Whitey's wife is finally (almost) here!

[whitey]

It's been a long wait, but Nazly will finally be here with me in Canada Friday Sept 30!
 
 For those who don't know our story, I was recently separated, wanted to travel a little in warm climates, but didn't want to hang out on resorts anymore.  So, I took a 3 month introductory Spanish class at a local college, and afterwards was looking for a Spanish study partner.  My best friend travels to Colombia frequently and has many Colombian friends there and here, so I asked him if he knew anyone that would like to practice Spanish/English with me.  He had met Nazly originally on amigos.com and they had dinner once, but although they liked each other as friends, they weren't each others "type" for a relationship.  But he said, she is perfect for you - turns out he was right! 
 
 Anyhow he sent her an email to introduce us, and the rest is history:
 
 Jan 2008: exchanged first email
 Sept 2008: met Nazly in person, became novios
 April 2010: proposed
 July 2010: married
 July 2011: received spousal visa
 
 All in all, 11 trips to Colombia, including two living in her home with her family for 6 weeks -  the best times of my life.  We went to Medellin for a week, but the rest of the time was spent in Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Parque Tayrona.
 
 I lost my job in April 2011, so when we received notification of her visa approval in July, it was a kick in the cojones for me instead of the joyous moment it should have been.  But, I'm happy to report that things have really turned around in the last couple months, and especially in the last two weeks everything seems to be coming together.
 
 In mid July, just two weeks before I was ready to give notice on my apartment and move back to my parent's place in another city to lower my expenses and search for work closer to Toronto, I landed a great job.  It took almost 5 months and three interviews (one of which I did by phone in Colombia ... haha).
 
 The job was only a 3 month contract (option to renew), but the company is great and the pay is good.  However, the pace and learning curve, along with the uncertainty has been pretty stressful and I didn't feel I was in a position to make firm plans and get Nazly over here until the job was more secure.
 
 As fate would have it, 6 weeks into the job I decided to take a risk and have Nazly come over ... we were both starting to get pretty sad being apart and not being able to make plans.  She was thrilled, ran into work the next day and gave her two weeks notice.  Her last day was a week ago this past Friday.  It was very emotional for her as she has many good friends there (15 years working for the bank), they gave her some nice gifts, including a beautiful large framed photograph of everyone in the office.
 
 So, last Thursday (the day before her last day at work), my boss surprised me by telling me that I was working out so well, they wanted to offer me a full time position ... with still a month to go before my contract expired.  I was thrilled, and felt really good about all the hard work and overtime over the past couple months grying to figure out what the heck I'm doing!  So ... it's quite a relief that everything is coming together at the same time.  I really feel very blessed.
 
 Nazly will be here (finally!) in less than a week.  My parents and I are driving to the airport to meet her, then we'll go back to my folk's place and have breakfast with my sister and her family too.  My best friend (the guy who introduced me to Nazly) has a girlfriend in Bogota, and she'll actually be on the same flight as Nazly.  They haven't met yet, but I think Nazly is happy to have a new friend to travel with as this will be her first international flight.
 
 So ... I'm busy preparing for her arrival.  Cleaning up, emptying out a closet and drawers for her, buying her a few warm things to wear for her first few days, checking out cell phones, booking appointments for English testing/classes, the bank, health card, social insurance card, etc, etc.
 
 The adventure continues, but now we start a new chapter, in English, here in Canada ...

[thekfc]

[fathertime]

That is really great Whitey.  Your buddy really 'did you a solid'!    (S)


 I've found that most single men around our age, here in the USA are still petrified/resistant to finding a woman in Colombia.  You obviously had a little more open mind then most.  I guess there is a certain mindset that sets in (like rigor mortis) for many men in their 40's, and that doesn't include the idea of looking overseas for a good wife.    That is one reason why guys like us are able to find ladies that are more than we deserve!    jaja!


Fathertime! 

[Dan Las Vegas]

Congrats Whitey!!!!  Fantastic news that Nazly will arrive on the 30th!  It has been a long wait for both of you.
 
Dan LV

[pablito]

That's great news Whitery, congratulations on all fronts!  If you ever have occasion to come up to Ottawa, let me know, I'd love to meet the happy couple.


That seems like a record time for a spousal visa to be processed, I'll definitely have to ask you for advice if I ever get that far.  It took me over a year and a half to get my daughter and ex over here, and I thought that was pretty good.


Make sure you have something warm for her to put on when she gets here, and plan on having higher heating bills this winter, I doubt she'll let you keep the thermostat at 19 degrees!  Tell her to look at it this way, having different seasons means she gets to have multiple wardrobes.

[dennislevy]

Whitey

CONGRATUALTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we don expect a peep from you on planet love or gringos or anwhere on the Net.....until you ve ocme up for air!

and THAT should take a minimum time  of .................?

jejejejeje!"

Again, congratualtions!

[Chris F]

Congrats to you Whitey!!!
You deserve the very best and the best to you always!!!
 
 

[Tanuki]

Whitey;
 
That is very cool and the back story you gave makes it even better.  It seems like everyting is starting to fall in place.  With some of the doom and gloom talk, it is nice to read a story that has a positive side.
 
I wish you continued good luck.

[whitey]

That is really great Whitey.  Your buddy really 'did you a solid'!    (S)

 I've found that most single men around our age, here in the USA are still petrified/resistant to finding a woman in Colombia.  You obviously had a little more open mind then most.  I guess there is a certain mindset that sets in (like rigor mortis) for many men in their 40's, and that doesn't include the idea of looking overseas for a good wife.    That is one reason why guys like us are able to find ladies that are more than we deserve!    jaja!


Fathertime!

Thanks FT.  Yes, my buddy and I talk up the women in Colombia all the time to our single friends, but nobody is ever interested.  Too scared, don't want to learn Spanish, don't want a long distance relationship, don't believe the women are any different than the ones here, etc, etc.

[whitey]

Thanks KFC, Dan Las Vegas, Pablito, Dennis, Tanuki, ChrisF

That's great news Whitery, congratulations on all fronts!  If you ever have occasion to come up to Ottawa, let me know, I'd love to meet the happy couple.


That seems like a record time for a spousal visa to be processed, I'll definitely have to ask you for advice if I ever get that far.  It took me over a year and a half to get my daughter and ex over here, and I thought that was pretty good.


Make sure you have something warm for her to put on when she gets here, and plan on having higher heating bills this winter, I doubt she'll let you keep the thermostat at 19 degrees!  Tell her to look at it this way, having different seasons means she gets to have multiple wardrobes.

Thanks for the invite.  Ottawa is a cool city to visit - I'd like to show it to her one day.

Yes, we did pretty well with the visa - it only took about 10 months from when I submitted the paperwork.  Nazly has no children and I had tons of info to support our relationship, along with multiple trips, so that may have helped things go faster ... who knows ...?

[JimD]

Ten months and you think things went faster? ¡Carumba! Well it´s probobly starting to cool off up there. Good thing the arrival is now and not a month from now.

[fathertime]

Thanks FT.  Yes, my buddy and I talk up the women in Colombia all the time to our single friends, but nobody is ever interested.  Too scared, don't want to learn Spanish, don't want a long distance relationship, don't believe the women are any different than the ones here, etc, etc.

Well Whitey, it also could be that they realize they are still the same person whether they are in Canada or Colombia, and intuitively they realize that they wouldn't have what it takes.  The truth is, a few of the people that have talked to me about the topic, but not acted, would probably foul it up along the way anyway. 


Fathertime!

[InnocentVixen]

Felicidades! I am very happy for you 2, abrazos~

[Researcher]

      Great news Whitey! I hope everyrthing goes well on all fronts!!!


          Researcher

[beginthebeguin]

I mentioned all the problems you and your wife had been having about the move to my costeña lady and she said that Nazly must love you very much to be that patient for so long. Good luck to both of you. 

[Traveler]

Well, I wish you guys all the best!  Both of you were very patient, and it has paid off.  Congratulations!

[raycjs]

Whitey,
 
Congratulations
 
i wish you and your wife the best
 
Ray

[robert angel]

I've gotta feeling--woo hoo--that their life's gonna be a good life---that their life's gonna be a good, good life......

[whitey]

Thanks guys, and IV!

I've gotta feeling--woo hoo--that their life's gonna be a good life---that their life's gonna be a good, good life......

Is that "Prison Mike"?


I was talking with my parents and my sister last night, and they are all VERY excited ... almost as excited as me.

I think there is a lot of curiosity, and my mom can really sympathize with Nazly as she gave up her country, family, and friends to move from New Zealand to marry my dad.

Our biggest challenge over the next while will probably be English.  Our relationship is going to shift from 99% Spanish, to probably about 80% English.  Nazly has been incredibly patient with me and my Spanish over the years, and never shows any impatience or frustration when  I sometimes even now have to ask her to repeat something 2 or 3 times if it's complex.

Although I'm a pretty patient person, I'm not as patient as her - she sets the bar pretty high!

 

[fathertime]

Although I'm a pretty patient person, I'm not as patient as her - she sets the bar pretty high!

Be extra patient man!  It won't be life/death if she learns in 6 months or 3 years...if you are relaxed she will be happier and you will be very happy too! 


Fathertime!

[JimD]

Be that as it may I haven´t heard of anyone on the board who says they have brought a colombiana wife to the US and she now after howsoever many years speaks English comfortably. In fact from everything I´ve heard here and off the board they mostly communicate in her native and his pigeon Spanish even after many years with her being in the US. I don´t think that´s any surprise and I do think it´s something a lot of posters are way overly optimistic about. To many I would say: well you´ve just started getting interested in beautiful colombianas, how´s your Spanish? So a girl in Colombia decides well I´m going to corral a gringo and I say how good is her English?  Typical gringos like those of us who post here are 100% mono linguistic (my invented word). We learned one language as children and it´s the one we´ve spoken all our lives. Don´t think for a minute it´s any different with colombianas. In fact I would say in most cases they are not particularly adaptable to learning English. If you find an exception you´re doing good. Not to beleager the point but look at it another way. Say you´re in the US and you snap up a girl working in a factory or maybe as a nurses aid who graduated high school but just barely and you tell her hey! I wan´t you to be fluent in Spanish in six months. What do you think you´d get? And that' s exactly how it is with 99% of the colombianas that most posters meet in agencies or online. Now if you´re dating a girl who´s in her senior year of university or graduate school on the other hand yeah there will be a good chance she´s pretty far along in English and would pick up the rest of it fast in the US.

[whitey]

Be that as it may I haven´t heard of anyone on the board who says they have brought a colombiana wife to the US and she now after howsoever many years speaks English comfortably. In fact from everything I´ve heard here and off the board they mostly communicate in her native and his pigeon Spanish even after many years with her being in the US. I don´t think that´s any surprise and I do think it´s something a lot of posters are way overly optimistic about. To many I would say: well you´ve just started getting interested in beautiful colombianas, how´s your Spanish? So a girl in Colombia decides well I´m going to corral a gringo and I say how good is her English?  Typical gringos like those of us who post here are 100% mono linguistic (my invented word). We learned one language as children and it´s the one we´ve spoken all our lives. Don´t think for a minute it´s any different with colombianas. In fact I would say in most cases they are not particularly adaptable to learning English. If you find an exception you´re doing good. Not to beleager the point but look at it another way. Say you´re in the US and you snap up a girl working in a factory or maybe as a nurses aid who graduated high school but just barely and you tell her hey! I wan´t you to be fluent in Spanish in six months. What do you think you´d get? And that' s exactly how it is with 99% of the colombianas that most posters meet in agencies or online. Now if you´re dating a girl who´s in her senior year of university or graduate school on the other hand yeah there will be a good chance she´s pretty far along in English and would pick up the rest of it fast in the US.

Valid points.

In our case, Nazly wants to learn English and get a job as soon as possible.  She's used to earning her own money and wants to contribute to the household expenses while having a little financial independence.  She also helps support her parents, along with her other two sisters.

Her job for the first 6-12 months will be to learn English.  In Canada, English classes, including bus transportation, are free for refugees and Permanent Residents.  She took a year of English classes in Colombia and can express herself fairly well, but her biggest challenge now is listening comprehension (my biggest challenge in Spanish as well ... hey, but us guys never listen, right?).

I'll also have to be disciplined and not talk to her in Spanish more than about 20% or so of the time.  That's going to be tough for both of us at first.

[JimD]

I'll also have to be disciplined and not talk to her in Spanish more than about 20% or so of the time.  That's going to be tough for both of us at first.

Exactly.

[Deseo]

Congratulations Whitey on both fronts: 1) Wife joining you in Canada & 2) the new job (permanent hire)!!
 
You reference to Amigos.com caught my eye. I have mostly ignored that site in favor of ColombianCupid and LatinAmericanCupid.  In light of your story, I may have to take another look at Amigos.
 
Again, congrats & all the best on this next phase of your journey.

[searcher2012]

Your Story sounds like a Dream Whitey. Well any dream has ups and downs and hard times and good times.
 
I was thinking of trying to find a lady like Nazy meaning.... i want a colombian wife i knew a few from business school.
 
What I want is a woman who like her wants to study and wants to be a wife. I dont want one who looks at me or others like ATM.
 
What are the odds of finding a hard working woman in BAQ who even if you offer turns down money because she wants to be self reliant not gold digging.
 
I do have a question. after reading many posts here .. it seems some men say in their posts "I met some girl at some agency in BAQ". and another says "oh yea I know her and her and that girl and we talk alot or whatever". Does this mean many men know many of the ladies in BAQ? is it a small city generally as far as meeting women?
 
Honestly i dont want a woman who "gets around". I am looking for a wife and a woman who values herself to work hard and not hang out at corner bars all the time. Theres time for play but its not 99% of the time.
 
Nazy sounds like a hard worker...sweet...feminine woman who goes for what she wants yet will be loyal to you. What odds are there of finding someone like her down there?