Job Discussion Forums

wildnfree · Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Posts: 134

Ok, well maybe it would be better if I turned this around and asked you or others out there - what has drawn you to the place you are in now as opposed to somewhere else (ie- Colombia vs. Mexico)?

Jyulee · Joined: 01 May 2005 Posts: 81

I spent 2005-2006 living in Madrid, and now live and work in Bogot�.

I have 5 years' experience, a DELTA, and a degree in English and Spanish.

In Madrid I earnt �1600-1800 a month. This was working autonomo through agencies, doing company classes. For folk working for academies with less experience/qualifications, pay seemed to hover around �1,000.

A one-bedroom flat in the city centre, nonetheless, can cost the better part of �1,000 a month. I shared, paying �300. This left me with lots left over.

Now (in Bogot�) I earn CP$2,500,000 (about �800?) a month, and I have a job in a bilingual school teaching English. This is a local contract, i.e. I earn the same as local Colombian teachers with fluent English. The extranjero contract (which, I am told, I will get next year) will be approximately double the money, and with other benefits such as a flight home to the UK when my contract finishes.

My Colombian friends here tell me that while 2.5mil is a nice monthly wage, 5mil is loads. I have no idea how much this compares to other foreign teachers here, as I don�t know any. A friend of mine (Colombiana), who is an account executive for a PR firm here earns 2.8mil. The minimum wage as set by the government is about 400,000 a month, I believe.

A one-bedroom flat in the North of Bogot� (where it is nicer), in a nice enough and secure area costs between CP$600,000 and CP$800,000.

Technically, then, I am relatively richer (both in terms of relative to the local population, and in terms of relative to my rent/wage ratio) in Bogot� than in Madrid. But..

Many things in Bogot� are oddly expensive. While a bottle of beer in the supermarket will cost you a bit less than CP$1,000 (say 30c), a jar of pasta sauce will set you back CP$6,000 (�2). That's more expensive than London! Also, all imported goods (cameras, computers, etc...) have price tags similar to the United States. Western luxuries (such as good wine, etc...) carry Western price tags - which is Really Quite Expensive even on a good salary here.

So, whether or not I am really richer here remains to be seen.

All of this so far has been about money - that, of course, was not really why I came here! But, the OP was about that, so there you go Smile