Barranquilla Carnival and Colombian Women

[Jamie]

I attended all 3 of this years Carnival parades and here are my observations. The first day of the parade draws the biggest crowd and the stands lining the parade route which sort of parallels the river are full. Tickets for the 3 day event vary depending on the location and extras provided and I was able to get a discounted ticket for $25 for all 3 days overlooking the river. I was under a netting screen for sun protection and the stands had its own small band that would play prior to the parade and during the lull times. It never rains in February and you have a cooling breeze this time of year making the event comfortable to watch. The first parade lasted about 6 hours and each subsequent day it was shorter.

The Carnival is nothing like Rio a 1960’s Disney parade would have more pomp. There are not a large number of floats and the floats are being pulled by tractors or other vehicles. Most of the participants are on foot dressed in costumes dancing and playing music with some political commentary. You will have some local celebrities participating which mean waving their hands as they walk or drive by. There are very few women that are scantly dressed in the parade and there is no nudity. The exception is from the gays that participated in the parade. I have noticed that most Colombians are very tolerant and think it is funny to see men dressed as women in their inflated female body parts. I never understood such comedy always found it simplistic. For the most part the gays are vulgar and go over board in their cheap, dirty costumes. They push their sexuality as if were privileged members of society with a ticket to be lewd at a family parade. Some will give an unwelcome grab to the crotch of those lining the street. The closes thing to nudity was a man with plastic surgery who very much looked like a woman parading his breast with a pasty. Other gays would be exposing, enlarged plastic genital or erect genital while flickering their tongues at the audience. In one case you had a gay wearing exposed female genital with an attached tube to a canister of water stooping and leaking as if this was a clever idea for entertainment. I am not sure what meaningful contribution this is or why it would be allowed with so many children viewing and participating in the audience. The gays demonstrated a complete lack of taste and class.

The enjoyment of the Carnival is not the parade but the actions in the stands. People will bring or buy alcohol, food and canned white foam which they use to spray their neighbors. So it is great opportunity to be a child for the day and spray and be sprayed by white foam and I had a great time playing and laughing all three days. It would not be unusual for the late arrivals to walk up into the stands looking for a seat to be suddenly attacked by everyone and be covered by white foam by the time they found a seat. Everyone is in a very friendly partying mood and many or dressed in costumes. The neighbors that I had been battling with spray offered me shots of whiskey and food. As a gringo you will attract much attention. You have many visitors from out of town and I often got approached by families or individuals who spoke English and wanted to know about me and share information about their lives. As a stranger I was invited to attend a family party and I was invited by another family to visit them in their small town with assurance they would protect me. In one case I was lightly spraying this woman’s children and she came over looking mad trying to spray me but I had the wind with me and I held her back with my defense. So after her futile attempts and ultimate retreat she comes over and sits to the right of me and put her hand on my shoulder and starts telling me about her family and where she lives and spraying whiskey down my throat and then her sister comes over to me and sits below my feet and puts her hands on my lap and also starts asking me questions. Now if you were looking at this situation you would think these two women must know me or they are flirting with me to be so close and touchy. Yet this not the case both their husbands were present this is just an example of how friendship is demonstrate by many Colombians. This is was an upper income family. They had relatives that were married to Americans and said it must be great to live in America. They also offered to help me with anything I may need help with. The warmth is very unusual to experience from strangers but it happens quite often to me in Colombia.

Now as a Gringo you will not only attract the attention of those that speak English but of the young, Colombian women many who are very assertive when it comes to trying to catch your attention. While this is not new to me I will give examples of some of the experiences one may run into while visiting Colombia. Now even though I had a beautiful woman by my side, young women would sit around me and literally stare. And when you do glance at them they will smile at you. There are no subtle hints going on if they are interested they let you know. At one event across the street a group of women were staring at me and waving and smiling whenever I looked over. Now I am thinking ok one of these women may belong to the agency or maybe they are friends of someone I know so after an hour of this I have my friend wave them over to see what they want. Now all these women looked about 20 and one of the women beyond complimenting me wanted to know if she can give me her phone number and what I was doing tonight. Now these women see me with another woman what makes them think I would be available. The assumption should be the other way around, but many of these young, good looking women don’t lack confidence when it comes to seeking what they want regardless of the competition that stands in front of them. I have found the 18-20 year old girls to be the most brazen. Women in their early 20’s to early 30’s will often be more lady like in their approach yet still obvious. Anyway this stuff happens to me in Colombia all the time and it one of the hazards I have to endure day after day after day.

Engage the Exotic – Colombian Women
http://International-Introductions.com

[Thunderstruck]

... in response to Barranquilla Carnival and Colombian Wome..., posted by Jamie on Feb 8, 2005

This attention may be due to the competition among women. Question is, would a gringo get this attention if he was alone? If you're with a girl you don't need the attention and chicks know this. One of the tips in "Art of Mackin" is to always go out with a platonic girlfriend to stimulate this kind of attention.

[Heat]

... in response to Barranquilla Carnival and Colombian Wome..., posted by Jamie on Feb 8, 2005

VEry good post.  thanks

[jediknight]

... in response to Barranquilla Carnival and Colombian Wome..., posted by Jamie on Feb 8, 2005

[This message has been edited by jediknight]

very detailed post, while reading it i felt like i was there enjoying it. my girlfriend in barranquilla told me she and her family had lots of fun, the foam was being used instead of water which apparantly was the norm before. wednesday the city goes back to normal after a 4-5 day shut down, everything or almost everything was closed.

as far as friendly colombianas, i had the same experience last month. i would get looks and many smiles, now i'm not bad looking but no brad pitt or tom cruise, just your average normal guy, so for those of you that are a bit shy or used to the gringas shutting you down if you say hello or just look at them, it won't happen here. quite the opposite, the girls i met in the aisles in the supermarkets, the malls, everywhere were very open and friendly, so different from the girls here.

the girls in colombia are so easy to talk to and friendly it's unbelievable, many times too friendly. the worst was in bogota, my girl and I were leaving a carulla and 3 really cute, young girls were waiting outside, they saw my girl kiss me after i bought her some chocolate, we were holding hands and on the way out they still said hello. as we were walking away i turned back and they were still looking and smiling, my girl couldn't believe it, she said they were all very young and immature, they looked like 18/19 year olds, it still feels nice to get the attention but i can't show it.

[OkieMan]

... in response to Re: Barranquilla Carnival and Colombian ..., posted by jediknight on Feb 9, 2005

Jediknight,
So, would I assume that the attention would be to an even larger degree, if you were not with a "special" latina?  Based on your experience, are these other girls simply looking for a date, or do you think that they might be available for a "meaningful" relationship?  I don't want to go too far with this next question, but since these girls are supposed not prostitutes, but just regular, ordinary girls; what is your take on the difference between their friendliness, and a more "obvious" come on? (or can you tell)?  I have been to Cali, but not to BAQ, so is there any difference between the two cities, or areas of Colombia, concerning this type of issue?  I personally have never experienced what you described in your story.  But, I am curious.

                             OkieMan

[jediknight]

... in response to Re: Re: Barranquilla Carnival and Colomb..., posted by OkieMan on Feb 9, 2005

[This message has been edited by jediknight]

my first experience with this type of attention was in 2001 when i went to cartagena. as i mentioned before, i'm not a model type but i'm in my late 30's, decent shape and i have been told many times that i'm good looking, having said that, in 2001 i would walk down the streets, in the shopping centers, buses, everwhere and would get looks. it may have been the clothes or that i smile allot, it may have been that people could tell i wasn't from there or the color of my eyes or a combination of all of the above but i got and still get attention that i don't get here.

it could also be that the colombianas are more open and friendly, in cartagena i went out to dinner with my girlfriend at the time and i was looking good, well dressed, well groomed, a tan and at the table across from us were 4 young ladies and they wouldn't stop staring, smiling, so much so that my girlfriend asked me if i knew them. we finished our dinner and left but to answer your question, i've never followed through with someone smiling at me because everytime i've been to colombia i've always had someone i was interested in so out of respect i never approached someone or asked for a number. i think that if you are not with that special someone then you might get more attention or you might be more aware of it. i feel that you can tell when someone is just being nice or really interested in you, in the smiles, in the body language, in the eyes, whether they laugh or giggle. as to whether they want just a date or something more meaningful, i think that part of it depends on the age and where you meet these girls. the younger they are(18-25), the more likely they're looking for a goodtime, the older they are (25 and up) the more of a chance of something serious, but of course this is not set in stone and doesn't apply to everyone so your milage may vary.

also, i think that it may be different if you meet a girl at a bar or club than if you meet her at a museum, church, library etc. i've found that the younger girls are getting to be more like the young american girls in that they go out allot, love to party, are looking for a goodtime, looking for someone to buy them things so be careful and keep your eyes open. one thing that has really helped me in the girls that i've met is really looking at the type of relationship that they have with their family, are they close, open, do they keep secrets from their parents or do they tell them everything, are they religious, is their family religious. the 2 girls that have interested me the most over the years have had this type of homelife, close to the parents, no secrets between them, religious(not fanatics)church going people, open,honest, hard working, not looking for handouts or someone to take care of them.

i've never been to cali but i remember talking about this with my current girlfriend and she said that the costenas are very friendly and any gesture or outward signs of friendliness might be easily misinterpreted by an outsider as interest or a come on, so be aware of this, enjoy the fact that women in colombia are very approachable, invite girls for lunch or a softdrink and see what happens, the worst they can say is no thanks but then you move on to the next, that's one of the great things about colombia that its not the end of the world if someone politely declines your offer, there are thousands of others that will accept, just take things slow, look for someone close to your age, i'd say 10 -15 max in age difference but over 25 and see what happens.
good luck

[zack]

... in response to Barranquilla Carnival and Colombian Wome..., posted by Jamie on Feb 8, 2005

I attended the first parade. The crowd was huge. It took 30 minutes just to push my way to my reserved seat. But I found it to be entertaining. More work was put into the costumes and dancing than the floats, and I think it payed off. Getting a close glimps at Miss Colombia was worth the wait.

Your comments about the gays in the parade are accurate and I agree with your opinion completely. It was a real appetite-killer. I heard that one of the parades consisted of nothing but gays with similar disgusting costumes and gestures. I was amazed to hear that it also draws large crowds. My novia asked me if I wanted to attend. No thanks. Is that their idea of entertainment- men dressed as women, flaunting their inflated body parts and proudly darting their tongues at the crowd? While most people cheered, I was wishing I had a few cans of spray foam.

Zack