Further Information on Living in Colombia

[PatrickenCali]

Because I live in Cali, I think that it is my contribution to let you know how it is to live in Colombia.

Last Saturday my telephone and Internet suddendly went out. I reported it on Monday to the automated service that the telephone company has here (no human interaction). On Wednesday I did the same because I was still without dialtone.

On Thursday, I asked my Colombian student, who I am teaching English, to help me out. We called together. At least, the system now indicated that we will look into it "soon".

The following Saturday (one week without service), I happened to notice that several telephone lines were broken about a half a block from my apartment. It happens pretty often here because large trucks go through the residential neighborhoods and catch the lines.

Later that day (Saturday, one week later) I had dial tone. It had obviously been fixed by the telephone company.

The only problem was that they interchanged the reconnection and my telephone rang in the neighbor´s apartment and her´s in mine.

To get this fixed would require standing in line a couple of hours and waiting another week to get it fixed.

The easiest manner to resolve this was obvious. I went up to the top of the apartment building, cut the telphone lines going to the two apartments and respliced them to work correctly.

Welcome to Colombia.

By the way, as an introduction, I wish to share a photo of myself and my "wife" on a trip to Parque Tairona on the Colombian Caribbean coast. In my mind this is a "Do Not Miss" location.

For those who are curious, I am 55 and she is 31. I happen to like my Colombians on the dark side and voloptuous. I think that you will see that I am in luck on that score.


(Please tell me how to post the photo, it is not obvious to me).

[LastLion]

Patrick, ! It is great to get the real facts. I think people here forget how easy so many things are for us!! The telephone company sucks; get a new one. The internet company sucks; get a new one. ANd I mean in minutes not hours or days or what you went thru weeks!!!!!

[Sailover]

There is a price to pay for enjoying the pleasures of a place like Colombia. If everything worked great, then it would be Costa Rica, or Miami and we know how we feel about those places! Patrick got it right. Complaining does NOTHING, either fix it yourself or figure out another way around it. That is what Colombians do.

[Charlie640]

Geeez. I would have been out of business in 48 hours. I have to assume that they would have been more responsive if you were in Bogota and not Cali.

Patrickincali, EXCELLENT POST and spot on!!!!

Welcome to Colombia is right! Try getting what you want in a supermarket, try getting the beer you want in a six pack and not some outrageous price for individual bottles, try getting the vitamins you want, the list goes on and on.

I always say and most just dont understand, they do things here THE HARD WAY! NOTHING is easy! I think they made a movie by that name....

Everytime I walk out that door to do something, it is a learning experience. I cant say I would change anything because then it would be as Sailover suggests, like the states.

OH, and the phone system, even when it works right, what a rip off!!!

[Cap'n Jib]

Sorry!

With all due respects, Colombia is a third world country. It took 10 days to get someone to fix the internet at the apartment [in Bogota]...it still does not work right all the time.

I do not necessarily think that they ¨do things¨the hard way¨...just their way. For the most part that is just fine with me. [img]smile.gif[/img] Perhaps another way of looking at it is, they can not afford the very best and so they get third and fourth best, which they can afford.

Over my years of travel, I have spent enough time in rat holes and hell holes, the difference here is the women here are REAL WOMEN. As far as I am concerned, the everyday delights of watching and talking to them far outway any other inconvience I may have to put up with.

Call me easy!

[rpcv]

I think they need to add another category to describe a country's status. If Colombia is third world, then Africa should be fourth world. Atleast Colombia has electricity even if it is sporadic.

[LastLion]

I think they need to add another category to describe a country's status. If Colombia is third world, then Africa should be fourth world. Atleast Colombia has electricity even if it is sporadic. [Cool]

Good call RCPV, now if colombia is 3rd world, What is second world and first world?

[Micky10]

general question - who's second world?

Love-Micky

[El Capitan]

Ask, and ye shall receive -

Nations Online

I think this paper will give everyone something to chew on...