A Week In Cali:Day Five

[Ken2]

On day five Claudia had to return to work, so I hung out with her 18 year niece who was every bit as attractive as Claudia.  We did some shopping at LA 14 for Claudia and then had a coffee and discussed the econonmy their in Colombia and the economy here.  The inflation is really outrageuos there.  And the assumption that dollars is twice as strong as the peso is not always an absolute.  If you buy a vehicle there you will still pay into the thousands, Diamonds are the same ~ they hold their value.  In the evening we went to a sidewalk restuarant downtown (cant recall the name. Close to the Museo).Then we went to San Antonio church.  We took a few fotos and chilled for a while.  There were about 6 of us that went.  four young ladies and two guys.  after this we headed home for the evening.

In response to some of the other posts:  I appreciate all the advice to wait and get to know Claudia better before we marry.  Well,  Ive been wating 17 years for HER and I know she is what I have always wanted.  She is 31 and IM 35.  I have 2 degrees, she has two years of College (University education).  She is close to her family and I am relatively close to my family as well.  (As a matter of fact my step father is a mexicano and speaks Spanish.  SO is one brother in law.)   She will attend an ESL class and make some friends in the area as well.  I would like her to work sometime soon, but this may be difficult until she gets a better grasp of English.  So, Ill have to support us both, no problem.  She has family here in the States.  I doubt they would want to come and live with us.  One is in the banking industry and another an Electrical Engineer, so for either of them coming to live with me might be a step down economically speaking. Sending money was discussed a long time ago.  Since she contributes about 200 dollars a month to the household, she would like to continue to do this, I see no problem here.  Did I miss anything?  In my observation of her Christian I see that she is mature in many ways.  As an evangelical, I attempt to be faithful in my finacial support of the church. As far as devotional life she reads the Bible daily and prays, I ve seen her and her mom up early, before she goes to work having her devotions.  Looking at all these qualities I think I have meet a fantastic lady.

[tommi]

... in response to A Week In Cali:Day Five, posted by Ken2 on May 3, 2002

Sounds like a beautiful woman. Good luck and thanks for the post.

[Ken2]

... in response to A Week In Cali:Day Five, posted by Ken2 on May 3, 2002

The last few sentences of my last post were  a little jadded and incomplete.  My point is: She tithes to her church (gives 10% of her income), and I consider myself generious in this area too.  She attempts to stay close to God by spiritual practices as I do.  Another plus regarding compatibility.

K.P.

[MarkInTx]

... in response to Re: A Week In Cali:Day Five, posted by Ken2 on May 3, 2002

Ken,

First off, you can never know... so following you instincts is all that makes sense.

The fact that you found an Evangelical in a land of Catholics is amazing. (Yes, I know that is a broad generalization, but if you did a search by religion on most sites, you will see over 80% of the Latinas list Catholic. At least that's what I found...)

Evangelical and Catholic are not the same thing. In fact, one thing that has made me pause about a Latina bride is that I think the religious differences would be as great for me as the cultural or language differences. I think all three would be a very hard obstacle to over-come.

Also, the fact that she tithes regularly indicates that her financial priorities are in the right place. Earlier you mentioned that she had a taste for fine things, and a bunch of guys jumped on that as a red (or at least yellow) flag.

Someone who regularly tithes 10% seems to have her financial priorities straight... I would find this very reassuring if I were in your place...

I think it's great that you read all of the well-meaning advice, sifted through it, considered it, and didn't get your feelings hurt by any of it. It is all valid advice... but ultimately you need to decide...

As Kipling put it: "...trust yourself when all men doubt you... but make allowance for their doubting, too..."

Good luck... and keep up the posting... We all find it interesting...

[mck]

... in response to Impressive, posted by MarkInTx on May 4, 2002

I agree with your post. I have lived in Spain as a foreign exchange student when I was 16 for 5 months and have visited Costa Rica four times as well as Mexico twice and written to, and called many Colombian woman for months on end. I happen to agree with you on all you stuff. No matter where you go or what country you visit it is the same old stuff. The hotter the women, the more the attitude. I am not saying the hot Latina women are more stuck up, I am just saying they are almost as picky, but not quite as picky as American women. I speak very good Spanish and I am 27 years old. I would say I am an average looking guy, but before I talk with these girls I try to talk with them as a friend and not as a boyfriend or potential husband. I talk with them about their former boyfreinds, lovers, favorite music etc. and try to relate to them as a buddy not as a novio. I have found that the women that are average looking with personalities treat you much better then the hottest looking latin women no matter what latin country you are in. It does not matter if it is Mexico, Spain , Costa Rica, Colombia or where ever. You will know if you are truly in love with the girl if you both cry every night on the phone, waiting for INS to approve whatever visa she can get. As far as going to church and all that stuff, he is right 90% of all latinas go to church. That does not mean anything. There are hookers in Costa Rica that go to church every Sunday. OK there are a few guys married on here to hot Latinas that have been married one or two years maybe up to four or five years but how many have lasted 20+ years. That is what you want to look for in a potential mate, not just a piece of ass. Latin woman are more loyal, faithfull and all that stuff but you have to ask yourself if you are 45-60 and overweight and you are dissing the average looking latina for a model type girl, is it really true love? I am a sales rep for a fortune 500 company and I know how to spot the fake ones from the real ones a mile away because I know how to question them. I just hope you guys know what you are doing and speak very good spanish and understand the age differences. I think it is better to set realistic expectations then saying I am 50 and I am going to go down to Colombia and bring back a 20 year old model and saying she is my soulmate and I will be with her forever. I am 27 and my novia is 29 and I met lots of drop dead gorgeous women but their personality did not mean a thing to me. That is why I picked an average looking 29 year old, two years older then me. It was her personality that was so incredible and she is just your average everyday ok looking babe. Proposing to Colombian is a joke you could be 80 and have no teeth and she would still say yes. I have proposed to 3 Colombian girls by emails and all 3 said yes. My novia was making $18,000 a year U.S. before she quit her job in Mexico and was making $20,000 a year selling clothes before that and that is excellent money in Mexico, She was the top salesperson in her store where she worked and she is not that desperate to leave Mexico but she believes we are soulmates. I don't know just my opinion.

[Wasp]

... in response to Re: A Week In Cali:Day Five, posted by Ken2 on May 3, 2002

Monitor how seriously she attempts to learn English.