My Bogota trip - Day 3

[lswote]

Not much has happened yet today.  I am waiting for the morning breakfast to begin.  I am not crazy about these.  Not many of the women speak English at these things and since I speak no Spanish yet, this is a big problem.

I have to note that this is a whole lot more like dating American women than I was expecting.  The most attractive and glibbest guys in the group are still the ones most of the attractive women seem to hang around with.  Not speaking Spanish is a bigger handicap than I expected.  Though I have been able to schedule interviews with several English speaking women, trying to strike up a conversation with a woman at the socials inevitably ends up with me only able to convey the basic information, like name, where I live and age.

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by lswote on Aug 31, 2002

Pete's right.  Get a translator.  You've paid a lot of money to go to Colombia.  Don't waste your trip over a few more dollars, if that's what it takes.

Both times that I was searching for a wife in Colombia (1999 and 2002) the first few days were discouraging and I felt like giving up.  Then bang, somebody came along.

Don't get discouraged.  At any moment you could meet the right woman.  Keep meeting women and get a translator.  If you're having trouble meeting the women you are interested in ask the translator to approach them and find out if they would like to meet you.  You may be surprised.  Rejection is a lot easier through a third party.  That's why kids do it in school all the time.

Steve

[JBond]

... in response to My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by lswote on Aug 31, 2002

Go to Cali the culture is differnt than in Bogota.

[Pete E]

... in response to My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by lswote on Aug 31, 2002

Bruce,
Go for the books and the interviews.Don't limit yourself to
the girls who show up for the social events.Find women who fit what you are looking for,stretch the attractiveness requirement a little because many look much better in person and a warm personality makes up for alot.The sparkle factor doesn't come accross in photos.Some girls look plain in pictures but their aliveness makes them very attractive.
If you don't speak spanish you need a translater at your intetviews.If the agency doesn't provide one hire one,its essential to cover alot of ground in the interview.Later if you find out you are really interested in each other you can get by with an electronic translater,but hire a person if this doesn't work.
Meet lots of girls.You never know which girl it will be untill you meet her.Waste no time with ones you are not interested in.It can be a numbers game finding the right person.If you have limited time you need to make the best use of it.If there is nobody at the agency that interests you try a different agency.Unless you can return soon this is your big chance.Make the most of it.There is a woman out there that is right for you.Get to finding her!
Don't fall in to just having companionship  with girls you are not interested in.
Please pass on my advice to John and Tony also.I told them some of this but they make have forgot.

Pete

[pablo]

... in response to My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by lswote on Aug 31, 2002

Hey Iswote,

I am sure you are aware of this, but if the agency translaters are tied up during the parties and socials there is a useful translation program on the agency computers that are available to the clients.  

One aspect of the fiestas that I liked was meeting the new women that were not yet in the books that were usally invited to these socials and seeing others in person that looked nicer than their profile photos.  If any ladies are of interest, you could schedule a private interview with them on another day.  Don't be shy man, if you see a lady who interests you that can't speak much Ingles, grab Lucas, Leyla, or Claudia to do some translation or use those computers if you want more than name, rank and serial number.  A lot of the women will wait for you to make the first move.  Have a cervesa to loosen up and have a great time!

[Wayne1]

... in response to My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by lswote on Aug 31, 2002

Iswote,

You should be meeting these girls with a private translator by your side at all times in the beginning.  Don't worry there is plenty of time in the future for you to learn Spanish and her to learn English.

Find a good translator, pay her and use her!

My translator went on all of my 1st dates so that there was no misunderstandings.

Going to Cali was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Wayne

[mudd]

... in response to Re: My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by Wayne1 on Aug 31, 2002

I agree, go find a translator to help you. it will be well worth the money you will spend. my first trip, i could barely speak more than 10 words in spanish. after a while you will pick some of it up. their are good spanish computer CD's you can purchase that will help with learning spanish, but for now, hire a person to help you with your dates. im sure the agaency that you are staying at has some people that they can refer you too. good luck and keep posting.

[lswote]

... in response to Re: Re: My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by mudd on Aug 31, 2002

So far the problem has not been the interviews.  I have been able to schedule appointments with attractive English speaking women.  And if there has been any problems communicating we go find someone to translate.  The problem is the socials.  You go up to a woman and try to start a conversation and she speaks zilch English.  This makes the socials frustrating and I have gotten to the point where I don´t even try to start conversations anymore.

[Wayne1]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by lswote on Aug 31, 2002

Iswote,

If you are just going to limit yourself to English speaking women, you may as well just come home now.  Your odds of finding a good American women and finding a good English speaking Colombiana that you connect with are about the same in my opinion.

It may happen, but it's not likely in my opinion.  There is just too many variables that you have to put together for a match.  English is probably not going to be one of them...

Don't dwell on the English.  My wife didn't speak a word of English when we met, and my spanish was....uh embarrassing.

Now after 8 mos in the US and ESL she is almost completely fluent.  I have learned Spanish and we speak 50/50.  In public we usually speak spanish.

Don't limit yourself.  If you connect, the language details will take care of themselves.

Besides most Americans talk too much, and have big mouths anyway.  Speaking spanish and it's challenges will allow you to think about what you want to say before sticking your foot in your mouth so easily.

You are taking all this time to post and read this board...listen!

Wayne

[Nico]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: My Bogota trip - Day 3, posted by lswote on Aug 31, 2002

I went to a TLC social and everyone who doesn't speak Spanish uses translators.
Of course these ladies are going to speak zilch English.They're Colombians.(Ok Ok I know there are some that do speak English but we are talikng relative to Iswotes' experiences). Once you get with a good translator (on a constant basis) I think things will move into high gear for you.

[mudd]

... in response to Ok, so why don't you have a translator w..., posted by Nico on Aug 31, 2002

Nico, what TLC trip did you go on? and how was it??
thanks!!!

[Nico]

... in response to Re: Ok, so why don't you have a translat..., posted by mudd on Aug 31, 2002

I was there last December.The 1st night was kind of a bummer as there were alot of ladies, but not very many attractive ones. The only real hot ones were the translators and they were mostly taken.The 2nd night was considerably better,maybe about 25 Americans and 250 Colombian women.  I can salsa dance and I was swamped! I had girls tugging at my shirt from all directions. My drink was spilling all over the place.I was exhausted.I maybe sat out 2-3 dances the whole night.
The 3rd day was a luncheon with all these pretty young girls(maybe 40) and I met one I really liked(very slim and pretty).We enjoyed some very nice dates,however things ended up not working out for a couple reasons.
Most of the gringos planned on a stay of about one week.Nearly everyone extended. I extended my stay by about 2 weeks. Everybody on my floor of the hotel was hooking up with really nice ladies.All of us gringos were just elated bouncing around each others rooms talking about the woman we had met or were going on a date with.It was just this high energy in the air. I was very sad to leave. There is actually alot more to my story,but this is the very condensed version.

                    Nico

[mudd]

... in response to It was Awesome!, posted by Nico on Aug 31, 2002

Nico, what city did you visit with TLC? and were their as many women as they said that their would be? would you go again?
Thanks!

[Nico]

... in response to Re: It was Awesome!, posted by mudd on Sep 1, 2002

It was Cali.Yes there was a high ratio of women to men at the social. (4-5 women to each man) However you can also have a bad night as far as alot of women but mainly average looking or below.Your mind starts to play tricks on you real quick.On a scale of 1-10 what is the lowest you would consider dating here in America, a 7-8 maybe? Well you can find a 7 the 1st day, so when you see how easy it is then you start wondering whether you should start going for 8's and 9's. You know since I speak spanish people have been saying that I really don't need the TLC social tours(especially at $1000.00). And yes I know that I could get by very well without the TLC tour, but man that experience to me is worth it. Something about having this roomful of women 18 to say 40 yr old that way outnumber you is just incredible. That kind of ratio you will NEVER encounter in any state in any county and in any city here in these United States.