General Info

[QUOTE=LoveItHere69;2253815]On Youtube a Colombia women talked about how they spot foreigners. She mentioned foreigners wear shorts and sandals in public. Colombians usually only wear shorts and sandals at home or at the beach. I am used to the Philippines and Thailand and wear shorts all but 4 months out of the year in my country. Most the Youtube videos in Medellin where I wish to visit showed guys everywhere almost always wearing pants.

Being noticed as a foreigner can be both good (bad girls know to approach you) and bad (street beggars come running). All that I am used to.

The problem is my lack of understanding as to where this is a problem. Most countries you do not wear shorts to church or a middle class family restaurant and never a hat. I do not mind being noticed as a foreigner. But I do not want to be noticed as the asshole wearing shorts and sandals where he should not. Is it considered just silly looking or is it disrespectful of their culture?

Wearing shorts / sandals and picking up street walkers should not be a problem. Going to a disco, most sit down restaurants, or walking the Parque Lleras area at night would all be big no-nos I would assume.

Would it bring unwanted attention to a Prepagos girl from her neighbors if I wore shorts and sandals to our meeting at her place? True her neighbors probably know what is happening when guys visit all the time but no reason to flaunt I am a foreigner hooking up with her. I do not want to embarrass her. No need to start off on the wrong foot.

All the guys appear to wear blue jeans only. Never saw Docker or cargo type pants. Any reason for this?[/QUOTE]Good questions, here are my 2 cents:

1. Unless you look, dress, speak Spanish perfectly with their accent and have identical mannerisms as Colombians, this is impossible, they size you up in 3 seconds and they know that your a gringo, period, I have stopped trying to blend in as I am 6'-7" and pushing 300 lbs but the benefit I don't get fu*ked with.

2. The casa's, absolutely yes the whole neighborhood knows exactly what goes on, where these houses are, so my suggestion is to not wear shots and saddles as you will only bring more undue attention to the casas. I have spent considerable time in many different barrios of Medellin at my friends house, these are Colombians, and they ALL know of all the going-on's in their barrio, even the houses that are web-cam. They know it all, every person in the barrio.

3. Blue jeans only, if you wear cargo type or dockers this will immediately send out the notice that you are a gringo!

4. Of course always wear long pants to restaurants and discos, this is not Cancun.

5. The prepagos house where they work out of is NOT their own home, they only work in the house to service customers then at the end of their day they go back to their home usually far away.

Have fun!

The Tall Man.

[QUOTE=LoveItHere69;2253815]On Youtube a Colombia women talked about how they spot foreigners. She mentioned foreigners wear shorts and sandals in public. Colombians usually only wear shorts and sandals at home or at the beach. I am used to the Philippines and Thailand and wear shorts all but 4 months out of the year in my country. Most the Youtube videos in Medellin where I wish to visit showed guys everywhere almost always wearing pants.

Being noticed as a foreigner can be both good (bad girls know to approach you) and bad (street beggars come running). All that I am used to.[/QUOTE]Here's a suggestion for you: just go to YouTube and enter areas like "Parque Lleras" or "Laureles" or "Centro Medellin" to get an idea of what guys are wearing. There are plenty of "walking tour" videos of almost any part of the world now on YouTube, so there's no excuse for anyone to not know in advance what the local scene will look like.

[QUOTE=Phunluv;2254358]Here's a suggestion for you: just go to YouTube and enter areas like "Parque Lleras" or "Laureles" or "Centro Medellin" to get an idea of what guys are wearing. There are plenty of "walking tour" videos of almost any part of the world now on YouTube, so there's no excuse for anyone to not know in advance what the local scene will look like.[/QUOTE]Maybe you should read my first paragraph closer where I clearly state:

* Most the Youtube videos in Medellin where I wish to visit showed guys everywhere almost always wearing pants.

Watching videos (which I did and explained my findings) does not explain the reasons why. Though most people can guess most of the reasons. I was surprised because the climate is warm all year around yet I saw very very few shorts being worn so I asked the question. Your explanation is simply monkey see and monkey do. No insight what-so-ever.

In the Philippines for example there are bars that only foreigners go to and no Filipinos and vice versa. Sometimes there are different rules for foreigners versus Filipinos. I was looking for any unwritten rules. In this situation you wear and do this. But in that situation you wear and do that.

So in summary there is no reason for you not to be able to read.

I was in Managua and my buddy in Estelli Nicaragua. No street signs in either city. Just a few on the very major streets. No Google Maps will not help. If you lose count of just one street you are lost and I walk zigzag pattern and down whatever street catches my eye. Once I saw a freshly paved fairly narrow path. I do not know if it was a narrow street or a really nice alleyway.

In Medellin Google Maps Street-View shows some signs. Some are mounted onto the sides of houses and buildings which is new to me.

1. Guestimate what percentage of the (side streets / residential) streets have signage?

2. I saw signs on poles and on the sides of buildings. Anywhere else they are hiding?

3. Unknown? Example: in Managua after 8 pm the majority of the city turns into a ghost town and the once oblivious sleeping daytime dogs wake up at night they think own the streets. They are in packs and thus dangerous. I am a dog person so for me to be bothered by it says something.

I do not need the regular do not go alone, do not be drunk, do not wear gold, etc. Looking for anything unique to Medellin or Colombia that you learned the hard way once you got there. Like my example in #3.

[QUOTE=LoveItHere69;2254648]Watching videos (which I did and explained my findings) does not explain the reasons why. Though most people can guess most of the reasons. I was surprised because the climate is warm all year around yet I saw very very few shorts being worn so I asked the question. Your explanation is simply monkey see and monkey do. No insight what-so-ever.[/QUOTE]Sorry to waste time spelling things out but there's no secret here, you're over-complicating things. Locals born and raised in warmer weather don't feel the heat as much as the turistas do, that should be pretty obvious, even to you. So that's why you don't see shorts. Also, the Latin-american culture is a little less casual than the "gringo" culture so that's another reason you don't see a lot of shorts except for some young guys. Nevertheless, despite that Latin formality, most Colombian guys usually don't dress flashy; they mostly wear jeans.

Why you ask? Isn't the reason obvious by now? Hint: this is Colombia, security and crime is still an issue in this country.

Guys don't want to call unwanted attention to themselves so they dress down. Plus, it's the girls' job to dress up and look sexy, LOL!

[QUOTE=LoveItHere69;2254666]I was in Managua and my buddy in Estelli Nicaragua. No street signs in either city. Just a few on the very major streets. No Google Maps will not help. If you lose count of just one street you are lost and I walk zigzag pattern and down whatever street catches my eye. Once I saw a freshly paved fairly narrow path. I do not know if it was a narrow street or a really nice alleyway.

In Medellin Google Maps Street-View shows some signs. Some are mounted onto the sides of houses and buildings which is new to me.

1. Guestimate what percentage of the (side streets / residential) streets have signage?

2. I saw signs on poles and on the sides of buildings. Anywhere else they are hiding?

3. Unknown? Example: in Managua after 8 pm the majority of the city turns into a ghost town and the once oblivious sleeping daytime dogs wake up at night they think own the streets. They are in packs and thus dangerous. I am a dog person so for me to be bothered by it says something.

I do not need the regular do not go alone, do not be drunk, do not wear gold, etc. Looking for anything unique to Medellin or Colombia that you learned the hard way once you got there. Like my example in #3.[/QUOTE]1. Most street signs are posted on the corner of buildings. Not every corner has a street sign. Street addresses are posted on, over or next to the door. Colombian street addresses are in this format: Street name, next lower cross street number, number of meters away from the cross street. Example:

Calle 56 #43-39 (which I believe is the address for New Life). Go to the corner of Calle 56 and Carrera 43. Go west, towards Carrera 44,39 meters. Over the door is a plaque with 43-39 on it.

Calles run east and west. Carreras go north and south. CL is the abbreviation for Calle. Cra is the abbreviation for Carrera. If you can't find a street sign at the corner, just check the addresses on a building on each street. 43-05 tells you the street crossing is either Calle or Carrera 43.55-135 or 56-05 tells you the other street is Carrera or Calle 56. The street running towards the river is a Calle. The other street is a Carrera.

2. No. Except pay attention to building addresses as noted above.

3. Never had a problem with stray dogs in Medellin. As for the unknown risks, fake police is one. Police in Colombia wear olive drab uniforms and often have a green day-glo vest. If they stop you, they don't need to tell you they are police, because it's obvious. Anyone not dressed in the police uniform, who claims to be with the police is trouble. There was a problem last year with guys hanging out around the casas, stopping gringos and robbing them. If someone approaches you, keep moving and try to enter the closest business. Move towards busier streets.

Another unknown is Scopolamine. Don't leave your drink unattended. Don't let strangers offer you drinks.

I think I have shilled for google Fi here before. For americans it is a great international mobile voice and data service but I have used rather in extensively in many countries including columbia, the philippines, thailand, Cambodia, malaysia, Indonesia, Australia but you get the idea. You can save a few pesos getting a local sim card but for me the convenience of having my phone on an active wheels down in a new country is more than worth a couple of dollars period. The knock on google Fi used to be it didn't support a wide varriety of phones (I love my Pixel), but it now supports many Samsung and iPhone models. If interested see below, we both get a $20 services credit if you sing up. Feel free to mesage me with any questions.

[URL]https://g.co/fi/r/AV50AT[/URL]

Just a quick question about Medellin. I'm looking for a place to stay when I'm down there. How is [URL]Pabladorentals.com[/URL]? They seem to all be guest friendly.

Also is there anyway to change the order of the post, I'm not use to the newest at the top.

One last question I forgot to mention. I keep reading how Facebook is key down there and how people have many possibilities from Facebook. How do you go about finding them on Facebook? How does that game work?

[QUOTE=CharmCityDave;2256025]I think I have shilled for google Fi here before. For americans it is a great international mobile voice and data service but I have used rather in extensively in many countries including columbia, the philippines, thailand, Cambodia, malaysia, Indonesia, Australia but you get the idea. You can save a few pesos getting a local sim card but for me the convenience of having my phone on an active wheels down in a new country is more than worth a couple of dollars period. The knock on google Fi used to be it didn't support a wide varriety of phones (I love my Pixel), but it now supports many Samsung and iPhone models. If interested see below, we both get a $20 services credit if you sing up. Feel free to mesage me with any questions.

[URL]https://g.co/fi/r/AV50AT[/URL][/QUOTE]I looked at Fi on Wednesday. In the linked article, there are several warnings about limitations on using Iphones with Fi. "iPhone use, however, is still in "beta," which means users should be prepared for bugs, and won't be able to use certain features like visual voicemail and international tethering. IPhones also won't be able to make calls and texts over Wi-Fi. ".

[URL]https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/28/google-fi-simple-phone-service-expands-to-apple-iphone-more-androids.html[/URL]

Google Fi Iphone comparison notes.

"[URL]https://fi.google.com/compatibility[/URL]#results".

[QUOTE=Dccpa;2256278]I looked at Fi on Wednesday. In the linked article, there are several warnings about limitations on using Iphones with Fi. "iPhone use, however, is still in "beta," which means users should be prepared for bugs, and won't be able to use certain features like visual voicemail and international tethering. IPhones also won't be able to make calls and texts over Wi-Fi. ".

[URL]https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/28/google-fi-simple-phone-service-expands-to-apple-iphone-more-androids.html[/URL]

Google Fi Iphone comparison notes.

"[URL]https://fi.google.com/compatibility[/URL]#results".[/QUOTE]For $20 for the first month you can try it out. I suspect if you cancelled in less than a month they would either refund the full $20 or prorated it.

[QUOTE=CharmCityDave;2256917]For $20 for the first month you can try it out. I suspect if you cancelled in less than a month they would either refund the full $20 or prorated it.[/QUOTE]Not worried about $20. I am concerned about not being able to make calls or texts over wifi. What good would the service do me? Asking a genuine question. I can take my Iphone and the Google FI simcard to Colombia later this month. But if I can't make wifi calls or texts, I am not seeing the benefit of having the service.

[QUOTE=Yetiecv;2256161]One last question I forgot to mention. I keep reading how Facebook is key down there and how people have many possibilities from Facebook. How do you go about finding them on Facebook? How does that game work?[/QUOTE]It's not key. It's useful in Medellin. You get one and keep adding her friends on facebook essentially. I don't do it myself.

[QUOTE=YippieKayay;2257158]It's not key. It's useful in Medellin. You get one and keep adding her friends on facebook essentially. I don't do it myself.[/QUOTE]Thanks. I'm still trying to figure it out. I think I might go the way of meeting one on cupid and try to get her Facebook as a start. I don't know how else to work the Facebook game.

Hey gents,

If you looking for a Girl / Chica friendly hotel in Medellin, maybe this video can help you, this fellow has some great info.

Oh yeah ask him about the strip club video he has. [URL]https://youtu.be/nlDRssXDEiI[/URL].