New to the board.

[Gerard]

Hi, my name is Gerard and I am in the process of working on a plan to hit Colombia, probably Bogota, around July.  My Spanish is fairly good if I take it slow.  I tend to get lost because of the speed of which it is spoken but if someone is trying I can follow.

I am 43, widowed, children grown and on the right path for the most part.  They are all for my dating, but I haven't discussed to foreign female with them at all.  I will probably just tell them it is a vacation, and have them under the assumption it wasn't a wife hunting trip.

I of course don't plan on finding someone the first trip.  I am not interested in raising more babies, so I plan on concentrating on someone in the upper 30's at least.

I have three weeks to spend in July, and then usually 3 weeks every 3 month or so.  I have read alot on the board, even some of the older postings from years ago.  I would be really interested if I knew the success rate since in my life I deal with numbers and stats. 

Anyway thanks for the forum,  I am finding it very interesting.

[michaelb]

Hi. Welcome. So are you going to use an agency, find a few on the internet and travel to get to know them better or just go down cold? Either way, good luck.

[Micky]

Gerard -
 

Welcome to the board.  First let me say that you already did ONE of the right things in reading a lot of posts,  including the older ones.  It does give one a very good overview of the Latina,  and in this case the Colombian adventure and what others have done,  good and bad.  I would also like to say that you seem to have a good attitude,  your saying  "I do not plan on meeting a wife on my first trip" (paraphrased,  as I do),  shows a reasonable perspective in the journey.  By planing on going to Bogota for the first trip is,  I think,  also a smart move.  Capital,  largest city,  most available women to meet and date.  I believe that you will do just fine and of course there are many guys here that have a lot of time and experience in Bog that can answer most any question that you may have.
I do not know that there is anywhere where you could find statistics,  of any credibility,  on the success/failure rates for Gringo/Latina (foreign) marriages.  The best to you in your quest.
 

　
　
Micky

[fathertime]

Hi, my name is Gerard and I am in the process of working on a plan to hit Colombia, probably Bogota, around July.  My Spanish is fairly good if I take it slow.  I tend to get lost because of the speed of which it is spoken but if someone is trying I can follow.

I am 43, widowed, children grown and on the right path for the most part.  They are all for my dating, but I haven't discussed to foreign female with them at all.  I will probably just tell them it is a vacation, and have them under the assumption it wasn't a wife hunting trip.

I of course don't plan on finding someone the first trip.  I am not interested in raising more babies, so I plan on concentrating on someone in the upper 30's at least.

I have three weeks to spend in July, and then usually 3 weeks every 3 month or so.  I have read alot on the board, even some of the older postings from years ago.  I would be really interested if I knew the success rate since in my life I deal with numbers and stats. 

Anyway thanks for the forum,  I am finding it very interesting.

Hey Gerald! 


Your situation will be fairly unique....


1.  I would forget about the stats and numbers...this whole thing is dependent entirely on the individuals involved.  In the years I've seen and heard about more problems than good marriages...but that doesn't mean very much to me...if you take care of your end of things and make a good choice in ladies, then all the odds are with you...in addition men define 'success' in many different ways!  What is your definition of success as it pertains to marriage at this stage of your life?


2.  Given the age of the ladies you are looking at (late 30's)...you are going to run across a lot of ladies with their own kids in the picture...if a lady is 38 and had her last kid at age 24 or so that still means she has a 14 year old to factor in...so depending on what you want, you may have to eliminate a whole lot in the field of ladies out there...alas I'm sure there are a % of ladies in their late 30's that both don't have prior kids and are not interested in having any...


3.  It sounds like you are going to be able to spend lots of time in Colombia if you decide you enjoy it.  You may as well get a little perspective on things and take your time.  I'm your age but was looking at ladies in a younger age group than you, and the beauty (and interest) takes a little while to get used to.


4.  Good luck in the hunt!


Fathertime! 

[Jeff S]

Hi Gerard and welcome.

[raycjs]

Gerard,
 
Welcome to the board,best of luck to you
 
 
Ray

[InnocentVixen]

Welcome and best of luck Gerard, sounds like you have plenty of time to get to know the lucky lady

[Ray]

I would be really interested if I knew the success rate since in my life I deal with numbers and stats. 

 
Hi Gerard, welcome aboard!
 
I agree with Father Time not to be too concerned with statistics.
 
But since you like reading numbers and statistics, you can find probably the only authoritative surver results on the subject right here.
 
 
http://www.goodwife.com/survey/xcultural_p01.html
 
 
Good luck...
 
 
Ray
 
 

[benjio]

2.  Given the age of the ladies you are looking at (late 30's)...you are going to run across a lot of ladies with their own kids in the picture...if a lady is 38 and had her last kid at age 24 or so that still means she has a 14 year old to factor in...so depending on what you want, you may have to eliminate a whole lot in the field of ladies out there...alas I'm sure there are a % of ladies in their late 30's that both don't have prior kids and are not interested in having any...

Read my mind. Very good point. I haven't encountered many in that age range that are available and not single mothers. I would go as far as to say it's actually very rare.

[dennislevy]

Welcome to the board, Gerard.

If you  are going to date women in their late 30s in Bogota, there is an ENORMOUS pool of available women.    Between the ages of 55 and 57, durng 2008 to 2010, I dated women  in their late 30s and early 40s in Bogota before  I moved to Medellin for the first time.

In fact, Bogota is such an enormous sprawling city  that it  may be best for you to start thinking about how to qualify women before you decide to meet them for the first time....and so you dont waste more time then is reasonable.  Bogota is a city that eats up time and money for traveling to meet women.


So if I were you, I would think of at least getting answers to these questions before meeting them.


1. obvioulsly what is their age?
2. What is their family situation? If they have kids, with whom do the kids live?  What s the role of the father (or fathers) in their life and in the lives of their kids?
3. What is their civil state?
4. What do they do to earn a living? Do they work, do they have a business?
5. Where do they live? In what part of Bogota, what barrio, what estrato?
6. If they dont have children at that age, do they want children? If so, and you do not want  kids...trust me. it is NOT something  you re going to be able to negotiate.
7. Can they articulate their goals in concrete terms. This one isnt that easy.


Also take into consideration that lots of women who live and work in Bogota are NOT originally from Bogota. They may have grown up in another part of Colombia and they still retain the cultural attitudes of the region in which they were born.


And between now and July, put in a fair amount of time on the internet talking to Colombian women in Bogota. 


If you have some Spanish, practice your Spanish buy chatting on line with women and see if you can line up some women to meet.  I might think about 15 to 25 women as a starting pool for three weeks.


There are some sites worth paying for, i recommend www.colombiancupid.com


Feel free to ask us questions. 


Happy hunting!
Dennis
Medellin, Colombia

[aconcepts]

Is colombia cupid any better than latin america cupid?

[whitey]

Some excellent advice above.

Welcome Gerard and good luck ...

[benjio]

Is colombia cupid any better than latin america cupid?

It's just more focused in terms of the country the girls live in....I've never noticed any significant difference between the two. If a gringo knows he wants to search in Colombia, obviously Colombian Cupid would be the better choice in my opinion.
 
After dating SOTB for the last few years one thing I wouldn't do these days is limit myself to a single country though...especially in Latin America. And I guess that's where Latin American Cupid has the upper hand. There are plenty of beautiful women in Honduras, Panama, Mexico, etc. Gringos that aren't willing to travel to smaller cities in Colombia are at some point going to realize that the American and European Men that came before them have usually left a bad impression. In cities like Bogota and Medellin, most women are not at all impressed with the fact that you're a foreigner. The coast is slowly becoming like this as well. These days, you have to travel off the beaten path if you want to get that, "WOW, I'm dating a gringo!!!!" effect.

[Gerard]

Just wanted to say thanks for the support.  I have to make this fast, I adopted a stray kitten and I am fighting her for control of the keyboard. I really think I most relate to the advice Fathertime is always giving in his posts.  His is the situation I would most like to replicate (but with myself as the husband).  Anyway, at least I know any girl I chat with down there is way prettier than this damn kitten, she is driving me crazy.

[michaelb]

Kitten on the keys, huh? Can she play in ragtime?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf1FSHYITv8

[InnocentVixen]

gatitossss!!!!


♥

[V_Man]

I wonder if Gerald ever made it to Bogota?