Well, finally getting settled into life in Medellin. It is a very pleasant place with a variety of venues to practice our hobby.

Town is loaded with hotties of all shapes, sizes and demeanors. Many very wealthy people live here and many poor as well. Prices for stuff are good (although appliances, TV's etc. seem to be on par or maybe even a little more expensive than the states), food and transportation are definately cheaper.

The chicas are less expensive than Rio but it is mostly a ST mentality although LT is available for a price.

Found a nice 2 story mini-penthouse in Poblado. Furnishing it has been a challenge as has getting everything fixed that is broken but am making good progress.

Weather here is awesome. Hardly even need AC.

People are very friendly and very curious about foreigners. No problems stopping and meeting girls (non-pros)almost anywhere. Clubs are loud and noisy (just like anywhere else) but hotties abound and they are very approachable.

Digging in on some serious Spanish lessons and spending a lot of time studying and practicing the language everywhere I go. I probably have the vocabulary of a 4 year old but am advancing rapidly. Have a great teacher who is willing to teach me the way I want to be taught, not his way!! He even liked some of my ideas!!

Time to run. Gotta get ready for my next future ex GF's arrival. I'll try to keep you guys posted on happenings and events here (and maybe a few photos along the way). Going to maintain a little more decorum in my building here than I did in Rio. Want to keep the neighbors happy here.....LOL!

Tchau and keep in touch;

SamusAran

(yeah Hemp. They have blonds here)

Photo: Future ex GF

SamusAran,

How much are you living on each month? I'm thinking about $3K a month you would live pretty well.

Thanks for the "blond" info SamusAran. I am sure that little number above could take care of "LIttle Hempy" just fine. Shit right about now Whoopi Goldberg is looking pretty good. I think I need a trip!!!! Thanks - Hemp

SamusAran I thought you lived in Rio. Did you move? Or is this just your summer residency?

Sign me Jealous!

Nice to hear one more person are buying out off the states.

Kukulkan

SamusAran-

Good to hear from you, buddy! I hope to get over for a visit later this year.

I'd be curious to hear about your visa arrangements. Are you going to come and go or were you able to get a more premanent visa?

Yes, please do keep us abreast of your adventures and the details of life there. I'd like to hear first hand what it's like. I'm considering retiring there in a few years.

Just be carefull in the alleys around club San Diego. I'm sure what happened last time was a fluke but just the same be carefull.

The up side is no more shit flingers like in Rio, but man that's gotta suck not being able to make the Terma runs.

RG.

samusaran can you tell me the dates of the rose festival this yr?..thats when i'd like to visit

BD-Well, actually, I was able to get a student visa that is good for a year + 3 extensions. It was pretty simple and straight forward. I even have a Cedula (which is needed for almost everything here).

Sniper-you can live on 3K very esily here if you own your own place and don't pay rent. After your initial invetment in furniture and appliances (which turned out to be a lot more than expected) most everything else is pretty reasonable.

RG-The police have been standing guard on both sides of SD lately so no SG's are hanging there now. They moved down the street a few blocks. I can tell you I don't walk the streets here in daily fear of being mugged like in Rio...! I also don't go into Centro at night.

Some other initial impressions;

Taxis are cheap, negating the need for a car (although the chicas dig em);I don't know how you would cost justify the initial cost (and cars are not cheap here), plus maintenence/insurance, gas versus paying a couple of dollars to go most anyplace you need to go. That and the sheer madness of driving here, finding parking etc would make that a real difficult justification.

Top notch grocery stores that even have; sour cream, Mac and Cheese (hemp), syrup/pancake mix, peanut butter and pretty much anything you can find in the states. Prices are pretty reasonable on most items except imports (scotch.....boo hooo); Labor is cheap to have things installed or fixed; My maid cost me about $12.50 for 8 hours one day per week (and she is pretty easy on the eyes too); I am having 2 ceiling fans installed for a whopping $10 each; In the Poblado area, people are very well to do, dress fashionably and seem to be looking to move up in life; Police don't hold you up for bribes all the time. In fact, they are pretty friendly and I have run into more than one of them that speaks English. There is a huge anti-corruption program underway right now and the police are under close scrutiny to not accept bribes. One officer told me if a cop asks for a bribe, get his badge # and turn him in (yeah right!!!).

Terma runs are replaced by casa runs at about 1/4 the cost or less but like many, I am spending a lot of time with non-pros (and an occasional casa run). Casas are smaller, not as many girls as a Termas but there are constantly changing faces. Lots of girls work part time on weekends and between semesters/holidays etc to earn extra money. There are of course some dogs but there are also a lot of gems to be discovered. Some of the casas have weekday specils. 2 girls for the price of 1. Let's see, $30 for 60 minutes for 2 girls....hummmm?Phone numbers are easy to obtain to see them outside the casa. There is an area of town (near New Life for you vets)where there are literally about 15 casas within a 4-5 block area. You are bound to find something to your liking in one of them. The higher end casas like Loutron do a bristling business but why pay 2-3X the price??

NP's are a lot easier when they know you live here and are not just a tourist. You should see their faces when I tell them I am a Paisa now! They give up phone numbers easliy and are happy to meet for a coffee for the first date.

There are escorts but they can be pricey. If you find one you like, just get her number and call her directly. You'll save about 1/2 or more.

Of course the strip clubs have a fair share of hotties but it is usually ST on premise. LT/TLN can be had but there is a price to pay and most of these girls have families/kids they need to tend to. Prices in the SC's range from $40-50 for 30 minutes to an hour. Bottles of rum can be epensive and beers are about $5 each.

The girls at FII are getting down right "FAT". SD still has some cuties and a couple are stellar performers.

The big clubs like Mangos, Universal, Palmahias are very expensive. Target id is very difficult; music is loud; bottles of rum and cost of beer off the charts. It is a place to see and be seen and also a good idea to take your sand with you to the beach or take a new found hottie to impress her.

Weather? It just could not be better. We had about 3 weeks of daily rains when I first got here. Since then, we are having blue skies daily with temps ranging in the mid to high 70's at night and low to mid 80's during the day. I have not had to turn on the AC yet! Humidity is basically non-existent.

Internet and cable TV is about on par with US prices and the internet is fast and reliable. You can buy speeds in 100KB increments up to a full T-1/E-1. I have 700KB service, cable with about 75 channels (about 10 in English)and local phone service that includes 500 minutes per month. Cost is about $90 per month.

Utilities are based on a Strata Plan. More expensive sections of town pay a higher rate than lower income areas (interesting idea for the US). I wasn't here for a full month's billing cycle but water, sewer, garbage, phone (before I switched) and a few other things they throw in was about $75. I am expecting about $120-$150 for full services per month.

Clothing-In the big malls with big name stores, expect US prices. You can buy clothes, shoes etc, dirt cheap in Centro and other areas of town. They make a lot of clothes here. A buddy bought 14 shirts to take home and he paid about $3.00 each for them. Decent quality too!

I guess my Spanish classes are about my biggest cash outlay right now. I chose to have a private teacher that comes to my apartment 2X per week for 2 hour sessions. There are various universities that offer spanish classes for foreigners. Prices are all over the board and most meet 5 days per week for 2-4 hours per day. I may go that route when I get to an intermediate level just to save a few bucks and meet some university chicas (is that wrong??)

This is a Wed.-Sat (late night) town (keep that in mind when planning your visit). Sundays, mondays and tuesdays are pretty dead. Nice to have a regular for those days, hit the casas, or just take it easy for a couple of days. Fri and Sat nights are off the charts and several clubs have Thursday night specials (entrance fee and all you can drink; girls entrance is free etc).

Parke Lleras is always good for eye candy and you can meet chicas there but they can also be from upper-middle to upper class families so are not looking for one night or one week stands.

The malls are loaded with chicas and some are off the charts hot. The higher end malls will have more affluent girls while the lower end malls will attract less affluent girls. Guess where I spend most of my mall searching efforts??

Well, hopefully, that will give you some initial perspectives on living in Medellin. The peso took a big hit over the past few months but has had a little rebound in the past week or so. Hope it rebounds some more soon. At least it is headed in the right diretion. Inflation seems to be in pretty good check here. Not seeing prices increase like I was in Rio. I have a photo from 2002 of Help where the entry fee was $R12 before midnight. What is it now, R$32 or more?

PM me if you are planning a trip to Mde. Maybe we can get together for a beer or two. Lots of local ex-pats around that know their way around real well. Most have FT GF's but are not above a little sideline fun. Hell, they are becoming true Paisas!!

Tchau (or Chau as they spell it here)

SamusAran

BL-I left Rio in Nov. of 2005. Spent about 6 months in SEA then a year in the states. Couldn't wait to get outta gringaville.

Xmas-I'll get back to you on the flower festival dates.

Wow that sounds great , best of luck!

SamusAran,

OK, you've made a start on it. I now expect to see a full-blown "SamusAran's Guide to Medellin" along the lines of my Rio guide. I'll give you 6 months to do the research and get the writing done.

Bwana

Nice write up. Sounds like things are going to be good for you.

Best of luck.

RG.

700KB service - ahh the dark ages. Can't imagine having to live with that anymore. Otherwise it sounds great.

BL-I could have 1.544 if I wanted it but I am just 1 person and I type very slowly....LOL

BD-No one will ever top BD's Rio guide. Like saying someone will outpaint the Mona Lisa!

Welcome.

I bought a place in Conquistadores(near Laureles) in Jan. I lived in Cartagena for 4 years prior to that.

I'm in the US for the summer. I don't spend much time in Poblado. As I'm sure you have discovered, the girls there don't need our pesos.

Maybe we can have a coffee in the fall.

Bluelight,

Living in Colombia vs the US should dramatically cut down on the volume and frequency of porn downloads compared to what's needed living in the US, so the slower speeds for SamusAran should do the trick

ROFLOL@Catocony - hadn't thought about that!

SamusAran,

I look forward to hearing about your living experience. Medellin is the only place I am currently considering a potential retirement place outside of the US. My wife would be happy there (Colombiana from Antioquia and close to family), although she likes the coast better (Cartagena). I my opinion Cartagena is just to humid and the infrastuctur sucks, streets, electrcity, telephone,etc. (TomTom33 knows best) By the time I am ready to retire my daughter will probably be stuck on living in the states making things a litle more complicated.

I love the weather in Medellin except I beleive they experience some rainy seasons that can be heavy. Mudslides, flooding etc.

Paisas are gorgeous to look at, sitting around Parce Lleras and looking at the eye candy is one of the great pleasures in life. Unfortnately, I would be in risk of losing body parts if I decided to experience in them itimately.

SamusAran,

Thanks for the great information on Medellin and I really enjoy reading through your experience. As you may know I have been to Medellin many times since we first met but I actually stayed more in Saint Vicente than in Medellin. I am however planning a Medellin trip in the next few months with a bunch of rookies who are not member of this board, at least not yet, and sure can use your help in planning this trip. I will PM you later.

Take care.
PhD

Yoos-I too think you would find CTG wayyyy too hot and humid, especially in the summer months.

It was rainy when I first arrived and rained for short periods everyday. There were several mudslides in neighboring cities, several were killed and a lot lost homes but those were barrios where they build homes without foundations.

As to your last remark:

Every Colombian man worth his salt has a little something going on the side or hits a casa on occasion. Granted, there are a few walking around that are missing body parts but I always though that was from violence or accidents. You have me re-thinking that assumption now....LOL

If your wife has family here then she would probably love living here again. Families are very important here and besides, she is probably tired of hanging around you all the time anyway......LOL-LOL

SamusAran,

If you like the malls, then you absolutely gotta try spending the afternoon at Weko. For those who don't know about it, it's the low end alternative to Tesoro - shops upon shops all clustered into a 16 block radius. And 80% of them are staffed by Paisas aged less than 25!!!!!

Dress nice, smile often and bring your handphone, because you'll be harvesting phone numbers like crazy!!!

SamusAran,

I am aware it is our manly duty to have something on the side, and every Colombiana expects it as well. That being said they do not want to know that you are a 'perro' and if they are confronted with it there is hell to pay.

BTW Colombianas also think as long as he is a 'perro' I can be a 'perra' too. Hence there is something of a threatened balance for those of us that get serious with a Colombiana.

someone on here wrote " Colombianas are smart" forget who it was. but that is understatement, they are really smart. Don't think for a minute you can bullshit one. Piss one off for being a "perro" and there will be hell to pay. Where a Brasileira wants what's in your wallet a Colombiana will be looking at property values in your zip code on the internet.

Sounds like a wonderful adventure that you've embarked on. Thanks for the reading and perhaps we'll meet up for a beer before long ;)

Wnose-Actually planning on going to Weko tomorrow with a budy. He said the same thing about the place.

Yoos and Dallas-You guys are both right. These latinas have a nose and a network just like the garotas in Br. They seem to know what you have done before you do it.....

DM-Come on down anytime.

An example of just how astute they are.

Several years back I was at 'Tu Candela' in Cartagena with my novia. Another chica walks past and give me a nod. My novia turns to me and says 'tu hacer amor con ella, si, tu hace'
I would never admit it but to today she remonds me about the other chica I fucked in Cartagena.

As I say, I never admitted to it - but she was 100% correct and read it all just right. Be careful with your novias they are very astute.

And the proper reply to that on your part should always be "we didn't meet in a church, did we?".

It was dumb of the second chica to even acknowledge your existence in front of your novia, that's just a cat move on her part. The only time you usually see that is if the two chicas know each other and don't like each other, or if the second chica is just dumb as shit.

SamusAran: Great reading about your life there...and I think you are living the dream. Hope to see you down there one day soon.

rm

Look forward to it buddy

Xmasdecoman-

Sorry for the delay. The flower festival is Aug 3-13 this year. Book early and expect about a 30% premium for rooms.

It is a 10 day party in the whole city.

Hey SamusAran,
Great reading. I'm thinking of taking my virgin trip to Medellin the week of New Year's. Do you think that would be a good time to go? Or are the chicas usually spending more time with family then?

Elgran,

Hope you like fireworks all night long. Those crazy Paisas must. They bring in the new year with a bang.

Have u checked out any of the local massueses? Was just wondering...

Paisas (people from Mde) will party at the drop of a hat for anything.

There have been 3 Monday holiday in the past month. They can't even begin to tell you what the holiday is for. Just that it is a holiday and they don't have to work. It is funny as hell!

Anytime around a major holiday (Xmas, NYE etc) and the party just gets bigger. Like TomTom says, expect a lot of fireworks, loud music...all night long, and lots of drunken/stoned people in the streets.

DG-I have checked out a couple of the local legit masseusse places and have visited a number of the "happy ending" places. I have my eye on a cutie in a legit place. She is so cute and we have had some interesting conversations while she has me beneath her grasp.....Sans anal probe...he he!


Chau (tchau in BR)

SamusAran

Elgran-In answer to your question....

They will all be broke after Christmas and New Years so yes, it is a great time to visit.

Tuition will be due!

Funny thing;

I have had a few things that needed to be fixed/replaced in my apartment.

The owner decided to remove the hot water heater from the second floor bathroom and the jacuzzi motor and blower (because he was originally selling the place). After 2 months of twice per week calls to the agencies involved in the transaction, I demanded a meeting with the owner.

He showed up one day with my agency guy and proclaimed no knowledge of the missing motors/appliances (yeah right.. they took everything including light bulbs).

Oh, he was very good about fixing small things; Leaking toilets, leaking hot water heaters on the first floor, doors that would not lock/close, gas stove etc. Things that a handyman costing $5 per hour could fix.

You should have seen his face when I confronted him with my lease agreement that stated my lease does not start until everything is working.

I have essentially been living here rent free for 2+ months. You should see the activity I am getting to have a new HWH, Jacuzzi motor and blower installed.

Comical as hell. If you ever move here, make sure you have a similar clause in your lease agreement. "Everything must be working before the lease date begins".

They will take your lease money and run until you throw it in their face that you have been living rent free for whatever period....

Gringos 1; Paisas 0

For now anyway!

Spent a week in MDE, stayed at Clubvip, and I think it is one of the truly great cities of the world. I absolutely love the place. Tried out KamaSutra (40k), Energy (75k) and Abeydos(83k), all beautiful girls, esp Abeydos. I'll try a TR when I get home :-( To anyone, I highly recommend hanging around the Juan Valdez Cafe in Parque LLeras, you sit there and see nothing but models, it is amazing. Will be returning in December for sure, maybe we can hook up, SamusAran?

Fellow Mongers,

I have a dilemma. I booked my ticket in hast (MIA - MDE) before I secured my accomodations. I will be in MDE 8/28 - 9/3 (last minute decision after reading a few MDE Trip Reports).

Based on the Hombre threads it seems the Mansion or El Castillo is the place to stay. UNFORTUNATELY, they are both booked for my travel dates. PLEASE HELP, I am a very active monger and was looking forward to the Mansion activity. Any suggestions on comparable accommodations in MDE?

Also, any other Hombre members in MDE those dates?

Regards,
SupaSigma

Stay at the VIP. http://www.clubvipmedellin.com/index.php I don't know why everyone thinks that the Mansion is the only game in town.

RG.