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Dear friends,

I am reading many stories about agencies.
Allthough I do never used them in SA (only once back in germany many years ago:-( I think I may write my opinion.

First the pro's imho:
1) Agencies are great to meet many woman on a short time. Time is always an enemy for men with limited time/funds that are in a forreign country looking for a wife.
2) For shy guys (or guys who don't know spanish/Portugese) agencies are probably the ONLY thing they can do for getting a wife in SA.
3)GOOD agencies allready put out the riff-raff and the non-serious girls from their data bases....that is what i HOPE they are doing!!!
They also can screen girls that want to become a member.
If I forgot some thing please tell me.

Now the bad side.
1)Agencies are (mostly) there to make money. So they seldomly have filantropic motives.
2)Women in agencies are usualy more demanding and less prepared to make compromises then other women. Behold......after some men ahve gone,the next plane load of new men allready awaits for them!!
3)In some cases agencies owners "influence"the women be telling them what to say,what to ask or even what men are good and which aren't! So in many cases the spontanic effect is totaly lost if two people for the fist time meet eachother.
4) Last but not least.....let's face it: there is also a lot of "riff-raff among agencies. Agencies who are just intrested in making $$$$ and nothing else.
Offcourse I gladly want to believe there are exceptions. But were are they???? And even if an agency seems trustworthy and good for one man...this could NOT be the case for another man.

If you are willing and able to learn spanish (or Portugese if going to "hunt"in Brasil),have a normal set of brains and a healthy dosis of self-cunfidance imho there is NO need for agencies.
Many man seem to think that a good job,a big wallet or simply the fact that you are American or European is good to find a decent latina. WEll friends.....this is NOT so;-)
The agencies that I know of in Brasil and that are German-based are mostly trustworthy BUT......very expensive!!(In most cases the guy has to pay up to € 3000,- before he actualy can invite the girl back to Germany;and then another round of spending €'s begins!!)

But that is my opinion.

Other alternatives for agencies are placing ads yourself in local newspapers or on the internet. Also just going there and see what happens often is good if you know the language and have no problems with talking to strange women.
Chatrooms can also be good places to meet women,however.......most women in these rooms are mostly from better families or even upper class. IF you are the type of guy that is looking for JUST a pretty lady that makes a perfect homemaker...NOT go to thse chatrooms because you will NOT find what you are looking for.
Going XXX times to SA to get to know the lady is IMHO useless. Sure you should go there and see what's up with her and her surroundings. But going there 3-4-5 times (JUST to see her),spending much money and sponsoring her family is NOT the way.
You ONLY get to know her good IF she is living with YOU together. And only then.
Even some Germans that I know off went  several times to Brasil for meeting their GF's. In total this took 2-3 years. AFther they got to Germany most relationships ended rather suddenly....or within 6-8 months.Strange?? NO.
Lesson to be learnt: You ONLY get to know the woman IF you life together in the surroundings were you want to life with her.Which is in most cases USA or Europe. Only a few men can afford a live permanently in SA.....without ending up as a bum.

Please try and nor forget: this is SA...and NOT USA or Europe. Here a man can easely in many situations flirt with a woman on the street.Or in malls....or in shops or at market places.
Also in SA it is not a shame that friends,collegues even strangers set you up with a girl!! Matchmaking here is not so weird as it is in the West.

Just TRY it.

Right now I am chating with 5(!) latinas from Colombia. Untill now they seem much more romantic as Argentinians......but less liberal then Braseileras.

regards,

Hans-Erich.

PS: sponsoring the family is another hot topic,so it seems. On another occasion I will write about that.

... in response to Agencies??? My opinon., posted by HansErich on Aug 1, 2003

Agencies just in business to make money? As you pointed out they are not philanthropic.
But like any business if you try to give good service you will have a better chance of success.Making money doesn't mean poor service,it encourages it.
There are a number of good agencies in Cali.The top 4,I think,are Latin Encounters,Latin Best,All Colombian Girls and Latin Internet.They all have their pluses and minuses but would all be a good bet.And tey are not really expensive.The old huge fee to walk in the door is dead.There is usually a small fee,maybe $200-$400 and you can avoid that by staying at the agency in most cases.
Times past Latin Conecins,now dfunct,charged $1000 to walk in the door.If you don't know what you are doing you can pay someone like Latin Life mates,who has no agencies,several hundred dollars just to point you to an agency you could have went directly to.
In 1999 I used Latin Love,unfortunately out of business.They started the no fee just pay for your room and everything is included.Of course that made it hard for someone to keep charging $1000,and tat particular guy ws very unhappy and haunted the web sites for along time knocking the competition.Latin Love had an 18,000 sq ft mansion called the Crystall Palace.I loved it.They did charge $100 a night,which I thought was fair.But you don't have to pay $100 a night in Cali and a couple of agencies opened that charged $40 or so.Latin Love couldn't compete with the prices so they closed.Some family members are still running an agency using their old books,but it pretty dead I think.
The other way to drop a bundle of money is do a tour.Thats where you pay someone about $1000 to throw 2 parties for you.They do get severl hundred women out for the parties,but a waste of time as well as money in my opinion.You will probably only meet the more aggresive girls who are the worst bets.
For guys who speak good spanish and want to try it,go ahead andtry to meet girls in the malls.B just like guys who write a few women and go to see them,you better have a back up plan if that doesn't work and the agency is that plan,actually the primary plan for most guys.
You can go through the books,look at several hundred women,get some imformation about them and decide who you want to meet.You can then meet one an hour if you like.I don't recommend that.4-6 a day is plenty.There is nothing like meeting the women in person.Many a write has written a girl for months and knew the first miniute he met her she was not for him.The girl canbe very disapointed.Worse yet out of guilt or not knowing what else to do you may waste your whole trip on a girl you are not interested in.And thats a shame when you are in the hot women capital of the world.You coud have met 30 or 40 and most likely really hit it off with someone.
Yes some agency girls are scamers.Some just want to be intertained.But there are lots of sincere girls.A few of the hotest looking ones seem to get all the action but there are hundreds of good girls,many who look much beter in person than their pictures.I think my wife is beautifull.
She had been with the agency 8 months and I was her first inteview.She was 33 with a child,but thats what I was looking for.Most girls wanted to have childrn in the future.Being in my 50's that was not at all what I wanted.
Some guys think they can find bette girls outside the agency.As if there is something wrong with a girl who is motivated enough to join aagency.
Try it.Remember the back up plan.If you don't meet someone you are serious about and you also don't meet a large number of girls,you might not know what you are missing.
I loved the agency set up myself.It was very easy and non threatening and honest even,no sharades,you are both there to meet someone.In another setting it might seem rude to just try to cover alot of issues quckly to find outif yoo are interested.Its expected in the agency.What a time saver.Why is time important?Because if you didn't meet the girl of your dreams you did not have enough of it.

Pete

... in response to Agencies??? My opinon., posted by HansErich on Aug 1, 2003

Thanks for your interesting & thoughtful opinions. I agree that serial visits and a long-term courtship don't guarantee successs in a relationship; it's more like extra insurance that adds psychological benefits, real or illusory. As Colombian women have consistently told me, "Nunca acabas de concocer a alguien." You never stop learning about someone. There's no substitute for living with your partner.

I'm curious: What countries have you visited? How often do you stay?

You make good points about meeting women on the street. As for me, I speak pretty good Spanish. But I've always been a little shy about approaching women in public, even in Latin America, where ladies seem much more open & accessible than in the U.S. I probably should have tried that approach more often in my trips to SA.

Interestingly, however, my current lady Numero Uno is someone I met this way, on a beach in Colombia. It will make a great story one day (romantic comedy, of course)... if it works out! I'll know more after I visit her this month.

BTW, I've known several Brasilieros here in L.A.; they're great, fun people. Too bad I didn't explore that side of SA... Well, it's never too late.

... in response to Agencies??? My opinon., posted by HansErich on Aug 1, 2003

Hans,

If you have never used an agency in SA...you can't really be serious about forming an opinion on what you have heard and read.  That is simply what we call hearsay.

I had a positive experience in SA with Margareth at Latin Encounters, and I know 5 other guys who are also happy and have nice wives that they met at an agency.

The agency is the smallest part of the experience.  After the intro, it's just another relationship like any other.

There are good women in the agencies and there are a few others...  Guys usually tend to pick like minds from what I have seen.  Other guys get just plain unlucky.  But many hit the jackpot.

I like your posts, and enjoy hearing your opinions about things that you actually have personal experience with.

... in response to Re: Agencies??? My opinon., posted by Wayne11 on Aug 2, 2003

OK maybe you are right. Maybe i was a bit biased. (is that teh right word??)
But I lived several years in Argentina (BA) and in Brasil...!! So i guess I know what I am talking about.
Besieds that I know many (german) men that did try the agencies.
True....not in Colombia....but still.

I think whjen a guy first learns the languages there is just no need for any agencies.

It is a pitty that we can (maybe??) not meet...
I could show you HOW easely it is to speak to ANY latina on the street...shopping centre or were ever!!(even on the bus).

They are mostly quite open and in for Flirting. Even the married ones!;-)

best regards,

Hans-Erich.