Hospitals and emergency health care is very good, there are many opportunities to teach English to young children and adults, a range of mountains to climb (some which require the use of snow shoes and an ice pick), the food is very tasty and the salsa nights are unforgettable.
Problems of Living in Mérida, Venezuela
That's not to say that life in Mérida is easy. In fact, life is very tough at times. Water shortages occur regularly on account of landslides blocking the pipes, food and the cost of living is expensive, wages are very low (even for foreigners) and transport does not exist past 9pm, making it difficult to go out and enjoy life.
However, those simple moments with friends (Venezuelans are incredibly kind and caring), as well as those rare occasions when going out can happen, when the few bolivares will stretch after weeks of saving, make it all worth while.
Examples of Salsa Nightlife in Mérida, Venezuela
‘Boleros’ is a live music salsa bar in the middle of the city centre and unlike most bars in Mérida, it is full of comfortable sofas, is frequented by groups of mid-thirty something Venezuelans and it boasts an air-conditioned environment. It is impossible not to have a good time.
Avoid arriving anywhere in Venezuela before 11pm. Venezuelans tend to start the party when most Brits would be tucked up in bed for the night. However, a little quiet time for catching up on gossip can always be worthwhile all the same.
The service in ´Boleros´ is immediate and the hospitable barmen bring large bottles of rum (one of the things that Venezuela does really well), ice buckets and a smiles to their guests all evening, every evening. Once the music begins to play in the background, there isn´t a pair of feet that aren´t beginning to itch for a dance (another thing that all Venezuelans do well).
The Effects that Living and Partying in Mérida, Venezuela, can have on a Girl
There’s nothing that can beat a big, strong Venezuelan man who knows how to dance and lead a woman across the dance floor and entire evenings are devoted to ensuring that the girls have a good time in Mérida. They are twirled and spun and led and held in such a way that 5am seems to arrive after only a few minutes of pleasure.
Saturdays Salsa nights in Boleros are the nights when expats forget that they´re not actually Venezuelan and then when they remember, they begin to wish that they were. Feeling slightly drunk is normal (the rum is plentiful and strong) and forgetting to worry about the future is inevitable. Nights out in Mérida reduce the European´s sense of urgency to being doing something or learning something new.
Everything becomes rum, friendship and salsa. There are cuddles, photos and laughter. Tempting offers of latin love abound and flirting becomes easy and natural. The life in Mérida is simple and the nights out due to money are rare, but when they do happen, they are all the better for it.
They are completely relaxed and totally devoid of glamour.
Tracey Chandler - Tracey Chandler currently writes a weekly column for non-profit organisation South American Explorers in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She also ...
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