Medellín, part 6

[Bueller]

Someone had arranged for a lady to take me to the airport for the same cost as a cab. Initially she said it wouldn't work out because she had to teach an English class at 8 a.m., but the way my friend described her she sounded like a good person that I would like to know, so I told her I would be willing to get to the airport an hour earlier than necessary for the chance to converse with her on the way. So she picked me up at 6:15, and we had a very interesting conversation all the way to the airport. I told her about Cristina, and she agreed with me that she just wasn't into me; she probably enjoyed the attention and encouraged it by calling me, but if she were really interested she would make the time to be with me. She's had her own experience of problems with gringos and what goes on between them and local girls. She commented on how gringos come and expect paisas to fall at their feet, and about things she has seen while translating for them--the disconnect between what she perceives about a fellow colombiana and the horseshit the colombiana spews out to try to convince a gringo that she is USDA Prime wife material.

 She also told me about an experience she had just the week before with a gringo she met: he was standing in line at the pharmacy, fresh off the plane, and was trying to explain to the pharmacist what he wanted. Since they could not understand each other, she offered to help. When the transaction was complete, she gave the gringo her phone number and said to call if he needed anything, as an act of kindness and hospitality. That was at 8:30 p.m. At 11:30 p.m. she was awoken by a phone call from this palooka, who wanted her to go out with him that night and said he wanted to have sex with her. She hung up on him. This brought up a previous incident where a gringo friend of Pablo, hearing I was in town, asked if I was going up to such-and-such a cathouse, like many gringos do. Pablo said no.

  As part of my career search I just read a book by Tom Peters called Reimagine!: Business Excellence in a World of Chaos. One of the major themes of the book is the immense opportunities being wasted by not marketing to women. Case in point: you know the story about how if a customer has a positive experience at a business he will tell five people, and if he has a bad experience he'll tell fifteen, or something like that. Well, here's what happens when you break that down by sex: A stockbroker friend of Peters oriented his business toward women, with huge success. Crazy for research, he said that his average male client recommends his services to 2.6 other clients. His average female client recommends him to...21!!!...other people. Women have bigger networks, and they talk to each other more. Or to bring up an old joke, the three fastest means of information transmittal are telephone, telegraph, and tell a woman. My point: if it's common knowledge among the guys that gringos like to go to cathouse X, what does that do to our reputation among the women? I suspect that's partly why I didn't manage to get together with Aracely, the girl Pablo introduced me to and I was supposed to go to lunch with. She works near Parque Lleras and probably sees and hears enough that we gringos already have something of a reputation to live down-- though not because of Pablo, of course. Although I loved Medellín, I was tempted not to write anything about it so as not to encourage more gringos to go, since many of them just reinforce the feminists' worst stereotypes of "exploitation". For those of us willing to be different and travel, we have the opportunity to meet some of the nicest, prettiest women in the world, and we're ruining it with short-sighted thrill-seeking. One thing's for sure: I can go the rest of the year without hearing another word about how awful American *women* can be.

  Well, I loved Colombia and plan to return many times. I wouldn't rule out the idea of buying a retirement home near Florianópolis, Brazil, but I love Colombian people and what I have seen of their culture. There is still a chance that I will pick a smaller city to adopt as a second hometown, a place where gringos don't go.

[Hoda]

... in response to Medellín, part 6, posted by Bueller on Nov 5, 2005


For me, it felt like I was with you...

Trip reports like yours, BP's, Seeker's and others, are road maps into the heart & soul of a country. Great reports are way more than just whether someone finds a lifemate or not. These reports can/should be used by guys and/or couples to explore places they never visited before. One part I really enjoy, are the walking & hiking tours that guys have wrote about.

Gents....keep the reports flowing :-)

[thundernco]

... in response to Medellín, part 6, posted by Bueller on Nov 5, 2005

Bueller, geat posts, thanks.  Good luck in the search -TNC

[Michael B]

... in response to Medellín, part 6, posted by Bueller on Nov 5, 2005

Excellent trip report, you sound like the kind of guy I'd like to travel with (well, I'm already married, but I think you know what I mean).

[surfscum]

... in response to Medellín, part 6, posted by Bueller on Nov 5, 2005

Excellent post! I'm late to go out with my wife, but it was worth it.

[Dan Las Vegas]

... in response to Medellín, part 6, posted by Bueller on Nov 5, 2005

Thanks for a great series of posts, both entertaining and educational!!

Dan

[Kiltboy1]

... in response to Medellín, part 6, posted by Bueller on Nov 5, 2005

I have travelled to Colombnia 24 times now and i always meet other Americans when i travel, a encounter that i ussually try to aviod.Of all the americans i have met, i would say only a small percentage fall into the catagory of decent guys, maybe 25 % . I see many more guys like this guy you speak of, going south only for a sex vacation and it is becomeing a problem more and more. It has been that way in cali and cartagena for some time, but now i see more of these perverts and trash of society going to corrupt the wonderful ladies of Medellin. We have only ourselves to blame for this behavior, it only makes it more difficult for the decent guys as these woman become more jaded with gringos  and one more reason i prefer to travel alone or only socialize with a select few griongos i know to be good people.

KB

[Spanky]

... in response to Re: Medellín, part 6, posted by Kiltboy1 on Nov 5, 2005

[This message has been edited by Spanky]

24 trips to Colombia?  i can't imagine it's the bollo that keeps bringing you back.  Either you're having lots of cat house fun yourself, or lots of bad luck looking for a wife. I think this "bad apple reputation" scenario you guys got goin' is just a lame excuse. If you boys can't pick the game plan on your own, maybe you need to aquire the services of our site hero-Caliahole-on how to land a young "hottie" in 10 lame pickup lines or less. hehe

[Kiltboy1]

... in response to Casa Gato, posted by Spanky on Nov 5, 2005

Most of my trips were to visit my wife, then fiance . then when we seperated i went to visit Pete, had another girlfriend. I also happen to really like the country , the food, ect .I do not like vacationing with other americans, so it is logical i choose to take my vacationes south

[Calipro]

... in response to Re: Casa Gato, posted by Kiltboy1 on Nov 5, 2005

Kiltboy

Don't waste your time explaining yourself to the site loser "Spanky". hehehe!!

He got his wife by spending a lot of money on her before he got any and now he spends his free time complaining about her and how much he has to spend to make her happy.

LOL !!

What a loser!

[beenthere]

... in response to Medellín, part 6, posted by Bueller on Nov 5, 2005

This might be one of the best posts ever on PL...gringos are starting to get a bad rap in Colombia, and it's getting worse and worse.  I'm starting to hear it all of the time from colombianas...Yeah, Bueller, and as I posted before on this forum, please guys, don't post another anti-American woman post here again...with some of the guys I've seen running around Colombia, the American woman is NOT the problem in many of their failed relationships...

Bueller, you should be a writer...you've made me late for work this morning with your posts.  Very rare here on PL...
looking forward to more in the future.

[Beattledog]

... in response to Re: Medellín, part 6, posted by beenthere on Nov 5, 2005

This is the most excellent post that I have read on a man's trip to Colombia to find a wife. Thanks  for sharing your experiences with us

Beattledog

[UnitedNut]

... in response to Medellín, part 6, posted by Bueller on Nov 5, 2005

Wow excellent tour diary!  Appreciate it. Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for passing along some valuable info as well.