(11-03-2009 06:33 AM)fman Wrote: The subject I want to bring up is how race may play a roll in the game throughout the world. I would love some honest answers to what your experience may have been. I am 32 and a well educated African american that is more into the Hip-College style. I speak fluent Spanish and lived in Venezuela off and on for three years. I used to be very shy and in those three years did not close one deal. However I think it was also partly from my observations on how blacks are viewed in VE. Here are my observations in my travels.
I'm African-American too and 33 years old, traveled pretty well across the world and Latin America. I'm glad to see someone in here from my demographic because I have observed some of things you have as well and always wanted to make sure I wasn't just imagining things, but the fact is, there just ain't too many black people that do this type of independent travel and most of us are too scared to wing it through S. America and rather go to somewhere more familiar. I was down there for 2 months this last spring just traveling around. My main reason going was just to travel and see the world, but was hoping to hook up with girls too if the situation came.
First off I admit, my game sucks balls. I was with a girl for awhile, fell out of the game and was rusty as hell. I've never been good at game, but after being with just one girl for a long period of time and having nothing to push you out of your comfort zone and keep things fresh, my game was even worse than normal. Not much of anything happened in my 2 months there with regards to girls, and I think the main reason was my own fault, not because of my race. I wasn't prepared and I hadn't come very far in getting over approach anxiety. So sometimes it's easy to blame it on your racial differences if pussy isn't falling out the sky for you. Just like a guy that's losing his hair thinks every failure is because of his balding head or the somewhat below average height guy things everything bad that happens is because of his height. I could've gotten at least a bang if I put in any real work but I just didn't put in the work and have only myself to blame for that.
That said, I'm not naive either and I don't walk around with blinders. Latin America is rife with racism and the caste system there is real and it keeps blacks and Indians at the bottom and light-skinned mestizos and Spanish/Portuguese at the top. Look who lives in the favelas and look who lives in places like Leblon, Miraflores or Recoleta. And it's been that way for 500 'effin years, so it ain't changing anytime soon. Anyone that thinks that won't have some impact on your results as a black guy is a fool. A white guy can go to Latin America and may be able to get a few bangs from passive game(by that I mean only gaming women that have shown an interest in you first), since Latin women love white guys. The darker the Latin woman, the more flattered she is to get attention from a white guy. A black dude can't rely on passive game down there like the white dudes can. You have to have active game. Everyone should have active game for good results, but even a very beta white guy might get lucky, and have mestizas fascinated with his blue eyes and light hair and want to talk to him first. That's not likely to happen to black dudes. So we brothas have to really put in work and more of it than our white buddies. I don't think being black will stop you per se. It's a hurdle in that it's a social disadvantage to be black in Latin America, but just like being bald, or short, disadvantages can be made up for in other ways so don't blame your outcome entirely on race. After thinking more about this subject when I came home, I came to some conclusions.
1) You will have to approach more women than a comparably attractive white guy to get the same results. Simply no way around this.
2) Do NOT rely on passive game or assume women are going to view you as exotic the second you step off the plane and jump your bones at first sight. Few will unless they mistake you for Will Smith or something.
3) You will have to DHV(
demonstrate higher value) like a mutha in order to compensate for your perceived lower social value within the Latin American caste system.
4) You MUST distinguish yourself in some way from the poor black locals. If you are mistaken for being one of them, people will shun you because blacks are at the bottom of the economic, social and prestige totem pole in Latin American society. If they know you are American they will act more warmly toward you. And btw, I think it sucks that it has to be that way, I like Latin America but really, really hate the whole classist/racist caste system there and how the whole situation is ignored.
Quote:Venezuela: Beautiful girls that regardless of size and age seem to defy gravity keeping that figure throughout life. I met many cool girls that after a few hours of knowing them would hold my hand or put their arm around me and were very affectionate. However in general my only saving grace was that I was American. Many assumed that I was from Colombia of Venezuela. Blacks their are mostly poor so I did not feel like they took me seriously other than just an amigito who could dance well. haha. When I had a stark White friend of mine come to visit he was K-colosing everything in sight. He spoke no Spanish and really stood out, which might have been a great advantage in that country.
Colombia: I traveled into the interior of Colombia to Bucaramunga. Ditto Venezuela.
Well see, I can't even dance well so I don't even have
that advantage, lol. If you said you got them to be physically affectionate after a few hours, did you close these girls?
Quote:Costa Rica: Beautiful girls, not as affectionate as VE but great people. Because blacks where rare in the part I visited many girls seemed interested ..ie eye contact and smiles.
Dominican Republic: Outgoing high energy chicas. Not the prettiest but some of the most humble on the planet. Again, I was not an object of eye contact and interest because I looked too much like a native. However my White friends cleaned up!
Dominican Republic is a weird place. The racial attitudes from what I've read are very bizarre. They don't like anything associated with black because they associate black with their hated neighbor Haiti. Even though most of DR is black and mulatto(by American standards), they refuse to call themselves blacks and try to fool people into thinking they are dark because they are Taino Indian, which is nonsense. Whites are practically worshiped there.
Quote:Mexico: Jackpot!! More specificaly Monterrey, MX. I was the subject of many stares. Monterrey is well known for producing girls that star in the "Novelas". Their are more "tall" (5'5' and up) girls here than any other place I have seen in MX. Girls would come up and want to take pictures with me, rub my hair, coming out of stores, leaving their office desk just to talk to me and wanting to take me out. Guys you would be very disapointed with me I did not work the day game with such action. I had great action in the clubs but with I could have worked the day better. For this city in Mx White friends=No action. One thing I would like to add, it that Monterrey has some of the most beautiful mestizas in Mexico. They are known to be tall and "fresa". The really White "fresas" were not as outgoing as the regular girls however very friendly once you started talking to them.
Thanks for the tip, I'm going to have to add Monterrey to my destination list. What did you mean by "white friend = no action?"
Quote:My general observation in Latin America is that Money trumps Race, however in many counties black are known to be broke so that puts you behind if they already assume you are a local!
Right, but that's probably true in the USA too, look at OJ Simpson until his last arrest. I had this dilemma in Brazil. I was never sure whether to dress up more so that people know I'm American and wealthy(by their standards) and risk making myself a target of robbery, or to dress down with shorts, tanktop and sandals which made me feel more safe in blending in, but also made the locals assume I was a local from the favela. My decision was to look like a poor local in the day when walking around and only dress up if I'm going out at night and taking taxis.
Quote:Here is my question to all about a few counties I plan to visit soon:
Peru- Have you had any black or darker friends that were successful their? Few Peruanos that I know here in the states seem to like darker people.
I've never been to Peru so I can't say from any personal experience, but like you, from what I've heard from Peruvians I know in the U.S., colorism and racism there is very pervasive. Lima is supposedly the most racist city in Latin America as far as how dark people are treated. There's a small indigenous black population in Peru I read about and I've listened to some of their Afro-Peruvian music. They are treated like shit there and only allowed to work lowly jobs. I've read about restaurants in Miraflores that don't allow dark skinned people in(refusing dark skin people in some prestigious establishments happens in a number of LA countries btw, though). White guys there do VERY well, because number one, the women see a white gringo as a get out of jail free card to a world of affluence and number two, they want light skinned children with "ojos claros". Honestly, if you're black and specifically looking to game, I would skip Peru altogether. Plus Peruvian women aren't known for their looks anyway.
Quote:Argentina- I have always heard, from travel blogs, that girls in Argentina have a thing for Darker and Black guys. Has anyone seen this as a fact or mabe a help.
I've heard that too, I think it's more of a hit or miss thing. I've heard some black guys claim they were treated like rock stars there, on the other hand I've heard some say they were treated like garbage by the Argentines and swore to never return. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, which was my experience. I didn't catch any hostility, but neither were girls throwing themselves at me either. You'll just have to go and find out for yourself.
Quote:Brazil- I would love to go their but I feel like I would look too local. What are your thoughts.
A black dude's best chance of scoring should be in Brazil since number one it's just a very open and sexual country in the first place and secondly because there is such a wide variety of girls with everything from blonde hair and blue eyes to straight up African and all mixes in between. Like I'd said above, I had a bit of a dilemma about how to dress and needed to find a balance between distinguishing myself from the black guys in the favela who frighten the shit out of people, yet not making myself stand out as a foreigner and end up with a gun in my face(my hostel mates were getting robbed almost daily). I definitely passed as a local until I opened my mouth. Even when I was hanging on the beach with whites, I laughed as the persistent street/beach merchants would harass the gringos to buy something and would skip right over me assuming I was probably one of them. So I guess it has at least that advantage. Though one night I was walking into a nice restaurant and some guy at the door at first tried to stop my entrance like I was a favela guy walking in to beg or something, until he realized I was a foreigner.
Btw - Learn some Portuguese if you plan to go there. I found that very few Brazilians speak any English. I'm not just talking girls, I mean basic service people, waiters, cab drivers, desk people in airports and bus stations, etc.
Quote:Sweden- Another place I have heard is a gold mine for black guys.
I've heard these rumors about Scandinavia for a long time, yet I don't know any black guys that have actually been there. I know one dark Latino guy who says he cleaned house in Sweden though. I'm not much into the Scandinavian type myself though so I don't care to go there.
Quote:Since my trip I am planing is to Cuzco and Lima, Peru I really hope I can have a successful trip.
Guys this was a long post but I have always wanted to ask these questions but have discoverd a gold mine of info on this forum and am happy to be a member! Thanks!
Good luck with it. Every traveler's experience will be different, you may do well there possibly. Despite some of the bad I've heard about Peru with regards to race, I would still love to check out some of the awesome places like Cusco, Machu Pichu, Colca Canyon and the Sacred Valley. I hear Arequipa is a pretty cool place too. It's good to hear from someone in my demographic with a similar perspective. Unfortunately there are few of us that do this kind of shit. It can feel lonely!