On to Valencia!

I surprised myself when I decided to come here. I had never considered living in Venezuela until I was offered this position. ESL jobs in Latin America are few and far between so I jumped for the chance to head even farther south. It was just a happy coincidence that I'd be teaching Business English, a goal which I’ve been pursuing for some time.


Venezuela is nestled between Colombia, Brazil and Guayana with the Caribbean stretching along the northern coastline. There is an amazing amount of biodiversity here. If its reputation were slightly better most of the country would be crawling with tourists eager to see the flawless beaches, sand-dune deserts, Amazonian jungles, rolling fields, and of course the famous mountains and waterfall from the movie UP. But as it is I've only encountered one foreign tourist here. Sure, locals love to check out the beauty in their country, but there is a distinct lack of a foreign tourism industry here.

I'm currently living in Valencia, a city of 3 million people just 3 hours west of Caracas. It’s a place full of high-rise apartment buildings nestled in dry hills. Despite being an old city with a beautiful backdrop there is no tourism here and years of insecurity have caused people to be perceived as unfriendly as they typically avoid going out. The result is that people come here for work with one of the many manufacturing firms here and spend most of their free time indoors with family or friends. True, there are a few areas of nightlife where young folks go to hang out, but for the most part this is a city where people keep to themselves.

Once you get to know them, however, the people here are incredibly friendly. My boss, students, and even regular taxi drivers have invited my roommates and I to dinner, dancing, or a hike up the local mountain, Casupo, where the view of the city are stunning. Even relying on poor Spanish to get around, everyone is patient and understanding.

After spending a short amount of time here my goal is to meet as many people as possible to get a deeper understanding of why Venezuela is the way that it is right now politically, economically, and socially. There is a deep dense of division within society and a feeling that the country is at a crossroads. I feel like this is a fantastic time to be here and see what will happen next.