"vos" "tu" and "usted" recap

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: Re: cuba rules!, posted by bret on May 21, 2001

Good post. Well, there is a Mike from Denver, but I'm in Dallas.

[bret]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: cuba rules!, posted by Michael B on May 21, 2001

n/t

[Edge]

... in response to cuba rules!, posted by bret on May 17, 2001

I doubt I would be able to make it to Cuba since I am making arrangements to bring the novia here. It is more of a pipe dream, or a cigar dream too if you will.  I imagine I will be heading to Cali many more times to visit the future in-laws than Cuba.

But what about las mujeres de Cuba?  Tell us your impression of them?

I had a good friend who was living and working in Jamaica, which you know is right next to Cuba.  I went out to visit him.  I was ending an 8 year relationship so he started telling me about how all he kept hearing was how nice las mujeres de Cuba were and how he wanted to go there.  Well, we never made it.  He would hear of how his friends would go  there and talk about how beautiful they were and how they outnumbered the men by a wide ratio?  So anyway, this got me thinking about latin women.  I soon started checking out the internet and came across James Smiths's old Matchmakers Agency.  Some people may remember James Smith from TLC fame.  I know Mr. Buzzy does.  So then I looked into TLC and that is what started me on looking for latinas son lindas.

But I would be tempted to go to Cuba just for the cigars.  When I was in Jamaica, I was able to buy "fresh" Cohibas and
man o man, were those good.  They were quite an experience since they were fresh and genuine.  I was able to get a box through customs and then my friend brought me another box so I was set for awhile. I bought many more at the cigar store in the Hilton at Caracas later on, but they never quite matched the fresh ones I got in Jamaica.  I have bought them in Cali and Bogotá, but they are also not as good.

Anyway, por favor, dinos que tú pienses acerca de las mujeres de Cuba.  Gracias.

[Ralph]

... in response to Re: what about las mujeres??, posted by Edge on May 18, 2001

I used to buy Cuban Cigars all the time in the DR! I don't smoke but would bring them home for my brother in law and buddys.

Dominican Cigars are also very good. At the airport in Santo Domingo I bought a box of 25 Partagas for under $100, to congratulate my bro in law on their second child.

[bret]

... in response to Cuban Cigars, posted by Ralph on May 19, 2001

the domican republic has some of the best cigars in the world, along with cuba, of course.

some of my favorite d.r. cigars are avo, arturo fuente, griffins, punch, la flor dominicana, santa damiana..........and on and on.

when i first went to cuba years ago, i would give away all of my cloths and load up my pack with 10 to 12 boxes of the finest cubans...partagas, cohiba, montechristo, and sell them for $50 a pop in this bar i worked in in colorado.

it more than paid for all of my expenses plus a huge profit. not the smartest thing i ever did, i know, but it was a long time ago and the money was good. I WOULD NEVER DO IT NOW!!!

all ports of entry that provide easy access to cuba (nassau and cancun, especially!!!)are on the look out for habanos, and you can really get in some big trouble if you are carrying a big load. other wise, they usually just take them from you and give ya the $4.00 an hour security guard lecture obout trading with the enemy, blah, blah, blah. though it has never happened to me personally!

getting habanos back to the u.s. is much eaiser from lesser traveled caribbean destinations like, tortola, st. barts, st. marteen, etc. but if you pass customs in miami, watch out!!!

a good cohiba in this country, esplendidos especially, are still worth $50 each, though robustos are my personal favorite.

in miami, the supposed cuban cigars are said to be 50% to 80% fake, but it's probably higher than that. if you want a real cuban, you just about have to go and get it yourself, as the gentalman i am responding to has done, or really trust your tobacco salesman, if you know what i mean.

any body that is interested in cuban cigars and cuban ladies, and would like some info, just ask...do what i can to help!

oh yeh, if any boneheads out there diagree with my candid posting about cuban cigars and that whole stupid blockade thing, well, learn to deal!

i don't believe in trade embargos, and i am a latina loving capatilist! "so put that in your pipe and smoke it."

[bret]

... in response to Re: what about las mujeres??, posted by Edge on May 18, 2001

well,

i'll start with the obvious and say that it's just like anywhere else, and depends entirely on the individual woman.

now, the details! cuban woman are a liberated bunch, for sure, and they aren't shy either. i haven't been to brazil, but i'm inclined to think that the two cultures would have some things in common....like lack of inhibition, expressiveness, open mindedness, etc.

it very different than some other l.a. countries, where catholisicism has such a strong influence, and has left a lot of socially conservative manners.

in cuba, no one is conservitive!!! especially the women. i suppose this could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it and what you are looking for.

i'm just going to go right ahead and say it out loud, and if i offend anyone, well...oh well!

it's a very sexually liberated society, and seduction is a national pastime. affairs are pretty much expected. i mean, there is baseball, and seduction, and they are equally important sports. they will tell you this themselves, as well.

before the revolution, when cuba was a gansta paradise, it had a terrible reputation as a "sexual paradise" (prostitution), and i'm certain it was true. with the return of tourism, that kinda s**t exploded on the scene again.

fidel really cracked down on what was happening in havana and the tourist areas....young girls searching out wealthy german and italian tourists to hook up with for a week or two. and now, there are some new, very tuff laws for associating with foreigners(*****but it hasn't stopped, of course****!!!!!), and a lot of women now are afraid that by just talking to you, they could get in a lot of trouble, and it's true. that is a problem, yes.

but it's easy to get away from. old havana is beautiful, but the number of cuban state police is amazing. and they are there to 1. keep the peace and 2. harass the cuban ladies that might be casually talking with you, no matter how innocent is the conversation.

so, i just spend a day or two visiting friends in havana and then head out of the city to the smaller towns where it's a much more relaxed amosphere, and everyone is free to do almost as much as they please.

cuba has gotten a bad rap in the press recently about the whole prostitution thing, but my opinion is that we have that crap right here in the good ole' u.s. of a. and if you don't go looking for trouble, usually you don't find it. and if you go looking for something beautiful, well, you stand a pretty good chance of finding it as well, whatever the country!!!

i wouldn't have mentioned this ugly subject at all, but during the last couple of years, when i tell people that i spend a lot of time on cuba, some one always seems to ask about it. i just say, "hey, you find what you look for".

so, i have digressed a little, but to recap, the cuban ladies are very open minded and not shy. killer dancers!!!...no hay verguenza en cuba. the racial make-up of the country is about 25% black, 50% mulatta, and 25% white, more or less (it's a guess). so spread out across the race spectrum. not unlike coastal l.a., i'm sure.

but let me stress again how very different they are in relation to more conservative l.a. cultures. if your looking for a conservative latin lady, you would probably have to look a little (or a lot) harder in cuba than in columbia! but if your looking for a beautiful lady that can dance like nobodys business, party the whole night, talk your ear off, and not expect a wedding ring, then cuba is a good place. but hey, we all want something different, right?

to sum things up, the women are just very sensual, or is it sensuous? hey, what do i know?

sorry to go on, but i dig the place. if anybody wants specific info about hotels, beaches and such, i promise to keep my answers short! cool?

bret

[Michael B]

... in response to cuba rules!, posted by bret on May 17, 2001

Back when the boat people came (1980) I got a job as an interpreter. They sent me out with an army Colonel and while we were walking around a Cuban came up and screamed in our faces and jumped up and down and waved his arms all around for 10 minutes, while the Colonel kept yelling "wudee say? wudee say?". Finaly I got them both to calm down and the Colonel asked "what did he say?" I answered "His wife is sick, she's in that building over there, and he wants us to use our radio to call an ambulance." The Colonel said "But he talked for ten minutes!" I replied "Yes, sir, but that's all he said" and then called the ambulance.

[Patrick]

... in response to "vos" "tu" and "..., posted by Traveler on May 17, 2001

Everyone I've talked to in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, and Honduras has used almost exclusively usted or tu. Adding the vos form to the conjugations is only going to increase the difficulty of memorizing them all and be of little value to 99% of the guys traveling South looking for a woman.

I also recommend ignoring cassettes featuring native speakers from Spain.  The accent and pronunciation there is quite different than most of what you'll encounter in Central/South America (at least as far as the countries commonly traveled to by the guys searching).

[TexRob]

... in response to I recommend ignoring vos unless travelin..., posted by Patrick on May 17, 2001

I don't know about the rest of S.A. but in Uruguay vos is always used instead of tu.

[Traveler]

... in response to I recommend ignoring vos unless travelin..., posted by Patrick on May 17, 2001

however it used more extensively by the "campesino" class

it is however considered by the more educated and cultured to be "bad" Spanish   in some places like Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay it IS the way they talk

[Edge]

... in response to I recommend ignoring vos unless travelin..., posted by Patrick on May 17, 2001

Probably a good idea but at least if someone comes across "vos" being used they will have an idea of what it is about.

[Edge]

... in response to "vos" "tu" and "..., posted by Traveler on May 17, 2001

I just talked to the novia and in the Valle del Cauca where Cali is, they do use vos also.  Generally when it is a person you have known for a long, long time and it is very informal.  Apparently some of her amigas will use it with her.