As I posted below, in the last few years I have met dozens of Latina ladies via agency & letter-writing. One of the 1st questions they ask a 43-year-old gringo is "Why haven't you married yet?"
The response could take years, but my initial short answer is "I haven't met the right lady yet." This is only half-true, of course. I'm not married yet because obviously, I haven't been ready "to find and be found by love," as Hoda so eloquently puts it. Hopefully, this is now changing.
There is a Colombian saying to the effect that, "He who chooses much, ends up with the worst." I can't honestly say right now if JX, the 23-y.o. Cartagena lady I recently dated, is the best woman I have ever had a chance to marry. But she certainly has a lot of fantastic qualities.
Physically, she has a cute face and a hot body; like many costeņos, she's the product of a mixed-race marriage. Her personality is even more impressive. As the eldest child of a stable, 2-parent, middle-class home, JX is emotionally secure, confident and positive. She's also intelligent, understanding, and fun to be with. Because of her maturity, I rarely notice our 20-yr age difference; it's mostly little things like her tatoo & musical tastes. Her values are the best of traditional/modern: She wants to marry, have kids, finish her studies, have a career, & help her family in Colombia. Her English is decent and she seems ready & willing to adapt to a U.S. lifestyle.
Interestingly, JX had a difficult learning experience with her last boyfriend, a gringo businessman from NY. After several visits over 6 months and promises of marriage, she found out in February that he was already married with 2 kids. She gained wisdom rather than bitterness from the experience. She's still willing to trust, risk, fail and try again.
We get along very well together. She's very good at identifying my shifting moods, but doesn't overreact to them. We're different in many ways, of course, but so far, our awareness and acceptance of these differences has allowed us to begin to build a solid relationship based on mutual respect, trust and attraction. Right now, our main challenge is to communicate more regularly in spite of our often conflicting schedules.
To be honest, I'm not yet in love with JX. But my feelings are growing daily, and I plan to go back to Ctga. next month with an eye toward applying for a fiancee or spousal visa thereafter.
