Job Discussion Forums

[wildnfree]

Just wondering if anyone has ever taught here, what the employment and living situation is like there. I've been told alot of wonderful things about this place and want to seperate fact from fiction.
Wild

[jg]

Haven't taught there but spent some time there. Less than a wee k in 03, so I know very little, but this thread seemed to be dying on the vine and I wanted to keep it going.

The beach parts of the town are okay, nothing special nor particularly awful. Its a pleasant place, got some colonial prettiness to it but not as much as Cartagena and not nearly as well kept. Soldiers patrolled the town when I was there, and I think there is a military base of some sort there, so it was a bit safer. The people were friendly but where aren't people friendly in Colombia?

I didn't see a single tourist there and if you don't speak Spanish it'll be hard to communicate with lots of people beyond some very basic things.

Whatever the town is like though, you need to keep in mind that bus travel around the area can be dangerous in the extreme, so being in Santa Marta might not allow for much travel. I was living in Cartagena when I went by bus (2 or so hours) to Santa Marta and had no problems but several soldiers and Colombians told me that one should ALWAYS verify the safety of bus routes before traveling overland, and especially gringos.