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I have to give the list members credit for preparing me for the onslaught of vendors in Cartagena. They are mesquitoes indeed! I decided to purchase some beads, hang them on my arm while walking the streets to appear as a vendor but my date wouldn't have any of it. However, it is a beautiful place with lots of history (my cup of tea). I met a young lady there (which was the equivalent of taking sand to the beach), and we had a great time but no sparks. I will return again in October to follow up on contacts made while there and to establish new ones.  Here is my take on this whole process for those interested. None of the info is new, but repetition is the mother of retention.

1. Be a man! Be confident.  Latinas expect you to take the lead, if you are clueless or the 50/50 type of guy then the chances of long term sucess drops accordingly.
2. Learn the culture...ie Spanish, dance, history. Its worked for me countless times. Language skills will take you a long way for sure and dancing is icing on the cake. But if you want to see some real wonderment in the eyes of a potential, begin a conversation on the history and culture. I have had nothing but great results when pulling this out of the arsenal.
3. Drop the emotional baggage. For some this will require professional help. For others an internal inspection and realization that it can't always be the fault of others. You can't share happiness if you are not happy with what you see in the mirror daily.

This whole process has been exciting and extremely enriching. I have lived in another country, learned a new language, dance, customs, cultures. Which in turn makes a better person.
Buena suerte to all in your search.
JSlo

... in response to Cartagena, posted by JSlo on Sep 2, 2003


JSlo,

Good post and comments in #'s 1-3.
 
The beads dangling from your arm would have only fooled them for a while unless you too were buzzing around a gringo.  You must have a good tan to think you could have pulled that one off.  Man, what sales school did these guys attend anyway? lol

Welcome to the board and we look forward to your posts.  

Pablo

... in response to Re: Cartagena, posted by pablo on Sep 2, 2003

I think the vendors sales approach is if there is even a remote chance they can talk you in too it they will keep trying.One sale might be their income for the day and they probably don't see any other possibilities at the moment.Its worth their  time,which they probably weren't doing anything else with to hound you.Of course if you look
like a gringo you are prime game.With a Colombiana on your arm they think maybe they can convince her to ask you to buy.Or maybe they think you will buy something just to get rid of them,which would be a mistake as all the others would hurry over to get in on it.They could spot me walking towards them with my wife about 200 ft away and would line up to hit us up.It was the most obnoxious thing I experienced in Colombia but not dangerous I don't think.But it ran us off the beach in about 20 miniutes.
I think they need a law,like some of our cities have about aggressive panhandling.Maybe a tourist association that asks for police survelance of aggressive vendors.But it probably won't happen in Colombia.

Pete