Keeping in touch and communications with Colombian Girls

Need to keep in touch?-Do not expect any of the rental apartments in Ctg. to have broadband service or even local telephone service installed. Some of the higher end hotels will have business centers. You will be relegated to Internet Cafes and they exist on almost every block. Their quality of service and response times vary as widely as the weather in Ctg. One that I have found that is pretty reliable is the Café Punto Com in La Guito (across from the Avianca office). They operate on a fiber optic line, have decent response times, offer full service from faxes, making copies, to VOIP telephone service. They even serve coffee, snacks and beer at your terminal. Their workstations are equipped with headsets for making internet calls and the stations are cleaned daily. It will set you back about $1.50 per hour with other services being very reasonable in cost. The manager even speaks a little English and will cut you a deal if you guarantee her at least 10 hours of usage. Ask for a discount package upfront if you plan to check in daily with your office or e-mails. A lot of the working girls in LaGuito also frequent this café. Another target rich environment.

Language:

LEARN SOME SPANISH!!!. I can't emphasize this requirement enough. Very few Colombians speak any English, so learning some of the basics will be very beneficial. From telling a cab driver where you want to go, ordering in a restaurant, checking into a hotel, right down to negotiating with a Chica for the night or short time. Now, my Spanish is not bad. I continue to study Pimsleur CD's and always try to take some private lessons from locals when I am on an extended stay. I found the Hot Spanish book (now out of publication) invaluable for more subtle arrangements with local chicas. Every chica I showed it to wanted it for their own use in communicating with Gringos. I also found an English/Spanish dictionary or pocket translator a very useful tool when you just had to get a message across to someone.

No matter how good your Spanish is expect misunderstandings. Even when I used a translator to assist on some of the photo shoots misunderstandings occurred.

Even the smallest purchase or negotiation can lead to miscommunication. Many times, the non-Spanish speaking gringo just gives up and pays whatever the price is. The Colombians almost expect it to happen. The Gringo with some Spanish skills will know how to argue, negotiate and challenge an incorrect bill or get to the right place the first time in a taxi (it's common for a taxi to take you to the wrong place and charge you a second time to get you where you wanted to go in the first place).