Baranquilla Trip Report Feb 9-Feb25

[Quixote9]

Hello Everyone,

I just got back from my first trip to Colombia last week and thought I should write a report about it while a lot of the details are still fresh in my head.  I used Jamie's Agency, International Introductions, because it was so highly recommended on this site.  Everyone says that Jamie is a perfectionist, and I have to agree, that guy is driven to provide the best possible experience to his clients.  His agencies services are pretty spendy, but with him you can be certain you will be receiving exactly what he and his website promises.  If you can afford it, definitely make as much use of his service as possible.
   A little about me: I am 33 years old, never been married, no kids, college educated, definitely not rich.   Physically I don't think I am unattractive, but I am not very photogenic I guess.  Before I went down I sent the agency some photos of me to show the girls, Jamie picks one photo and sends it with your profile out to all the women to see who is interested in meeting you.  I can't stress enough how important that one photo will be in determining if a girl will agree to meet you or not.  You might think these girls are just visa hunters, or looking for a rich guy, or whatever.  Not true, I believe from what I've seen that almost all of these girls are looking for a real relationship with a guy they are genuinely attracted to.  That being said, the girls basically are going to agree to meet with you based on what they think of your photo, your height, weight, age, and possibly your race.  When I got down to Colombia everyone said I didn't look anything at all like my photo, and I was constantly being asked by girls why I sent such unflattering pictures of myself to the agency.  I ran into several girls who had declined to meet me, none of them recognized me from my photo and wanted to know why they hadn't been shown my profile, I had to explain that they had seen my profile and had shot me down!

My tips for what girls are looking for in your photo:
1. Your Eyes.  Your eyes should be visible, the girl should be able to see what color your eyes are.  No sunglasses, you might what to be indoors so you aren't squinting from the sunlight.
2. Your Body.  Don't leave your shirt untucked, no baggy pants, loose fitting clothing, or bulky winter coats.  The girls seem to scrutinised your photo intensely to see if you are in shape, fat, whatever.  I am not saying you should send in a picture of yourself shirtless, just that you should wear clothing that fits you properly and accurately displays your body-type.  No unflattering poses.
3. Your Face.  Shave, no facial hair is to your benefit.  Girls don't like beards or mustaches, it makes the guys look older and more serious plus the girls want to see your whole face.  Smile, try not to look either too goofy or too serious.  Be well groomed.
4.  Girls complain Colombian guys are too short.  If you are tall, show that off in your photo.

   I had a long trip from Oregon to Colombia, it included a 12 hour layover in Dallas/Ft Worth and I didn't want to shell out for a hotel room, so I hadn't really slept in 36 hours by the time I got to Barranquilla.  Feeling tired, stressed, and stinky.  And that is how I met Girl #1 and my translator.  Jamie had told me he had arranged for them to pick me up.  He had said that Girl #1 was gorgeous, but even so I was surprised at how attractive she was.  Tried to play it cool though, like 19 knockouts pick me up at the airport all the time.  The translator was really cool, lots of fun to talk to, and succeed in making me feel at ease very quickly.  I had arranged to be in Barranquilla 16 nights, but had only booked a translator for 5 days as I spoke some Spanish.  I quickly realized that having a translator around is good for allot of other things besides translation, and that I probably should have booked her for the entire trip despite the rather expensive rate.
   What your translator will/should do for you.  She will of course translate, but that is not all.  She will be your social secretary, keeping track of your many dates, scheduling introductions, suggesting places to take dates, instructing the taxi driver where to go and what is a fair price, telling you what clothes to wear, getting you to an ATM when your cash is low, all manner of things you will take for granted until you don't have her around.  She will give you feedback on what she thinks of the girls, give the girls you like feedback to let them know that you are seriously interested in them, She will keep the conversation going if it starts to die, and she will make excuses for you if you are not interested in the girls and want to eject from the date.
  Anyway, girl #1,the translator, and I get into the cab and head back to the agency.   I notice that the girl has what looks like a huge cubic zurcium looking ring on her left hand and I start thinking, "Is this girl engaged already?  Did they just twist the arm of some hot girl to come and meet me because they couldn't find anyone else to come pick me up at the airport?"  I make conversation, she speaks some English and we talk for a while until we pass by her house where she gets out.  My translator talks with her before she goes inside, then my translator asks me what I think of her.  I say she seemed nice and very attractive, but mention the ring and that I didn't get the impression that she was that interested in me.  Translator informs me that the ring is just a ring, not an engagement ring, and that she'd asked Girl #1 if she was interested in me and that Girl #1 had indicated she was very much interested in me.  Good to know, if I had not had a translator with me I would have read that situation completely wrong.  I let my translator know I would definitely be interested in meeting Girl#1 again then.
  We get to agency office and I meet Jamie.  Nice guy, seems kind of serious but then a lot of people get that impression from me to.  He seems kind of ticked that Girl #1 didn't accompany me all the way back to the office.  I say that it's no big deal, that her house was on the way to the office, but that didn't seem to mollify him.  He mentions, like everyone else does my entire trip, that I look much better in person and that I did not help myself out with the photos I sent in.  He asks me if I noticed the girls in the lobby getting their photos taken for the site.. asks me if I would like to meet any of them (he will always ask this anytime you are in the office and there are new girls hanging around)  They all seemed very attractive so I said sure (However it turned out one of the girls had 3 kids, no jobs skills, and for many reasons was just not my type, so make sure to ask Jamie some questions about the girls he asks you to meet off the cuff.  Don't waste your time or the girl's time)
   Took a quick shower, changed clothes, then my translator got me because my lunch date was there.  Lunch date was with one of the girls I had indicated as a favorite.  Of my 14 favorites only a few indicated interest so I was kind of excited to meet her.  Oh my god was she gorgeous.  Probably one of the hottest girls I have ever seen in my life.  She was a nurse but looked like a model. Turns out she was a model, but I think that means something different in Colombia.. it means she was hired hang out in bars and to get guys to buy a certain brand of whiskey or something.  I was nervous but tried very hard to be charming,  she didn't seem to have much to say.  Sometimes she just seemed shy at other times disinterested.  She looked at her phone allot to read her text messages during the date which I found rude.  Translator decided we needed to go to the shopping center to pick me up some groceries, so we all got in the cab and went to the mall.  While translator and I are talking and picking out groceries, this girl walks about 10 steps behind us talking on her cell phone.  After the date is over I tell my translator I didn't think it went very well, she agreed, but was surprised when she spoke to my date who seemed to think the date went well and would like to see me again.  I thought, hot as she was, I was not going to waste time on a girl who seemed completely bored with me.
   Went back to the office, changed clothes again, and had my first group introduction.  Eveyone shows up late in Colombia so girls start trickling in for 45 mins.  Eventually about 10 show up.  Last girl shows up about 15 mins into the introduction, and apologizes profusely in English which she seems to be fluent in.  My translator instructs her to speak Spanish, otherwise it is not fair to the other girls there.   I would recommend having a list of questions ready, or storeys about yourself you wish to share, something... because most of girls seemed to have no questions for me.. once they saw me they were interested in dating me.  It is up to you to ask the probing questions to get to know them better, all they are interested in at this point is getting you to pick them.  Of the 10 girls I felt an attraction to 3 of them,  translator ushered me into my room while she talked to the girls before they left.  All of them liked me, but the girl who I liked most (late girl who spoke English) is who I wanted to meet first so we went out to a Mexican restaurant.  This girl was also very attractive, she looked nothing like her photo (most of the girls don't) and bore a strong resemblance to Penelope Cruz. She was a nursing student, very bright, charismatic, and sincere.  I liked her allot, maybe too much.  Still my first day in Colombia I was still feeling kind of tired and out of it, nervous too.  She definitely picked up on that.  While Colombian girls like that a North American man will be more polite and less aggressive than a Colombian guy... they still expect a guy to be pretty aggressive and confident.  They expect you to put your arm around them, hold their hand, go for the kiss, do things that physically demonstrate you are a confident man and that you are interested in them.

That is pretty much how my first day went.  This is turning out to be much longer than I thought it would be.  I will continue the rest of this trip report in a 2nd installment I guess.

[sean126]

Great trip report.  I'm glad you managed to get your eye balls back in your head. LOLOL.  Looking forward to the follow ups.

[utopiacowboy]

Good report.

Colombians wear their wedding rings on their right hand.

[raycjs]

I am glad you had a great trip and you took are advice and used Jamie's service
he offer a great services all the time.

Ray

[soltero]

Excellent report! I really like how you not only shared your experience but also put in your two cents as advice for others in what to do and not do. I especially enjoyed how you explained what Jamie's translators actually do, because I didn't know. I thought they basically translated and that was it. I hope that this trip won't be your last as I would enjoy hearing more of your perspective on things. If you think of anything else you would like to share, please do...this was a very interesting and informative read.

I love the trip reports of first timers because they bring back the energy and exuberance of being new and shiny. 

Don't get me wrong, I would not trade my girl for any other woman on the planet. She is gathering the info needed for her interview as I am typing this and hopefully will be here by June, but there is something to be said about the rush of meeting many gorgeous new women with the hopes of finding the one. You conveyed that feeling very well. Thanks for a great report!

I am looking forward to the next installment!

[dennislevy]

Just a fabulous first trip report.  Put in as many details as you want, the serious men on this web site want to know as much as they can.

 Also is there another guy down there. I know jamie can accomodate two men at a time.  Are you having any interaction with him?

Thanks!!!!

Dennis   

[xcited]

Great report -- being new myself I would like to hear how you came to choose Columbia for your search.  Also, any details about the places you went and the feel of the country in general.  Very interesting!!!

[EbonyPrince]

Excellent and informative trip report thus far.  It definately brings back memories.  Thus far Jamie's service has no comparison in Colombia as far as delivery and customer service goes.

I look forward to the rest of your trip.  As you type it definately gets long.  When I do trip reports now, I try to just type them offline in Word or something to collect my thoughts.  I then just paste in which I found helps, so you can write a little at a time.

[drm64]

Great post. Can't wait to see what happens and kudos to you for not compromising for the beauty that didn't give you the attention you deserve. Sacrificing too much for a beautiful latina is no way to start a lifelong relationship.

[JamesDonut]

Ditto to everyone's comments so far.  Excellent report sir!! 

[Kiltboy1]

Yes Sir

Great report. It always puzzles me though why Colombians wear there wedding rings on the right hand. They are the only group of latinos I have come across that does this. Every other latin country I have visited, they wear the wedding ring on the left hand as it is customary in most places as being the "HAND CLOSEST TO THE HEART"

KB

[xcited]

Kiltboy1

being the "HAND CLOSEST TO THE HEART"

I was always told that the reason it was the third finger of the left hand is because that is the only finger that has a nerve that travels directly to the heart.  Does anyone know the facts on this one?



Xcited

[Quixote9]

Someone responded to my last post with a question about how many guys Jamie's agency can accommodate at one time.  Well, I am not sure how many translators he has on staff in total. He has allot of translators but some of them are only for emergencies or for translating letters or phone calls or whatever.  I know he has at least 2 on staff that are always assigned to clients visiting Colombia. The other translators probably aren't as experienced and can't give you as much advice and assistance as the translators that specialize in the introduction tours.

I know that Jamie can provide sleeping accommodations for at least three clients at once.  There is kind of a small suite in the actual agency office that I stayed in for 4 nights and the are 2 guest rooms at the beach house in Salgar (I stayed in one of these for the remainder of my time in Colombia).  I believe Jamie also is renovating another beach house right next to the first, probably to expand his business.  All his rooms and his primary translators are all booked all the time so you can't extend your stay or keep your translator for additional days once you are down there.  Or at least I wasn't able to.

In total I met four other guys who were past or present clients of Jamie's agency. 
   Karl was my housemate at the Salgar house for a week.  I only booked a translator for my first 5 days, so she spent helped Karl after that.  Interesting guy, 49 years old, in good shape, definitely more of a hard partying guy than me, dated from what seemed like an entirely different pool of girls than the ones I met.  That guy was fearless... after 4 days in Colombia he got engaged, threw an engagement party, bought a ring, and was already applying for a fiancee visa.  Actually I think Karl's/My translator did all the actual work throwing the engagement party, picking out the ring, getting the girl's fiancee paper work in order... the translator even had to pop the question for Karl as he didn't speak a word of Spanish! His fiancee was 23 (same age as Karl's daughter lol ) totally beautiful, and always seemed like she couldn't believe her good luck (You could've knocked her over with a feather).
   After Karl a Canadian guy came down and took Karl's room.  He seemed younger than Karl but older than me, a teacher who spoke English/French and pretty good Spanish.  He kind of had a nerdy/nervous energy going on (like I am one to talk!!! )  I didn't get to know him that well as I left 2 days later, but I tried to pass on to him what little advice I had acquired.  He didn't seem willing to heed the translator's advice on how to dress himself (like matching his belt with his shoes, what shirt goes with what pair of pants, etc.) and had some grooming issues I did not know how to politely point out to him.  I only saw two of the girls who came to the Salgar house to visit him and got the sense that either he had very different taste in women from me or he wasn't able to choose from as wide a selection.
   Mickey was a guy (mid thirties) I kept running into around town with his fiancee, a very pretty 20 year old girl who used to work in Jamie's office. I think he was a former client of Jamie's but I got the impression he wasn't a huge fan.  He was working from Colombia for 2 months to spend time with his fiancee.  He didn't speak any Spanish and was putting his GF through English classes at Colombo.  They seemed to really get along great despite their limited ability to communicate with each other.
  I also ran into another client of Jamie's who was with his fiancee and his translator.  I don't think he was staying in one of Jamie's rooms though, just using one of his translators. 

[papajeff]

great trip report i'm actually heading down over memorial day for 5 days have been in contact with Jamie, through phone and email. I was just wondering majority of his girls do not fill in all the info,{sorta makes it tough to get a read" how well is he scanning these girls and would you recommend staying at the office or the beach house...Keep up the great info

[Quixote9]

I don't want to bad mouth Jamie's service because in all respects outside of housing he did above and beyond for me  .  But you asked, and nothing I am going to say probably comes as a suprise to Jamie, just the same old stuff that everyone who stays there complains about.

Here is my advice if you are going to stay in the office apartment. Here are the Pros: It is a convenient place to stay because it is close to most of the recommended restaurants and places to go for your dates; you can go into the office and talk with the staff any time you need something; you can crash on your bed or surf the internet between dates; you can go for a walk and explore the city.  The Cons: everyone in the office is going to know all your business; you are going to feel like your life is under a microscope; the hot water does not always work; the office girls like to use the computer in here while you're out and might forget to lock your room when they leave;  Jamie and everyone else in the office will know what time you come back at night, what you did, and who with;  Your dates will probably not find the lack of privacy very romantic. 

Now the Beach house in Salgar. The pros:  The house-sitter Darling is the nicest and most helpful woman and will assist you with whatever you need (but she doesn't speak English); the house is beautiful and has a very private romantic atmosphere (Every girl I brought out to the Salgar beach house got very affectionate very quickly).  The cons: No TV, no stereo, unreliable electricity, unreliable hot water (unreliable water of any kind for that matter!), unreliable internet, unreliable phone service, the pool is unheated (not too cold by gringo standards but Colombian girls would find it freezing), nowhere nearby to buy groceries, nothing to do, the "beach house" is not really near any beaches, it is a 20 minute $7 taxi ride each way to and from the city (this gets really expensive really fast), it is hard to direct the cab driver back to the beach house late at night.  My first 2 days there I had no running water at in my shower and would have to swim in the pool to freshen up. I also got electrocuted while trying to adjust elecrical gizmo attached to the showerhead. I wouldn't stay here again despite having some nice memories there.

Here are some quick inexpensive fixes that would dramticaly improve the situation at the Salgar house: Get a TV (the satallite dish is already hooked up, I hear Jamie is just waiting to find a Flatscreen he really likes.  But if you are paying $100 a night and you can buy a cheap TV at Walmart for 50 bucks there is no excuse not to have a TV, heck BOTH guest rooms should have a TV!)  If there was a TV, you could also get a DVD player and some DVDs or an Xbox and some games, then you could make some popcorn and spend a relaxing night in with your girl and it wouldn't matter you are out in the boonies. At least get a stereo system: The girls like to dance and I'd like something better than my Ipod to listen to. Get a couple of bicycles for the house, or a moped, something.  The house sitter Darling is trapped in the house all day long, a bike would let her or the guests travel to Salgar and get to a store or restaurant of somekind... maybe even a beach.  Flashlights: If you are getting dressed for a date at night and the power goes out, it is a pain trust me.  It took me 20 minutes to find my wallet in the dark, I was afraid I would be able to pay for my date's Taxi.

[papajeff]

lol...hate to laugh guy but the details are great, guess i was wondering if the girls were coming to the office you would be able to see the new girls coming in.  Whats tough like you did i have already started a nice list and god knows if they are still going to even be around by May. Another thing like you i'm more of a "live" and not picture taking type of guy, and only going to be there 5 days I need to make the most of my time. and my spanish blows.

[EbonyPrince]

Very good information.  You had me rollin with the electrocution and finding wallet in the dark comment.  Man I can relate to your pain.  I remember the helpless feeling I had in Manizales when the bastards severed the water line. 

There probably isn't much he can do about the water and electricity situation, because the service in Colombia is so unreliable in comparison to the service that we have here.  Having a TV is a necessity.  I never watched much TV when I stayed at Jamie's condo in Pradomar.  You had a great view of the ocean across the street, and the breezes were nice and powerful at night.  There was a nice beach that was a 10 minute walk down the road to the Pradomar Hotel, which was very nice.  It was actually an inlet part of the ocean, but still very nice.

I would recommend taking a portable dvd player and ipod docking station.  I always travel with my bose sounddock whenever I travel.  I was planning on heading back later this year.  I would prefer staying at the beach house.  One thing that I realize that I can't live without is the hot water.  Hopefully he will get those things tightened up by then.  Thanks for the good information.

[Quixote9]

I wish to take back some off the stuff I said about the beach house.  Except for the water to my bathroom not working (which got fixed right away after I mentioned it), none of the stuff I mentioned was enough of an inconvenience for me to bring it up to the agency staff.  If I didn't feel that strongly about it at the time, I shouldn't whine about it later on .  Also, I have been informed that there are 2 beaches only 5 minutes from the beach house by taxi and that the beach house DOES have flashlights (I now remember being shown where one was when I first moved in).   The only real reason I wouldn't want to stay there is the commute to and from the city.  If for some reason things with my novia don't work out and I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't hesitate to use Jamie's services in the future. 

The only things I would do differently: I would probably book a translator for my entire stay; request to stay in the office, save dinner dates only for girls I had already really gotten to know and like (if she's a dud, you can't just end it quickly and line up another date like you can with a lunch or breakfest date).  I would also suggest if there is a girl you like, make sure you have something scheduled with her at least once every 2 days, don't let too much time pass without her hearing from you or she will move on. 

[chizz]

Great report! I used jamie's services awhile back, and he's on point with what he does. If I might  make a suggestion, that I think is huge. Learn spanish. At least enough where you and you girl conversate without a translator. Having a translator is nice, but nothing can beat the being able to talk one on one with your novia, and being able to spontaneously say something, and get genuine reaction. I like the report, brought back nice memories.
Chizz

[Quixote9]

I do speak Spanish (sort of )

Of my 16 day trip, only had a translator for 5 days.  But I sure missed having her around to do all the other stuff she did for me besides translating!!!  Plus, it is good to have someone around to give you a woman's insite on how well you are doing on your dates, give you a 2nd opinion on your girl, give your girl a 2nd opinion about you (she can let a girl know for instance that you really like her, what kind of guy you are, etc.)  In all I found my translator invaluable... well technically her value was $80 day plus 3 meals a day and cab fare.. but you know what I mean!

[raycjs]

i stayed at Jamie's and i had a great time!!!! i was there for only 5 days and i meet over 50 girls and went on 15 plus dates. Keep in mind i slept for about 4 to 6 hours a night. The girls in the office where a big help with finding other women for me to meet. I had a translator the entire time i was there 3 meals a day and also some night life... Quixote9 i am glad you choose his service because he does offer a great service i am happy to hear all went well for you. I will be there also for Memorial day weekend so if you want to meet up for a drink let me know i go there every 4 to 6 weeks so i now get around pretty well. 

Best of Luck to all

Ray

[papajeff]

hey Ray when you getting in for the memorial day trip im trying to make final arrangements to get there maybe on thursday will be my first trip down south could use some guidance.lol.....are you staying at jamies house or on the beach...let me know I'm glad someone else is gonna be there..

jeff

[raycjs]

papajeff

I now have a fiance with a 3 year old daughter i no longer need or use Jaime's service i will fly out of fort Lauderdale on Thursday the 22nd of May 2008 i will arrive in cartagena for 2 days of RR with my women. We will then travel to Barranquilla via bus for my 1 hour trip i will arrive in the morning of Saturday the 24th May 2008. PM me and i will give you my phone number that will work in Colombia we can go to dinner at mix on Saturday night if you want and then i will be going to frog les for drinks it is a really nice disco. You will not need a translator because we all speak spanish and english.
if you want you can PM me and i will give you my phone number i can discuss with you what to expect and help you with your up coming trip like i said i have been traveling there for the past 7 months about every 4 to 6 weeks. I can give you a heads up on the do's and don't . I promiss you that you will have the time of your life and you will never look back or look at an American women the same every again...... Thanks to so many good guy's on this board that made my trips safe and easy.

PM me and i will call you or you can call me.

Thanks
Ray

[papajeff]

hey ray

how the hell you pm on here shoot me an email on my private email and then well get number exchanged that way..jbowser67@hotmail.com, look foward to hearing from ya.

jeff

[catz]

papajeff,

 To stop folks from coming here an spamming the board with PM's you have to have 5 posts before the PM option becomes available.

hey ray

how the hell you pm on here shoot me an email on my private email and then well get number exchanged that way..jbowser67@hotmail.com, look foward to hearing from ya.

jeff