A Colombian in Colombo

[aumaip81]

 So those who have read my first post will know the background to my situation.
Anyway, despite the problems of her past and the distance we have stayed in contact over the last few months. We have been speaking everyday on Skype and my Spanish is a lot better so I can hold a conversation now. The main problem was that we had not seen each other for a year and there did not seem any possibility to meet until a further year had gone. I wanted to see if there was potential for a relationship with this girl. I needed to spend a prolonged length of time with her, not just a 2 week holiday. I would never be able to spend a significant time in Colombia due to work commitments and it is highly unlikely she would ever get a visitor's visa to the UK.
My work had taken me to Sri Lanka at the beginning of this year, where I was going to be for another 6 months. It turns out Sri Lanka does not have any visa restrictions for Colombians and a visa can be obtained electronically.  So I had an idea to invite her to spend time with me in Sri Lanka.  The main issue was the flights. Colombia and Sri Lanka are literally the opposite ends of the planet. In order to get here she would have to take 2 separate flights and the journey would take 32 hours. Also the country that she changed flights needed not to have any visa issues for transiting. After some research I made a flight plan. She would fly from Cartagena to Madrid in Spain for the first part of the journey. As long as she had a ticket to prove she had a connecting flight and wasn’t in the airport for more than 24 hours she did not need a transit visa. After an 8 hour wait in Madrid she would fly to Dubai to quickly change planes then arrive in Sri Lanka. Again Dubai did not have any visa restrictions for transiting.
So we decided to give it a go. I booked all the flights. She paid for half the flights using money she had saved up. She had been working now as a sailing boat cleaner/cook for sailing trips between Cartagena and Panama.  Even though a visa to Sri Lanka would allow her to stay for 3 months, we decided on only one month, since she was planning to start a college course when she returned.
So everything was set. There were a few more things to sort out. She needed a yellow fever vaccine certificate and some other documents. I was quite worried, because apart from Panama she had never left Colombia and never flown internationally. Also not speaking any English meant if anything happened she would be in real trouble. But anyway she said she was ready to try and when the day came she started her journey.
I was obviously nervous. She reached Spain with no problems. I kept an eye on flight delays, but everything was running on time. When the time came for me to pick her up I headed to Colombo international airport. I arrived about half an hour early. When I got there I was dismayed to find that something had happened to the plane and it had been forced to land in the Maldives. The airport staff weren’t able to give me any information, and as you can imagine I was really worried. Her mobile was switched off and Colombo airport did not have any computers for the public to use to check mail. I had no way to contact her.  I managed to convince one of the guys in a shop to allow me to use their computer, but when I checked my mail she had not contacted me. I was really worried. I had this horrible image of her being lost in the Maldives. I didn’t even have an idea if she had left Dubai safely.
It was about 6pm by then. On the flight schedule they had another 3 flights with different airlines coming in from the Maldives. My only hope was that she was one of these. First flight landed at 8pm. She was not on it. Second flight landed at 10pm. She was not on it. Now if anyone has been to Sri Lanka, they will know the airport is really boring. There is literally nothing to do except stare at the flight board. The last flight of the day was at 12pm. If she wasn’t on this I would have no choice, but to go home and come back in the morning and repeat the process. As people were getting off the plane, I still could not see her. I hadn’t given up hope. I did one more lap of the airport, and then from the distance I saw her. She was wheeling her bag chatting to some man. I ran up and gave her a big hug. I think she was in shock because she thought I would have gone home by now. It is the most relieved I had ever been.  She was actually quite happy and not at all stressed. It turns out she had some fellow Colombians help her on her flight to Spain and Dubai. When she needed to fill in her immigration card for Sri Lanka, there was one Sri Lankan guy who was able to speak Spanish and help her. The only issue was a problem with the plane to Sri Lanka and they were forced to land in the Maldives. They had to wait 6 hours to get the next available flight.

Anyway, I had her with me now. It was always going to be a difficult journey, but in the end it worked out well. She spent one month living with me in Sri Lanka. Most of the time I would be working and she would be stuck in the flat, but she didn’t mind. We would go out in the evenings and we also managed a few trips to see the main sites in Sri Lanka.  We had a great time together.   She went home 2 weeks ago, and I miss her. We still speak everyday and we both are now planning a future together.

[buencamino]

Well she sounds like a chica muy juiciosa having saved enough from her cleaning job to pay for half the trip from Cartagena to Sri Lanka. What's a trp like that run anyway?

[beulah]

Good luck with the lovely lady and thanks for the interesting story.

[V_Man]

That's excellent!! All the very best of luck!!

One small point. If she saved up that amount of disposable money working on a yacht making trips to Panama for 6 - 12 months, then I guess you considered that this yacht may have been carrying more than people. I hope she isn't mixed up in anything that could turn nasty.

On a lighter note, I have found that if I do careful research I can find quite a number of travel options that my Colombian wife can have without a visa.

[htown]

That's excellent!! All the very best of luck!!

One small point. If she saved up that amount of disposable money working on a yacht making trips to Panama for 6 - 12 months, then I guess you considered that this yacht may have been carrying more than people. I hope she isn't mixed up in anything that could turn nasty.

Things that make you go hmm...

On a lighter note, I have found that if I do careful research I can find quite a number of travel options that my Colombian wife can have without a visa.

Mexico




Who is that beauty in your avatar Vman?

[buencamino]

Yes it's certainly an impressive tale. To have found a colombiana who is willing (even able) to spend six or eight thousand dollars to be with you for a month is extraordinary. I trhink this raises the bar for all of us.

[V_Man]

Probably more like 3 or 4 thousand but that may as well be 3 million to 98% of Colombianas. Plus what did you say this woman was doing in Cartegena when you met her?


Hey I think it is great this is all working out for you. I just hope you keep your eyes open in all this.

[htown]

V_man who's that lady in your avatar?

[aumaip81]

. What's a trp like that run anyway?

It wasn't that bad actually. We booked 6 weeks in advance and it came upto $2000 dollars for both flights. once she was here the cost of living in sri lanka was not that bad.

[aumaip81]

Plus what did you say this woman was doing in Cartegena when you met her?


Hey I think it is great this is all working out for you. I just hope you keep your eyes open in all this.

I know Vman. Its not great how we met and its something always in the back of my mind. As you know from my previous post this was something unplanned. I never went to Colombia expecting to fall in love. I met this girl in the worst possible cirumstances, but something has developed from this. I'm constantly aware of horror stories about fake relationships for money or a visa. I am trying to keep an open mind, but stay realistic and not deceive myself.  We have spoken at length about her past and mine and her worries with this relationship. The only way this relationship is going to work is if we can both be honest with each other and trust each other. This is always difficult with the distance.
So far she has done a lot to show me her commitment. She put a lot of her saving into this trip to sri lanka to see me. I have to have faith how she earnt that money, but she has shown me emails and pictures of her working as a crew member on the boating trips to the San Blas islands and Panama. I have to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Also I have to see things from her perspective. She's not heard good things about Indian men (even though I am born and raised in the UK). Her friends tell her all these stories. But it took a lot of courage to fly 32 hours to see me, given that she has never flown internationally and it was not an easy journey. She had to put a lot of trust in me. I could have easily kidnapped her or "sold her" as her friends had cautioned her. but she came.
We are quite happy together, but we have so many other obstacles to overcome. i don't know if things will work out, but I feel she is genuine. Next comes trying to get her to the UK....