Job Discussion Forums

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Is $4m a month in Bogota a good salary for a teacher starting out?

I posted this in the general forum after misplacing my eyes and not realising this forum existed so forgive me for a double post.

Anyway, no one has told me yet!

shebab · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 168

If you mean 4 million pesos, that is pretty decent money for Colombia, although Bogota is more expensive than other cities. You would be making more than 3/4 of the people living in that country.

Where is the job at? Colombia is like my second home, so if you have more questions, please send me a private message!

jppu · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 12:49 am Post subject:

wow! if you're going to be making 4m pesos, I'm on the next plane. Tell us more about this place. That's damn good money.

Just make sure your contract says you will be paid either in US$ (or Euro if you prefer) or if they insist on paying you in pesos, no problem, just make sure your contract says that you will be paid in pesos at the exchange rate in the foreign currency. That's what my contract said and I'm very grateful for that. it worked out wonderfully for me because the locolombian peso fluctuates so much - on a daily basis. so if the peso devalues significantly, or if they decide to scrap it altogether and bring in a new currency like they did every couple of years back in the '80s, you're protected by, in my case, the US$ equivelent. The peso devalued each month i was there, so my first pay was like 1.4m pesos. Well my last pay was around 1.9 pesos, which was great because inflation was high towards the end of my stay. You could just see the prices doubling in the food stores over night - seriously. So if i was still being paid 1.4m pesos towards the end, I would have been s.cre.wed.

As soon as you as you get paid, get the money out of colombia immediatly and safely into a bank acct. back home just in case the banks crash. There is no FDIC in Colombia. You are not protected if the banks go under. I had no problems getting as many ATM cards as i wanted from the Banco de Colombia. I kept one for myself and sent one to my mother and one to my sister to pull out money asap - limit US$200 or so a day, so they had to make three trips. At least the banks are pretty user friendly; more so than here in China. Mad

No ATM cards for foreign devils.

The economy in Colombia is as crazy as everything else and you must protect yourself financially if you're going to stay longer than a couple of months.

shebab · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 168

jppu · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 10:16 am Post subject:

I stand by what I wrote. Two different opinions. For me, better safe than sorry. And I had plenty of money to convert every month.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

khmerhit · Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 9:47 pm Post subject: Colombia Update

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

ColOmbia or ColUmbia ?

The first is the country in South America.
The second as in British Columbia a province of Canada. Or in District of Columbia as in Washington, DC.

Why does this bother me ? Do I require psychiatric treatment ? Or just a job where I cannot fritter away hours on Dave's ESLCAFE ?