i like Cali

[papi]

i don't know guys, i mean the place is going through some very difficult times. Talk to calenas and they say it has never been this bad. I look at my Mani Mani man (peanut vendor) and I could curl him with one arm. Years ago he didn't look so emaciated. Miguel, the popular flower salesman on sexta has lost most of his teeth since i have known him. The shoeshine guys look worse...there is garbage in the street and the homeless smell. People say it is bad government. They will tell you the mayor is blind, both metaphorically and physically. Yet, the people are optimistic for the future, new government and good things to come. And the people are happy. The weather is nice and it is a man's world here in Cali. Yes, medellin is pretty, clean and organized...but my heart is in cali

[papi]

i want to also reflect on how i have noticed a wonderful improvement in customer service. I am tipping generously this trip quite pleased with the attention I have been getting. Maybe cause they know me...i don't know but i have noticed a difference this time and very happy. Sometimes it can be slow but overall I see improvement in this area. Be generous, tip, it will be double or triple what the colombians give but these guys are working not begging. Don't be stupid, don't pay the gringo tax...but treat those well that serve you

[Frank Rizzo]

I completely agree with you Papi. I have a place in Medellin and Cali and Cali hands down is my kinda town. There's an old school song that should bring us all back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN7nlO5wDqk

[P Daddy]

i want to also reflect on how i have noticed a wonderful improvement in customer service. I am tipping generously this trip quite pleased with the attention I have been getting. Maybe cause they know me...i don't know but i have noticed a difference this time and very happy. Sometimes it can be slow but overall I see improvement in this area. Be generous, tip, it will be double or triple what the colombians give but these guys are working not begging. Don't be stupid, don't pay the gringo tax...but treat those well that serve you

Only through papi and Planet Love can we learn that there is a correlation between good customer service and tipping.  Thanks for that ground shaking revelation...

[rpcv]

I was just there in 1/07 and I didn't see much begging. At least not as bad as it is here in DC. There are the street artists/beggars but they perform so I don't really consider that to be begging.

What part of the city are you refering to Papi?

[el_ruso]

"Don't be stupid, don't pay the gringo tax...but treat those well that serve you"

Paps, this is one of the most thoughtful statements from you I have ever read.  Perhaps THE most thoughtful.  First you discovered value in learning Spanish, now this...

There is indeed a correlation between tipping and quality of service in LA (and in US).  I did not find such a correlation however in Canada or Europe.

[el_ruso]

I have been to Bogota, Medellin, Bucaramanga, Cartagena and Cali, every major city except Barranquilla.  Cali is THE WORST ONE, by FAR.  It is impoverished and poorly managed.  There is indeed garbage everywhere.  Even in the "nicer area" up the river towards the Zoo there was garbage.  When you are in Cali, you know you are in the Third World, and there is no place that lets you forget it.

Cartagena is also poor, and there are all those vendors that accost you, but it is still a LOT nicer.  And Bogota and Medellin feel like a different (and a lot better) country after Cali.

Sure, women are gorgeous.  But I would say this is particular to the country as a whole, not Cali or any other city there.

[Frank Rizzo]

I wasn't commenting on the economic status. I said Cali is hands down my kinda town. It's the wild west there and I love it.

[el_ruso]

If I cared about economic status before anything else, I would go to Germany instead of Colombia.  (I actually visited both last year, but for different reasons.)

My point was that the availability of women and their beauty and their availability (despite opinion of Papi) is not at all exclusive to Cali, and other cities are better, better as places to visit and enjoy yourself.  If I had met a girl from Cali and really liked her I would be going to Cali to see her and her family without any problem.  And there are places to have a good time in Cali, but they are not better than similar venues in say Medellin or Bogota.  Cali is mostly nasty in my opinion, and unless the guy already knows a girl in Cali, I'd advise him to go to other cities first.

Having said that I am glad you like Cali and have a good time there.

[Frank Rizzo]

I understand El Ruso, never been to Europe, though I'd love to sounds great. In all due respect. They should have built Cart. on the sun, it's the same heat, what's the point of going there. Enjoy Hawaii if you want the beach.

For me, there is just nothing like cruzin Cali in a level 5 suv picking up the chicas in the barrios. That place is blows Med. away for total wild west living, and i'd know. Lived it the same way in both places.

[papi]

I am with you Mecca...it is the Wild West and i like it. I am in the Cali airport on my way to my next stop Lima and bid farewell to Cali. On the 95% hottie factor, that one I can't go along with - I went into a salon the other day to throw some tint in my cabello and could find more cuties in the pound. It is both over-rated and over-fished, but still my kind of town. On the women, you could find more hotties in any big US city, Miami, chicago, etc. The big difference of course: gringo motivation. hasta pronto

[P Daddy]

I am with you Mecca...it is the Wild West and i like it. I am in the Cali airport on my way to my next stop Lima and bid farewell to Cali. On the 95% hottie factor, that one I can't go along with - I went into a salon the other day to throw some tint in my cabello and could find more cuties in the pound. It is both over-rated and over-fished, but still my kind of town. On the women, you could find more hotties in any big US city, Miami, chicago, etc. The big difference of course: gringo motivation. hasta pronto

I'm kind of curious what the girls at the salon said after you left...something like...  "those gringos sure are over-rated, seems like only the old, bald, over-weight guys are coming to Cali now...I remember a time when alot of, hot, fit, handsome gringos were coming here...those were the good ole days"

[el_ruso]

Papi,

any colombian woman is motivated to meet a nice guy who can give her security and love.  and if he has a US passport that's an IMMENSE plus because her kids will get to be American and have access to everything being an American offers.  this holds true to Cali as well as any other city.

colombianas are in fact "gringo motivated".  that's why gringos go to colombia in the first place.

[soltero]

I am with you Mecca...it is the Wild West and i like it. I am in the Cali airport on my way to my next stop Lima and bid farewell to Cali. On the 95% hottie factor, that one I can't go along with - I went into a salon the other day to throw some tint in my cabello and could find more cuties in the pound. It is both over-rated and over-fished, but still my kind of town. On the women, you could find more hotties in any big US city, Miami, chicago, etc. The big difference of course: gringo motivation. hasta pronto

Just a tip, Papi. If you indeed find a woman "gringo motivated", stop and mentally picture those fine women you spoke of in Miami and Chicago. If you can not picture them jumping your bones, understand that the "gringo motivated" girl might do so while in country, but only to get here and become one of those other girls that won't bone the guy. Beware of any woman that seems too happy you are a gringo. You might as well be calling yourself tuna or filet mignon, depending on what kind of meal you want to compare yourself to. Too many women have returned to Colombia after finding out the streets aren't paved with gold here and that the 16 bedroom mansion the guy showed them a pic of doesn't match the 1 bedroom trailer they end up living in. I have heard some funny stories from the "returnees", and they are telling those same stories all over Cali.

[P Daddy]

Just a tip, Papi. If you indeed find a woman "gringo motivated", stop and mentally picture those fine women you spoke of in Miami and Chicago. If you can not picture them jumping your bones, understand that the "gringo motivated" girl might do so while in country, but only to get here and become one of those other girls that won't bone the guy. Beware of any woman that seems too happy you are a gringo. You might as well be calling yourself tuna or filet mignon, depending on what kind of meal you want to compare yourself to. Too many women have returned to Colombia after finding out the streets aren't paved with gold here and that the 16 bedroom mansion the guy showed them a pic of doesn't match the 1 bedroom trailer they end up living in. I have heard some funny stories from the "returnees", and they are telling those same stories all over Cali.

You're absolutely correct Soltero...over the last couple of years I've had 6 or 7 Colombianas call me here and tell me their horror stories of gringos they have married.  A couple of them I helped as far as airfare to get back to Colombia.  That's why I've always stated that for every one or two Colombiana who scams a gringo to get here, there are 4 or 5 who married loser, lying gringos who treated them bad, held them somewhat captive (as far as not letting them leave the house alone) etc., thus causing them to leave these guys and get back to their beloved Colombia.

[michaelb]

You know, P Daddy, sometimes women who acted in good faith get burned and need a little help. I'm glad you were in a position to help and willing to do so. Makes you alright in my book. I've only been personally involved in one "go back" story. The guy was a right guy and treated her well, they were together about a year and a half and had a baby together, but then he died. I helped her apply for the widow's share of his pension, Social Security orphan benefits for their little girl and located a lawyer who advised her for free settling the estate. Like me, the lawyer didn't have any use for people (the husband's siblings) who would try to cheat an orphan. Their idea was that "the little foreign slut and her bastard kid" were entitled to a one way ticket home and not a penny more. The lawyer didn't actually show up in court representing her, but he did explain to her what the probate law said and what her rights were, and because of his help she and the baby came away with considerably more than the price of a plane ticket (The deceased owned two late model cars and a house free and clear and had a little something in the bank). Now, by no means do I mean that inheriting his money was her goal when she married, but I'm sure he rests easier knowing that his child is not destitute rather than having a couple of siblings who treated her like S  t get the money. Anyway, she went back to her family in Colombia as soon as the dust settled.