Differences in culture! US and Colombia

[Brazilophile]

... in response to more and more women becoming overweight...., posted by teoblas on Oct 5, 2005

I agree.  And the cost of fresh unprocessed food is many times that of processed food.  Publix is a major grocery chain in South Florida.  A fresh pineapple is selling for $7.00 while a hamburger at Rallys/Checkers sells for $1.50.  SoFlo is a troical area.  Why are tropical fruits so expensive here?!?!?

It is no wonder we (Americans) are getting fat when after paying for gas, all we have left is enough to buy cheap fast food.

[Kiltboy1]

... in response to more and more women becoming overweight...., posted by teoblas on Oct 5, 2005

I agree

Every latina i have talked to that has come here to the US has said they all gained weight and could not figure out why because they did not really change what they ate that much. Processed food is my take as well.

KB

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: more and more women becoming overwei..., posted by Kiltboy1 on Oct 5, 2005

KB,
Howe about less walking and more sitting.I think its less calories burned more than more taken in.Whateverr it is,therre is a difference.I have lost 27 lbs here,the last
being sick.Up early this morniug,Nurse,not Beatriz giving me IV's.A  story coming.
I think I sweat it out more here also.I lost 10 lbs my first week her in 1993.
MAYBE its a CERTAIN type of physical exercise WE get LOTS more of here,follow?And them too.

Pete

[utopiacowboy]

... in response to Re: Differences in culture!  US and Colo..., posted by adventuro on Oct 4, 2005

Flacas over 40? My wife was 42 when I met her, 5'5" and 110 pounds. They used to call her "Barbie" at the Coltejer textile plant in Itaqui. Her three sisters also have classic Colombiana figures and are quite pleasing to look at as well. I see plenty of older Colombian women with astonishing bodies. However, you may very well be right and I am seeing the exceptions. What part of Colombia are you familiar with?

[Brazilophile]

... in response to Differences in culture!  US and Colombia, posted by darolina1 on Oct 4, 2005

Thank you for comments.  I am also curious about the specific states and cities you have lived in.  The points you mention can be true for a region or group, but not for the US as a whole.

For example, the cold/warm point for Americans tends to run that in the large cities and their suburbs people are cold but in the smaller towns people are very warm.

Your music/rhythm point is wrong.  That is an artifact of the less than socially adept men who patronize to the marriage agencies.  You clearly have never heard of the Limelight, Danceteria, or the Tunnel, all extremely popular dance clubs in Manhattan, where artists like Madonna started their careers.  Nor of any of the hyper popular dance clubs in South Beach, Miami.  The style of dance is also very different in the US.  An American might be very good at line dancing to country music, but fail miserably at merengue.

[thundernco]

... in response to Re: Differences in culture!  US and Colo..., posted by Brazilophile on Oct 4, 2005

BP,

South Beach IS South America. ;-) -TNC

[CelticUrge]

... in response to Re: Re: Differences in culture!  US and ..., posted by thundernco on Oct 4, 2005

Growing up in south Florida I've always heard it to be that "Miami is the capital of Latin America."

[papi]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Differences in culture!  US ..., posted by CelticUrge on Oct 5, 2005

When I traveled here as a kid – it was basically Cubans and gringos.  Now, with maybe the exception of the gringos that frequent S Beach – Miami is Latin America.  I am the only gringo living in my large complex, my gym, etc.  Stores have bilingual signage and the announcements at the neighborhood WalMart are in Spanish.  You need to speak some Spanish now to communicate in many sections of Miami.  The Latinas here are no different than AW, maybe even more so wish to socialize among themselves including the Colombianas which speaks volumes as to the real motivation with respect to foreign romance – economics! Maybe to a lesser extent - males in foreign lands are less committal than those living here and are kids in a candy store. To that end, the chances of me getting a date with a attractive Latina here in miami say even just 15 years younger than me - probably 0

[utopiacowboy]

... in response to Differences in culture!  US and Colombia, posted by darolina1 on Oct 4, 2005

What parts or part of the US are you familiar with?

[Snoopy]

... in response to Differences in culture!  US and Colombia, posted by darolina1 on Oct 4, 2005


"In the mean time, I’m always open for questions" = Caro

Are you still OPENED to receive and ANSWER emails as you had stated before, or was that just a colombiana tease

[Cali James]

... in response to Differences in culture!  US and Colombia, posted by darolina1 on Oct 4, 2005

[This message has been edited by Cali James]

"To be honest, we care about everybody, we love to know about people’s life and stories, we gossip all the time, it’s weird, but it’s almost like we care TOO MUCH about what other people say about us, that’s a major difference between the US and Colombia."

I tend to agree, Colombians in general seem to care very much what others think of them or how they are perceived by others. North Americans tend to be more independent and care less about what others think.  To be honest, I think it's a superficial type of caring but North Americans can be that way too.

I don't think Colombians in general are any more caring than North Americans if you look at caring in a broad sense.  Yes they are friendly people but outside their immediate family, there's a lack of trust among many of them.  Many are suspicious, not trusting in others or in the institutions that help make up an advanced society. I can understand the distrust as corruption has penetrated all aspects of society from government to the churches.  I think this and many other things has created a society that is schizophrenic, very friendly at one level but not engaged or indifferent at an other.  Colombians have become so disillusioned that they just let all the bad things around them happen, their heads are in the sand. I love the Colombian family but outside of it, things are a lot more cloudy.

An example of indifference or not wanting to get involved happened in my wife's family a few years back.  My wife's brother who was riding a moto was run over by a bus in broad day light.  He was just left in the street to die basicly.  Noone on the street took the time to stop and call the police or a hospital.  Maybe people didn't know what to do, I understand Colombian society is less organized when it comes to stuff like that.  But the kicker is this, some walker by who didn't have time to call an ambulance apparently did have time to steal his wallet. Truly amazing, I don't think this would happen in North America or maybe I'm naive but I think someone would call 911 or stop to help.

I'm told that North Americans are colder than Colombians and on the surface I agree but look a little deeper, I think it's more complex.

[jediknight]

... in response to Re: Differences in culture!  US and Colo..., posted by Cali James on Oct 4, 2005

[This message has been edited by jediknight]

these are very good points. colombian girlfriends that i've dated in the past have told me that in colombia when something happens, you turn and run the other way, you dont get involved, its not becuase they are indifferent, cold or callous, they are taught from a very young age to get away from the fire or else you may be the next victim. one day in nyc i was with a colombiana ex and noticed that a car that was about to stop at a red light did not have  its lights on, i  signaled to the driver until he realized what i was telling him, my ex thought i was crazy for getting involved, she thought the guy was going to jump out and beat the hell out of me, but this is part of their culture. also, we are more direct when it comes to saying what is on our minds, colombians  are afraid of confrontation or offending anyone. americans have no problem in telling someone, even a perfect stranger that they just got a bad haircut, colombians will never say it to your face. you will always hear...me da pena decirselo...which means i'm too embarrassed to tell him. they use "pena" a lot and i get so sick of it because it prevents them from, not only saying what is on their mind, but also prevents them from asking questions for fear of appearing dumb or being embarrased for asking. case in point, my fiancee had not gotten paid at work for 2 weeks (typical in colombia) so i told her to tell her boss that she doesn't work for free and to find out when she was getting paid. my fiance would say..como se te ocurre or me da pena preguntarle. these are some of the differences that bother me.
JK

[soltero]

... in response to Differences in culture!  US and Colombia, posted by darolina1 on Oct 4, 2005

Thanks very much for responding to this question. Your responses were exactly what I thought they might be. I am very interested in seeing what else you add to this if you want to post any more examples.