The monetary system of Venezuela is very simple. Everything is in bolivars. The US has pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars. Venezuela has bolivars. They have paper bills in increments of one, two, five, ten, twenty and fifty bolivares. There are also coins in increments of one, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred and five hundred bolivars. Do not be surprised if you purchase something and do not receive from one to one hundred bolivars in your change. If they don’t have it, they can’t give it. Sometimes, they round it off, and you get more change back. With the exchange rate of 2150 bolivars to the dollar, a few bs less is no big deal. Have a heart. These people are trying to make a living and don’t have a lot of control over how much change they can keep in their registers. When you see a price 1.050, that is one thousand and fifty bs. They use a decimal point for a comma and we use the comma where they would the decimal point.

When I first moved to Margarita, I would purchase something from a street vender and give them a large bill. The vender would head down the street to find someone who could make change for him and then return and hand me my change.

Don’t change money on the street. You might get robbed, shortchanged or end up with counterfeit money. Counterfeit money will land you in jail; not fun! There are money exchanges that are legal called Casa de Cambio – house of change. The banks do not exchange money. Some stores will accept foreign currency but you need to ask before you start shopping if you don’t have the bolivars to purchase what you want.

In the US, you can return items or exchange them fairly easily. In Venezuela, you buy it, you got it. There are very few places you can return things and then only if it doesn’t work. Most stores will open the box and show you that the item works when you purchase it. So, make sure it does work, or you are stuck with it.

Don’t flaunt your money, it draws unwanted attention. I feel relatively safe here during the day but I don’t like to go out at night. If you do, don’t go out alone if you can help it and be careful where you go.

I sew a small pocket into the inside of the waistband on my slacks and carry extra money, id and keys in there. It is better to be safe than sorry. You can come to Margarita and have a good time but just like any other place in the world, you need to watch your back and use good judgment. Lois Strong Copyright 2006