Droid´s South America report (Ecuador + Colombia)

[Jester]

There is supposed to be a lot of christians in china too but i dont think they are protestant. Im not sure if they agree to moving to the u.s either. I dont want to live in china lol

I think there are more born-again Christians in China than in the USA. Like 100 million or something.

Cant verify now, have internet issues, but should be easy to google an organization like "Open Doors". They used to smuggle Bibles in.

Illegal (unregistered) churches meet in homes, but the meetings are not secret. I read that police only bother them if they go out are visible in public and hand out fliers to invite people to the meeting.

Sounds like oppression, and it is.

But try having a huge weekly church meeting in your home in America. The police WILL come.

And almost all churches in the USA are ALSO registered with the regime (for 501c3 status). And they are told not to take sides on elections. An eery similarity...

[droid]

I think there are more born-again Christians in China than in the USA. Like 100 million or something.
Cant verify now, have internet issues, but should be easy to google an organization like "Open Doors". They used to smuggle Bibles in.
Illegal (unregistered) churches meet in homes, but the meetings are not secret. I read that police only bother them if they go out are visible in public and hand out fliers to invite people to the meeting

I watch a lot of Asian media online now (NHK, arirang), and I've seen reports showing churches in china. I think things are changing so fast there that your info might be outdated.

Although I don't know if those 100M are "of the devil" or protestant, for NLITP lol.

[Zendo]

Hey Droid, really enjoying your trip report so far, thanks for sharing. I was wondering how old you are? Just curious because I am 36 and hoping to go travelling this time next year for a few years. I really wish I'd "unplugged" in my 20's and feel like I'm late to the party!

[droid]

BUMP***
Hey I added the update with more data and pics. I put that in the OP so it's not lost in the thread. Enjoy.

Droid how does Asia compare to Latin America? You said you got more attention from the women in China? What do you look like? Can you post some pictures?

Thanks for the interest Travelin Man. China was definitely easier like I've said, I am a lot more exotic over there Lol. Also LA is quite a bit more 'Americanized' of course so girls are not so wholesome-innocent as Chinese/Japanese. There's a couple thumbnails of myself in the update.

[chibolo]

Great report and pictures. Thanks for posting. It made me miss South America...

[newlifeinphilippines]

BUMP***
Hey I added the update with more data and pics. I put that in the OP so it's not lost in the thread. Enjoy.

Droid how does Asia compare to Latin America? You said you got more attention from the women in China? What do you look like? Can you post some pictures?

Thanks for the interest Travelin Man. China was definitely easier like I've said, I am a lot more exotic over there Lol. Also LA is quite a bit more 'Americanized' of course so girls are not so wholesome-innocent as Chinese/Japanese. There's a couple thumbnails of myself in the update.

If i want "drive through" convenience of a wholesome girl what do you suggest i do? lol Is online dating the only hope for that?

[droid]

Id say drive thru can only give you mcdonalds quality lol. You get the picture.
I prefer to go to the river and struggle with the fish myself lol.

[newlifeinphilippines]

Id say drive thru can only give you mcdonalds quality lol. You get the picture.
I prefer to go to the river and struggle with the fish myself lol.

If your living abroad already i guess but if your just going fro country to country for vacation or semi long stay its difficult in terms of time and boredom and especially money to go wife hunting. I really dont want to move to asia now but i dont want to import a wife to america either so if i was to travel anytime in the future id be doing short vacations to spots (so i wont get bored of any location) and for sightseeing. Really hard to find a wife that way but staying in one location can be a drag if your not living there. I bet if you were staying in a hotel in columbia for 6 months stay to go look for a wife youd realize maybe that is a whole lot of money and time for nothing. There is MUCH more important things in this world and beyond than looking for a wife.

[droid]

I bet if you were staying in a hotel in columbia for 6 months stay to go look for a wife youd realize maybe that is a whole lot of money and time for nothing.

It can get pretty damn expensive here, especially in Bogota. But some of the second tier cities are really inexpensive i'm finding out.

I'm gonna stay in Manizales for a couple months, and you can get decent medium-end 600sqf apartments for U$250-$300/month (good luck finding something like that in the bay area lol).
http://manizales-cal.adwayer.com.co/apa ... iid-348287
Food is very inexpensive too, you can have a serious breakfast for U$1.50 lol, and lunch for U$2.50 (Of course this is not in the malls).

Used cars are expensive but by the same token they don't lose that much value either, so you can sell a car for pretty much the same amount within a few months.

There is MUCH more important things in this world and beyond than looking for a wife.

Yes and no, there's a moment for everything I guess. I'm personally not looking right now, but you never know...

[newlifeinphilippines]

I bet if you were staying in a hotel in columbia for 6 months stay to go look for a wife youd realize maybe that is a whole lot of money and time for nothing.

It can get pretty damn expensive here, especially in Bogota. But some of the second tier cities are really inexpensive i'm finding out.

I'm gonna stay in Manizales for a couple months, and you can get decent medium-end 600sqf apartments for U$250-$300/month (good luck finding something like that in the bay area lol).
http://manizales-cal.adwayer.com.co/apa ... iid-348287
Food is very inexpensive too, you can have a serious breakfast for U$1.50 lol, and lunch for U$2.50 (Of course this is not in the malls).

Used cars are expensive but by the same token they don't lose that much value either, so you can sell a car for pretty much the same amount within a few months.

There is MUCH more important things in this world and beyond than looking for a wife.

Yes and no, there's a moment for everything I guess. I'm personally not looking right now, but you never know...

yeah I think apartments are nice for multi month stays but they are not practical cause you have to search for one, then worry about utilities and nosy neighbors and any issues with them or your landlord, also what if you want to travel around the country you can't do that cause you have your apartment. It seems way too complicated if your only gonna be there for 6 months or less. I heard of some foreigners doing that but i could only see justifying it if you plan to basically want to stay root in one single city and you need to be very frugal for your money. you may get tired of being in one place it was ok for me cause i knew phil and its easy to get a long term partner.

If you're curious when i was in philippines i stayed in a hotel for 6 months and it was not that expensive cause they had monthly rate. You can't cook but i found ways around that and for 6 months it was better than dealing with an apartment. Next time i travel i dont plan on sitting in one town for 6 months if you do then an apartment may be a possibility but if you want to go to different places the hotel idea makes even more sense. Usually hotels are gonna cost you twice or more as much as an apartment even if your going budget hotels so you may have to make your trip shorter but like i said if your bouncing around from town to town to to sightsee or experience new things then its not practical to have an apartment anyways. If you have a city you know well like i did and someone to spend it with then a 6 month stint in an apartment is fine though but in my case the cost wasn't th at much different so i didn't want to hassle.

[Jester]

I've seen reports showing churches in china. I think things are changing so fast there that your info might be outdated.

Yeah my info could easily be outdated.

But also the church in that picture could be a legal, state-registered church. Those have been around the whole time.

It's those who won't register that are, or were, illegal.

Although a few years ago I watch a Mainland TV hostess, on a state-owned channel I believe, interviewing an American businessman, and the subject of his values came up. She found his Christian beliefs interesting, and kept asking about it, and how it helped him in business and in life. She wnt on and on, smiling, interested, asking questions, genuinely curious, without preconceived notions or awkwardness.

You would see nothing like it on any "mainstream" US network business show.

[Jester]

......

I am eating that idea back, raw with no salt and pepper.

Sometimes PublicDuende still thinks in Italian....

[Jester]

Just saw the pics all the way through the thread.

great pics.

+1 for pics
+1 for honesty
+1 for focusing on useful descriptions of women and social life

Manizales looks great

[droid]

Just saw the pics all the way through the thread.
great pics.
+1 for pics
+1 for honesty
+1 for focusing on useful descriptions of women and social life
Manizales looks great

Thanks, I hope you saw the albums on shutterfly.
I'm still stuck in Bogota with the FUGLY, leftist, non-flirting, pseudo-intellectual, pot-headed, bi-lesbos; and *gasp* cloned bearded hipsters. This is pretty bad guys I really don't recommend it, I had fun dancing the other day but otherwise it ain't good. This city is pretty much the gutter for the worst/leftover American tendencies (not the good ones) so you can imagine..
I'm waiting to buy a car so I can escape to Manizales but the deal hasn't gone through. Even then, when I see Winston's links to the Ukranian girls i can't help but feel I'm wasting my time . Heck, model-looking, polite, violin-playing gems would flirt with me in slovakia; what the f* am i doing...
But I have to pull through with this exercise the next couple of months so I can get it out of my system.

[newlifeinphilippines]

no homo but your a good looking guy you would clean up in asia for sure. You have a look though that wont stand out in south america I think. If you were blonde and blue eyed maybe youd get special attention there.


Why are the slovakians nicer to you? Thats odd. Personally I dont like people south of the border so it must be a culture thing. Russian and eastern women are a bit too picky and masculine for me but id rather go there than latin america