Happy Monthiversary to Me!

Oh man what a great week!  Though this was technically the second full week of school, it was my first full week, due to my unfortunate stomach condition last week.  School has really been awesome.  There is a lot to do, and I am still trying to figure everything out, but I am slowly gaining more and more confidence as the days go on.  It's going to be a long building year, but I am feeling like I have more and more of a grip on it as time goes by. Meanwhile, my weekday evenings are turning out to be as full as my weekends.  Mondays after school I have Spanish lessons with dear, sweet Isabel.  Isabel is 68 years old, and though she could be my grandmother, she is as lively and spirited as a much younger woman.  What's more, her spirit is so kind and patient.  I suppose you must be kind and patient if you are going to deal in language acquisition and gringos, but Isabel really has a gift of empathy and is incredibly disarming.  Not like I am EVER self conscious, but Isabel helps me not feel bad when I struggle or make a mistake....like when I was trying to say "I was embarrassed" but instead said "I was pregnant".  Stupid false cognates!  

Tuesday, I went to a birthday party for a fellow new hire who works on the elementary side, whose name is also Isabel.  Isabel was turning 30 and her boyfriend, a local Lebanese restaurant owner, invited Isabel's friends to join them at his restaurant for a celebration.  I was feeling tired and antisocial on Tuesday, so made a pact with my boss to "only go for an hour".  Please note: one cannot just attend a birthday party in Venezuela for one hour.  Also, you had better have on your dancing heels and a hungry tummy, because these people are NOT playing around.  As the restaurant was Lebanese, the courses came out one after the other: hummus, dumplings, stuff stuffed with stuff, salad, things I cannot pronounce or label that were delicious and of course, wine wine wine.  On a Tuesday.  Hey, a birthday is a birthday and this country goes BALLS OUT. After stuffing our faces, Isabel's boyfriend surprised her with- what else- but a belly dancer!  She was beautiful and very talented and wanted very much for us to try out our dancing skills with her.  We obliged, tried our best, and had a great time. One of the things I love about this country is that people are more comfortable with uninhibited behavior, in that, you can pretty safely make a fool out of yourself without fear of judgment.  As long as you are having a good time, people are pretty responsive and supportive.  Speaking of responsive or supportive, I will try to upload a great video for your viewing enjoyment once I get a better internet speed!

Wednesday was my day of rest, though I had to turn down Gordon's invitation to Curry Club in order to get my eight hours of sleep.  Thursday was definitely the highlight of my week.  Ivan and his Mom, Nereida, invited me to a Venezuelan musical trio performance.  The theater was in Mercedes, a larger suburb not far from our little Los Samanes.  The theater itself was quite small, like a black box theater, and the group consisted of a drummer, upright bass and guitar.  The music was amazing. It was a mix of jazz, samba, merengue and what I could best describe as Venezuelan folk.  And all of it had a Venezuelan flair to it, no matter the style.  The whole experience was just what I needed. Just hearing the music and letting the sound wash over me, not having to worry about translating language, relaxing and just feeling the music.....gosh it was just so great.  The concert lasted over two hours, and even featured a few singers who were just phenomenal.  I want to spend every Thursday at the theater!  It's good for the soul!  And even better for my soul- and stomach- were the arepas Ivan, Nereida and I had after the concert. Since it's perfectly acceptable to eat dinner at 10pm in this country, we enjoyed dinner and conversation after the concert.  Nereida is trying to learn English, so we were quite the pair, me asking her questions in Spanish and her answering in English and visa versa.  Ivan (rightfully so) refused to help us, so there was a lot of hand wringing and helpless giggling, but in the end, we realized that we could actually communicate remarkably well!  I learned about her travels, of which she has done a lot, and that our birthdays are ten days apart, so we are both Aries. This gave me some insight as to why we get along so well...and why we both can't sit still or stop talking....classic fire sign behavior!

The fun doesn't stop here- in mere minutes I am off to a free salsa concert at a park in Alta Mira.  And tomorrow, it's Hash #2!  Happy one month in Caracas anniversary to me!