Venezuela

[Starman]

Hello all,

I've been mostly lurking on this board for almost three years now and for the most part the information here has been very helpful. If you can filter through the noise the information can help you avoid many common mistakes.

I've been to Cali and Bogota Colombia, Caracas, Margarita, Barcelona, Puerto La Cruz, Puerto Ordaz and El Tigre in Edo. Anzoategui, Venezuela.

I'm currently engaged to a beautiful Venezuelana. I submitted my K1 Visa petition a few months ago and hopefully she'll be here in late Nov. or early Dec.

For those of you interested, I'll be posting a series of reports about my adventures in Venezuela. Maybe they will be helpful to some.

Tim.

[HansErich]

... in response to Venezuela, posted by Starman on Aug 8, 2003

Hello Starman.

could you please tell us more what you think are differences with colombian women?

I am too emailing with 2 venezulana's....one from Maracaibo and one from El Mojan.
What I allready noticed is that venezuelan people do not like very much colombians.

But still I do not know....I am heading towards colombia as I think the change of meeting a nice lady is maybe slightly better then in Ven.

what is your comment please??

Bye

Hans-Erich.

[Starman]

... in response to Re: Venezuela, posted by HansErich on Aug 8, 2003

Hans,

Yes, the Venezuelan people do not like the Colombians...but that's common with different countries in SA. There are good and bad people everywhere.

Venezuela is a beautiful country with very friendly, fun-loving people. I love the food, their dancing and music, the people (esp. the women!) and their sense of humor. They are crazy like me!!!

My fiancee tells me that you can find beautiful women all over Venezuela it just depends on what sort of women you are looking for. For example, most of the women in Caracas are more educated and more professional. Thus, this is reflected in their personality. In the smaller Pueblos, the women are for the most part less educated, but maybe less spoiled. Their looks do vary quite a bit from town to town with more or less Indian influence or even other European and Asian influences.

My fiancee is from El Tigre, a small town about 80 miles south of northern Venezuela in the east. The main industry is oil. Many of the women I've met there are absolutely beautiful, very friendly and sweet. If you speak good Spanish you would not have any trouble finding a good women there. She is going to help some of her family and friends who are interested in marrying a man outside of their country.

There are no agencies there that I know of...but I think that if you can speak Spanish and are not afraid of making new friends you will do very well there. If I was to do this over again, I'd place an ad in one or more of the newspapers. Its up to you.

However you do it, be a gentleman, enjoy the adventure and at the very least you will have made new friends and become a better person because of it. Once you do this, your contacts will be invaluable...not only  because of new friendships, but they may also help you out in the future in regards to introductions.

While I was there, I meet many people from Germany, France, Canada, The Netherlands, Argentina, Puerto Rico and many others. We exchanged telephone numbers and e-mail addresses and have been in touch from time to time.

Good luck,

Tim.

[Tigre]

... in response to Venezuela, posted by Starman on Aug 8, 2003

Give it to us, there is no information about agencies in Venezuela. How can colombia have 25 agencies and venezuela have 0.

[Starman]

... in response to Re: Venezuela, posted by Tigre on Aug 8, 2003

Mike,

Who said anything about agencies in Venezuela? Some of us do not need agencies. I'm not knocking them, but I would'nt let that stop me from exploring other possibilities. If I had that mindset, I would'nt have met my fiancee. I simply took a chance, a risk, and it paid off. There are certain advantages to NOT using an agency. Esp. those with bad reps in Barranquilla.

Tim.

[Brazilophile]

... in response to Venezuela, posted by Starman on Aug 8, 2003

I would love to hear about Venezuela!  I have wanted to go to Caracas but have been intimidated by the political unrest these past few years.

[Starman]

... in response to Re: Venezuela, posted by Brazilophile on Aug 8, 2003

Brazilophile,

The political unrest is mostly confined to the larger cities such as Caracas when demonstrations are marred with violence. Overall, I would say that most cities in Venezuela there are no major problems. When I first visited in Feb. there were problems with gas shortages because of the general strike, but this had no effect on me. The biggest effect on my fiancee and her family was most of the school teachers for her son were on strike for a few weeks , there has been problems with the currency exchange. Western Union just started transferring money recently so it has been difficult to send my fiancee money. The president set an artificial exchange rate for the bolivar (making it more valuable then it really is and this has caused some problems with outside commerce.)

My fiancee lives in El Tigre, in the Anzoategui state. It is a small town about 80 miles south of the coast and in the eastern portion of the country. It is a petro town, many Americans live there that are involved with the oil industry. My fiancee's father works for Petroliums of Venezuela. He makes more than the average income and owns a house. Most men in her town have extreme difficulty finding employment and when they do it's very poor pay.

I'll write a post soon with more details (with the juicy parts!)

Tim.

[DOMINGUIN]

... in response to Venezuela, posted by Starman on Aug 8, 2003


Tim:
welcome to the board.  I would love to know something about Venezuela and hear about your success in finding a lady. Dominguin

[lswote]

... in response to Venezuela, posted by Starman on Aug 8, 2003

Help welcome Tim.  I will be looking forward to reading your reports.

[pablo]

... in response to Venezuela, posted by Starman on Aug 8, 2003

Tim,

I for one would really enjoy your trip reports about Venezuela.  Looking forward to it.