Job Discussion Forums

dimitri25 · Joined: 15 May 2006 Posts: 7 Location: Daejeon, S.Korea

is anyone out there currently living in Venezuela? What is the situation like over there these days? there is a lot of things on the news about Chavez and stuff, but aside from what the media says, i'm wondering what is REALLY goin on over there these days...

Pennypacker1 · Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 23 Location: Caracas, Venezuela!

Yeah duuude... I've been living in Caracas.. studying and teaching since Feb.. what.. pray tell.. would you like to know?..

Gareth2000 · Joined: 14 May 2005 Posts: 68 Location: Cordoba, Argentina

hey man Id like to know how you are doing there...

With regards to work - how many hours are you working, how hard are you working, what type of students do you have - do you work in an institute do you travel to each client or just teach out of a school or something.

Whats you accomodation like how much are you paying for that and what are you getting?

Whats the situation like with the visas do you need one to work are you using a student or a work visa - how easy is that to get? did you have to pay? or did your school sponser you? how did u get your job did you organise it before you got to venezuela or not?

Do alot of people speak english in Carcas? are there alot of people from other english or non-spanish speaking countries there? i speak spanish... so i prefer not too be living with too many foriegners to further improve my spanish and get a better feel for the country.

Whats the crime like? have you been robbed?

What are the other costs like for food, clothing etc compared with your home and if possible other south american countries - im living in Cordoba at the moment, in argentina its cheaper living here than Buenos Aires, Santiago in Chile and most cities in Brasil, but more expensive than Potosi in Bolivia for example.

yeah are you having a good time? is football/soccer popular at all there?

dimitri25 · Joined: 15 May 2006 Posts: 7 Location: Daejeon, S.Korea

hey pennypicker1...well, i have a Venezuelan friend in China and we chat and stuff online. he's told me about how everything in Venezuela is so expensive now and that there is so much crime and violence there these days...so i was just wondering how true any of this is. he hasn't been back in a long time and has told me what he has heard from relatives. anyways, i am in korea until the end of November, and I am so ready to return to Latin America (i want to teach in colombia or venezuela). I read that you had problems with your visa, but finally resolved the issue. How did you end up gettin the visa?

Pennypacker1 · Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 23 Location: Caracas, Venezuela!

wow.. that's alot of questions...

Well to start with I would recommend if you come to Caracas (I can't comment on working conditions etc in the other cities).. EVERYTHING should be pre-arranged.. ESPECIALLY ACCOMODATION... I can't stress how difficult it is to find a decent place to live here.. In the few months I've been teaching.. 4 foreign teachers have given up after not finding accomodation at all.. or having to live way out in the sticks.. (e.g. past the barrios)..

Yes it's true that Caracas is expensive.. apparently the most expensive city in South America (after Cayenne).. A shared room in a decent apartment will set you back about.. US$200 a month if you're lucky to get a good price.. Food is expensive by SA standards but if you manage to find a good salary it's not an issue... a decent salary which wouldn't leave you worry about your finances would be around US$1000 a month.. without financial resources it would be hard to enjoy Caracas at all...

Transport is terrible and it's imperative that you find a job where you don't have to move around and is close to where you live.. The city is built around freeways and away from El Centro is kind of spread out.. buses are cheap but they take forever because of the traffice and the distances involved.. another thing that sucks is that taxis are expensive.. for no obvious reason..

Well I can say that if you are expected to live in South America by coming to Venezuela.. and I mean SOUTH america.. then you will be disappointed by Venezuela (or Caracas at least).. I've been to most countries on the continent and this place is in a world of its own.. but if you like unbelievably beautiful women.. great salsa..excellent cheap coffee and something off the usually ESL/Backpacker trail.. then why not?..

Venezuelans are constantly espousing the beauty and the potential of their country.. but I've got to say it might be a little late.. (note also that people from genuinely amazing countries, eg Brazil, Argentina don't feel the need to constantly defend their homeland).. However they haven't managed to ruin ALL of the country just yet and there are some great beaches (not Brazil standard but pretty sweet) as well as the regions closer to the Amazon which are frickin' amazing...

Tchau for now..

MELEE · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 11:58 pm Post subject:

Venezuela is a black hole in my Latin American knowledge. I've never been there, none of my Latin American Studies classes focused on Venezuela (I was in school more than 10 years ago!) I don't think I've even read any Venezuelan authors, or had any Venezuelan friends. So, I don't know anything about the place. For those of you who do, what do you make of this article?

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0706-32.htm

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

Pennypacker1 do you buy chance know the price of a trip from Caracas to the jungle? Local price. Usually the internet bookings are more expensive. I am planning on flying to Caracas when my contract is up and then heading to the Venezualian Amazon.