This week is such a long and complicated story that I’m
breaking it up into little stories.
Interestingly, most of these stories are of rather pressing concern to
us. So, the story that I happen to be
thinking about right now is the sale.
We left Caracas with the things we could fit into 10
suitcases and nothing more. This was largely
clothes, with a few toys and books, a hard-drive and a cell phone. We also had a backpack full of medical
records and baby books.
Everything else is still in our home. Most of it is being prepped for a massive
sale taking place this week.
The situation in Caracas is unique in a few ways. First, the State Department would be happy to
ship out everything that we have. But
the Venezuelan government will not be so keen.
Many people have seen their shipment sit in customs for months before
being released to sail. We have a
feeling that with the president kicking us out, our stuff would sit for even
longer. We must have a particular
attachment to something to want to leave it sitting in a Caribbean port for
half a year.
We do have a particular attachment to some things. The red chair will be shipped to us. Our china, and various pieces of our
household which were given as gifts from special people. Artwork made by the girls. But the list of stuff we need back is
surprisingly short.
Second, the economics of the country make it to our financial
advantage to sell anything. The
situation is more complicated than I ought to go into here, but we expect a
sale of our things to work out well for us.
So, we hit the ground on Wednesday night with very
little. Dave and I spent much of the day
on Friday making the necessary immediate replacements – we bought a computer, a
stroller and a camera. Most other
purchases need to wait until we have more space and more information.
We are currently in a 1-bedroom serviced apartment located
in the district. We expect to move into
a 3-bedroom serviced apartment located near our old neighborhood by the end of
the week. At that point, we can think
about any other things we need to live.
But more than just lack of space, we also face a ridiculous lack of
information. We can’t buy a car yet,
because we don’t know if we need 4 wheel drive for the rough roads of Africa or
something more compact for urban Europe.
Replacement will move slowly and thoughtfully, at least in theory.
So, back to the sale.
This is where it gets really interesting. The government will allow us to sell our
things when we leave a post. In fact,
they are involved because they help facilitate the change of money for us. We sell things in the local currency, and
they help to reimburse us in dollars.
But they set limitations. We can
not sell anything for more than we originally paid for it. We are not allowed to make a profit,
assumedly so that we do not set up a little import-export business on the side.
They’re willing to trust when I say that my jacket is worth
$50 and my saucepan is worth $65. But
they’re not willing to take my word that the bunk beds are worth $4,000. Every item that I claim I bought for over
$335 must have an original receipt, or documentation of the price.
So, in the end we will have very few possessions and a pile
of money in the bank. The pile of money
is exciting, until I think about the stuff that it represents. We did not bring along to Caracas anything
that we did not want or value. We had
very few items in the house that we did not use. So, I expect that we will replace most of the
things we sell, or be a little less happy without them. And it makes me sad to think about the next
place we live. It will be filled with
brand new electronics and shiny new toys, but its going to take that much
longer for it to feel like home.
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