I'm Back

[Kent]

Its ok for me if I am classified as a rookie. The veterans know otherwise as I do also. I was asked questions that I felt were not appropriate and told I had to give up information I was not willing to give in order to remain on the forum. I felt like a guy on the receiving end of an index finger poking in my chest" either my way or the highway". I chose the highway. Somehow a link to the form came to me again and I thought what the hell. I registered without giving up what I said I would not before and here I am.

So much has happen to me since the last time I posted, that I don't really have the time to post it all with 2 typing fingers. But in a nut shell a little over a year ago I met yet another one who speaks and writes English. We have been visiting and writing and have now filed and been approved for our K-1. It is, as I write, somewhere in the national visa center waiting for final process to the embassy in bogota where my fiance will visit hopefully in less then a month.

On my last trip in September I went down to meet the family and had the scare no body wants and that we have all been warned about. 3 day's in on a small farm in San Jose which is near suaita we were given word by mouth[not many phones in the country]the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or FARC had killed 2 men in a gun battle along a river 1 hours walk from where I was staying. This news came after we took a shopping trip to Suaita the day before and everyone there looked at me as though they had never seen a gringo before. My fiance wanted us to leave then.After careful discussion with all the family it was agreed if I simply stayed on the farm and did not wander out they would not know where I was or be able to launch a search with any results. Little did I know at that time of the work which was being done without my knowledge by the locals of about 75. It seems they were very proud a gringo was about to become one of them and were passing the word to all locals to keep quite about my presents. I did not learn about this until a month after my visit and to my surprise the source was not my fiance. So for the remaining 3 days I stayed in isolation with family women waiting on me hand and foot, feeding me to the point of gaining weight and caught up on some needed sleep. I even chopped 2 cords of wood which I haven't done in years. On the 4 day the bus to San Gil arrived at the front door steps of the farm house and away we went back to Bogota. As my life unfolds in the coming months I will post what I deem helpful until I feel my contributions are beyond the stage of the hunt. Once I have established my marriage and all is well I will gracefully slip back into the shadows and vanish again. Until then I will help where I can as I did in the past and post what reports I take. At this time if all goes as plan I will not be taking another trip until after the I-130 and I-131 have been filed and I have received my I-131 leter back with the I-130 temporary card. This will more than likely not happen for at least another 10 months from now if my math time table it correct.

Its ok for me if I am classified as a rookie. The veterans know otherwise as I do also. I was asked questions that I felt were not appropriate and told I had to give up information I was not willing to give in order to remain on the forum. I felt like a guy on the receiving end of an index finger poking in my chest" either my way or the highway". I chose the highway.

Kent, we remember you and I personally was looking forward to you coming back. Why didn´t you tell me in a private email who you were? I would have approved you without hesitation. The board was hacked and quick decisions had to be made. Some users were deleted, and yes a new registration process was implimented requesting a name, phone, addy before joining. Because your a long time member, I will give you the "veteran" status and boost your will post count to 300.

[Junfan]

I remember talking to you on the phone back in Oct or so of 2001.

Glad to hear things are looking up for you.

[Lostagain]

Kent,
Sounds like you are getting into some pretty risky stuff too. I thought I was the only lunatic who was heading off into the red zones on account of where the in-laws happen to live. All I can say is be very careful when you are there. Remember, all gringos are rich and have plenty of dough to pay "rescate" in the eyes of the AUC and FARC; no matter what the real circumstances may be.
Best of luck and welcome back.
Lost Again

[tranquilizar]

Your math is close. I filed in March 2004 and I am waiting on the Affidavit of Support package of documents from the U.S State Department. There were a couple of requests from USCIS for additional documents that I sent in my original submission and they must have "lost". I also filed an I-129 at the same time to the "National Benefits Office with the receipt # of the I-130 filing attached. The K-3 was sent to Bogota on January 12 and we expect my wife to hear from the U.S. Embassy in Bogota any day. Hopefully she will be in Miami within the month.

[tranquilizar]

When you are the only American in the countryside, you get many looks from the natives.
I was in Girardor, Flandes, and Melgar during the Christmas/New Years vacation. My wife and I were very conscious of the stares and whispers.

Flandes and Girardot are southeast of Bogota on the Magdalena River. We took a bus during the day. There were National police and Army lining the road the entire way. The bus ride was a thrill. I did not realize that the center line on a 2 lane road was the passing lane in both directions. A 3 lane road (2 lanes in one direction and 1 lane in the other direction) can accomodate 4 cars abreast on a hairpin curve.

I did see one fat, balding gringo at a water park northeast of Girardot out of several thousand people. I also saw one on the streets of Girardot.
In Flandes I did not meet any but was told that thee was a well forified enclave of gringos living in Flandes. I saw no gringos in Melgar.

I never felt threatened but I made sure that I was inside the cities before dark. We did go out to dinner at night but only in the city. The food outside the hotel had more flavor because they used more natural spices and less processed foods.

[SonOfASailor]

I am trying to get information on approximately how long it takes for the average calena with average intelligence to learn english. In other words, I would love to hear from gringos and their experiences with their wives learning english here in the states.

[Lostagain]

Tranquilizer, Girdardot is a nice little town and the road to get there from Bogota goes through some breathtaking scenery. As for the driving norms on those narrow roads, that's the way they drive on all the roads there and the bus drivers are the most aggressive. Last December I saw a sign reminding drivers that even if there's a full moon, headlights are still required at night. I can't tell you how many busses I've seen w/o headlights passing a truck on a curve. You just have to learn to drive defensively and expect the absured around every curve.

JK..., It depends on the individual, how much exposure they have to English, how much they study, how available Spanish is, etc. Best case scenario, is probably 6 months in an area where there are no Spanish speakers, a good ESL program, and a highly motivated person. In most circumstances, it takes a few years. Part of the problem is if you speak Spanish alot, you prolong the process, but if you don't practice your Spanish, you will forget too much. We've started doing English days (2 in a row) followed by a Spanish day, then back to English. It seems to force out more English. Most people who can speak in two languages, tend to use the one in which two partners in a conversation speak collectively the best. Often for us, that is Spanish, and it slows the works down. But then Spanish is a much more beautiful sounding language. ...unless you are reading the words of Richard Henry Dana out loud.

L.A.

Ray, thanks for getting the new avitar for me.

[HonkyTonk]

(shhhh, I'm sneaking on here because I don't meet JKC's criteria as to being married. I'll wisper like the announcers on the World Poker Tour. Brought a Calena up here in 2000 who didn't speak a word of English and didn't care to. We kept in touch then she married a gringo. 6 months from not even being able to say hi in English, she called me and we had a conversation in all English, proper English, limited though still impressive. She just took simple English classes. She was motivated; I complimented her on it. Sad, but she stopped somewhere along the way and now we speak in Spanglish.

6 months; it can be done as lostagain said, if she is motivated.)

lostagain, I also thank Ray for taking the time to put up my new avatar. Atta boy Ray [img]smile.gif[/img]

Great News Kent! I have a hunch everything will go well. Do you still have your website up? Anyway keep us posted and stay away from the shadows.