I was just in Trinidad for the past weekend (check out a post about it if you like http://teachingwanderlust.com/2014/03/0 ... dad-great/ ) and I like to live like a local when I travel. Even while trying to live like a local I still thought the prices were about the same as the US. Taxis were about $20-30 USD. A simple meal was at least $6 on the side of the street. I think it would be hard to save anything on the Caribbean salaries that I've seen advertised. I will be traveling to the Dominican Republic in a few weeks, but from the research I have done, I think it will be about the same.

I have friends who teach at CIC Valencia now. I've visited the apartments. All of the expat teachers have their own apartments. My favorite part of Valencia is the fact that it has a HUGE central park where everyone goes running AND it is only 20 minutes to the beach (depending on where you live)!

I teach at an international school in Venezuela, but I don't live in Caracas. I love Venezuela! I have signed on for a third year teaching in Valencia next year. I've been in a small city called Ojeda so I am removed from a lot of the protests that are going on. When I have stayed in Caracas for a couple of weekends, I haven't had any problems... but I did only go out during the day.

Check out my blog post on some pros and cons of life in Venezuela: http://teachingwanderlust.com/2014/02/2 ... venezuela/

From the teachers that I've spoken to who teach there, Escuela Campo Alegre is great. Many people stay there for years at a time. It is known for having the highest pay in Venezuela.

Personally, I think Venezuela is a great place to work to live and not live to work.

Good luck with your decision.

Hi,

When I graduated from my master's program I had $60K in student loan debt (thankfully $0 credit card debt). Since teaching overseas for the past four years I have managed to pay off $20K and travel extensively. My plan is to pay it off ASAP so I don't have to make future job decisions based mostly on income. Good luck!

While interning in Oregon I met a family who had attended the Cloud Forest School in Costa Rica. After talking to them, and growing to love my student, I checked it out when I was first looking at teaching internationally. If I had a family with kids to raise and a husband to come home to, I would consider working there, otherwise as a young single teacher it seems a little too remote for my tastes.

http://cloudforestschool.org/

I'm an international teacher in Venezuela. I'm halfway through my second year here and I have signed on for a third year in Venezuela but at another school.

What school were you offered a job at?

I just posted about the pros and cons of living here: http://teachingwanderlust.com/2014/02/2 ... venezuela/ . Hopefully it can be of some help to you. Let me know if you have any specific questions.