Like a roll of toilet paper, time moves more quickly as we come down to the end. Since my last post, it has been a whirlwind. No major exciting travel or events, just a lot of your general life stuff- work, play, sleep. This weekend I am looking forward to one last who-ra with my friend Gordon before he takes off to his next post in the Dominican Republic. He, Ivan, Colleen, Jackie and some of our Hash buddies are heading back to where it all started- Choroni. It was the first Venezuelan beach I visited and I just loved the little town and the beaches there. I am looking so forward to going back. Then, the most epic event of my time in Venezuela is happening: my Mom and Christina and Corey are coming to visit! Mom and Christina arrive late on Wednesday night, then Corey on Friday afternoon. Friday evening, we are all off to Angel Falls!
I could not be more ecstatic about their visit. I can't decide what excites me the most. I mean, I am clearly thrilled to go to Angel Falls again, both to visit such a wonderful place but also to share this wonderful place with people I love. I am also just thrilled to share my life with my Mom and friends, so someone understands what my life is like down here. Finally, I am just beside myself with glee because Ivan gets to meet some of my loved ones. It is so important to me that some of the people from my life get to know him. Living my life here seems somehow like a whole different life from my life back home, and I want desperately to bridge my lives so that I don't feel so much like I have a foot each on different planets.
It's just thrilling, the whole idea of having them visit, see my life, travel with me in my beautiful adopted country and meet my wonderful boyfriend. I'm a little nervous too. What if something doesn't work out right? What if flights are cancelled or it rains the whole time or someone gets sick? What if something scary happens and my Mom will forever worry about my safety from here on out? There is of course lots to worry about and I of course choose to worry about it, despite the many pleas I get from Ivan to just be tranquila tranquila. It's my nature I can't help it, though I try to keep it at bay. Sigh. Just pray that all goes well....and that I don't drive Ivan nuts.
I have to say, this time around, I am excited to go home for different reasons. At Christmas, I was excited to go home and eat. And while I do want Chic-Fil-a, this time around I am more excited about just being HOME. I think I am more homesick now and miss everyone just a little bit more. I also miss the land- I miss the Valley, I miss Charlottesville, I miss my ugly, 'ol Virginia beaches. I miss my familiar sights and familiar smells, my familiar faces and familiar routines. This time around, I am really longing to go back to reacquaint myself with my life, with the things and people I miss, with the places that still are a very big part of who I am. And while I am of course excited to return to Caracas in July, I am thankful to have the opportunity to return home for six weeks, and I plan to relish every delicious moment.
So perhaps next time you read my blog, I will have written it from a seat overlooking a cornfield, snuggled with a kitty, smelling my Mom's fried squash. Mmmmm, that sounds positively wonderful.
June 4, 2014
May 21, 2014
A Post About Coping with Loss
Today is not necessarily a #goday. It's just one of those inevitable bad days that one has when they live a continent away from their loved ones. I have some wonderful, WONDERFUL friends here. I have a fantastic boyfriend and I have shamelessly adopted his family. I have so many of my needs met by the wonderful people who surround me here. But some days, the heaviest ones, I feel compelled to hear the voices I've grown up with. The ones that soothed my middle school broken heart, kissed my skinned knees, advised me on my path and spoke reason in times of madness. Today was one of those days. I don't want to share other people's heartache without their permission, so suffice to say that there was a great loss in the family of one of my dear co-workers today. These sort of ordeals bring up all kinds of emotions from those surrounding the grieving person. Empathy for their suffering, consciousness of mortality, desire to hug the ones you love, panic at the thought that you too could suffer such a loss. I'm feeling them all right this minute.
Ivan's is on his way over to console me, because he is either a glutton for punishment or a really, really good boyfriend. I am going to send a few messages and make a few calls to America here in a moment too, just because I feel compelled to. The same way I feel compelled to write right now. My eternal solace- the written word. Nothing calms my soul quite like it, expect maybe that familiar voice telling me that indeed this too shall pass....
Ivan's is on his way over to console me, because he is either a glutton for punishment or a really, really good boyfriend. I am going to send a few messages and make a few calls to America here in a moment too, just because I feel compelled to. The same way I feel compelled to write right now. My eternal solace- the written word. Nothing calms my soul quite like it, expect maybe that familiar voice telling me that indeed this too shall pass....
May 19, 2014
Weekend Adventure to Isla Larga and the Village of El Jarillo
It's going to be hard to express in words how incredible this last weekend was. I have to say, I was originally bummed about not being able to go to Meredith, Christina or Jake's graduations, which were all this weekend. But, Ivan worked hard to turn my frown upside down and give me the weekend of a lifetime. I am amazed at how perfect those 48 hours were!
We started early Saturday morning, though not early enough for Ivan's liking. He had wanted to leave closer to 5:30 am, but by the time a water pipe burst in the garage right above our car and then we had to turn around twice after we finally got on the road because we forgot Ivan's sweatshirt and then his phone, we really got out going closer to 6:45. We trekked down the autopista and passed Valencia heading towards Morrocoy, the beach we went to in January. We took an exit shortly after Valencia and then boom, suddenly we are on a street lined with vendors selling nothing but fish empanadas, beer and bathing suits. Ten minutes later, I was enjoying my beer and empanada....at 9am. It was around then I figured it was going to be a good day. We headed down the road about 15 more minutes and then we stopped at a dock where we could park our car and take a short motorboat ride to our final destination- Isla Larga. When I saw the cola (line) to get on the boat, I suggested that we buy more beer. By our mutual fourth beer, we were on the boat and shortly thereafter, the beautiful, sparkling white beach that faced the coast. Mountains were everywhere and the water was crystal clear. There was nothing more that I needed....except maybe an ice cream, which I got almost immediately from a man walking around selling ice cream out of a Styrofoam cooler. We hung out on the beach for a while and then decided to take the trek underwater to visit a sunken ship that literally was still sticking up half way on the beach. The boat sank in the 1940's and despite years of rust, was pretty well intact. As soon as we went down, I could see everything. The water was so clear and there was just enough sun to see clearly. It was SO COOL to see how the sea life had inhabited the ship. We swam around for quite a while just enjoying the awesome adventure of exploring a ship wreck.
When we came up for air, we were both so exhausted. We fell into our chairs and literally both passed out, simultaneously, for 30 minutes. You could have robbed us blind and we would have had no idea we were both out so cold. After one of the most epic naps of my life we got up and quickly grabbed a boat back for the shore. Ivan had not told me where we were going next, but he said it would take a while to get there and he didn't want us driving to late. But before we could hit the road, we had to eat lunch first. More to the point, we had to eat fish. So right there on the beach we stopped at a little restaurant and ate a whole fish between the two of us, along with mashed plantains, avocado and tomatoes. And beer. Obviously. And I was totally in heaven.
One fish and two beers later, we were completely out of money and on our way to unknown lands. Ivan let me play my music the entire way and I was singing and hanging my feet out the window and basically having the time of my life. We turned in La Victoria and headed up towards the mountains. And by mountains, I also mean treacherous mountain roads with no barriers and barely wide enough to fit two cars. Ivan is a pro at navigating these roads, but none the less I was properly terrified and chose simply to look at the beautiful mountain views and not the winding road directly ahead. Around 8pm, we finally pulled into our destination- El Jarillo. EL Jarillo is another German colonized town similar to Colonia Tovar and is just right over the mountain from el Colonia. It's much smaller than Tovar with less of the touristy shops and such, which meant invariably that I liked it much better. When we arrived at our posada, I immediately noticed how bright the stars were, and how clear. We can hardly see the stars in Caracas, so it was amazing to see them shining so brightly on a moonless night.
We checked in and got to the room and there waiting for me were a beautiful bouquet of flowers and German snacks! Do I have a wonderful man or what!?!?! The room was lovely and even had a balcony overlooking the valley! Despite being completely exhausted, we decided to shower and go back out to the courtyard of the posada to spend just a few minutes enjoying the stars before we totally passed out. We were so glad we did because as soon as we got out the moon rose. It was a gorgeous orange harvest moon and it was spectacular as it rose up from mountains on the horizon. We were both so wowed and just sat cuddling on the stone wall in the courtyard enjoying the beauty of such a gorgeous evening.
The next morning, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get Ivan out of bed. To be fair, it was so comfortable and we were both still tired- the beach and beer really take it out of you! But we managed to get up and out of the posada around nine. Ivan first wanted to take me to a huge Virgin Mary statue that stood on top of the highest mountain in Jarillo. When we got there I could see why this had to be the first stop. The view was INCREDIBLE. Just mountains upon mountains and directly below us, the adorable little village of Jarillo, nestled into the nooks and crannies of the mountains. It was breath taking. However, I was also starving, and there was a little German restaurant right smack next to the Mary statue, so I made an embarrassingly fast bee-line to the closest table I could find. I immediately ordered hot chocolate with cream, strawberries with cream and the sausage breakfast. Then another hot chocolate and cream because the first one was so good and came in such a small cup. It was an amazing breakfast. Like, amazing. And then I could really go out and enjoy the beautiful view!
While we were eating, Ivan signed me up to go paragliding. I wasn't really sure what I was signing up for, but given that I don't have a fear of heights and and follow the life motto of "try everything once but hard drugs", I figured I could give it a go. The flights started around 12:30, so in the meantime we spent some time exploring the town. There really isn't much around. A very pretty church, two very small centro commericals, some restaurants. Of course, everything is in German-styled architecture and every street was marked by a cute little wooden sign with Germanic writing. It was quaint, cute, and good for the soul. As we paseo'ed around, we came across a sign for "fresas con Polar". Polar is the native Venezuela beer, so I was intrigued. We stopped and decided to give this concoction a try. It was basically like a strawberry smoothie with beer, and it was unreal delicious. We walked around the property enjoying our fresas con Polar and admiring the gorgeous architecture and gardens of the property. It was one of the most beautiful hacienda's I had seen, which so many beautiful German details mixed with artsy trappings like wine barrel seats and mosaic tile. It was a lovely place and we decided to come back and enjoy it more for lunch, regardless if we were hungry or not!
We headed back to the top of the valley (which only took about ten minutes, even while navigating the steep, unforgiving roads) and arrived in time to pay and wait for my turn to paraglide. No instructions or liability forms or introductions. Just pay, wait and hope that these people have good equipment and know what they are doing. Awesome.
As we watched people start to take off, I began to realize what I had signed up for. They would basically strap you in a backpack kit, connect you and your backpack kit to the captain of the "vessel" and then you would take a running leap off the cliff and hope that the parachute dragging behind you caught the wind and took you in the air. Awesome.
After I watched a few more people go, my tensions began to ease and I started to get excited. The guys definitely knew what they were doing and the wind and weather were great for this. The parachutes glided around the valley with ease, up and down, catching the various airflows and thrilling their passengers, which so far had mainly been Russian women tourists who squealed with delight so loud we could hear them meters up in the atmosphere. More quickly than I expected, it was my time to go. Before I could blink they had strapped me in and on to my guide, gave me some instructions in Spanish that Ivan barely had time to translate and then wooo we were off before I even had time to get a running start. The wind took us up right away and my captain navigated us out and over the valley. It was incredible. I was weightless, I was flying, I was hanging suspended hundreds of meters about the earth and I wasn't even scared. It almost seemed natural. The wind must of been just perfect, because we swung this way and that, over the valley, over the mountain we had launched from, way, WAY high up in the sky, even over the highest peaks I could see. And the peaks went on and on and on as I realized that we were indeed in the middle of a huge and breathtaking mountain range. It was all just magical. And I could totally tell why the Russian girls were squealing, because that's about all you can do- just squeal with delight. After was seemed like a short while, we landed almost right back where we took of. Ivan said I was up there longer (and higher!) than anyone else, but it really hadn't seemed that long. It was just amazing. I was so happy I had tried it!
Ivan and I hung around the mountain and got a beer at the restaurant. Ivan said I got so high he almost had a heart attack and really needed a beer. Poor guy. So we enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful weather and hung out for a while. Then, as we promised ourselves, trekked back down the mountain, back to our frescas con Polar place and had another fresca con Polar and some native Venezuelan soup called Mondongo. Even though we weren't really hungry, the soup was really yummy and we finished it all off with relish. After picking up some requisite homemade German mustard, we sadly departed the beautiful village of Jarillo. Ivan had learned of a quicker way to get home through Los Teques and we were shocked to realize how close we indeed were from the outskirts of Caracas. In under two hours we were home, conveniently just in time to watch the sunset from my balcony.
What an amazing weekend. And what an amazing boyfriend I have for planing the perfect weekend! He could not have picked things for me to do that would have made me any happier. And I was thrilled to get to spend some time just with him for a weekend. I could not have asked for anything more....expect maybe one more strawberries and creme!
We started early Saturday morning, though not early enough for Ivan's liking. He had wanted to leave closer to 5:30 am, but by the time a water pipe burst in the garage right above our car and then we had to turn around twice after we finally got on the road because we forgot Ivan's sweatshirt and then his phone, we really got out going closer to 6:45. We trekked down the autopista and passed Valencia heading towards Morrocoy, the beach we went to in January. We took an exit shortly after Valencia and then boom, suddenly we are on a street lined with vendors selling nothing but fish empanadas, beer and bathing suits. Ten minutes later, I was enjoying my beer and empanada....at 9am. It was around then I figured it was going to be a good day. We headed down the road about 15 more minutes and then we stopped at a dock where we could park our car and take a short motorboat ride to our final destination- Isla Larga. When I saw the cola (line) to get on the boat, I suggested that we buy more beer. By our mutual fourth beer, we were on the boat and shortly thereafter, the beautiful, sparkling white beach that faced the coast. Mountains were everywhere and the water was crystal clear. There was nothing more that I needed....except maybe an ice cream, which I got almost immediately from a man walking around selling ice cream out of a Styrofoam cooler. We hung out on the beach for a while and then decided to take the trek underwater to visit a sunken ship that literally was still sticking up half way on the beach. The boat sank in the 1940's and despite years of rust, was pretty well intact. As soon as we went down, I could see everything. The water was so clear and there was just enough sun to see clearly. It was SO COOL to see how the sea life had inhabited the ship. We swam around for quite a while just enjoying the awesome adventure of exploring a ship wreck.
One fish and two beers later, we were completely out of money and on our way to unknown lands. Ivan let me play my music the entire way and I was singing and hanging my feet out the window and basically having the time of my life. We turned in La Victoria and headed up towards the mountains. And by mountains, I also mean treacherous mountain roads with no barriers and barely wide enough to fit two cars. Ivan is a pro at navigating these roads, but none the less I was properly terrified and chose simply to look at the beautiful mountain views and not the winding road directly ahead. Around 8pm, we finally pulled into our destination- El Jarillo. EL Jarillo is another German colonized town similar to Colonia Tovar and is just right over the mountain from el Colonia. It's much smaller than Tovar with less of the touristy shops and such, which meant invariably that I liked it much better. When we arrived at our posada, I immediately noticed how bright the stars were, and how clear. We can hardly see the stars in Caracas, so it was amazing to see them shining so brightly on a moonless night.
We checked in and got to the room and there waiting for me were a beautiful bouquet of flowers and German snacks! Do I have a wonderful man or what!?!?! The room was lovely and even had a balcony overlooking the valley! Despite being completely exhausted, we decided to shower and go back out to the courtyard of the posada to spend just a few minutes enjoying the stars before we totally passed out. We were so glad we did because as soon as we got out the moon rose. It was a gorgeous orange harvest moon and it was spectacular as it rose up from mountains on the horizon. We were both so wowed and just sat cuddling on the stone wall in the courtyard enjoying the beauty of such a gorgeous evening.
The next morning, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get Ivan out of bed. To be fair, it was so comfortable and we were both still tired- the beach and beer really take it out of you! But we managed to get up and out of the posada around nine. Ivan first wanted to take me to a huge Virgin Mary statue that stood on top of the highest mountain in Jarillo. When we got there I could see why this had to be the first stop. The view was INCREDIBLE. Just mountains upon mountains and directly below us, the adorable little village of Jarillo, nestled into the nooks and crannies of the mountains. It was breath taking. However, I was also starving, and there was a little German restaurant right smack next to the Mary statue, so I made an embarrassingly fast bee-line to the closest table I could find. I immediately ordered hot chocolate with cream, strawberries with cream and the sausage breakfast. Then another hot chocolate and cream because the first one was so good and came in such a small cup. It was an amazing breakfast. Like, amazing. And then I could really go out and enjoy the beautiful view!
While we were eating, Ivan signed me up to go paragliding. I wasn't really sure what I was signing up for, but given that I don't have a fear of heights and and follow the life motto of "try everything once but hard drugs", I figured I could give it a go. The flights started around 12:30, so in the meantime we spent some time exploring the town. There really isn't much around. A very pretty church, two very small centro commericals, some restaurants. Of course, everything is in German-styled architecture and every street was marked by a cute little wooden sign with Germanic writing. It was quaint, cute, and good for the soul. As we paseo'ed around, we came across a sign for "fresas con Polar". Polar is the native Venezuela beer, so I was intrigued. We stopped and decided to give this concoction a try. It was basically like a strawberry smoothie with beer, and it was unreal delicious. We walked around the property enjoying our fresas con Polar and admiring the gorgeous architecture and gardens of the property. It was one of the most beautiful hacienda's I had seen, which so many beautiful German details mixed with artsy trappings like wine barrel seats and mosaic tile. It was a lovely place and we decided to come back and enjoy it more for lunch, regardless if we were hungry or not!
We headed back to the top of the valley (which only took about ten minutes, even while navigating the steep, unforgiving roads) and arrived in time to pay and wait for my turn to paraglide. No instructions or liability forms or introductions. Just pay, wait and hope that these people have good equipment and know what they are doing. Awesome.
As we watched people start to take off, I began to realize what I had signed up for. They would basically strap you in a backpack kit, connect you and your backpack kit to the captain of the "vessel" and then you would take a running leap off the cliff and hope that the parachute dragging behind you caught the wind and took you in the air. Awesome.
After I watched a few more people go, my tensions began to ease and I started to get excited. The guys definitely knew what they were doing and the wind and weather were great for this. The parachutes glided around the valley with ease, up and down, catching the various airflows and thrilling their passengers, which so far had mainly been Russian women tourists who squealed with delight so loud we could hear them meters up in the atmosphere. More quickly than I expected, it was my time to go. Before I could blink they had strapped me in and on to my guide, gave me some instructions in Spanish that Ivan barely had time to translate and then wooo we were off before I even had time to get a running start. The wind took us up right away and my captain navigated us out and over the valley. It was incredible. I was weightless, I was flying, I was hanging suspended hundreds of meters about the earth and I wasn't even scared. It almost seemed natural. The wind must of been just perfect, because we swung this way and that, over the valley, over the mountain we had launched from, way, WAY high up in the sky, even over the highest peaks I could see. And the peaks went on and on and on as I realized that we were indeed in the middle of a huge and breathtaking mountain range. It was all just magical. And I could totally tell why the Russian girls were squealing, because that's about all you can do- just squeal with delight. After was seemed like a short while, we landed almost right back where we took of. Ivan said I was up there longer (and higher!) than anyone else, but it really hadn't seemed that long. It was just amazing. I was so happy I had tried it!
Ivan and I hung around the mountain and got a beer at the restaurant. Ivan said I got so high he almost had a heart attack and really needed a beer. Poor guy. So we enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful weather and hung out for a while. Then, as we promised ourselves, trekked back down the mountain, back to our frescas con Polar place and had another fresca con Polar and some native Venezuelan soup called Mondongo. Even though we weren't really hungry, the soup was really yummy and we finished it all off with relish. After picking up some requisite homemade German mustard, we sadly departed the beautiful village of Jarillo. Ivan had learned of a quicker way to get home through Los Teques and we were shocked to realize how close we indeed were from the outskirts of Caracas. In under two hours we were home, conveniently just in time to watch the sunset from my balcony.
What an amazing weekend. And what an amazing boyfriend I have for planing the perfect weekend! He could not have picked things for me to do that would have made me any happier. And I was thrilled to get to spend some time just with him for a weekend. I could not have asked for anything more....expect maybe one more strawberries and creme!
May 16, 2014
#Stayday and Other Delights of My Week
Meredith suggested, in
response to my last post, that I begin to keep a running tally of stay days and
go days using twitter by simply posting each day #stayday or #goday. At least
that way I would have an objective way to make a decision come October. As much
as I liked that idea, I simply cannot enthuse myself about twitter enough to log
on everyday to update the twittisphere on my stay days and go days. So instead,
I continue to highly subjectively consider my life in Venezuela.
Subjectively
speaking, this past weekend was a stay weekend. On Friday night, Ivan, myself,
Gordon and another co-worker went out to an Internations event. Internations
is, according to Facebook, "a network for expats with local communities worldwide. Join us atwww.internations.org to attend regular expat events and get info on your
destination." For us in Caracas, it basically serves as yet another avenue
for the Expat community to come together and drink. On Friday, we met in a
WONDERFUL live jazz bar in the center of the city. The band was phenom, the
drinks were so-so and the company was stellar. I met new people from the other
international school, friends of friends working at the Mexican embassy and a
guy from Canada interning at a law firm for the summer. We left around 12:30
and went to Calle de Hambre, a street of street vendors in Trinidad that serves
up ridiculous heart attacks like the one below. It was glorious and gave me heartburn
for two days.
The next morning I woke up extremely resaca (hungover) and
laid around my house until approximately 2pm. But then, it was time to get my
butt moving, because Ivan and I were hosting and haring the Hash! Already my
second Hash as a Host- I will hopefully get a Hash name soon because I totally
deserve it! :). Ivan set a nasty running trail- 10k, while I planned a
leisurely 4k walk down to the Vizcaya park. We had a small but dedicated group
due to dreary weather, but I was excited that two of my really cool neighbors,
Tania and Noel, and the law intern from Canada we had met the night before,
Trevor, joined us! Four of the boys ran and the rest of us walked. When we
returned, we had the circle, ate some pizza and then some of us who remained
headed up to my apartment to continue the evening. Unexpectedly, my apartment
turned into a disco and we literally danced our faces off to everything from
salsa to the electric slide until 1 in the morning! It was a gloriously fun
evening!
Sunday was mothers day and after Ivan and I recovered from
the night before with some delicious pastries, his entire family came over to my
apartment for pizza and hanging out. It was wonderful getting to host his
grandmother, aunt, mom and stepmom. I so enjoyed spending time with them. I
also took some time to call my loving mothers and wish them a good day. It does
suck to be apart from my loved ones on holidays, but having Ivan's family
around is so nice, since they certainly treat me like one of their own!
This workweek has been a strong one. The kids and teachers
alike are getting awfully burnt out as we draw near to the end. There are four
weeks left exactly after today. I might go as far as saying that this week was
a #goweek, but there were a few high points. I had drinks with my neighbor
Tania, who just moved in to the apartment next to me. She is delightful and we
have a lot in common. What's more, she doesn't speak English, so it's really a
test of my language acquisition, and I am happy to see how well I keep up! Also
this week some of us girls got together- Walli, Jackie, MariaElena, Holly and
I- to have a clothes exchange. We all brought jewelry, clothes, shoes, and
other items that we didn't use or were tired of and threw them in a pile for
others to go through. It was AMAZING how much stuff we all could wear from one
another. I took shoes from one person, a shirt from another and a dress from
another! And we had a really wonderful, bonding time together to boot. It's the
after hours times that get me through the tougher work weeks.
This weekend, Ivan and I are heading for the beach just the
two of us. We have done a lot of travelling together already, but all of it has
been with other people. Let's see if we can survive just the two of us! :) I'll
report back if he is still alive next week:). Until then, happy weekend to all!
May 4, 2014
Stay Days and Go Days
Today was a stay day. I have go days and stay days. They generally average themselves out by the end of each week. Maybe my students were awful or the government made another stupid decree or the grocery shelves were bare- that would be a go day. But the next day there would be milk, I would have a lovely walk in my neighborhood park and I would go see a movie for less than $1, thus making it a stay day. When I have a few go days in a row and I figure that the balance is about to tip on the go side, then I'll have three great stay days in a row. I just can't seem to make up my mind. Do I stay in Venezuela or do I go?
We have to decide if we will stay for a third year in October. I know that's still a few months out but I have, in consistent Tracey fashion, already started worrying about it. My list of pros and cons could go on forever, spliced of course by the ever nagging question of if I do go, where DO I go? When that question comes up, the panic sets in and I quickly try to think about anything else- polar bears on ice skates, how delicious a peanut and jelly sandwich is, how much I still hate my hair cut. Anything but dealing with that question that brings with it a speed train of overwhelming uncertainty.
Thus, I focus on the positive and inevitably try my best to have stay days. This weekend was totally a stay weekend. We actually had May 1st off for labor day (which is apparently labor day in most of the world, except the US), so we almost had a three day weekend. On May 1st, Ivan and I had a glorious day off together. We made a big breakfast and then went to visit a small but very special zoo. At Expanzoo, the zoo visitors are able to buy a small bag of carrots and basically fed any animal they come across, many of which are allowed to freely roam around the grounds. Armed with five bags of carrots, Ivan and I set off and quickly discovered that Ivan is SUCH A SUCKER for adorable animals! He fed almost his entire first bag of carrots to a baby donkey (of all things!) So I made an executive decision and became the keeper of the carrot bags. We visited swarms of adorable baby pigs, a zebra, a slew of llamas and alpacas,horses, goats, bunnies, and peacocks. We also saw a large group of flamingos and a few cute monkeys! For a while I tried to wrest some bunnies from under bushes unsuccessfully, much to the horror of the mothers who were trying to prevent their four-year-olds from doing the same thing, at which point Ivan felt it was time we left. Then we saw Spiderman 2, during which I failed to suspend disbelief and deemed it a waste of two hours. Ivan vehemently disagreed and to solve the argument, we decided to head home to lay in the hammock and take a nap. That tends to resolve all problems quickly.
On Friday night, I went with a bunch of co-workers to the other American international school where they were hosting a trivia night. It was really fun to meet some new people and our table actually came in 2nd! It was some HARD trivia. Very intellectual- like, match the art with the movement intellectual. I was positively worthless, besides knowing which island in the Caribbean was Puerto Rico and where Rihanna is from (Barbados). But we had a great time and ended up hanging out at our new friend Robin's apartment near the school until 1 in the morning, which is very late for me these days. Saturday I nursed a hangover that could only come from mixing gin and red wine (I know better! What was I thinking!). Around 3pm, I forced myself to be human again and attend a fashion party at Elsy and Mike's apartment, where us girls went to town on some clothes, jewelry and handbags from some great Venezuelan designers. I also accidentally tried on a jumper thinking it was a skirt...and actually LIKED it. I'm not ready to purchase a jumper yet. I'm just not there yet. But trying one on (even by accident) was a step, for sure. Saturday night, Ivan and I went out with some of his friends to a free Cuatro concert. A Cuatro is a small, four-stringed guitar that Venezuelan's can play MASTERFULLY. It's amazing how much sound can come from such a simple, little instrument! After the concert, we hung out at his friend Gabo's new apartment. His friends are so nice to me and feel really bad that I can't follow their conversation AT ALL. When I am talking to someone in Spanish, I can usually keep up, but when there are a group of people talking and the subject keeps changing, I just get so lost. So I usually just sit around with a smile plastered on my face catching what I can from body language and the few words I can pick up. But Ivan's friends are great about trying to include me and making sure I am NEVER without a full beer. God forbid. I told Ivan that I don't think they actually deep conversations. As best I can tell, all I hear them say is "chamo", "dale" and "conyo". which in Venezuelan Spanish basically means "bro", "go on" and "shit", respectively.
Sunday, Ivan, his friend Jesus and I went out to the Cote de Mil, a highway that runs right along the Avila that the city shuts down on Sunday morning so people can run and bike. We took Jesus's three bikes and had a lovely ride. Ivan and I had a pretty awesome blow-out over me getting a cocada and Ivan not letting me because they were about to reopen the highway. I didn't give a crap about on-coming traffic- I just wanted coconutty deliciousness! Our tiff was quickly overcome when we decided to get Chinese food, thus distracting my food craving elsewhere and pacifying me with thoughts of lo mein. We enjoyed the Chinese gloriousness on my balcony, and after we ate all fell into an immediate food coma that took three hours to overcome. That, my friends, is how you do a Sunday afternoon. Definitely a stay day. But a new week is coming, so we will see what kind of day Monday brings!
We have to decide if we will stay for a third year in October. I know that's still a few months out but I have, in consistent Tracey fashion, already started worrying about it. My list of pros and cons could go on forever, spliced of course by the ever nagging question of if I do go, where DO I go? When that question comes up, the panic sets in and I quickly try to think about anything else- polar bears on ice skates, how delicious a peanut and jelly sandwich is, how much I still hate my hair cut. Anything but dealing with that question that brings with it a speed train of overwhelming uncertainty.
Thus, I focus on the positive and inevitably try my best to have stay days. This weekend was totally a stay weekend. We actually had May 1st off for labor day (which is apparently labor day in most of the world, except the US), so we almost had a three day weekend. On May 1st, Ivan and I had a glorious day off together. We made a big breakfast and then went to visit a small but very special zoo. At Expanzoo, the zoo visitors are able to buy a small bag of carrots and basically fed any animal they come across, many of which are allowed to freely roam around the grounds. Armed with five bags of carrots, Ivan and I set off and quickly discovered that Ivan is SUCH A SUCKER for adorable animals! He fed almost his entire first bag of carrots to a baby donkey (of all things!) So I made an executive decision and became the keeper of the carrot bags. We visited swarms of adorable baby pigs, a zebra, a slew of llamas and alpacas,horses, goats, bunnies, and peacocks. We also saw a large group of flamingos and a few cute monkeys! For a while I tried to wrest some bunnies from under bushes unsuccessfully, much to the horror of the mothers who were trying to prevent their four-year-olds from doing the same thing, at which point Ivan felt it was time we left. Then we saw Spiderman 2, during which I failed to suspend disbelief and deemed it a waste of two hours. Ivan vehemently disagreed and to solve the argument, we decided to head home to lay in the hammock and take a nap. That tends to resolve all problems quickly.
On Friday night, I went with a bunch of co-workers to the other American international school where they were hosting a trivia night. It was really fun to meet some new people and our table actually came in 2nd! It was some HARD trivia. Very intellectual- like, match the art with the movement intellectual. I was positively worthless, besides knowing which island in the Caribbean was Puerto Rico and where Rihanna is from (Barbados). But we had a great time and ended up hanging out at our new friend Robin's apartment near the school until 1 in the morning, which is very late for me these days. Saturday I nursed a hangover that could only come from mixing gin and red wine (I know better! What was I thinking!). Around 3pm, I forced myself to be human again and attend a fashion party at Elsy and Mike's apartment, where us girls went to town on some clothes, jewelry and handbags from some great Venezuelan designers. I also accidentally tried on a jumper thinking it was a skirt...and actually LIKED it. I'm not ready to purchase a jumper yet. I'm just not there yet. But trying one on (even by accident) was a step, for sure. Saturday night, Ivan and I went out with some of his friends to a free Cuatro concert. A Cuatro is a small, four-stringed guitar that Venezuelan's can play MASTERFULLY. It's amazing how much sound can come from such a simple, little instrument! After the concert, we hung out at his friend Gabo's new apartment. His friends are so nice to me and feel really bad that I can't follow their conversation AT ALL. When I am talking to someone in Spanish, I can usually keep up, but when there are a group of people talking and the subject keeps changing, I just get so lost. So I usually just sit around with a smile plastered on my face catching what I can from body language and the few words I can pick up. But Ivan's friends are great about trying to include me and making sure I am NEVER without a full beer. God forbid. I told Ivan that I don't think they actually deep conversations. As best I can tell, all I hear them say is "chamo", "dale" and "conyo". which in Venezuelan Spanish basically means "bro", "go on" and "shit", respectively.
Sunday, Ivan, his friend Jesus and I went out to the Cote de Mil, a highway that runs right along the Avila that the city shuts down on Sunday morning so people can run and bike. We took Jesus's three bikes and had a lovely ride. Ivan and I had a pretty awesome blow-out over me getting a cocada and Ivan not letting me because they were about to reopen the highway. I didn't give a crap about on-coming traffic- I just wanted coconutty deliciousness! Our tiff was quickly overcome when we decided to get Chinese food, thus distracting my food craving elsewhere and pacifying me with thoughts of lo mein. We enjoyed the Chinese gloriousness on my balcony, and after we ate all fell into an immediate food coma that took three hours to overcome. That, my friends, is how you do a Sunday afternoon. Definitely a stay day. But a new week is coming, so we will see what kind of day Monday brings!
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