Post: #1

I know I can be very paranoid about life and things but I'm very nervous about my trip to bogotá Colombia. This is only my second time out of the country as well but still feel very nervous

I'm worried about how I don't speak any spanish, if the colombian people will like me, are they nice to gringos or do they hate them? will her friends hate me or what?

It's not like I've never met this girl I'm visiting in Colombia but the more I think about it...it's like how well do I really know her and trust her.

I met her on a previous study abroad, and we have been just facebooking but I finally talked to her on skype tonight, and my flight is next week. I thought she seemed to be acting very weird/strange.....she was also laughing way too much not with me but sort of at me idk why.

At first she seemed like a conservative really nice girl.......but talking to her tonight on skype idk she seemed like a different person.

I wasn't nervous about visiting brazil because it was for school not just leisure and I had many people other students around me....I feel like this girl could get me setup to be robbed for all my cash, or even worse.

Post: #2

Go to Colombia and pick another girl to have a good time with - there's plenty to go around even with your minimal Spanish skills.

Caso Cerrado!

Mixx

Post: #3

(12-02-2011 11:37 PM)MiXX Wrote:  Go to Colombia and pick another girl to have a good time with - there's plenty to go around even with your minimal Spanish skills.

Caso Cerrado!

Mixx

lol I don't have much of a choice, im staying at her place for free.......Idk man something is telling me not to go, but its kinda already set in stone......just hope nothing bad happens to me and my safety there

Post: #4

(12-02-2011 11:47 PM)whodat689 Wrote:  lol I don't have much of a choice, im staying at her place for free.......Idk man something is telling me not to go, but its kinda already set in stone......just hope nothing bad happens to me and my safety there

In that case, make sure a few people know the address and names of people you are staying with. When you get to Colombia, immediately get a local sim card and give the number to friends back home.

leave a copy of your passport with someone you trust back home, along with the number to the US embassy in Bogota.


You should be fine, but again, I always trust my gut...if you get there, and strange men greet you at the airport, and she is nowhere to be seen...RUN!


Mixx

Post: #5

It's likely you're being overly paranoid. There's a million reasons she was acting differently and not everyone outside the US is out to get you. On the other hand, you should trust your gut instinct and if you don't feel comfortable with her than don't see her. Nothing is set in stone and you don't have to stay with her; there's plenty of other housing options in Bogota. Check out http://www.hostelworld.com/ or http://www.couchsurfing.org/ if you're on a budget. Don't let one flakey woman ruin your trip and don't make the mistake of being totally reliant on her. Offering you a place to stay is nice, but you need to have a backup plan if it doesn't work out. And worrying if her friends are going to hate you because you're a gringo is absurd for multiple reasons.

Edit:
And ya, what MiXX said.

Post: #6

In a word...YES, you're being paranoid. I really doubt this girl is setting you up to get jacked. You're just nervous because you're going be out of your comfort zone. That's cool though. This is how you become an experienced traveler. You worked FB, and did the Skype thing. You got an invite to stay with her (those kinds of invites are GOLDEN). She was probably all giggly because she's nervous/excited about your visit also. She's going to spend time with you, and look out for you. Of course, that doesn't mean nothing bad will happen to you. It just means it won't be because of HER...HA HA! But seriously...I did something similar at the end of '09. I started writing back and forth to an onliner, and it escalated to the point where she invited me down. I did some homework on Merida, Mexico, and saw it was in an area with tons of Mayan Ruins. She was used to taking visiting relatives to see them, so she was more than happy to do the same for me. She spoke NO English, and my Spanish was almost non-existent. We communicated only via Tagged and email, and we chatted on MSN Messenger. We didn't Skype, so the first time I saw her live was at the airport. I was drawing blanks on the easiest shit in Spanish, because I just wasn't used to speaking it at all. I'd run to the computer real quick to look things up. But you know what? We figured it out, and I spent a great 4 days or so just chilling with her. Saw the ruins, walked around Merida, rode the rickety ass city bus into town to go to the market with her, and took another bus ride to the beach in Progreso. We had a BBQ in her tiny backyard with her daughter and a couple of her friends. We were fucking MINUTES after she got me home from the airport. I was totally out of my comfort zone, but it was still one of my most pleasant travel experiences ever. This is how you become a road warrior. Your only concern should be getting this girl to fuck. The fact that she invited you down to stay with her is promising.

Post: #7

(12-03-2011 12:34 AM)Timoteo Wrote:  In a word...YES, you're being paranoid. I really doubt this girl is setting you up to get jacked. You're just nervous because you're going be out of your comfort zone. That's cool though. This is how you become an experienced traveler. You worked FB, and did the Skype thing. You got an invite to stay with her (those kinds of invites are GOLDEN). She was probably all giggly because she's nervous/excited about your visit also. She's going to spend time with you, and look out for you. Of course, that doesn't mean nothing bad will happen to you. It just means it won't be because of HER...HA HA! But seriously...I did something similar at the end of '09. I started writing back and forth to an onliner, and it escalated to the point where she invited me down. I did some homework on Merida, Mexico, and saw it was in an area with tons of Mayan Ruins. She was used to taking visiting relatives to see them, so she was more than happy to do the same for me. She spoke NO English, and my Spanish was almost non-existent. We communicated only via Tagged and email, and we chatted on MSN Messenger. We didn't Skype, so the first time I saw her live was at the airport. I was drawing blanks on the easiest shit in Spanish, because I just wasn't used to speaking it at all. I'd run to the computer real quick to look things up. But you know what? We figured it out, and I spent a great 4 days or so just chilling with her. Saw the ruins, walked around Merida, rode the rickety ass city bus into town to go to the market with her, and took another bus ride to the beach in Progreso. We had a BBQ in her tiny backyard with her daughter and a couple of her friends. We were fucking MINUTES after she got me home from the airport. I was totally out of my comfort zone, but it was still one of my most pleasant travel experiences ever. This is how you become a road warrior. Your only concern should be getting this girl to fuck. The fact that she invited you down to stay with her is promising.

Wow Timoteo! thats an excellent fucking story man! it's like often my gut is wrong and im always over paranoid about life in general you know...deep down inside I feel more so like she is a great girl who wouldn't set me up so I will go there and not be scared to travel, just so nervous and it also makes me even more nervous I cannot tell my family/mother about this because they would have heart failure. I believe I will tell me dad about it before I leave just to be safe if anything does happen to me they aren't thinking i've mysteriously gone missing and not home for this holiday

Post: #8

(12-03-2011 01:32 AM)whodat689 Wrote:  

(12-03-2011 12:34 AM)Timoteo Wrote:  In a word...YES, you're being paranoid. I really doubt this girl is setting you up to get jacked. You're just nervous because you're going be out of your comfort zone. That's cool though. This is how you become an experienced traveler. You worked FB, and did the Skype thing. You got an invite to stay with her (those kinds of invites are GOLDEN). She was probably all giggly because she's nervous/excited about your visit also. She's going to spend time with you, and look out for you. Of course, that doesn't mean nothing bad will happen to you. It just means it won't be because of HER...HA HA! But seriously...I did something similar at the end of '09. I started writing back and forth to an onliner, and it escalated to the point where she invited me down. I did some homework on Merida, Mexico, and saw it was in an area with tons of Mayan Ruins. She was used to taking visiting relatives to see them, so she was more than happy to do the same for me. She spoke NO English, and my Spanish was almost non-existent. We communicated only via Tagged and email, and we chatted on MSN Messenger. We didn't Skype, so the first time I saw her live was at the airport. I was drawing blanks on the easiest shit in Spanish, because I just wasn't used to speaking it at all. I'd run to the computer real quick to look things up. But you know what? We figured it out, and I spent a great 4 days or so just chilling with her. Saw the ruins, walked around Merida, rode the rickety ass city bus into town to go to the market with her, and took another bus ride to the beach in Progreso. We had a BBQ in her tiny backyard with her daughter and a couple of her friends. We were fucking MINUTES after she got me home from the airport. I was totally out of my comfort zone, but it was still one of my most pleasant travel experiences ever. This is how you become a road warrior. Your only concern should be getting this girl to fuck. The fact that she invited you down to stay with her is promising.

Wow Timoteo! thats an excellent fucking story man! it's like often my gut is wrong and im always over paranoid about life in general you know...deep down inside I feel more so like she is a great girl who wouldn't set me up so I will go there and not be scared to travel, just so nervous and it also makes me even more nervous I cannot tell my family/mother about this because they would have heart failure. I believe I will tell me dad about it before I leave just to be safe if anything does happen to me they aren't thinking i've mysteriously gone missing and not home for this holiday

UPDATE! hey guys recently I checked her facebook after skyping & I noticed tonight and I noticed some guy on her friends list posted a music video on her page....the part where you write in your own title of what the video your posting was weird symbols of some other language.....I copy/pasted this into bing translator it said " I love you endlessly"....mind you that thats not the title of the song posted either...so either this is a normal thing in S.America but if a guy is a friend he doesn't do that and or would be labeled a creep.

She asked me if I had a gf, and when we skyped her first question was what happened between you and your previous fling?? I then asked her if she had a bf she replied NO......now I'm thinking she may be lying and things could get ugly if shes lying to her man and putting me in danger here

Post: #9

Didn't we already go over this in another thread? You seem insanely paranoid about everything. If it's going to worry you book a hostel or hotel now and tell her you've decided to stay at one and you'll meet up with her when your are in town rather than staying and being reliant on her. It's unlikely some girl you met abroad is going to invite you to stay with her to kidnap you, she knows that you're going to have told all your friends and family where you are going, you have her on FB and skype, her real name, pcitrues, she can be traced. If you're not able to work out whether someone is sketchy or not then you're obviously a terrible judge of character. #

Now you're freaking out about what someone posted on her FB page and what it means, whether she has a boyfriend or not, whether she thinks you have a gf or not. None of this matters, stop worrying.

Post: #10

Hate to do this, but this guy is trolling around big time...

Post: #11

(12-03-2011 08:26 AM)Amour Fou Wrote:  Hate to do this, but this guy is trolling around big time...

I apologize guys honestly, I don't mean to.....im done now for sure