[picture: view of Caracas from Mt. Avila]Yesterday marked the end of my first week here, and I still haven’t found the time to even write about where I’m living or working, much less what I’ve been up to. Keeping up with a blog while traveling can be such a hassle but it really is worth the effort – it regularly forces you to think back on the things you’ve done and once it’s complete, it’s really a great memento of your experiences after going home.
Even though I expected the worst, I wasn’t quire prepared for the living situation here in Caracas. I’m staying in a single room on the floor above my host family, sharing a common kitchen and bathroom with a few other residents. Not only is the tap water undrinkable and hot water non-existent (yeah, even in the shower), the government had this awesome idea to save money by shutting off the water on the weekends. There were also talks of shutting off the electricity for four hours at a time every other day, but luckily they didn’t go through with it. (Turns out I arrived just in time for a pretty dramatic change in the local currency’s valuation, which is leading to fluctuations in the prices of daily goods. there's also been a lot of problems in energy and utilities, but I’ll talk more about that later). So my daily routine, after the first few soul-crushing experiences of taking a cold shower at six in the morning, includes heating up water in pots in the kitchen before showering and boiling water so I have something to drink. Security is a major concern in this city: though I live in the center of Caracas, which is considered to be much safer than the Eastern or Western ends, it’s not uncommon to have three or four gates/doors separating the street from the inside of a home, which is the case with my place. The fact that I need four different keys to enter my apartment from outside is both comforting and disturbing at the same time. On a brighter side, the family downstairs has been incredibly welcoming and warm. Vicky, my landlady who speaks zero English, lives with her husband, two daughters and grandson. Fortunately for me one of the daughters, Alkris, speaks a little bit of English so she helps me communicate when I need something.
As for my job, I’m working at a surprisingly nice building in the middle of the financial district downtown. I accepted a job at the Wall Street Institute as an English teacher without knowing much about the place, but it turns out it’s a pretty legitimate business. They’re one of the biggest global English-teaching franchises, and they cater to large corporations that want their workers to improve their English skills. So I spend about half of my time teaching in-center students, which have ranged from students in high school to 80-year olds, and the other half visiting clients in pharmaceutical companies, banks, etc., to teach on-site. The proficiency levels range anywhere from knowing nothing to conversational mastery, so I have to vary my lessons according to each student; luckily they have a really organized teaching method to make things easier. My training over the first week was super intense – I probably spent about 10-12 hours each day observing teachers and dove right into teaching classes after the second day. It’s been a humbling experience to see how little awareness I have about the technicalities of our language – being a native speaker doesn’t mean a whole lot if you can’t explain why things are the way there are to others. Words like past simple, present perfect, and gerund haven’t meant a thing to me since grade school and I’ve been repeatedly caught off guard by questions on terminology. Relearning everything will be a pain, but I think that learning to break down English to teach will help me understand the nuances of Spanish grammar as I learn it. It’s true in a sense that the best way to learn something is to teach it first.
[picture: Centro Lido, the building where I work]
So I haven’t had a chance to do much else besides work this week, but I’ll start a normal schedule starting Monday and hopefully try to find some sort of order in my life here. Again, and this seems to be a common thread in Venezuelan life, the people I’m working with and teaching are the only things that make it all worthwhile. The company recruits teachers from all over the world to expose students to different accents, so right now I’m working with a teacher my age from England, another from Romania, and a few others from here. Each day I have opportunities to have conversations on just about any topic (though they inevitably lead to a discussion about how awful the government is) with teenagers, college students, business executives, and elderly people. Venezuelan people in general love to tell you their opinions on politics, so I’ve learned quite a bit about Hugo Chavez’s exploits in recent years. But that’s a topic for another time…
Before I get used to everything, I’ll just jot down some of the things that I’ve noticed in the past week.
1. The most obvious, as I’ve mentioned, is the pervasiveness of the people’s disappointment and resentment toward Venezuela’s government and especially President Chavez. Talking about him is like a national pastime: in the classroom, at lunch, at the line in the grocery store, wherever.
2. Except for the gasoline, which is the cheapest in the world thanks to a government subsidy that makes zero sense to me, everything from food to clothing to entertainment is expensive. I expected to come here and eat like a king with the dollars I brought, but even after exchanging at a good price it’s impossible to live as well as I do in the U.S.
3. Despite the fact that crime here is among the highest in the world, people tend to be very courteous, warm and polite. I remember smiling to myself as I rode the elevator at work for the first time: when someone walked in and said “Buenas Dias (good morning),” everyone replied in unison. It happens every time. Men and women greet each other with a kiss, even if they've just met each other. It's an endearing practice that I've happily adopted.
4. Trends and fashions are a big deal. For example, everyone in the city has or wants a blackberry, though they cost about three times what it costs in the U.S.
5. Almost no one wears shorts, despite the fact that it’s always sunny and around 80 degrees.
6. Driving is a precarious endeavor: red lights are meaningless, highways are congested, and it seems that no one takes drunk driving seriously.
7. Salsa and meringue are on just about every radio station, and people break into dance at night wherever there’s music.
Anyway, I had a great week and I’m excited about the one ahead. Hope everyone’s well at home!
Shane
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