1) Patience: In this respect I don’t really have a choice. Either I increase my patience level or I walk around pissed off all the time: Whether it’s waiting for the plumber to arrive or standing in line at a store, there’s a lot of waiting that goes on in these parts. I have to admit though, all this waiting has increased my BlackBerry skills. While waiting, I can have an entire conversation with friends and family abroad…and still have time to send some tweets

2) Carefree: This stems from my increased patience because sometimes things just don’t work out the way I plan them. When the internet is down, there’s no point in calling technical assistance to see what the problem is – you just wait it out. Luckily, I have my phone (are you sensing a theme here) as a backup if I really need to connect. If the water is turned off (unannounced) because the city is fixing a busted pipe, I simply adjust my schedule accordingly. I also have several gallons of emergency water supply just in case the fixing takes longer than expected. The point is, none of this frustrates me like it used to.

3) Better tipper: Americans are not known as bad tippers to begin with – 15-25% is part of our lexicon. What I have started doing here is tipping people that I normally wouldn’t in the states: the bagger at the grocery store, the bus boy at a small café, the water delivery guy. For the most part these people are tipped regularly by Venezuelans, hence no awkward “oh no, I can’t accept this” and every once in a while I tip someone who wasn’t expecting it and receive an unexpected display of gratitude making the extra expense invaluable.

4) Spanish: Well, if this didn’t make the list, I don’t know what would. I can now say that language is no longer a barrier for me in this country – there are plenty other things that I can list as barriers At the risk of tooting my own horn, I’m very proud of the progress that I’ve made in learning Spanish and this is something that I’ll benefit from long after my stay in Caracas. Although it’s been said many times, I absolutely encourage all expats to learn the local language.

5) More Active: As detailed in my post about losing inches here, I walk more here than I have walked in any place that I’ve ever lived. Considering that I can still remember looking at my car in the parking lot from my office window and wishing there was some technology that could transport me there without having to get out of my seat – this is progress. I can also remember places that seemed way too far to walk when I first got here that have now become a hop, skip and a jump away. My perception of distance has been altered which has basically made me less lazy. I’m sure this will revert back to its original state after a few months in the American suburbs.

Note: This list was extremely easy to come up with leading me to believe that things are always better than they appear.

I think any American who has been abroad will tell you that other people don’t smile as much as we do. Not in the sense of being happy; but, as a way to acknowledge someone without actually speaking. The other day I walked by a classroom and saw a French teacher – whom I know – standing at the blackboard. I, of course instinctively smiled at him in an effort to not disrupt the class and at the same time say hello. He said “bonjour!”. I thought, well that wasn’t necessary. He could’ve just smiled and I would’ve interpreted that as “hello”. Then I thought, does he think I’m rude for not speaking and simply smiling?

Overall, Venezuelans do the same thing. When I walk past a parent at the kids’ school, they mostly say “hola” or “buenas”. No one simply smiles. At first I kept thinking how much easier it is to smile. But when you think about it, not really. A forced smile is very obvious. To make your smile count, you have to mean it. Plus, a smile can mean so many things. It can say “your child is adorable” or “that parent is being inappropriate, but what are you gonna do?”. I think I’ve actually had entire conversations with a smile. And because I’ve lived in a culture that encourages this sort of communication, it has become second nature.

Now that I’m not able to use it effectively, I’m sad. Even worse, how are my kids ever going to become experts in communicating without words? Words are great, but they can sometimes be overrated, no? You know this is one cultural norm that I’m not willing to give up as an expat – so, when they see the quiet, smiling lady they can go ahead and label me the crazy American!