Job Discussion Forums

[vivaBarca]

Does anyone here have any experience teaching in Colombia? Specifically, Bogot�? I�m in Argentina now, and several visits to English institutes, one classified ad, and a whole lot of fliers later am left with the notion that there is plenty of work to be had here - starting in February. So, I�m considering travelling up and possibly settling down in one of the northern countries. All teaching aside, regardless I�d like to visit Colombia within the next half a year or so for awhile.

I�m not asking for a full appraisal of the security situation...I�m just interested in knowing what life is like up there for a teacher, foreigner, lover (if that applies), etc. I�ve really heard great things over the past few months from almost everyone I�ve met whose traveled there. Much more - if I may add - than Lima or Quito, but I�d also assume more people pass through Lima and Quito, making the likelihood for bad experiences higher. So, any enlightening comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[ask_murderer]

I can't vouch for the teaching there, but I lived there for 4 years back in the mid-90's(Armenia & Bogota, 2 yrs/ea). Of all the places I've lived (and I've never lived anywhere for more than 4 years), it was my favorite. The coffee zone is especially beautiful. I prefer spring-like climates, so it was perfect. Bogota gets a little cooler since it's up in the mountains, but it's usually pretty comfortable w/ jeans and a sweater. If you're looking for warmer weather, try the coast or Cali. In general, though, the people were some of the kindest, warmest folks I've ever met. I'm in the States again, but I recently resumed my search for teaching positions and I've focusing on L. Amer. If I find something good in Colombia, you'd better believe I'll be all over it like a pack of dogs on a 3-legged cat.

[MELEE]

Lozwich is working in Bogota...

[lozwich]

Lozwich is working her curvy little butt off in Bogota today, and will write a thoughtful response in a few hours when she has finished shouting at foreigners. Whoops! I mean teaching.

[lozwich]

Ok, back, and slightly rested...

Let me preface all of my remarks with the fact that I have only been here for 3 1/2 months, and that my situation is not normal. Unless you can arrange for a bizarre twist of fate to drop a dream job in your lap at the most opportune time, some of what I am about to say could be difficult to replicate. I would also like to add that I am a 35 year old single woman, and some of my needs and wants may be different to yours.

Ok then, here we go.

I really love living in Bogota. It is a generally friendly place, and I feel safe most of the time. Of course, because of my situation, I can live in a nicer part of town, but even when I go to the seedier parts I feel ok. I will probably move to a "more interesting" area next year, when I am more familiar with the city - mainly because there are definite areas (called stratos) in Bogota and they vary greatly in terms of the kinds of people you can meet, restaurants, bars, etc. I live in a higher strato area and it is just like living in a European city, but when I go downtown to visit a friend it feels a lot more Latin.

I've got brown curly hair and am kind of Latin-woman shaped, so I don't get a great deal of attention paid to me. However, my blonde female friends are always getting approached, sometimes just to practice English, other times for different reasons. The people are generally friendly, and many people at the school where I work are married to locals. I think it helps if you speak Spanish though. Ask me again in a few months, hopefully I'll have more to add to the lover question. Birth control and "preservatives" are widely available over the counter, without a prescription.

Foodwise, you can get almost anything here, so its easy to eat Japanese, Indian, Basque, Argentinian, or whatever you like. I even found an Australian bar the other day - although I haven't checked it out yet.

Now, teaching. There is a wide variety of teaching positions available here in ole Boggytar. You can work for a fairly well-paid institution with decent conditions, all the way down to working on an on-call hourly basis for almost nothing. The students are generally nice, but I have had a couple of fairly well off students who act as though I am their slave, which I put down to the fairly strong servant-master culture in some parts of this city.

I think if you have some qualifications it definitely helps. Just out of habit, I look around from time to time, and in Sunday's paper (El Tiempo) there is always at least one English teaching job advertised, if not more. I saw a job at a university advertised a few months back, and though it didn't have a pay scale, it was asking for at least a masters. But, on the other hand, I met a guy who only had a TESOL (or some certificate not a CELTA, don't remember the name) who was working at a university and earning a couple of million pesos a month. I know other people here working without any qualifications at all. Just chatting to my yoga teacher yesterday I got offered some private student work as well. So there is definitely work around.

As for working visas and other conditions, I'm sorry, I don't know. Like I said, I have had a dream run where everything has been organised for me, but I can imagine it might be a little difficult if it wasn't. There was a guy posting here about 6 months ago who wrote very detailed messages about his experiences - try looking through the archives for that, he had some interesting things to say.

That's about all that springs to mind just now, but if you have any other questions, let me know. Unless they're really private maybe it would be better to post them here because there's a bit of a dearth of Colombia information here.

Okey dokey, good luck then!
Lozwich.

[vivaBarca]

Guys, great posts. I really appreciate your help.

I have a Bachelor�s and a TEFL certificate, so hopefully my job possibilites would be sufficient enough. My spanish is pretty good, and while I�m definitely not fluent, I can more than BS and get things done, probably the two most important tasks there are, no?

About the safety issue: that doesn�t worry me too much in the long run...after you know a city - and you know where not to go - you can usually minimize your risk of being in a bad situation. For example I grew up in Baltimore, which has just been ranked the 2nd most dangerous city in America, but I couldn�t tell you one time I or almost anyone I know has been victim of anything worse than a car break in or petty theft. My only issue here is the orientation factor: If I arrive in Bogot� alone, without knowing where to go/where not to go, and I�m pounding the pavement all day looking for work in strange neighborhoods, the potential for problems increases.

Also, the important question: when are the vacations in Colombia? I�d feel more than a little bit stupid if I plan to come up there right when their 3 month vacation - and teaching vacancy - begins!

I�ve always wanted to go there, I don�t know why...a few of my close family friends were raised in Colombia and used to show me pictures of the old city of Cartagena when I was growing up...maybe I�m just a hopeless dreamer, but it just seems so....Latin....more than Argentina, at least.

[lozwich]

[Aramas]

Is a degree required in order to get a work visa in Colombia? Do a lot of teachers work 'under the table'? What about the visa rule that only allows people to stay there for six months in any given year?

There used to be lots of good Colombia information on Poorbuthappy.com, but it seems to have been taken over by wife shoppers who seem more interested in strutting than anything else. Yuk.

[lozwich]

[vivaBarca]

Lozwich - Thanks for your information...I�m definitely going to start looking into the options. If you need a work visa in advance, there could definitely be a problem, but if I show up on a tourist visa to visit anyway, surely something can be done, right officer ?

Aramas - While �wife shopping� may or may not be occuring on Poor But Happy and rendering it useless, stop trying to pretend that you�re any better. Like a proliferation of attractive women isn�t the reason YOU suddenly chimed into the discussion out of the blue...If it isn�t, you�re either a bloody liar or your gay (which is totally fine, of course).

Cheers!

[lozwich]

[Aramas]

[Justin Trullinger]

Hey Aramas! Get outta here, you wife beater! (Can one be gay, AND a wife beater?!) (Aside: This is meant to be highly sarcastic, as I have NO IDEA where the attractive women/gay topic came from, and furthermore appreciate your often humourous chiming in out of the blue.)

That aside, I'm just one country to the south of Colombia, and everything I here from people who have visited or lived there is extremely positive. My best advice to anybody heading there would be try to get Loz's job. Sounds great! (Where do you work, by the way? Is it Colombo Americano? I've heard good things...)

About Quito. (The OP did mention it!) It's Ok. I'm having a nice time in what is, statistically, South America's safest capital city. But you never get the same level of cosmopolitan culture in a city this size that you would in Bogota. If you're a city/culture type, you've got to dig a bit in Quito.

There is decent theatre here, some really world class art museums, and a medium/ok music scene. You gotta look around for it, though, and if you don't want it to be in Spanish, you would be completely in the wrong place.

People are friendly, but something I find all over Latin America is that the primary social circle is the family. So if you're looking for a very active social life, it takes some time to break into it. (Especially if you are not single.)

Contrary to what I've heard in this space about food elsewhere on this continent, the food here is a disgrace. Popular local traditional dishes are; Fritada, which is greasy fried pig fat; Hornada, which is greasy roast pig, usually displayed whole, with vegetables in the eyes; Ceviche, which is semi-cooked shellfish in a cold soup. (Some people find it tasty, some people wind up in hospital) And Cuy. Which is guinea pig, roast, barbecued, or broiled.

That said, the people are nice enough to prepare non traditional food, thank God, if you ask politely.

The women are attractive here, too. But then, I find the women attractive everywhere. The most attractive woman here is A) not from here, and B) currently in my apartment. So I don't look around as much as I might otherwise.

People here are constantly talking about how beautiful Colombian women are. But as most Ecuadorians rarely travel north, I presume that that's based on Shakira, the inane but attractive Colombian pop star.

This thread is quite interesting, but I need to get back to my wife shopping...


Justin

[lozwich]

[DianaMa]

Hi!

I just wanted to chime in to say that Colombia is fantastic.

I've been working in Medellin for the last 4 years and I've had a blast. The climate is ideal (warm spring-like conditions). The people are friendly and you get a feel for the place pretty quick because it's a mid-sized city. And of course for those whom are interested, all those comments about Colombian women are about these women, the paisas or antioque�as as they call them, they are gorgeous and very friendly.

As for the work situation here, its fairly fertile, you'll want to start looking for a job NOW since we're all going out on vacation in a couple of weeks and the academic year starts mid january.

You do need a a visa and you have to apply for it out of the country, for those teachers who just show up you'll have to shell out a few bucks to go to ecuador or whereever to get your papers in order.

There are great universities, private bilingual schools, and english institutes as well as a wealth of private students.

You don't need qualifications to get a job but this is the land of hard workers so you have to show your worthiness on the job to keep your position.

Medellin is safe, especially under the regime of the current president, there are 3 neighbourhoods that are great for teachers, Belen (La mota), Laureles, and El Polblado. There are also neighbouring municipalities like Envigado and La Estrella.

As for the oppurtunities for intimate encounters, basically it won't be a problem.

It's cheaper living in Medellin than in Bogota but then again you can make more money in Bogota. The going price for a 1 hour private class is between $25 000 to $30000 pesos. I hear that you can get up to $50 000 and hour in Bogota. Just wanted to let you know that there is another option available, Colombia doesn't start and end in Bogota!

Cheers
Diana