During the Easter break, we wanted to take a trip outside of Caracas. While doing some research, I came across a place called Colonia Tovar, which is a town that has preserved the architecture and historical aspects of its original German settlement. The place has a pretty well laid out tourist site that details the things to do and places to stay. So, I assumed it would be easy enough to look through the different options to make a choice – until I realized we weren’t the only ones that had this place in mind for the break.

After calling at least 10 places, I finally found one that was available and could accommodate our group. The catch was the owner wanted to a deposit of half the total amount (understandable), but the only way to get it to her was by taking it there (out of the question) or depositing it into her account (worth a try, right?).

I left my house at 8:30 AM – to beat the rush (the joke’s on me) – and arrived at the bank at 8:40 AM. I took my number from one of those ticket machines and proceeded to wait my turn. At 9:45, the bank manager announced that they had to close for the day because the network was down. So, I left the bank on a mission to find another branch. I called my go-to Venezuelan, who is patient enough to try to understand my broken Spanish, and he informed me that usually when one branch has problems, all of them have problems. He encouraged me to try anyway   .

Good thing I did, by 12:15 PM – after another hour wait – I was finally able to make the deposit. The best part of this day was finding out that I could have made the deposit online through my bank account.

I don’t care what anybody says, this was one of the most informational days that I have had thus far

Tags: Caracas, Cultural Adaptation, Cultural Assimilation, Expatriates, La Colonia Tovar, Venezuela, Venezuelan Culture

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