Cartagena Reports

[Cachorro]

Surfer makes a good point.

Did you ever stop to think about the reason the other Colombians tried to calm things down? They know from experience how brutal it could get. Better some kind words and smooth things over than somebody ending up dead. If the outcome was just going to be some shoving or a fist fight (as in other countries), most people would just let it roll.

Yes, I guess you could say the guy was wrong to target your girl. But in my opinion, it's a serious lack of street smarts to try and escalate it and to want to "right that wrong". If it turns into a violent confrontation, who exactly is going to jump in to help the spoiled-ass gringo who went looking for it in the first place? On the other hand, someone might well jump in to help the Colombian guy.

Most Colombians are great people, but there are definitely some bad dudes in the mix.

yes, i did get pissed off, when I got hit without any warning and when when some asshole throw a water balloon filled with soap, or shaving cream hitting my novia in the eyes, stinging the hell out of them. i did confront the asshole, but other people pushed him away, and apologized to me, for they were too were embarrassed. Nobody threatened me, nobody pulled a gun.. they understood. maybe my esteemed collegue Surfer, would have thought well, the presence of a gringo , must have provoked them, maybe it is Israel's or america's fault..., and would have not been angry at the balloon thrower. Maybe he would have used the Bill clinton approach, " feeling their pain". sorry, but I don't play that game. The guy was wrong to target a 5'0 100 spinner.. hit me, target me, but don't hit her.

Nobody threatened to put me into the morgue and nobody wanted to bust a cap into me, the statement in the previous post, only contributes to the myth about how violent all colombians are.. What bullshit. I probably would have had a more hostile confrontation if I were an american flag bandana while walking on the streets of san francisco, berkeley or in marin County.

there is also a third parade the night before, right by the hilton....

I have not seen a single civilian carrying a piece during my times in Cartagena, only Guards, police and military, whom would be forced to disarm and wear beads if they were in the Bay Area. I did see a few in Cali.

[MJG Dogs]

Dogs: Actually, several of my closest friends are Republicans (one is Jewish, as is my law partner) and OF COURSE I did not "advocate" you getting shot because of your political views. It was a tongue in cheek comment in response to your macho attempt to belittle my suggestion that you NOT duke it out with Colombianos if you value your life, nothing more.

I will give my opinion again: making enemies in Colombia is NOT a smart thing to do, and for your sake I urge you to back down, rather than escalate, the next time you consider starting a fight. Life is cheap there.

Finally, Jackson has asked people on BOTH sides of the political divide NOT to abuse his forum by getting off topic and I have tried to heed his request. However, when my views (or city) are belittled I will respond. Your suggestion that he has censored conservatives posts but not liberal ones is unfair to him.

Now let's get back to discussing mongering in Cartagena.

Surfer;
Ok, I accept your olive branch, life is cheap in a lot of places on this planet.

I will be in CTG on 17 Aug until 28 Aug. Novia is staying in Rome, so I am free to do as I please. I am going to document my trip like an anthroplogist and study everything and write a detail summation upon return. I do want to write a psychological profile of LDV and of course of the Mr. Haney of the tout beach aka: Tony the Tout.

[Phoenix Phx]

I hadn't thought of going to Cartagena before untill I looked at this forum. It looks like the kind of place I'd like to go to! :-) Some general questions:

1) I speak English only. Is this a serious problem? It seems that knowing some Spanish is essential.

2) From some reports, it's not clear to me if the girls are pros or not? Some reports suggest just hanging around outside resturants is a good place to pick up girls? Are these normal girls or are they looking for work?

I was just there and I would advise you know at least some conversational Spanish. Check out the Pimsleur CD's, you can absorb a lot in just 30 - 60 minutes a day.

[Treeshark]

I hadn't thought of going to Cartagena before untill I looked at this forum. It looks like the kind of place I'd like to go to! :-) Some general questions:

1) I speak English only. Is this a serious problem? It seems that knowing some Spanish is essential.

2) From some reports, it's not clear to me if the girls are pros or not? Some reports suggest just hanging around outside resturants is a good place to pick up girls? Are these normal girls or are they looking for work?

Personally I think that your complete lack of Spanish would be a serious problem. I would suggest that you go to Costa Rica instead. It seems like everyone there knows some english.

[Surfer]

Dogs: Actually, several of my closest friends are Republicans (one is Jewish, as is my law partner) and OF COURSE I did not "advocate" you getting shot because of your political views. It was a tongue in cheek comment in response to your macho attempt to belittle my suggestion that you NOT duke it out with Colombianos if you value your life, nothing more.

I will give my opinion again: making enemies in Colombia is NOT a smart thing to do, and for your sake I urge you to back down, rather than escalate, the next time you consider starting a fight. Life is cheap there.

Finally, Jackson has asked people on BOTH sides of the political divide NOT to abuse his forum by getting off topic and I have tried to heed his request. However, when my views (or city) are belittled I will respond. Your suggestion that he has censored conservatives posts but not liberal ones is unfair to him.

Now let's get back to discussing mongering in Cartagena.

[Ticasonar]

Gonzo,

Did you go anywhere else in Colombia? Where was your favorite? What is your spanish speaking level? Have you mongered long? I know you have to keep your wits about you in Colombia, but did you consider it safe? Will Colombia be a fun time for a noob monger? What type of girl did you normally go after? Ie - casa / programa / SG Where did you stay, eat, etc?

Thanks,

Ticasonar

[Hit n Run]

so surfer, you advocate me getting shot in Cartagena? That's nice. Gee I am sorry that If me being a Republican offends you to the point that you hope someone kills me.

Dog, I put the crazed, elitist Surfer on my ignore list years ago. When you dump his brain dead political vomit and conspiracy theories automatically in the ISG wastebin, you'll enjoy the site way more. Geez, we'd all have been nuked if these looney tune socialists were in power today. Back to pussy; you have more patience than most when it comes to the parade. I stick to meeting the beautiful scenery as they walk around the Hilton. LDV has a ton of lookers that week.

[MJG Dogs]

so surfer, you advocate me getting shot in cartagena? that's nice. gee i am sorry that if me being a republican offends you to the point that you hope someone kills me. i wonder if you would hate me even more, if i were a jew?

well jackson, surfer states you hate political speech? do you condone the hatred towards me because of my political affiliation? i know you censored scooby, so i guess you must condone surfer's post.

i should have known better not to have replied to surfer, but jesus to hope i get a cap popped in me because of the novermber elections? how pathetic.

[Gonzo]

I hadn't thought of going to Cartagena before untill I looked at this forum. It looks like the kind of place I'd like to go to! :-) Some general questions:

1) I speak English only. Is this a serious problem? It seems that knowing some Spanish is essential.

2) From some reports, it's not clear to me if the girls are pros or not? Some reports suggest just hanging around outside resturants is a good place to pick up girls? Are these normal girls or are they looking for work?

Even though many guys say that CTG is the best option in Colombia for the espanol deficient, having just returned from CTG, I didn't find much english spoken. If you're going to pick up chicas on the streets, odds are that these are the least educated among the ladies, and the least likely to know a 2nd language. Your best chance is with semi-pro college girls, but even there, it does not appear that 2nd languages are a priority in the Colombian education system (but I may be wrong). In LDV, probably 10-15% (at best) of the ladies know much English, from an very unscientific poll taken by me. Worse on the streets and on the beach, don't know about the casas. (But I've signed languaged my way to GFE before in other countries!). Some taxistas have access to these college chicas. If you eventually go to CTG, I can email you a phone number for taxi drivers that can help you out in this department (but, then these guys don't speak english...hmmn).

If you look at a chica, and she looks back at you and keeps looking at you, that's a likely indication that they're in the program. That was my experience in CTG (and of course, elsewhere). In front of restaurants, on the beach, in front of hotels, they're around. If you look like a gringo and if you're shy about approaching women on the street, eventually they will find you.

[Surfer]

Xion: Swimsuit competition sold out some weeks in advance the year I was there (2003-the year Catarina Daza from Cali won). I tried for over an hour to scalp a ticket outside the Hilton, along with MANY other buyers, but there were ZERO sellers. I only got in because a lady tried to bring in a baby in a stroller and was denied entry, and I IMMEDIATELY offered to buy her ticket before the other desperate buyers could approach her. I paid about 120 KCP (I think face value was 80KCP).

Dogs: Just because you do not SEE their guns does NOT mean they don't have them. They CONCEAL them (duh!). Go to a nightclub attended by Colombianos 9NOT LDV!) where they frisk you sometime and watch what percentage of the local men turn in guns! The guys that hang out outside LDV are all packing heat; ask Aldo (or one of the girls) how many of the guys that hang outside around that block carry pistols. I have had SEVERAL LDV girls say not to hang outside there by the fountain (my favorite place because I cannot tolerate the smoke inside for more than 5 minutes, plus with a clear view of the exit you can see EVERY chioca coming and going).

Dude, I TOTALLY agree it was wrong for the guy to attack your girl during the parade, so I am NOT defending that guy.

After reading your post, I retract my comment suggesting you not mix it up with locals and say, instead, that if you want to duke it out with Colombianos go for it! IMHO it just means one less Republican voter in the next election-not that it matters as ALL polls show the fascists likely to lose BOTH the House and the Senate in less than 4 months but let's not get off topic into US politics OK? Jackson hates that (as your fellow rightwinger Scooby learned when he posted some Republican BS in the Medellin folder).

[Freshc]

I hadn't thought of going to Cartagena before untill I looked at this forum. It looks like the kind of place I'd like to go to! :-) Some general questions:

1) I speak English only. Is this a serious problem? It seems that knowing some Spanish is essential.

2) From some reports, it's not clear to me if the girls are pros or not? Some reports suggest just hanging around outside resturants is a good place to pick up girls? Are these normal girls or are they looking for work?

[MJG Dogs]

Xion:

Thank you for the kind reply

During the parades, try wearing an old Grateful dead T-shirt or something similar, with a pair of shorts, sunglasses and some flip-flops......

There are also other areas in catragena that show the Miss colombia pagent live on a big screen TV, someone like Cafe Del mar, would be a good bet...

[Xion149]

Surfer, MJG

Muchas gracias for the detailed contest info, exactly what I was looking for. I'll be there nov 8 - 15 and hope to snag some good digital video of that swimsuit contest. That boat parade sounds wild. What's with L-AM countries having festivals where they throw stuff?? SJO they have this thing where they throw confetti at you.. mostly cute chicas doing the throwing, but they were getting really ruthless with it (I extracted confetti from every open orifice above the neck, including some underneath my eyelids) and were exceptionally keen on hunting down the americans.

Tuxedo, whoa. That might be a stretch in the billion degree heat, but I suppose I've done sillier things for chicas. How hard was it to reserve a spot for the swimsuit event?

[MJG Dogs]

There are all kinds of places that you can buy towels including Carulla. The touts also sell towels.

The Dogger is on San Martin a block or two from Hotel Caribe on the east side of the street. Just past the Dogger is an area with all kinds of little shops.

pack a few extra in your bags, the ones they sell in Colombia are pretty lame...

[Tom 33]

There are all kinds of places that you can buy towels including Carulla. The touts also sell towels.

The Dogger is on San Martin a block or two from Hotel Caribe on the east side of the street. Just past the Dogger is an area with all kinds of little shops.