[This message has been edited by lswote]
Claudia hooked herself a gringo.
I am sure those of you who have used LAI in Bogotá over the last year or two know Claudia Amaya. For many guys, she is the first beautiful Latina you talk to when you get to the agency, and many of us have experienced firsthand how hard she works to get you dates with women you are interested in, to introduce you and to translate for you if necessary. She introduced my wife and I at one of LAI's parties, and my wife was a frequent visitor to Claudia's mother's house when she lived in Bogotá.
Some of you might remember me mentioning an article in the Miami Nuevo Herald a few months back that featured Claudia and LAI but also mentioned my wife and I, and included our picture. Well it also ran a large picture of the beautiful Claudia and apparently Claudia's future husband saw the picture and contacted LAI about her and after a month or so of exchanging emails they met in Bogotá and then after a few more months Claudia moved to Miami Beach to get to know him better. My wife has become a regular visitor to Claudia's apartment, and on her return yesterday from Claudia's she had a wedding invitation for next month. While I had met Claudia's boyfriend and knew they planned to marry, we hadn't seen anything official before yesterday.
I know Claudia always told anyone who asked in Bogotá that she was married, but it wasn't true. It was just how Claudia deflected the many gringos who inquired into her marital status so she could concentrate on her job.
While I am happy for Claudia, I am sorry that she will not be a fixture at Charlie's Place anymore. I was told she was replaced by
Alexandra Calderon. Alexandra handled our wedding and I wasn't terribly impressed with her, she was kind of ditsy and if my wife hadn't taken over planning a lot of the parts of the wedding like dress, flowers, cake and alcohol, the wedding wouldn't have been nearly as nice as it was, so I don't know how Alexandra will be handling setting up dates, but I am sure she will be no Claudia.
P.S. Claudia wasn't the only one setting up dates, so for those of you who have never used LAI, please don't let me scare you off by my comments about Alexandra. Claudia was one of several people who set up dates and translated, all of who are very good, but for many of us Claudia was the favorite.
