you should see some of the return messages in English. Some are almost completely indecipherable. I can only imagine that anything more complex than setting up a cita is going to be equally difficult for them to plow through. So yes, if you plan to spend a lot of time in Colombia, learning Spanish is worthwhile.

That's what's known as anecdotal evidence. She may be a great gal and all, but even if she does turn out to be trustworthy that doesn't actually prove the point you're trying to make.

All that I'm saying is that when you gain fluency in the language you start to notice all the cultural vectors behind it and that in turn gives you a much better understanding of what's really going on.

[JjBee62]

Oh dear God! Seriously? Well let me say this. I'm not fluent in Spanish, not by a long shot. I can, however, speak a little more than most. My accent isn't horrible (thanks to growing up in New Mexico and hearing Spanish a lot as a kid). I've met a woman and had profound conversations with her and we became novio & novia for a while. It didn't work out because I'm a bit of a dog at heart and she was kind of jealous at heart so we just weren't a good match. She was as trustworthy as they come and she never asked for a penny not even for me to pay her taxis when she came to stay with me at my hotel. I did of course buy her things and give her money for food and taxis but she never asked or hinted or suggested or anything of the kind.

Another friend who is a little older (and an infrequent prepago) is very reliable. I think in over a dozen encounters she was never later than 10-15 minutes and she lived pretty far from me. I trusted her so much that when I went back to the states (in February) for a week I left my big suitcase with her taking only my smaller one, since it was only a 1 week visit. I left some electronics and other things in the big suitcase knowing the not a single thing would be missing. And not single thing was missing when I returned..

There are a few tricks which help with Google translate. Stick with direct sentences. Indirect sentences don't always come through well. Also separate everything with a comma. Otherwise it will try to combine clauses.

For my normal conversations I don't use translate, other than to look up a single word from time to time. When I'm writing a story I use a 3 step approach. I write in English, because I can develop a flow without interruption to look up a word. Then I check the original for errors awkward phrasing or typos. After running it through translate, I go through and edit the Spanish version. Translate will often change words or switch back and forth between formal and informal tenses.

When I'm done the result is clear and proper.

Trustworthy? I'm not sure where that comes from. I trust everyone to behave in accordance with their nature. So far, I'm pretty good at figuring out other people's nature.

If I'm chatting with a chica about sex, I'm not sending her my SSN and account numbers. She's not getting my passwords or the combination to my gym locker. She either enjoys what I'm writing, or she doesn't.

Now, the basic pros, they have no time to read a 25,000 word story. All they care about is "are you going to be paying me or not?" The better pros, they are happy to read it. The non-pros treat it like gold.

[Villainy]

I said you won't be getting the kind of interest you (or anybody reading this) think you are getting without fluent Spanish.

Meaning you won't be meeting anybody TRUSTWORTHY.

Oh dear God! Seriously? Well let me say this. I'm not fluent in Spanish, not by a long shot. I can, however, speak a little more than most. My accent isn't horrible (thanks to growing up in New Mexico and hearing Spanish a lot as a kid). I've met a woman and had profound conversations with her and we became novio & novia for a while. It didn't work out because I'm a bit of a dog at heart and she was kind of jealous at heart so we just weren't a good match. She was as trustworthy as they come and she never asked for a penny not even for me to pay her taxis when she came to stay with me at my hotel. I did of course buy her things and give her money for food and taxis but she never asked or hinted or suggested or anything of the kind.

Another friend who is a little older (and an infrequent prepago) is very reliable. I think in over a dozen encounters she was never later than 10-15 minutes and she lived pretty far from me. I trusted her so much that when I went back to the states (in February) for a week I left my big suitcase with her taking only my smaller one, since it was only a 1 week visit. I left some electronics and other things in the big suitcase knowing the not a single thing would be missing. And not single thing was missing when I returned.

Yes, of course, you multiply your chances to meet people and form friendships or relationships when you develop your Spanish speaking skills. But to say that absent that you can't meet people, have fun and that the only people who will connect with you aren't "trustworthy" is laughably absurd.

Oh and just in case someone thinks they can use Google Translate and get along just fine, well, you're kidding yourself. I have a prepago friend I've been speaking to periodically. I speak to her in Spanish and never use Google translate. She started responding back in English using Google translate (she only really knows a few words) well you should see some of the return messages in English. Some are almost completely indecipherable. I can only imagine that anything more complex than setting up a cita is going to be equally difficult for them to plow through. So yes, if you plan to spend a lot of time in Colombia, learning Spanish is worthwhile.