1. My run-in with the Army
I saw a big truck full of about 20 Army guys parked across the street when I went to lunch one day. One of them waved so I waved back and then suddenly ALL of them were jumping and hollering and waving at me! The Venezuelan girls I was with quickly ushered me in to the restaurant saying "Why would you do that?! You can't wave at them! They know you're not from here!" I told them I didn't think waving was bad because they're the Army and they are respectable and all of them chuckled and rolled their eyes. Ignorant American party of one, haha. The Army is pretty corrupt here, and as the girls explained to me there are quite a few Cubans in the Venezuelan army due to the relationship between Castro and Chavez. So not many people trust the Army because often they abuse their power by making people pay to pass on a road, get help when stranded, cross the border, etc. and the money just goes in to their own pockets.
2. I spent four hours at the bank and three hours at a cell phone store
Waiting in long lines is just something I will have to get used to because it happens everywhere. A staff person from the school took us to the bank to open an account and get a debit card. We got there at 8am, 30 minutes before the bank opens, and already there were about 25-30 people lined up outside. By the time the bank opened the line was around the building, through the parking lot, and down the street. Even though we were relatively close to the front of the line we still waited about 3 hours to meet with a banker, and then another hour to make a deposit in our accounts. The next day we went to a cell phone store and it took the three of us us about three hours to wait in line and get a sim card for our phones. There were seven people working in the store and about 20 customers, and all of us seemed to be there for about the same amount of time. Life just moves at a slower pace here! I will be a very patient person by the end of two years, haha.
3. I pretended to be pregnant to use a bathroom
While we were waiting at the bank I had to go to the bathroom, but alas there are no bathrooms at the bank. I walked across the street to a Burger King with one of the assistants, but it was closed for another hour. There was a guy inside mopping and a security guard (every place here has a security guard, from restaurants to grocery stores to apartment buildings) and they said I couldn't go in. Then Andrea started talking to them through the door. It was very stormy that day and the wind was super strong, so my dress was billowing all over. The security guard asked if I was pregnant (which I understood and was about to deny) but Andrea said "Yes yes and she needs to go very badly!" and then they let me in, haha. I'm sure they were a little disappointed when I stepped inside and my dress fell flat!
4. I saw a taxi start on fire.
There's not too much else to say... it was a super old car (like 60s or 70s) so it was about time that it died. The guys sitting in the back of the taxi just got out and walked away and the poor driver was throwing handfuls of dirt in to the engine to try to put the fire out. The police here really don't attend to stuff like that and we left shortly after he put the fire out so I'm not sure what happened.
5. I bought a fan for $70
Electronics of any kind here are ridiculously expensive but I caved and bought it anyway, even though it would have cost about $15 in the States. I'm still getting used to converting bolivares to dollars and I'm surprised by the cost of somethings, both cheap and expensive. For example, a jar of peanut butter costs more than my monthly cell phone plan. A full tank of gas is cheaper than a half gallon of milk. For the price of my fan, I could have bought 8-9 bottles of wine. Every time I shop I'm surprised by the prices... I'm already making a list of things I want to buy in the US in December because it's too expensive here!
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