why leave?

[jim c]

This forum is a platform for our opinions on an interesting subject, relationships with latin women and their pitfalls. One thing is a constant, conflict!! Let us be honest, the archives are full of information if one wants to read them. So how much new information is really entered daily. This board is a source of entertainment for most of us. It has drama, conflict, knowledge, humor and often a sense of comraderie. It is a soap opera and can be addictive. The charactors change constantly or their cicumstances change, love- marriage- divorce, What did I do wrong? He is a troll. I'm a medal of honor winner. My ex wife was a green shark. I'm a karate expert, Jesus told me to marry her!!!
   Don't take it seriously. It is a form of friendship. Friends do not always agree and do not need to be friends for life. Just enjoy the process. Be a bastard, nail the idiot, defend your position, trap the troll( remember Houndog )but be involved.
 Lurking does not keep the board alive. If it were to be closed down there would be a noticable void in most of our lives. If one leaves it should be because one is too busy to continue, not because of conflicts. None of us should leave because we are unappreciated, disagreed with or threatened. If we were to meet each other in S/A we would sit and drink beer together, regardless of our conflicts here. At least that would be the sane option. HEY GUYS, IT'S NOT REAL. ITS THE INTERNET. jimc
PS Just my ramblings.

[wizard]

... in response to why leave?, posted by jim c on May 13, 2003

[This message has been edited by wizard]

I have to agree Jim... This board is a great source of information, entertainment and the occasional flame war... Dissenting opinions are the spice of life... As we have seen lately, it gets a little boring around here without an active antagonist...

I've only been following the board for a little over a year... I missed the Houndog era, but there have been more than a few "characters" in the last year alone... MCK comes to mind in recent months...

As with any public forum, you must extract the pearls of wisdom from the multitude of diverse opinions... Truly, everyones experience is different... It's like gathering at the local watering hole swapping war stories over a bottle of brew... The more you drink, the wilder the stories get and the more abrasive the players become... After a few too many, everyone becomes an expert...

It's kinda funny, but there have been many times when I have been with my novia and we'll be talking about Colombia or places to go or the INS process or etc... I'll tell her about the process as I have learned from this forum... She asks me, "how do you know this about Colombia???" I've had to explain that I am a member of a forum for men searching for latin women to share their lives... I tell her that we share our experiences and benefit from other's successes and failures... Trust me, many of the girls have their own support network for learning about gringos too...

I would like to thank the members of this forum for the aid and assistance I have received in the last year... Without the benefit of this forum and the insight provided, I would not be where I am today with respect to this pursuit... It would have taken me much longer to garner the knowledge I have gained without the benefit of this forum...

BTW, my girl and I were married on May 2nd in Bogota... We spent a week in Cartagena for our honeymoon... We have already filed our DCF at the US Embassy in Bogota and her second interview was scheduled 21 days following our first interview... I pray that there are no problems with her visa approval... If all goes well, she will be here by June 1st... From Hiker's account, it seems to he hit or miss these days...

Thanks Patrick for providing us with this place to share information...

Buen suerte...

Mark

[fencer]

... in response to Internet Novela, posted by wizard on May 13, 2003

"Trust me, many of the girls have their own support network for learning about gringos too"

Wow, this comment has outed a perennial lurker - is there a public forum for this by any chance, it would be great reading, or is it the old fashioned face to face communication.

Congratulations on your wedding - I've read your posts and always found them illuminating and enjoyable.

As for me I'm something of a fence-sitter hence the handle [though I was hedging in case I got off eventually and shortened it] and don't have anything to contribute on Colombia, hence the lurking - I guess there's a lot of us in that boat.

Regards
fencer

[wizard]

... in response to Re: Internet Novela, posted by fencer on May 13, 2003

Welcome to PL fencer...

Glad you climbed down off the fence long enough to ask a question... lol...

As far as my comments on the chica network, well, it's like this... Many of the girls that we are pursuing know each other... Either from the agencies, or from friends, or family or just knowing someone that has met/dated a gringo... It peaks their interest... They find out more information... They become interested in meeting a gringo themselves... They date a few gringos trying to match.... They share that information with their friends, etc... They stay in touch with girls that have matched and come to the USA... Once they match and come to the USA, they continue their contact with other girls in the states and back home... They listen to us as we talk about friends and acquaintences in the pursuit...

I think you get the picture... They have their own little support network setup both at home and in the US with other amigas that have migrated... If a girl "has a plan", she may come to the states just long enough to run... From what I understand, there are three or four areas in the country with large Colombian communities... If they run they will run to one of these areas, trying to get lost in the INS mist... Or they may run to another amigas place seeking protection from a "bad gringo"...

As you can see, this is a physical network and not a digital one... I agree that it would be very interesting to run across a female version of this forum... Kinda like the fly on the wall... Many chicas DO follow this forum... Get my drift...

Now before the rest of you guys torch me, I've not made up this little tale of horror... Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about... It's amazing what you can draw from conversations with lots of chicas...

The only protection for this sort of behavior is to take your time, get to know your girl... Meet her family and her friends... Spend time together... Let nature take it's course... It has been bantered to death here on PL... Guys who get engaged to a girl after knowing her for less than a week are asking for trouble...

Good luck fencer...

My 2 cents...

Mark

[Edge]

... in response to Internet Novela, posted by wizard on May 13, 2003

on the marriage and good luck with the embassy.

[wizard]

... in response to felicidades, posted by Edge on May 13, 2003

Thanks Edge,

I'll need all the luck I can get when it comes to dealing with the US Embassy... Like the old cliche, "I'd rather be lucky than good any day"...

Mark

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: felicidades, posted by wizard on May 13, 2003

I must have missed your getting married until this thread...well, congradulations, good luck with the paperwork.

[lswote]

... in response to Internet Novela, posted by wizard on May 13, 2003

Mark I am delighted to hear about your marriage.  Zulma has been in the US 2 months now, and other than her driving, she is adapting very well, as I expect Francy will too.

[wizard]

... in response to Re: Internet Novela, posted by lswote on May 13, 2003

Thanks Bruce...

Francy and I are very happy... I'm sure she will adapt very well to the US... Her Ingles is very good...

Now if I can only survive her learning to drive!!! ;-)

Good Luck to you and Zulma...

Mark

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: Re: Internet Novela, posted by wizard on May 13, 2003

Comon, guys, where your sense of adventure? I taught a Costa Rican to drive, with a manual transmission even. It's a lot of fun. She did speak perfect English though, so I didn't have to scream in Spanish. I remember one time going car shopping with her and the sales guy brought out a car for her...you should have seen the look on his face when she said "Oh, I can't drive an automatic."

[Edge]

... in response to why leave?, posted by jim c on May 13, 2003

No offense to either Big Wally or Craig but I think both of you guys overreacted.  Big Wally's heart seemed to be in the right place.  Not everyone is going to like what people post or agree with it, so have a thick skin. Craig, I have talked to on the phone and he seems like a real good guy.  I think he gets wound up on some things.

This board is what the guys here make of it.  Patrick pretty much allows us free rein to post what we want.  Personally I think there are a great number of individuals who are currently contributing and have a wealth of experience. Iswote and hiker have both contributed alot.  Sure it was maybe more interesting when houndog was around but there was also more fighting with many posts being deleted until I think Patrick got fed up and had to ban him.
The only think about houndog that really bothered me was he seemed so dogmatic about how to go about finding a latina wife and how he would hassle new posters.  If you did not follow his view, it was his way or the highway.

I enjoy the different personalities including you Jim C. and you seem to be in a good mood lately which is contary to being a curmudgeon.

Take care-
Edge

[cancunhound]

... in response to why leave?, posted by jim c on May 13, 2003

Based upon my humble observations, there's basically several "types" of guys that go to latin america in search of a bride.
(1) You've got the middle aged dude that wakes up one day, says "hey I need to get busy", and head south either to maximize amount of time for the search or just to look where there are overwhelming numbers of gorgeous quality gals available.
(2) You've got the divorced group that believe that latin women will be more loyal and devoted - the values thing.
(3) You've got the group that just love latin women, covers a broader range.

The above 3 are all quite adventurous, shunning the common perception of taking a trip to a "dangerous" country like Colombia.

(4) You've got the flat out touchy feely geeks that wouldn't stand a chance of bagging a quality gal back in their own country.  They sure as heck aren't adventurous, so it amazes me they end up in Colombia.  This group is certainly in the minority but can anyone argue it doesn't exist?

I think I know the bucket in which resides all this whining and pouting recently.  Note I haven't called anyone names here.

Salud

[Michael B]

... in response to Brings up a controversial subject - , posted by cancunhound on May 13, 2003

Reckon that makes me a group 3 guy...and proud of it. You can sure see some guys who are 'text book examples' of each group...and yet on the other hand you can see some guys that you can't figure out which group they are in.

You failed to mention an important sub-group, membership in this sub-group is optional and may run concurrently or independently of membership in the 4 main groups--the "I don't want an AW because......." AKA the "AW aren't good enough" group, which is NOT the same thing as saying "LW (or AsianW or RW) are my preference."

[jim c]

... in response to Brings up a controversial subject - , posted by cancunhound on May 13, 2003

You forgot one group.
Group 5. Us guys over fifty who are terrified to to sleep with women our age, (with the lights on). Think about it. I'm 60.
  I need to confess. In past posts I have  commented about never having slept with a woman over 40.(boy did I catch it from the touchy feely crowd) Well I was dating a 42 year old teacher in Cali last fall and she can cook too.

[Wayne11]

... in response to Re: Brings up a controversial subject - , posted by jim c on May 13, 2003

Jim,

Now that was funny.

I've never slept with a women over 30....

I'm 39.

I really like young American girls.  They are on my boat every afternoon.  They just don't like me.

Wayne