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Colombians have this defeated life here is horrendous mindset. They all would like to leave and when you tell them that elsewhere it's just as difficult to get jobs, find a stable life etc. They have a hard time believing it.
I visited Bolivia which is the most impoverished nation in South America and even I met Colombians who told me they would like to go there because in Bolivia there is a lot of money to be made. (ironic because Colombia has a better standard of living and more economic opportunities)
They think that by leaving their lives will improve, which is actually the opposite most of the time. As a result you have professionals who in Colombia had a steady job and a middle class lifestyle driving cabs in Miami, working at small kitchen restaurants in Toronto making minimum wage or in Spain unemployed struggling to make end's meet while in Colombia they had a decent way of living. (Why did they leave their country and made such stupid decision? Their answer is often "In Colombia people think elsewhere is really easy to thrive while in Colombia is not")
Depends on one's situation really. I know someone who sells sunglasses at a kiosk in a mall. She was an accountant with a university degree in Bogota. In that job her pay was a just a bit over $600 a month, more than double minimum wage yet she couldn't make ends meet when her husband left her and then her mother was not able to work anymore. She now makes over three times as much and sends money back home to take care of her young son who lives with her mother. She pays rent and has a car and has some modest money to spend.
So on a financial basis she makes much more and lives more comfortably in the US, but quality of life is tough because she's separated from her son and mother. What's more important? That is what everyone has to decide. In her view she couldn't support three people on $600 a month so despite the personal difficulty, live is better working in the US. When her son is older she plans to bring him in as she expects to earn more money then. That's seems to be the sort of goal of most immigrants and why they take their chances by leaving.
My wife grew up poor in Medellin in the 80's/90's. Her stories are unbelievable as far as the murders. She knew many who were killed and stated that her parents were always worried that she was dead if she didn't come home till late. She got out of there in the early 2000's and moved to Costa Rica where we met.Like many Colombians she is a proud Colombian, but has no desire to ever live there again. Like many Colombians (and Latinos in general from what I have seen) she is close to her family and feels obligated to help out her parents. So she saved up enough to buy a row house in a better part of Medellin for them to live in and she/we have a place to stay when visiting.
Through her, and on my own visits I have seen a big change since the early 2000's. 2000 through 2002 I was practically living in Venezueala and Colombia was considered a bad place, likewise when I went to Panama and stayed on a boat outside a fishing lodge 20 miles from the border, a Panamanian gun boat was always there in the harbor for our safety.
Minor things I've noticed, which shows improvement in overall perception of the country. When I first started going out with her and she visited Colombia I could not make calls with Verizon as it was a blocked country. Later I was able to, then this year, with a new phone, I received a few butt dials from friends when I didn't have my phone in airplane mode. I have also seen some touristy adds on mainstream channels in the US. Insurance companies are also more open in letting Colombia be a stop off point for fuel in places such as Cartejena and San Andres. My first time passing by, in 2002 we had to make a two day chug from Aruba to Panama because the boats insurance would not let us stop in Colombia for fuel, but had no problem with us staying in Venezuela for several month's!
It is a beautiful country and I'm glad for them that it is improving (it's like the direct opposite of it's neighbor which is collapsing). I have had absolutely no problem visiting Medellin and will continue in the future. I have also been to San Andres several times as fuel stops while taking boats from Costa Rica to home. Yes, there are some 'iffy" areas and you need to keep your guard up but it is a country that is on the up and up and heading in the right direction. is there still room for improvement? Yes, but they are on the right track.
One other note. When I went there this year I couldn't believe the amount of road work going on. I kind of got a kick out of it when seeing the price of gas and asking my wife about registration, taxes, etc... Because we had both lived and spent a lot of time in Costa Rica, where it's expensive to register a car and gas is redicules in price and import duties are near 50%. With that the roads in Costa Rica are the absolute worst i've seen anywhere. Those I've seen in Colombia, at least around Medellin are pretty good.
What's your obsession with me? I haven't even commented on this thread.
And to be honest I don't love it. It's old news, patronising and cheesy. If I have to read another article that recounts Pablo Escobar and the miraculous transition from cocaine to hipster-loving products it will be too soon. Escobar perished 23 years ago for goodness sake!
What's your obsession with me? I haven't even commented on this thread.
And to be honest I don't love it. It's old news, patronising and cheesy. If I have to read another article that recounts Pablo Escobar and the miraculous transition from cocaine to hipster-loving products it will be too soon. Escobar perished 23 years ago for goodness sake!
Incidentally, I've only called out said forumer twice; in this thread and also in another thread about music in which said forumer along with the ever infamous Irene were doing nothing but spamming and trying to outdo each other posting irrelevant music videos.
Otoh, you don't see Irene complaining that we all got and obsession with her/he/it.
Incidentally, I've only called out said forumer twice; in this thread and also in another thread about music in which said forumer along with the ever infamous Irene were doing nothing but spamming and trying to outdo each other posting irrelevant music videos.
Otoh, you don't see Irene complaining that we all got and obsession with her/he/it.
You again - wow you really do have an issue with me.
1. That thread about music you referenced was actually a discussion between me and a K-popper that claimed that South Korea was the third powerhouse of music globally. Irene wasn't even in the thread let alone the conversation.
2. You jumped in on that same thread when I was defending Jamaican music calling me out as nationalistic. For your reference I'm not Jamaican and I still stand by my statement that Jamaica is a global power-house in music more-so than Puerto Rico and South Korea.
3. I wouldn't call (almost) any music irrelevant. Some of the most incredible music is not known in popular circles.
4. I wouldn't call posting music videos in a thread on music spamming, yes I admit I get over-excited and have a passion for Colombian music and music in general but if no-one posts, a thread dies so might as well be me.
5. I don't really know anything about this Irene except that a lot of forumers keep mentioning her. She might like the attention but I don't so get of my back.
You say people are sensitive (I assume an indirect comment to me), well I counter with people are judgemental *cough, cough. Now I'd appreciate it if you'd stop your obsession with me.
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