CARACAS, Venezuela -- Dusk had just fallen when I took off for a jog in a desolate area of this capital city of 3.6 million people. Although I knew Caracas was a different place by night than by day, I had run before without incident and had no concerns.

But during my 30-minute run, two men pulled up next to me on a moped. The passenger jumped off and wielded a knife, eyeing my iPod. Both started yelling at me in Spanish.

Luckily a man came running out from his house yelling and scared the two men away. They jumped back on their moped and drove away laughing, leaving me more cautious about how I flaunt my possessions.

It was one of the many lessons I learned during the nine chaotic months I spent here teaching English in a country I came to find more familiar than my own.

When most people hear about a country's political turmoil, civil unrest and tension in its relations with the United States, their first instinct is to stay away, to experience the unfolding events from their living rooms.

But it was exactly that unrest that attracted me to this South American country after I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in May 2006 and was looking for something to do. An advertisement to teach English in Venezuela caught my eye -- I had to see the country for myself, despite my poor command of Spanish.

I arrived in Caracas, Venezuela's largest city, in September 2006, and moved into an apartment in Chacaito, a neighborhood that bordered a nice section, as well as a dangerous part, of the city. The large apartment I shared with two architecture students -- one from Austria and the other from Mongolia -- came empty, so we filled it with furniture that we found on the street.

From the outset Caracas felt like any other big city but with its unique character: a caco-phony of people and cars crowding in the streets, the smell of arepas (corn-based bread) and other local foods permeating the sweltering air, vendors enticing me with exotic jewelry.

I taught English to employees at Procter & Gamble, most of whom spoke English fairly well but needed help working on their fluency. The city, however, was intimidating, and I would go to work and then straight home to my apartment afterward, too afraid of what might happen to me. But after about a week, I started to explore a bit and ended up going everywhere.

Although relations between the United States and Venezuela have deteriorated since Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998 -- over oil imports and his deepening relationships with Cuba, Iran and North Korea -- the people couldn't have been more welcoming to me. Eager to practice their English or to help me with my Spanish, Venezuelans were less concerned about my nationality and more interested in what I thought about their country.

Mass transit is easy in Caracas because it has one subway system stretching from one end of the city to the other. But with the country's temperate weather, walking is best. Among the most interesting areas to trek through were the buoneros, or vendors in an area close to my apartment called Sabana Grande. Winding mazes of shops sold everything from clothes to jewelry to illegal DVDs. Music blasted from speakers and vendors would entice shoppers to their tents with the best of the black market. It was easy to get disoriented amid the crowds and deafening noise, but you had to stay vigilant to the thieves who would prey on pedestrians and then vanish back into the maze of chaos. (Since I have returned from Caracas, the government has shut down the buoneros).

Like other large cities in developing countries, Caracas possesses a great divide between the rich and poor. High rises, SUVs and expensive restaurants are concentrated in the city center. Plastic surgery in Caracas is the most profitable industry in South America, and the central part of the city is filled with plastic surgery clinics and offices.

As you travel outward, the view changes. With more than 80 percent of the country's 25 million people poor, tiny shacks no larger than a living room hug the mountains that border the city, clustered on top of one another like matchboxes. At night, the shanties create a paradox of tempting beauty with millions of lights dotting the landscape like fireflies.

The local cuisine is best enjoyed in the many outdoor restaurants in the city. There are arepas (fried pancakes served with an assortment of fillings or eaten plain), cachapas (corn pancakes) or my favorite the 'perro caliente' (a hot dog with toppings consisting of everything from chips to avocados), which brings shame to the New York hot dog. Most times the best addition to any meal is a cold cerveza, such as Polera or Polar Ice, a very watered down version of Bud Light.

We made sure to explore the countryside on weekends. Venezuela is home to the Amazon and the highest waterfalls in the world (Angel Falls at 3,212 feet in southeast Venezuela near Brazil), as well as rain forests dry plains, pure white beaches and mountain ranges.

There are two distinct seasons: dry, which runs from early November to May, and wet, the rest of the year. It's usually more pleasant traveling during the dry season, although Angel Falls is more magnificent during the wet season because of the heavy rainfalls.

Public transportation in Caracas is relatively cheap. Shorter bus trips outside the city (a few hours away) are provided by school bus-types of vehicles for about $3 round-trip. But it's far from luxury. They are usually crowded with people bringing all sorts of food and bags stacked on top of each other. The bus driver blasts the music at high volume (from salsa to Reggaeton). With little enforcement of the speed limit, drivers get you to your destination as fast as they can. For longer trips, regular luxury buses are typically available. However, when taking these, be prepared for a frigid journey -- drivers usually set the air conditioning on high for the whole trip.

Back in Caracas, crime continues to be a big problem, with countless people being killed every year, mostly in petty crimes. While a woman during the day can usually walk safely through the city alone as long as she moves at a quick, assertive pace, nighttime is different, which I found out the hard way on my jog.

I returned to the United States in June and now work as coordinator for a Venezuelan architecture firm, Urban-Think Tank, in New York City, which is working to improve the South American slums.

Perhaps overwhelming at first, Venezuela is a country that will soon enthrall you. Whether it's dancing salsa until 6 a.m., eating local cuisine at an outdoor restaurant or shopping for the cheap and plentiful in the endless winding bazaars, Venezuela is a challenging test for the true traveler.