Medellin Reports

Smells are different for everyone.

I hate the smell of smoke. None of my friends smoke. I could never have a GF or wife that smokes. If my wife decided to smoke she may be on her way out. She might as well be bathing in, brushing her hair, and washing her clothes in shit. I hate it when I take a girl from a bar and her mouth is like an ashtray and after an hour of fun she leaves. I go to bed and bury my head in the pillow and smell ashes. That is why I like the street girls. I can smell them a little compared to inside a bar. Yet others love the smell of smoking and it is oxygen or like a perfume to them.

Then people can get used to smells and have learned to deal with them. As a kid I nearly vomited when my dad cleaned (gutted) the ducks he hunted. I am sure the physical part of gutting a duck I could do. But I do not know if or how long it would take me to get used to that smell.

I love the smell of burnt popcorn and other things. I kept smelling that when I was visiting Manizales. Finally asked the guy working at the hotel and he said it was the coffee bean roasting plant in town.

$250/ month is just a number. There are apartments for half that amount or less and there apartments at 10 times that price. The location is a good starting point to give the number some meaning.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2598680]Shiiii-iii-it man! It does not cost me $5000 to live in the States. When I did have a mortgage, it was only $630. As I have said before, a buddy of mine pays $250/month for a 3BR 2BA apartment in Medellin. Even if he was on drugs, I don't think he could go through another $1200 each week.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=IamLookin;2598707]The original poster made it clear that a lot of the girls have vaginal.odor issues which I agree with.
You on the other hand go out of your way to downplay it and make it sound like that isn't the case. [/QUOTE]I did not downplay anything. I merely stated how strange it was that me and another poster state that we never experience this while you and another poster are saying that it is common for chicks that you have been with to have a smell. I need to get you guys to choose some lottery numbers for me if you are having this experience that often because I simply have not. And to top it off, I get most of my hookers from the street where everybody swears they are less clean and going through way more guys. You guys just have a knack for choosing stink pussy chicks whereas I am obviously no good at it.

I suggest you get your nasal passages cleaned. There is something definitely wrong.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2598715]I did not downplay anything. I merely stated how strange it was that me and another poster state that we never experience this while you and another poster are saying that it is common for chicks that you have been with to have a smell. I need to get you guys to choose some lottery numbers for me if you are having this experience that often because I simply have not. And to top it off, I get most of my hookers from the street where everybody swears they are less clean and going through way more guys. You guys just have a knack for choosing stink pussy chicks whereas I am obviously no good at it.[/QUOTE]

The best source for information about where you can get past the 3 month tourist visa: [URL]https://migracioncolombia.gov.co/cedula-de-extranjeria/requisitos-cedula-de-extranjeria[/URL].

Medellinguru translates information from official sources such as this and sandwiches it with warnings about how difficult the process is. OF course the vast majority of people who legalize their immigration status do it without ever consulting the guru. If the Spanish is iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiian obstacle translate the web page into the language of your choice.

[QUOTE=Combo;2598656]Hey Surfer. I'm confused by this. These seem like contradictory statements. I think the vast majority of us on here could afford $3,333/ month. FWIW I would say $5,000/ month is a more reasonable level to live very well in Medellin.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2598695]How do we know? We were not there with the original poster to smell what he was smelling. I was just pointing out that some type of smell is normal whereas you said it was not.[/QUOTE]I think we could all agree that if there was rotten tuna smell it would not be normal.

Tenemos un acuerdo?

[QUOTE=Combo;2598696]I'm curious how wealthy do you need to be to get a Resident Visa? Even though I don't think I'd want to live all 12 months of the year in MDE. Maybe just the Winters or maybe a few months in MDE and a few in Brasil.

I guess tax considerations come into play as you want to avoid paying both US taxes and Colombian taxes.[/QUOTE]I am not speaking from actual experience, only from research and paid advice from [URL]Expats.com[/URL].

Most gringos qualify with what is commonly called the "pensioner" visa. Please note all visas, of which there are many, were changed to alpha-numeric codes a few years ago, and I am not going to look up those codes now. But the common terminology is still in place. The pensioner visa requires bank statements I think for ten months or a year that show a regular pension deposit that is more than three times the minimum wage in Colombia. I don't remember the exact amount because 90% of guys social security check qualifies them. So most retirees that move here use an official translated copy (notarized and apostille) benefit letter from the SSA (Social Security Administration), to qualify.

However, what if you are not collecting social security and do not receive any other type of pension? There is another kind of financial visa, which is probably the one you are referring about, where the requirement is ten months of bank statements, balance only. As long as the balance never dipped below TEN times the monthly minimum wage income, you qualify. I think that falls somewhere between $2000-3000 USD but I haven't cross checked it yet.

I did not answer your question because, before you can even think about becoming a resident, you have to get a Migracion or Immigration visa first, two of which I just described above. There are many other types of visas. There are others. You can cohabitate and support a Colombian, I don't believe it requires marriage or that the relationship be hetero, but don't quote me on that. You can impregnate a Colombiana and as long as you are the father of record on the birth certificate, you get to stay. You can invest in Colombia or do a business start-up and employ a certain number of Colombians.

There is a timeline, I think it's five years before you can apply for residency, but at this point I don't know what I am talking about, someone else can chime in on that. Hopefully this helped.

[QUOTE=Combo;2598696]I'm curious how wealthy do you need to be to get a Resident Visa? Even though I don't think I'd want to live all 12 months of the year in MDE. Maybe just the Winters or maybe a few months in MDE and a few in Brasil.

I guess tax considerations come into play as you want to avoid paying both US taxes and Colombian taxes.[/QUOTE]An approximate investment of $ 150,000 USD based on a Government formula and the Colombian monthly salary as to how much money is involved for a residency visa.

It's not as much as people may have thought, but it's not as easy to obtain as one might think as there are other issues involved like purchasing a property or investing in a business, and being enrolled in the Colombian Medical system, along with lawyers to process obtaining the visa.

[QUOTE=IamLookin;2598717]I suggest you get your nasal passages cleaned. There is something definitely wrong.[/QUOTE]Again, that funky rotten tuna smell may be normal for you! LOL.

[QUOTE=IamLookin;2598717]I suggest you get your nasal passages cleaned. There is something definitely wrong.[/QUOTE]He may not be able to smell past his own overpowering body odor.

My experiences are more in line with Mr. E. In my 16 years of visiting Colombia and banging a bunch of chicas in Medellin, very rarely have I ever experienced girls with odor problems. And when there was a problem, it was very minor, other than maybe once exception I remember. This is important to me because I love to eat pussy. So I get close enough to get a good whiff. Not just on my fingers. I guess it depends on the kind of chicas you go after and where you find them. I also agree that Colombianas tend to have very good hygiene.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2598715]I did not downplay anything. I merely stated how strange it was that me and another poster state that we never experience this while you and another poster are saying that it is common for chicks that you have been with to have a smell. I need to get you guys to choose some lottery numbers for me if you are having this experience that often because I simply have not. And to top it off, I get most of my hookers from the street where everybody swears they are less clean and going through way more guys. You guys just have a knack for choosing stink pussy chicks whereas I am obviously no good at it.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2598680]Shiiii-iii-it man! It does not cost me $5000 to live in the States. When I did have a mortgage, it was only $630. As I have said before, a buddy of mine pays $250/month for a 3BR 2BA apartment in Medellin. Even if he was on drugs, I don't think he could go through another $1200 each week.[/QUOTE]I have no doubt it could be done for much less. You could probably get by on $1,000/ month. In fact, I'm sure you could as most Colombians get by on a fraction of that. But most guys are going to want a really nice apartment (yes Probably in Poblado) and to go out to nice restaurants on a regular basis. And of course bone lots of chicks (though I'm guessing that becomes a lot less frequent if you've living there long-term).

[QUOTE=Combo;2598750]I have no doubt it could be done for much less. You could probably get by on $1,000/ month. In fact, I'm sure you could as most Colombians get by on a fraction of that. But most guys are going to want a really nice apartment (yes Probably in Poblado) and to go out to nice restaurants on a regular basis. And of course bone lots of chicks (though I'm guessing that becomes a lot less frequent if you've living there long-term).[/QUOTE]I'm going off memory on most of this, but it should be reasonably close.

Cost of a very nice 3 bed, 3.5 bath apartment in a nice area of Laureles, unfurnished, was 1. 6 million pesos. This was a big place, about 1900 sqft, 2 blocks north of UPB and far enough from La 70 to be quiet. You can find 1 bed, 1 bath places for 1 million, in a good estrato 5 neighborhood. Utilities were about 100 k monthly and cable and internet was about 120 k. Call it about 1. 5 million with all utilities, for a fair sized 1 bed apartment, with all utilities, or around $450 monthly.

For lunch I usually prefer the little Colombian places, cost about 12 k average. For dinner I splurge more, but still average about 25 k. Breakfast I prefer to make something simple, less than 5 k daily. Call it another 1. 2 million for food. Using the Metro and buses kept my travel costs to about 300 k monthly.

All together, you can live pretty good on 3 million COP monthly, not counting entertainment expenses. Call it $800 monthly.

You're going to have setup costs, buying furniture and all the stuff you need in the apartment. If you keep your hooker budget under 1 million weekly, you're looking at $2200 per month, all in.

If you need to be close to Parque Lleras, you might need $5000, but it's not a necessity.

Love reading your reports Osteoknot, you're a legend but they also make me happy my drug taking days are behind me jaja.

You're definitely living the life though, respect.

[QUOTE=Osteoknot;2598691]I was happy staying with my GF in a $111 per month Strata 2 casa on the side of a mountain in San Javier. That is a little too extreme for most gringos. I just set Catgirl up in a high rise 3 BR 1 bath ground floor apartment in Aurora in a great neighborhood, for $123 per month, not including utilities and Internet.[/QUOTE]Above examples were $111 USD and $123 USD. I will try to be more consistent in the future. Remember both Colombia and the USA use the $, so if you only put the $ in front of the number and nothing else like I just did, it might get interpreted the wrong way.

Mil COP is 1000's of Colombian pesos, therefore 100 mil COP = 100.000 Colombian pesos, nothing to do with Mexican pesos. And that is not a typo, Colombians use periods instead of commas. There would be two digits after the last period if you were including centavos or cents, just like in the USA. One peso is divided into 1000 centavos. That should get your attention right away because if there is are 1000 centavos to a peso, how can there only be two digits for the centavos after the final period? That is because one centavo has an extremely low value, about one quarter of one hundredth of a penny. Therefore, out of convention cash transactions are listed to the nearest 50 centavos and you only need two digits.

There is such a thing as centavo coins but they are rarely used and I have not seen them because a centavo has such low value. Supposedly there is a 1 centavo coin which as just stated would be the equivalent of. 00026 USD or about one quarter of a hundredth of a penny. That is pretty fuckin small. The lowest coin you will probably seen in circulation is a 50 peso coin which is a tiny fraction over one penny. Cash transactions are typically rounded to the nearest 50 pesos and the 50 peso coin is generally the smallest coin in circulation. Fifty pesos or 50 COP (no mil) is 50 times the value of one centavo or. 00026 which comes out to a little more than a penny. Because of these extremely small numbers, cash transactions are rounded to the nearest 50 centavos. Finally, for example if something cost four thousand five hundred COP and 250 centavos, it would be written $4. 500.25 (you are assuming COP in this example because only periods are being used, and the fucking auto-editor on the Web site sucks and automatically puts two spaces after the period and the moderators here are inconsistent about correcting it). Clear as mud? Please, someone, anyone, cross check what I wrote. Thanks for your help.