…you better know where you´re going.

This is quite a predicament for a foreigner with limited Spanish, but if you can’t guide the taxi driver to where you´re headed, you’re not going to get there. What’s strange is that you would think they would at least know landmarks since there’s usually only one of “X” in the whole city; however, for the amount of work you do to guide them, you get the feeling that this is their first day in Caracas.

After almost six months here, I think I have at least figured out the “why”. Most taxi drivers in Caracas are not from here. And, from the looks of things, there is no taxi driver training that teaches what I thought was Rule #1 – know your territory.

While a few drivers have actually declined serving me because they didn’t know where I wanted to go, a lot of them will say “Vamos!” (after I’ve negotiated down the price) and work with my limited Spanish. From there, I basically guide them with “a la derecha/izquierda” until we reach the destination. For those who turn down the business, I wonder what they are doing in this profession – obviously, it isn’t to make money.

Then again, I wonder if I’m not coming from the American place of efficiency and if this is a common occurrence in other places…do you have a similar experience?

I don’t know one person who enjoys the process of moving. All the packing and unpacking – then finding new places for things – it’s terrible. Well, add limited knowledge of the local language and a sick child and you’ve got my recent move.

We pretty much knew when my husband signed the lease on the first apartment that it was temporary. We planned to stay there six months and find a new place with more space and amenities. Well, six months came and went and we found out that there was some sort of housing crisis building (don’t ask me), so that meant paying upwards of $3,000 for a place of our liking. That was a no-go. Luckily, our landlord was very understanding and told us we could move whenever we found a place and didn’t have to sign a new lease.

After a couple false alarms, we finally found a place reasonably priced without getting outbid at the last minute. That really was the hardest part. The rest of it has been the normal nuances of moving. We managed to pack up everything in small boxes (we didn’t have any furniture) and since the new place is about five minutes from the first, all of our stuff was moved in about three hours.

One MAJOR lesson learned was getting internet service transferred. We had to wait almost two weeks and spoke to 8 different customer service representatives before our service was connected. Now, our modem is on the fritz and is causing our connection to be spotty. I guess you can’t win them all.

My one piece of advice to an expat looking for a place in Caracas is: be very patient. With limited housing, there are a lot of expats who pay through the nose simply because they feel there are no other options. But if you can hold out, you can negotiate “better” prices.