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Jobs in Cucuta

Hello,

I am a Canadian Citizen looking to move to Cucuta. My spanish is very limited, but I would like to take the oppportunity while I am there to learn the language. I was contemplating teaching english as a means of income. Any other suggestions, and are there many schools in Cucuta?

Has anyone visited there, have anything they would like to share about the city?

Joe

By Proud_Canadian on Oct 28, 2006, 11:44 in Friendly Talkzone.

Gator says on Oct 28, 2006, 14:16:

Cucuta?? All in all I would rather move to Cleveland. Seriously-with limited English skills you are making a poor choice. There are very few places in Colombia I don't like but Cucuta is one of them.

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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miamimike says on Oct 28, 2006, 16:17:

Gator My Thoughts exactly,,, I was there for 3 days a long long time ago--a very dirty dangerous city,,,,

Avatar Legend: Bush "If any of you Reporters are wondering, it was a Size 10"

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Gator says on Oct 28, 2006, 16:25:

Mike... Have a sister-in-law from San Cristobal just across the frontier. Cucuta is a dangerous city with little to offer (IMHO) BUT the countryside is very pretty and scenic. Four visits were enough for me-no MAS!!!!!!!!

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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miamimike says on Oct 28, 2006, 18:10:

Hey Gator, At Least Cleveland Has The Famed Terminal Tower Building, the Urban Metro park, Zoo, the 9th Street Pier, Sports. I worked there in the early 80s and it wasn't bad. Not to mention Sports,,,,

At the time of Completion, the Terminal Tower was like a World Wonder, a person, if he/she desired, could live their life and never leave this one Bldg as it was self contained, having banks, Barber shop, restaurants, Stores of all types, was a transportation Hub, medical, gyms ect. Quite a feat and the tallest bldg in the USA at the time of completion(1967)outside NYC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_City_Center

Avatar Legend: Bush "If any of you Reporters are wondering, it was a Size 10"

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RUV says on Oct 28, 2006, 19:19:

What's in Cucuta?
What's in Cucuta?

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 28, 2006, 21:13:

Bad Choice RUV: Cucuta is a border city and the capital of Norte Santander, it is a (the?) major border crossing for commerce and people travelling overland between Venezuela and Colombia. Most folks don't dawdle there.

OP: My aunt lives there, and I hate visiting.

It's not a great place to be all, can you pick a different city? Cucut is a hot, smelly, dirty cesspool of a city, that is dangerous by Colombian standards. I would not stick around at all without spanish skills - There are better places to be in Colombia. But as Gator says that surrounding area is very scenic.. the drive between Bucaramanga and Cucuta is one of my favourite all-time trips anywhere that I've been.

The situation:
A) There have been troubles in adjacent rural areas for some time, namely Catatumbo, (you may recall that 2 or 3 medics from Medicins Sans Fronters were briefly held in Norte Santander earlier in the year) and Cucuta is the landing place for large populations of displaced rural folk. They struggle to survive and live in huge shanty-town barrios on the outskirts. Being in the city doesn't gaurantee safety either since the unsavory and dangerous groups operate within the shanty-towns too. Last month (Sept 06) the UN High Commission for refugees issued a warning about the deterioration in Norte Santander:
article link here

B) Beyond the pressures of tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of displaced people, as a border town, Cucuta's ecomony is highly dependant on the situation in Venezuela, which economically has changed dramatically in the last 5 years or so. The result has not been pretty.

So you've got a) alot of campesinos with few urban skills trying survive (quite desperate many of them - Mom saw a guy carryng around a 30 lb sack of limes, trying to sell them for at 40 for 1,000 COP (that's 45 US cents for *40* limes), it's about 7- 9,000 COP normally.. and b) a very poor ecomony for locals = It's tough times, and tough times can drive more people to more petty crime etc.... Cucuta does have a rep for being unsafe (muggings, assault, etc).

3) It's an oven with high humidity. Nearly intolerable temps (or at least that is what I found), add lots of filth and *uck*.

Would you consider working elsewhere?

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 28, 2006, 21:25:

'Nother one Oct 25 06 http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/453f33e04.html

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juanalejo says on Oct 29, 2006, 07:10:

Adrimm I think it is a very unfair picture of Cucuta you have painted. I can assure you there are articles about displaced people to every city in Colombia, and also about infernos just blocks away from downtown areas. Cucuta is in my opínion a typical Colombian medium size city which does undoubtedly lives from its trade with Venezuela. It is not exactly pretty but not ugly either. It has some nice neighborhoods and a nice river front bar and restaurant area.

I go to Cucuta on business at least 2 or 3 times a year and I enjoy it fine. I go out at night (very lively), go to my business acquaintace´s farms and have fun. Not much in terms of culture, that is right. It is now (like most of Colombia) under construction boom, two new malls being built, a new hotel (badly needed) and several apartment buildings. This all probably due to Venezuela´s economy which is booming and to attract the buyers from neighboring San Cristobal which have attracted Colombian buyers into Venezuela for the last few years with also new malls and restaurants.

I think this is the clear example of what happened to Colombians during the late 90´s, terrorism tactics by FARC made Colombians believe that the other corner of the country was very dangerous and hence nobody travelled any more, that was why Cucuta people thought Cali was very dangerous and viceversa.

I think the situation in Cucuta is no different from most cities of its size in Colombia and its rural areas are very similar to those in many other areas in the country where you can be fine or not be fine depending on where you drive out to.

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Proud_Canadian says on Oct 29, 2006, 07:17:

thanks everyone for you valuable input. Cucuta is where my girlfriend is from, that is why I would choose there. Does anyone know if teaching english at a school is even an option there? I haven't been able to find any jobs yet.

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 29, 2006, 13:14:

Sorry juanalejo Maybe I laid it on a bit heavily (perhaps should have left the UN links out), I do feel very very strongly that there are FAR more suitable places within Colombia for a foreigner with poor Spanish skills to go to.

My mother has been working in aid there, and I have spent some time there in the past. Ancedotally, within the extended family there seem to be far more frequent incidents of of petty crime (they being the victims), at any rate she was more nervous this trip than others, and the nerves came on *after* she got there. Maybe my perspective is totally skewed, but that is where it comes from.

I think that with guidance it is fine to visit (will he live with his GF?) but I feel very very strongly that there are FAR more suitable places within Colombia for a single foreigner with poor Spanish skills to go to live.

Yes Colombia is a great country, yes most of it is safe (with common sense) to see and visit, yes the cities are mostly fine, and yes, hundreds of foreign travellers transit overland through Cucuta coming from or going to or from Venezuela... but if I had to chose *one* place in Colombia to *live* Cucuta would *not* be it. I'm not saying he's going to go there and be mugged, but it is more likely than in other Colombian cities.

It's one thing if you are staying for a little while and/or in the rich end of town - I just spoke with a med student from Bogota who had "the most awesome holidays in Cucuta with her university friends", but she goes to La Javeriana... what part of the city do you think she stayed in and saw? Probably a different place than where my aunt lives, where every day there are people coming by begging for food, or trying to sell crafts made out of pop-cans.

Economically the Bolivar has dropped against the COP, I have a hard time seeing how that helps Cucuta *at all* (except of better cross-border shopping ops for those who can go over to San Cristobal).

Proud Canadian there are probably some high-end schools that can use English teachers, if you have a degree you probably won't have much trouble lining something up.

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utopiacowboy says on Oct 30, 2006, 21:21:

What a bunch of negativists. You're going to ruin PBSH with this attitude. He's going to have a wonderful time in Cucuta where the women are beautiful, the men are handsome and all the children are above average. If he's anything like Arthur Brode he won't have to worry about being raped while in Cucuta either. In short, he'll live a wholesome life full of prosperity and goodness as is the case with everyone in Colombia.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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