General Info

[QUOTE=The Tall Man; 1174029]LegarTender is spot on."The lack of straightforwardness is part of the culture where the ends justify the means. And, there is no embarrassment or shame because the interest is always on instant gratification. The idea that decisions have consequences is a concern or concept that most Colombians I've met don't consider", yes this is the culture and the norm.

Here in the states you are respected and valued in business and in relationships of all sorts when you "let your yes mean yes and your no, no" but in Colombia this straight shooter concept simply does not register in their brains. I have discussed this with my Colombian friends and other gringos who are very familiar with the culture.

The Tall Man[/QUOTE]Personally, I find Colombia very straightforward. Sure, people have their tricks but it's taken me all of 1 week to understand the M. O.

I feel in the states, as a consumer, you need a lawyer to decipher the terms and conditions of just about any transaction. Coupons, frequent shopper cards, loyalty programs, points miles, sales. 3 for $5, buy 3 get one free. 0% APR, expiration dates, teasers, hidden fees. To me, none of it is very straightforward. Seems to me like anything revolving around exchange of money in the states has purposely confusing, misleading and hidden information. Sure, they do it in Colombia too but I find it is not nearly as complex or sophisticated. My favorite trick in Colombia is when asking for 1 of anything, somehow I often end up receiving and paying for 2.

[QUOTE=The Tall Man; 1174031]El Vag. You must be from SoCal, I also was raised on IN N' OUT and heck there is one a block from my house here in LA. But bro 5 years, wow. The first thing I always do when flying back into LAX is stop at the IN N' OUT right off the 405 in Torrance.

I will confirm that Colombian food sucks! Period, end of story! Bland, salty, absolutely no imagination with it, certainly nothing healthy at all, they eat it just to fill their gut with something, that's what Colombian food is!

I will be in Medellin next week, maybe I should look for a good location for an IN N' OUT in Park Llares, jejejejeje How do you say Double-Double with onions and pickle in espanol.)

The Tall Man[/QUOTE]Tall Man, yes you are spot on. Born in Pasadena and raised in OC (Tustin) until the age of 26. Spent 20 more years in SLO County and now living here in this food wasteland. I remember when I was just a teenager, we would pile several of us in a car, go to the forum and catch a Tull concert, or Zappa, The Who, Led Zeplin, so on and so forth. We would always end up, stoned and rockin at Tommys, downing chiliburgers and orange soda. Those were the days.

Now it is arepas, san cocho and of course 'Pink Tacos'

Life could be worse for a fat old fart.

[QUOTE=El Vagabundo; 1174401]Tall Man, yes you are spot on. Born in Pasadena and raised in OC (Tustin) until the age of 26. Spent 20 more years in SLO County and now living here in this food wasteland. I remember when I was just a teenager, we would pile several of us in a car, go to the forum and catch a Tull concert, or Zappa, The Who, Led Zeplin, so on and so forth. We would always end up, stoned and rockin at Tommys, downing chiliburgers and orange soda. Those were the days.

Now it is arepas, san cocho and of course 'Pink Tacos'

Life could be worse for a fat old fart.[/QUOTE]Yep your just a few years older then me. I hear you. I was born in Glendale but raised in San Gabriel Valley (Covina) , lived a bit south of where you grew up in Tustin Ranch for 16 years, got tired of the rat race and now considering moving to Colombia.

Like you music has been and is a big part of my life. So I will miss both the IN N' OUT and the concerts here in SoCal. A few weeks ago U2 was at Anaheim Stadium, John Fogerty was at San Juan Cap about a month ago, on and on. You saw some great bands! Two months ago was at the Forum (can't even count how many concerts I have seen there) and caught this hard German band Rammstein. Just the ambiance of the Forum brings back fond memories like you have.

Regards, The Tall Man

As for food, it varies a LOT depending on the city. Cartagena and Bogota both have lots of real good upscale restaurants that match anything else in the world, the other cities not so much. Medellin despite being the 2nd biggest city in the country I found to be surprisinly provincial. But in Bogota there is a WIDE selection of great cuisine. Not to mention street food ROCKS anywhere in Colombia. The best hamburger I've ever had in my life can be found on the corner of 8th and 46th in Chapinero, at night only.

As for music, I moved here FOR the music principally, as that's what I do for a living. We just had Rock Al Parque here. 4 days of 12 hours of bands on 3 separate stages with almost 120k people per day attending. Once again, depends a LOT on which city you're in and how the local city council leans. Some cities (Pereira for example) are quite big on culture and sponsor lots of cultural events throughout the year. Others not so much.

What an endless discussion. I only can say that whatever food I got prepared in a Colombian family was excellent. The food in real Colombian non fastfood restaurants in the countryside was excellent too. I have no idea why people are complaining that Colombian food is not spicy. With all these spicy sauces around in Colombia one can make every dish spicy. And finally who cares about the quality of fast food? This is junk everywhere in the world. After all I thought that this forum is about eating juicy pussies. For the later purpose it is certainly worth to visit Colombia.

Brethren,

I've been talking and e mailing with a cutie I meet on Colombian Cupid. I'm planning to hang out with her my next trip. She lives in Itagui, which I know is where Mayorista is. My question is, is there a good part of Itagui?

But it's all relative. Since I do not know your background or what you are familiar / comfortable with I do not know what you consider "bad". You mentioned Mayorista so I am guessing you think that is bad. (I personally love the area but maybe because I have not limited myself to the strip and late night visits but that's me.) If that is the case then yes, there are better areas in Itaguii. I will say that from what my friends living there tell me, Itaguii is one of the rougher areas as a whole. I know ladies that live in Itaguii, I have visited them and it was like a typical neighborhood here in my city. Some people think that is bad. LOL. So I still say. It's all relative. How does her living in Itaguii matter though? Meet her in a place you are comfortable and go from there.

DP

[QUOTE=Brother P; 1177183]Brethren,

I've been talking and e mailing with a cutie I meet on Colombian Cupid. I'm planning to hang out with her my next trip. She lives in Itagui, which I know is where Mayorista is. My question is, is there a good part of Itagui?[/QUOTE]Yes there is. Other side of autopista / metro-line than Mayorista. The Parque or main plaza / square of Itaguii is lovely actually. It is like the Parque of Envigado- if you are familiar. Ask her to meet you there- the "parque".

Buena suerte, hermano!

[QUOTE=Brother P; 1177183]Brethren,

I've been talking and e mailing with a cutie I meet on Colombian Cupid. I'm planning to hang out with her my next trip. She lives in Itagui, which I know is where Mayorista is. My question is, is there a good part of Itagui?[/QUOTE]Look man, don't be running up in anywhere in Colombia unless you first develope a comfort zone. Invite her to you place a few times to develope a vibe. Hang out with her there. Study her as a person. Is she rushing? Is she nervous? Is she not trustworthy? You need to know these things before you go to her crib. You are the judge. Don't go for the " your special" "I like you" bullshit. I've been in the bario of most latin Amreican counties, and in Colombia you have to make sure, otherwise you will be leaving naked, and crying fo yo momma.

[Gracias mi amigo!

QUOTE=Lmarcone; 1177269]Yes there is. Other side of autopista / metro-line than Mayorista. The Parque or main plaza / square of Itaguii is lovely actually. It is like the Parque of Envigado- if you are familiar. Ask her to meet you there- the "parque".

Buena suerte, hermano![/QUOTE]

mr. gogo opines that it is inadvisable or perhaps dangerous to visit her home. i respectfully disagree. also, re sizing her up with great caution, i assume this guy is of normal intelligence and can figure it out. the worst that can happen, with any likelihood, is that he bangs her for a while and then decides he needs his space. going to her home, i think that is fun. usually they have a kid, and you get to meet mom and perhaps pops, and see how they live. i like stuff like that. i went to a girl's home in itagui, and not a particularly nice part of itagui, and had fun and got to know the girl better. so i say go for it and have a great time! have a cook out, you buy the steaks, wtf.

chesrep001
aka "mr. non-pro"

Thanks for the input gentleman! I will definetly have her meet me at my place initially. Get to know her in person as opposed to the phone calls and e mails. Probably eat in LLeres and hang out at palamira. But if she seems cool I will go her house and meet her family and all that. You only live once right? Being able to walk in Loutrons or Fase Dos and bang any chick I see is one great experence! But dealing with WGs gets a little old sometimes. Sometimes! LOL!

Itagui has some nice areas and some very ugly areas. The outlet mall which I pretty sure is in Itagui proper is fine, but there are other very dangerous areas. I went with the now ex-novia to Bello, and that.

Was not the best of areas, but this was after I'd gotten to know her well. Bring her up to LLeras, have coffee or dinner, then you'll know. I wouldn't do it straight away

Any good "decent" girl will NOT go to your apartment by herself for the first time and will always want to bring a friend or 2 for "safety in numbers" I give them some leeway on that topic. I mean what decent girl would just come over just like that after talking on the phone and chatting on the internet? A couple of things because it can become very expensive. After one or two times and you have built that confidence level with her, make sure you make it very clear that you really like her friends but you came there to spend time with her and that her friends shouldn't assume they can go out and hang every time that you guys go out. They will try to pull that shit on you.

Also get a good read of these girls because some are crooks and like to work in teams and drug you (small possibility but very possible) she's not the only one who has the right to have some concern but I don't like strangers coming over and casing my place and belongings either.

Since she might not come over by herself. Meet over at the Giant Exito market in Itagui and have some coffee or come up a more north and meet and TESORO eat and walk around, build up that trust factor both ways. C. C. And Especially R. L. Is about 80% girls fishing for WU novios and gold diggers.

Thanks for the insight into the culture. Hmmm, I told her I was going to Barranquilla after MDE and she asked if she could come along. I told her no, but maybe she's not a non pro. I'll find out. I need to watch what I tell chicas!

[QUOTE=MiamiHeatLuver; 1177434]Any good "decent" girl will NOT go to your apartment by herself for the first time and will always want to bring a friend or 2 for "safety in numbers" I give them some leeway on that topic. I mean what decent girl would just come over just like that after talking on the phone and chatting on the internet? A couple of things because it can become very expensive. After one or two times and you have built that confidence level with her, make sure you make it very clear that you really like her friends but you came there to spend time with her and that her friends shouldn't assume they can go out and hang every time that you guys go out. They will try to pull that shit on you.

Also get a good read of these girls because some are crooks and like to work in teams and drug you (small possibility but very possible) she's not the only one who has the right to have some concern but I don't like strangers coming over and casing my place and belongings either.

Since she might not come over by herself. Meet over at the Giant Exito market in Itagui and have some coffee or come up a more north and meet and TESORO eat and walk around, build up that trust factor both ways. C. C. And Especially R. L. Is about 80% girls fishing for WU novios and gold diggers.[/QUOTE]