Mail Order Brides, I

 
 
 

Vocabulary

bride	order (3)	mail order
truck	brokerage	executive
whore	credibility	unemployed
entail	sign up	hook up (2)
local	potential	worldwide
mate	agenda	motivation
flesh	arrange	courtship
stable	showcase	it depends
sieve	break (2)	don’t mind
core	pageant	spur of the moment
arise	average	overwhelm
couple	well-off	play a part
appeal	mature	sex-appeal
divorce	pep talk	get ahead
justify	evidence	a way out
criticize	challenge

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Meet the women of the twenty-first century mail-order bride business.

And meet the men.

Larry Cervantes, AmoLatina Public Relations Director: “We have everything from high-powered business executives to truck drivers and unemployed guys.

We have a former minister on this tour. How’s that for credibility?”

They are brought together through a website called amolatina.com, part of an international marriage brokerage company.

“What that entails is everything from being online to physically traveling to a different country to hooking up.”

Client: “Where else am I going to get someone to set up my hotel and introduce me to . . . I think I’ve met over fifty girls in two days time.

And it’s overwhelming.”

It’s a two-billion dollar-a-year industry, with over 150,000 women worldwide advertising themselves on the web.

Larry: “You can find romantic interests in church. You can find it in your local pub. You can find it at work.

And now you can find it online.

So this is the way of the world now.”

Men paid to email and video chat with potential mates. And that’s just the start.

The company arranges a six-day guided tour to Colombia for male clients to meet women in the flesh.

It can cost up to $20,000 from start to finish.

Larry: “You’ll be in a situation where the ratio of women to men is so great: it’s more than ten to one.”

Client: “Each one of us in life has our own agenda. My agenda was to come down and meet a mate.”

First stop: an introductory pep-talk.

Then the courtship begins.

Client: “In some of the socials, there are 200 to 300 women; 20 guys, 10 guys depending. I first thought it was a little bit sexist.

But it happens, so I guess it’s okay.”

There’s even a pageant to showcase the women.

Client: “I’m looking at it like . . . a pageant, you’ve got how many girls? And you’re going to sieve through it like the best one for that situation. Which one is the best one for me?”

Let’s be honest: everyone eats with their eyes. I haven’t met anyone who says, ‘I want to be with someone who is ugly’.”

Client: “People who I’ve told about it at work think I’m crazy. Very crazy. They think you’re going to come to some whorehouse, take out a girl that sucks.

That’s not all what it is.

I’m kind of looking for a mature, stable woman that knows what she wants that has the same core values that wants a family.”

But challenges arise both for the company and . . .

Marriage Agent: “Some guys, they try to get some young girls and young girls are looking for younger guys.

. . . And for the couples.

Client: “She does not speak any English.”

The men come looking for love — but what makes the women sign up?

Reporter Isabel Ramiro says money plays a large part of it.

“I think 80% of the girls are here for the money, for opportunities. The girls want travel, money, clothes — and not love.”

The average Colombian lives on just $17 per day. So finding a well-off American husband may seem like a way out.”

Client: “There’s some truth, that yes, some of the ladies are using their bodies or using their sex appeal.”

Ramiro: “It’s sad too for the men because they want to find a good girl, to have babies or get married.

The girls don’t love these men.”

But some of these men don’t seem to mind.

Client: “You’ve got to use what you’ve got in this world to get ahead.”

Whatever the motivation, matches are made in every trip.

More than 12,000 American marriages take place each year with help of international brokers.

And there’s no evidence that their divorce rate is higher than others.

Larry: “Who’s to say that meeting someone here, and marrying them at the spur of the moment is wrong or can be justifiably criticized.

The heart wants what the heart wants.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

Questions

1. The prospective husbands are all doctors, lawyers, engineers and businessmen. True or false?

2. How do men and women learn about each other in the beginning?

3. Does the brokerage only introduce men and women?

4. Is the official glad that a former minister is a client?

5. Online matchmaking is big business. Is this correct or wrong?

6. In the meetings or social get togethers, the ration is usually one man and one woman. Yes or no?

7. “Let’s be honest: everyone eats with their eyes.” What does this mean?

8. What do the men want? What do the women want?

9. Are international marriages more or less successful than domestic marriages or is it about the same?
 
 
A. I know someone who has been involved in online marriage or agencies. Yes or no? Do you know anyone who has a foreign spouse? How did they meet?

B. What do you think of marriage brokerages or agencies? Are they good, bad, so-so, or it depends?

C. Are there international marriages in your city or country? Are they common?

D. Why are international marriages common or popular among some people?

E. What will happen in the future?