BARRANQUILLA AGENCIES - ADVICE NEEDED

[ROLITO]

I am planning my first trip to Barranquilla next month and would like to
know which agency to use for pay by the date and what i can expect.

[sean126]

You can look in the "trip reports" section and see for yourself about what to expect.  Several guys who went to barranquilla have written about their experiences. There's only 2 agenices that I know of in Baq, there may be more I don't know, but you can look them up.  One is latin-wife.com.

[markanthony7]

When guys ask me about BQ, I always suggest Jamie's agency because I am bias we have a very similar approach to Latin Introduction, we both specialize in the personal Latin Introduction tour, Jamie like me doesnt have time for "Latin introduction Super bowl parties", he is more serious minded focused, (Jamie if I mis characterized you please forgive and correct me but this is my personal opinion about your agency and others I have conversed about you and your service)  when a guy comes to you and he looking for a serious relationship or marriage , it can be an involved process, you just don't want to make a cursory intro and you don't have a lot of time (7) days to create for your client enough viable options

[william3rd]

what do you mean by latin introduction super bowl parties?

[papi]

Listed below are links to the best well-known agencies in BQ.  My suggestion is contacting them directly and asking the question.  However, with regard to CLW, you may have better results if you show up at their office and flash some cash.  They are under new ownership and recently quoted me $500 for 5 days…but I’d bet they’d take a lot less if again you show them the pesos. Let me know what they say...


http://www.latin-wife.com
http://www.colombianlatinwomen.com

[markanthony7]

William the 3rd
I am talking about those gigantic group tours, where they herd up a bunch of women like they are cattle, maybe I am wrong I think it is demeaning to women and the industry but you can counter if you like, I dont know everything maybe you can educate me

[william3rd]

I agree with you. I worked around AFA for about 8 years. I know all about their operations and their insides. There is very little  good to say about the way that agencies like that operate. And, as time goes on, very little positive to say about most of the women who gravitate to them.

In certain places where they take their ignorant clients, it is culturally unacceptable for decent women to go to parties (meat markets) to meet foreigners. But, cultural sensitivity isnt needed when you are looking at your female members as a commodity to be traded or sold.

The mega tour thing is mostly hype and BS. Read the July Harper Magazine article about an AFA tour to Kiev. I think the article is understated and only scratches the surface.

Smaller agencies, some letter writing, and one on one meetings are the way to go.

[papi]

There are pros and cons to the large tours.  AFA might be a viable option in CTG – especially for individual intros.  The going rate is normally $25 per date but I am not up to speed on their current services.  Guys considering CTG might consider contacting them.

[markanthony7]

I feel encouraged now!

I personally feel that quality is better than quantity, those tours and I hope I don't racially offend anyone are Identical to slave auctions, it really turned me off, I have been offered financial incentives to do group tours but I have routinely declined, everyone knows that dating Colombian women is ideal for the man that likes a women with traditional old school values but we don't need to go that far back , gees!

[markanthony7]

Rolio

In BQ I suggest Jamie because he will give you the individual attention you need, example if you have children would you want them in classroom with 200 students or 5 the answer is obvious, with the small class the child will get more individual attention, thats whats most expedient

[william3rd]

How many large tours have you been on?

[papi]

I have been on 4 large tours with TLC.  Again, they have their pros and cons.  I have visited the offices of AFA in CTG but never used their services.  I also attended a couple of small parties with AFA in Costa Rica.  Regarding AFA, I can’t speak for their large tours to the FSU but would probably avoid the tours for Latin America and instead try their individual agency services.  Yet, I would bet some guys are happy with their CTG tour.  CR is very small and inexpensive if you negotiate with them...unfortunately, high pooch factor

[william3rd]

read the Harper's Article on the AFA Kiev operation- about 20% success and the rest were more into sampling women. There are substantial allegations about their links with unsavory activities as well as their cultivation of a certain brand of tourism.

That group has also pretty well destroyed St. Petersburg. I have a couple emails from their workers from last summer. Really sad for what they used to be

[papi]

well, the press is not very kind period to the industry - thus IMBR. 20% success...what do the other agencies have??? An unsavory agency/tour...ha, never! LOL! Show me a perfect agency and I will call avianca manana. I bet those 20% are happy campers

[doombug]

MA7: Congrats on a great site layout.

W3rd: Don't be shy. Just post the Harper's link next time  :

http://www.harpers.org/AForeignAffair.html

Edit: Here's an excellent critique of Kristoffer Garin's article. I know it's trendy to knock guys (or to cheer for those who knock guys) who seek a foreign bride and/or who are not fond of American women, so it's funny to read one of their own get verbally biatch slapped  :

http://caliban.wordpress.com/2006/07/22/%C2%BFquien-es-mas-macho-kristoffer-a-garin-o-carpetblogger/

Doube edit: This is a hilarious read (it feeds from the last link above)-- and reveals how drab our puritanical ways have made us:

"[T]he Russian word for girl, ma'am, lady or waitress is Devushka. Devushka can also be an adjective used to describe the uniquely Ukrainian, hyper-feminine approach to fashion.

"Women who don't cover their heads in Muslim cultures are often believed to be whores, an assumption I find medieval. Along the same lines, if a Ukrainian woman wears a skirt that reveals her tampon string, it's just as medieval of me to assume she's a hooker. She just likes to show off her body. And, she would probably respond that western women dress like men."

"Let's discuss the principles of Devushka style."

• There's no such thing as too tight, too sheer, too low cut or too short
• Shoe angles should be at least 45 degrees, with heels no greater in circumference than an icepick
• Accents such as ruffles, flounces, bows, puffy sleeves and lace are highly valued
• Forget any differentiation between day and evening wear. Sequins, sparklies and rhinestones are just as appropriate standing in line at the aptek as they are at the smokin'-est oligarchical night club
• Colors and fibers that appear in nature are verboten
• Foundation garments, if they must be worn, should be viewed as accessories
• Thongs, if undergarments must be worn, are meant to be seen
• Intriguing shirts are those with non-sensical English phrases ("Punk It Up Rock Slacker") or coy witticisms ("Will [snip] for Coke")
• Nipplage is in

http://carpetblog.typepad.com/carpetblogger/2006/07/devuskha_style.html

[ROLITO]

I have been on 4 large tours with TLC.  Again, they have their pros and cons.  I have visited the offices of AFA in CTG but never used their services.  I also attended a couple of small parties with AFA in Costa Rica.  Regarding AFA, I can’t speak for their large tours to the FSU but would probably avoid the tours for Latin America and instead try their individual agency services.  Yet, I would bet some guys are happy with their CTG tour.  CR is very small and inexpensive if you negotiate with them...unfortunately, high pooch factor

When did you take these tours and what success did you have on them?

[william3rd]

small parties in Costa Rica? Those are socials and tours, baby!!!!

Doombug- your Edit post for the "writer" has no credibility. The Harper's Article went really easy on them. Been there many times. Look up K4I Costa Rica while you are at it.

[doombug]

Your Edit post for the "writer" has no credibility. The Harper's Article went really easy on them. Been there many times. Look up K4I Costa Rica while you are at it.

Says you.

Garin's article stank of bias and snootiness. That's why I Googled his name and came up with the not-so-nice critique of his work.

As they say, there's two sides to every story.

[papi]

Rolito, I am not sure where you are going with this. I am glad to help in your decision making process. Are you now debating between a large tour or an agency? If you are talking about BQ and next month - you would probably need to be considering an agency

[william3rd]

Been there, saw it and a lot more first hand. And all you have to talk about is your google. . . . so did you look up K4I and costa rica yet?

[ROLITO]

Rolito, I am not sure where you are going with this. I am glad to help in your decision making process. Are you now debating between a large tour or an agency? If you are talking about BQ and next month - you would probably need to be considering an agency

The tour idea sounds like a great way to meet a variety of women in a few days,
and since you have been on 4 of them it means they must have something
special or exciting about them and I was hoping for your personal feedback.

[doombug]

Been there, saw it and a lot more first hand. And all you have to talk about is your google. . . . so did you look up K4I and costa rica yet?

Myself--I've been sequestered in a shack along the banks of a pond all these years.

I hope you don't think everyone here is an oaf who hasn't seen the world.

So what else is this Garin scribe known for besides his one and only foray into IMBs???

A cruis ship book.

"Garin talks about how the cruise industry is largely staffed by impoverished workers from third-world nations who sign on for low base wages and whatever tips come from passengers.  To many of us, these base wages wouldn't even support poverty, but they are considerable in the countries where the workers come from.  The hours and rules aboard ship are harsh, with 12 to 16 hour days with little time off the norm."
http://hostit1.connectria.com/twduff/home.nsf/d6plinks/TDUF-6T9P55

So the struggling journalist appears to have finally found his niche, eh? Elitist sob stories. 

Now, back to those MOB slobs:

"This, then, was globalization's answer to the mail-order brides of the Old West."

"Shyly, slyly, hopefully, the men around the table smiled; these damaged guys, so desperate to believe."

"Dan the Man smiled from the front of the room. He knew we were skeptical, a little scared, a little embarrassed to be here, and reasonably so. After all, what did our presence say about us? What could we possibly have in common, other than failure?"

And, no, I didn't, nor will I, track down "K4I." They're out of season, and I don't quite have an appetite for them anyhow.

[fathertime]

I don't like that pricks GARIN's analysis at all.  He seems like a real ass BUT what he said was fairly accurate...at least based on my experience with a tour in the Ukraine.  It was an interesting read Doom, it was like a recap of the trip I took.  I was one of the very few lucky ones but not lucky enough for me to bring the girl back.

Fathertime!

[papi]

Rolito, I happen to like the large tours but they are not cheap. You are looking at $1000 plus hotel. There are more affordable options but if you still want to go - checkout TLC. Keep in mind that 100% of the female attendees are not going to look like all the hotties on the website. If you are serious - I'd keep following Calicharm. I got an email from the owner that he is working hard on recruiting some new ladies. You can't beat their program...but again, i do like the large tours and most guys have a blast on them. If you have any specific questions, I am happy to help

[doombug]

He seems like a real ass BUT what he said was fairly accurate...at least based on my experience with a tour in the Ukraine.

I don't doubt that the tour had some real doofuses in tow. My main argument with the article is this:

Just as IMBRA assumes guilt before innocence--that every man who seeks a foreign bride is an abuser and criminal (until disproved)--and just as the law requires, under certain circumstances, that men bare their backgrounds before they can "go out and play," similarly, Garin presents all foreign-bride-seeking--American--males to be of the doofus, AFA tour-attendee mold. He's painted a picture for 132,315 Harper's subscribers that every man who seeks a foreign bride is a potential Leatherface. He wasn't just a neutral observer, reporting events as they occurred (one would expect this from a "journalist," right?); he injected his opinion, was manipulative, and insulted his subjects.

What a charade. And from a no-name writer starving for an audience, or a project...or who knows what.