Arrival

Good morning! It’s 4:14 am as I’m writing this in my place in Caracas. I’m up at this ungodly hour because 1.) I still haven’t fully adjusted to the time difference and 2.) If the past several days are of any indication, the only time I’ll have to reflect and write on my experiences is at a time like this.

I’ve been in Caracas for four days now, and the best words to describe my time here so far also represent my initial impression of this city and country: chaotic, exhausting, but most of all, exhilarating. I arrived here on the 11th after a 30-something hour journey from Maui and since the moment I stepped foot into the airport, there hasn’t been a single dull moment. For anyone who hasn’t traveled alone to a foreign country, let me give you a taste of some of the unfortunate situations you might find yourself in. I got to the airport with explicit instructions to meet the people I’ve been in contact with at AIESEC, an international exchange club that I used to find the job here, and NOT to take a taxi because of safety concerns (apparently robbers and kidnappers stake out near the airport). I walked into the airport having lost about two days worth of sleep, carrying a stuffed backpack, a suitcase and a massive duffel bag with no local currency and nothing aside from a pocket phrasebook to help me talk to people. I couldn’t find anyone resembling the guy I talked to a few times on facebook prior to the trip, so I wandered around the airport for two hours racking my head to figure out a way to contact him, getting more and more nervous with each minute about being stranded in an airport in Venezuela, of all places. I couldn’t figure out how to use the payphone, so I exchanged the three dollars I had left in my wallet to get about 5 Bolivares Fuertes (an usurious exchange rate) and hobbled into an internet café with the improbable hope of finding an email telling me what was going on. With no such luck, I posted a status about my situation on facebook as a desperate attempt to keep some sense of humor about the situation, and retreated back to the middle of the waiting area in defeat. Fortunately, they arrived soon after and everything turned out fine.

My first impressions driving and walking through Caracas: sunny, crowded, busy, dirty, polluted, noisy, chaotic, strange, and lively. It’s the capital of Venezuela and a massive metropolitan city, sitting in a valley overlooked by a huge, green mountain that separates it from the Caribbean Sea. Tall, grey buildings and skyscrapers inundate the middle of the valley while overcrowded make-shift homes stack on top of one another in the shanty towns spanning the lofty hills. The streets and highways are constantly plagued by traffic and fumes, the inevitable result of inadequate infrastructure and the cheapest gasoline in the world (12 cents per gallon!). So yes, as you might imagine, Caracas is not the most beautiful place I’ve seen in my recent travels. But unlike the pristine coastlines of the Mediterranean or the beaches of Maui, this place has an incredibly vibrant and exciting feel. And the colors lacking in the buildings are more than made up for by the people. Venezuela has an incredibly diverse population, with immigrant populations from Spain, Italy, Africa, China, and all over South America. And with the year-round climate of a sunny and breezy 80 degrees, it certainly beats shivering in my apartment in Ithaca.

The people I’ve met so far, whether the other interns visiting Caracas, the local members of AIESEC, or the people I’m working with, have all been astonishingly friendly and interesting people. Just among the people my age, I’ve met a German girl who speaks four languages, a guy from England who regularly hops through parts of the city even locals avoid, and an oddly pale Venezuelan girl who, despite having grown up here, speaks flawless English with a British accent (for reasons unknown). There’s also another intern here from India whom I’ve yet to meet, and a co-worker from Romania. Everyone I’ve encountered has made me feel extremely welcome and I can definitely see myself enjoying the next four months here. Though my work schedule is a bit crazy, hopefully I can get out enough to see more of Venezuela outside of the city, because I’ve heard of so many things to see and do here – the highest waterfall in the world, the Amazon rainforest, and even a desert (a chance to go sandboarding, finally!) I’ll write more about the place I’m living in and my work place when I can, though I have no idea when that’ll be. Now, to get ready for my first English lesson…


the view outside my window