Summary
Highlights
Carmen, originally from a very poor family in Cartagena, Colombia, started working as a waitress at 16. Despite her limited opportunities, she learned English in the tourist-heavy Boca Grande area, serving international clients. This skill became crucial when she met a German sailor and later, through a friend who moved to Vienna, saw an opportunity to leave Colombia. Her friend's husband arranged a fictional engagement to help Carmen secure a visa, a strategic move that allowed her to enter Europe.
Carmen recounts her challenging entry into Europe, traveling from Cartagena to London and then to Vienna in 1990, before the European Union unified immigration laws. She successfully navigated strict UK immigration thanks to her English skills and the fabricated love story, complete with letters and photos. In Vienna, she started working as a kitchen assistant, earning significantly more than she ever did in Colombia. She lived with her friend, but her ambition for financial independence soon led her to seek more lucrative opportunities.
Driven by her desire to earn more, Carmen found a job as a go-go dancer in a Viennese disco, leveraging her love for dance and unique Colombian folk rhythms like cumbia and mapalé. She quickly became a sensation, performing 'Tina Turner' impersonations and Colombian dances, earning substantially more than her kitchen job. This period opened her eyes to the diverse opportunities in Europe, and she began saving meticulously, sending money back home to her father and daughter.
As her tourist visa approached its limit in Austria, Carmen met a younger German soldier, Raymond, and strategically pursued a marriage to secure her legal status in Germany. She openly communicated her intentions for financial stability rather than children, a stance that ultimately led to their divorce after four years, but not before she obtained permanent residency. This period marked her transition into a more settled European life, continuing her various jobs and accumulating wealth.
After her divorce, Carmen continued to build her career in Germany, excelling in gastronomy and becoming proficient in German. She then met her current husband, a civil engineer, who brought an international dimension to her life. With him, she traveled and lived in over 20 countries, including China, India, and Thailand, where she became a certified Thai massage therapist. Their travels and financial planning led them to purchase a property in Palma de Mallorca, where they planned their retirement.
Now retired in Palma, Carmen actively manages her massage business and a rental property. She strategically rents out rooms, especially to Colombian immigrants without papers, finding them more reliable tenants than those with full legal status. Her decision to sell all her assets in Colombia due to political instability reflects her strong commitment to her new life in Europe. Carmen's story is a testament to her pragmatism, resilience, and unwavering pursuit of financial independence and a life beyond her initial circumstances.