The Adventures Continue in Good 'Ol Murica

Since I have been home, the adventures have only continued. I have truly enjoyed spending time with my family.

Since my Mom got married over the New Year, she moved out of her house and into her husband Ken’s house. Thus, my stuff got unceremoniously tossed into my grandfather’s spare bedroom. So the first thing I got into after coming home was reorganizing that room and moving some stuff over to Ken’s house. Within 48 hours I had gotten my room at his place all set up and taken two carloads of stuff over to the Salvation Army. After that task was complete, I could relax a little more. I spent time with my cousin Meridith, who was visiting from Alaska with her three small kids. It was great to get to spend so much time with them, since we all see each other so rarely. Her oldest son Jackson and I played baseball like five times the first week I was back. He is so good for a six year old! And I think he was equally impressed that I was so good for a girl! We took a family trip to Lake Laura too, which was Meridith’s first time there. It was fun helping the kids swim and enjoy the beauty of Lake Laura, which is still lovely even compared to the epic lakes in Canaima!

I also got to spend time with my grandfather too. We had breakfast together most mornings at “the restaurant”, basically a hole in the wall country place where all the old men get together and gossip and eat things smothered in sausage gravy. On Thursday, granddad, myself and eight other oldies but goodies took off for a motorcycle ride through West Virginia. The weather was PERFECT- beautiful, warm but not hot, clear with a few puffy clouds in the sky. We went way back to a place called Ice Mountain, where we stopped at the Main Street Grill for some surprisingly good lunch (for being in the middle of West Virginia). On the way back, we hit a pretty major hairpin road and before I knew it, granddad and I got an up close and personal tour of a ditch. Thankfully, neither of us were hurt too badly. I was fine because granddad broke my fall, and all granddad had a road rash on his arm. The bike didn’t have a scratch- just some dirt. We were really lucky and in the end, all we managed to do was hurt granddad’s pride and scare the shit out of everyone riding behind us.  And let me tell you- at the restaurant the next morning, Granddad experience “getting thrown off his hog” was the talk of the town. He handled the ribbing like a champion and I learned where I got my self-deprecating sense of humor from. By Friday night at the Fulks Run VFW I learned that his accident was still the talk of the town when I showed up there for blue grass. I was a minor celebrity as Gene Nesselrodt’s granddaughter who lives in Venezuela AND survived getting thrown off the hog.

The blue grass was great and I enjoyed spending the time with Mom, Ken and granddad. Saturday I helped mom with stuff at her house, as they are trying to get it on the market ASAP. Then I came home and packed for the next three weeks, as my travels are taking me all over kingdom come! My travels started on Sunday, when I headed down to my dad’s house so he, Debbie and I could take off for our vacation together in Ohio. I know, I hear you. Ohio? Yes, Ohio. As it turns out, Ohio is pretty awesome. Additionally, the Grimm Family travel group is also awesome, as we were in sync, from waking to eating to walking, as three people could be.

We drove Sunday afternoon to Huntington, WV, stopping on the way at the New River State Park to see the New River. We stopped for the night at the Hampton Inn and headed for Fat Patty’s, a restaurant my dad found on Trip Advisor. The whole trip, we stayed at Hampton Inns and found Mom and Pop places to eat at on Trip Advisor and never once did this pattern steer us wrong. At Fat Patty’s, I ate a cheeseburger that I have suffered from ever since. After dinner, we wandered around Huntington, exploring the town center and the Marshall University campus.

Monday we were heading to Cincinnati. On the way, we stopped at an amazing national park that displayed the Hopewell Indian Earthworks. The museum was great and outside we explored the giant patchwork of earthen mounds that were constructed by a little known Indian civilization over 2000 years ago. It was truly amazing to consider how this ancient civilization built these mounds with bare hands. Like Stonehenge or the Pyramids, the construction defies reason and the imagination. After the Hopewell Earthworks, we stopped in Cincinnati at the Taft Presidential Museum and Home place. All I knew about Taft before was that he was pretty fat, but at the museum I also learned that he was the only president to also serve on the Supreme Court, as the Chief Justice no less. He also served as the governor general of the Philippines, sent there by President Teddy Roosevelt. Who knew? After our Taft explorations, we went to an amazing museum at the old Cincinnati train station, the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. There, we found the world’s biggest model train, built to represent the entire city of Cincinnati at the turn on the 20^th century, an underground exact replica of a city street, complete with a dock, water and steamboat and a natural history museum. Suffice to say, Ohio was turning out to be way more interesting that I thought it would be!

On Tuesday, we headed to Dayton, where we began at the Wright Brothers museum. Growing up close to Kitty Hawk, had assumed that the Wright Brothers did most of their aviation stuff in NC. I was wrong- most of their advances and their later, more functional planes were flown eight miles outside of Dayton in a cow pasture. The museum and the national park produced video were amazing. The curiosity and grit the Wright Brothers showed was incredible, especially if you consider that they did not have high school diplomas and were entirely self-taught. I cried- the “Yankee Ingenuity” they showed was truly inspirational. And by the way, national parks are free. FREE. FREE INSPIRATION. FREE LEARNING. Awesomeness. Next, we went to the free Air Force Museum. It was like the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian museum near Dulles, only better. They had six complete hangers absolutely jam-packed with planes and displays throughout. It was incredible. We started at the beginning of flight with the Wright Brothers into World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Cold War and a space shuttle and space shuttle missiles! WHOA. We ended our day Tuesday in Columbus, where we toured the historic German Village neighborhood and explored one of the largest independent bookstores in the country, that had 32 rooms of random discount books and nic nacs. We finished the night off at a Columbus Clippers game. Again, the weather was perfect (at least until the seventh inning!) and the stadium was gorgeous. I had two big baseball beers, a quesadilla and enjoyed a great baseball game- I was pretty much as happy as I could possibly be!

On Wednesday, we travelled to the Harding Memorial in Marion Ohio. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful memorial. Then, we went looking for the Fallen Timbers battlefield….only to realize that there was in fact no battlefield or park, just a big, newly constructed town center. We settled for a Subway lunch and then visited the Miegs Fort, a state-run museum and park with a reconstructed wooden fort that is the largest stockade fort in North America. It was ten acres of wooden stockades, log houses and earth mounds. The fort was an integral asset for the Americans fighting in the War of 1812 and the fort itself was never taken. Also impressive, the thing was built during the 1811-1812 Ohio winter with pick-axes. Talk about that American ingenuity…. Next we drove through Toledo to see the banks of Lake Erie. We found a nice state park that had a lovely beach, where we hung out for a little while and enjoyed the sun and view. We continued on to the Hayes Presidential Museum and house, which was just as well done and interesting as the Taft museum. Hayes served in the civil war before taking the office of president. He was also really dreamy when he was younger.We ended our night in Tiffin, Ohio Wednesday night at a Hampton Inn in the middle of a wheat field.  

We headed off Thursday towards Canton. In Canton, there was a lot to do. We started at the First Ladies Museum and the Ida McKinley house. Ida McKinley was the wife of President McKinley and she was RICH. The house was incredible, and we learned that on her 16^th birthday, her father gifted her a diamond mine. And you thought the Kardashians were over the top. After the house, we visited the McKinley memorial and museum. Again, it was really well done! The memorial was as big as something you would see in Washington DC…probably the nation felt bad he was assassinated and all so they went over the top on the memorial. There must have been a lot of spare money floating around the Fed in 1907. The museum was huge, complete with a planetarium and another natural history section! We ended our day at the Canton classic car museum. Along with some really well preserved old Model T’s and Packards, the museum was filled to the brim with antiques. They called it “a walk down memory lane” and it CERTAINLY was. It was so well decorated and interesting- and priceless! A really neat visit and a great way to end our explorations. That night, we had the best meal of the trip at a place Mulligans Pub, did a little shopping at the local mall and then enjoyed the biggest suite of the week at the good ‘ol Hampton Inn. I caught up on some work, Debbie worked on her pictures and Dad yelled at the weathermen on the weather channel as they feverishly reported on the impending Hurricane Arthur as it came up the Carolina coast.  Some things never change!

Our final vacation day was a travel day- 385 miles from Canton Ohio to Staunton Virginia. Dad of course opted for the scenic route, which was the best choice given that the day was absolutely glorious. It was clear, 70 degrees and the mountain and valley landscapes we saw all through West View were breath taking. We stopped at Seneca Rocks in West Virginia and then at the overlook in Germany Valley. Both stops were beautiful examples of why West Virginia has the nickname “Wild and Wonderful”. We arrived home in Staunton around 3:30 and proceeded to go into full-swing 4^th of July cookout mode. Dad and I went to the store, Debbie got the grill going and within two hours, we had the full spread ready to go- burgers, hot dogs, fresh from the garden lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, grilled squash and zucchini. Two burgers and two beers later, I was happier than a pig in dirt, full and ready for some fireworks. We stopped at my favorite ice cream place- Klines- and then on to Gypsy Hill park. The Fireworks were SO HUGE and really good- one of the best shows I have seen in years, if not ever. We were home by 11pm and passed out cold by 11:05, filled to the brim happiness that only a successful vacation could bring.

All in all we had an incredible vacation and a truly wonderful time together. It was great to get to spend so much time with my Dad and stepmom, and they truly are two of my favorite people to spend time with. Next on my list, I am off to Tidewater to see Meredith and my girlfriends for the weekend, and then on Monday, it’s off to my first OACAC conference in Tampa Bay!

The Epic Colliding of Worlds and Camaima Vacation

Wow, it has been an amazing three weeks. I wish I had taken time every evening to document my day because frankly, every day has been full enough to warrant documentation. But alas, this shoddy recollection job will have to do.

On Wednesday June 11^th, Mom and Christina were slated to arrive. Ivan and I went with Colleen, Catherine, Mike and a few others to Curry Night that evening to celebrate Gordon’s 3196^th going away party. It seemed fitting that Gordon would have a Curry Club farewell, since he was such a fixture at the place every Wednesday night, and most of the nights he stayed later than the waiters. He had quite the turn out and around 10:30 I checked Mom and Christina’s flight status as Ivan and I were about ready to head to the airport. Alas, bad weather in DC had delayed their flight on the runway and they missed their connection in Panama City! Soon thereafter, Christina Skyped me to let me know that Copa Airlines was feeding them and putting them up in a hotel. Relieved, Ivan and I headed home and I planned to go get them from the airport around noon the next day.

After a crazy morning at school, I left with Hernan (CIC’s jefe de transportacion) to go to the airport. Mom and Christina’s flight arrived with no issues- I was never so happy to see two familiar faces in my life. It was just so surreal. Here I am in the Caracas airport and suddenly out of the automatic doors from baggage claim come my Mom and Christina! JOY! We headed home, took some epic naps and then got ready to go out for dinner and drinks at 360. I really wanted Mom and Christina to see the city, and there’s no better place to do that than the rooftop bar at 360! So we went, along with Tania, Catherine, Colleen and Walli. Ivan, his mom Nereida and our Scottish friend Graham met us there. We had such a wonderful time chatting, getting to know each other and enjoying the ambiance. Mom got to meet Ivan’s mom and Ivan…. and it was adorable.  We all had such a good time!

Friday dawned and Mom came with me to school. I got to introduce her to Carmen and Kelly and my other friends. She attended the elementary school talent show and helped me clean up my office. My day was rather nuts, but I got everything done and at noon, summer began! We picked up some lunch from Casa Roux, packed and Nereida came to pick up around 3:30. We went straight from my house to Ivan’s house to get him. He was waiting, hopped in and we were off to the airport!

The first order of business was to gather Corey from the international terminal. I had advised him of where to go the night before, and from checking his flight statuses, I saw his flight had landed on time. I went to fetch him and at first didn’t see him anywhere. Just when I started to panic, I saw an orange UVA hat in the corner booth, and there he was! We hustled over to the domestic terminal to join Ivan, Mom and Christina. We had arrived almost two hours before our flight, so we posted up at a restaurant that had a nice table area. Domestic flights in Venezuela always leave late, as was evident from the TV’s showing nearly all flights delayed that evening, so we just chatted, ate some dinner and got to know one another. About 20 minutes before the flight was slated to leave, we got in line at our gate, which we could see from where we were sitting. The lines hadn’t been moving but we decided to go ahead and get in line anyways. There were many lines (colas) but when we looked, we couldn’t see our flight. Ivan went back to check one of the screens, and low and behold they had moved out gate, from 5 to 11! Ivan ran ahead and we trailed along behind with the luggage. When we arrived at the gate, we didn’t see Ivan at first but then he came running down the jet way, shouting for us to hurry down. As we approached the flight door, before I could see the plane, I heard Ivan break into shouts, and I knew we were in trouble.

As I learned later, they apparently shut the flight door in Ivan’s face, so by the time we made it down the jet way, his face was RED. Mom was a bit surprised by all the shouting, but I said not to worry, this is how Latinos communicate. Christina and I soon joined in, pointing at our boarding passes that clearly showed gate 5 and pulling the “my mom is old and can’t run” card. At first, I thought we were making headway, until the guy taking the brunt of our pleading called for “security”. Soon, two disabused looking 20-year-old girls who worked for the airline came down the jet way and snidely said basically “look, you aren’t getting on the plane”. Dejected and angry we walked back up. Ivan sat us at a gate and ran up to do some crisis management. At that point, it was 7:30pm. We officially had less than twelve hours to make it to Simon Bolivar Airport or else our trip to Angel Falls was not going to happen. Ivan reappeared about 15 minutes later saying we were going to take a bus. We took a cab to the bus station and found that the bus was sold out. On our way in another cab to another bus station, Ivan’s mom called ahead to say that they too were out of seats. We headed to Ivan’s house, where within 30 minutes, his problem-solver of a mother had graciously loaned us her jeep, a work truck and two drivers to drive us the 8+ hours it would take to get to Simon Bolivar. She saved our trip, and despite the obvious danger that driving through the night over half the country presented, no one seemed to care, so off we went!

Ivan and I took the work truck and Corey, Mom and Christina took the jeep. We got gas, filled the tires and we were off. Christina and I decided that this journey called for an Ambien and so we both popped a pill, wished the drivers luck and passed out. About two and a half hours later, I woke up to pounding rain. We were on a back road and not making much progress. Ivan said we were avoiding the highway because it was dangerous, and I didn’t have the energy to argue since it was now 1am and I had an Ambien hangover that a back road in a rainstorm was not much safer. We stopped around 1:30 for the drivers to get some coffee and something to eat and to use the bathroom at a small truck stop and then were off again. Around 3, we suddenly stopped short in the middle of the road. There was an accident almost directly in front of us. Ivan and the drivers got out to investigate and Ivan locked us gringos in the car. They came back and said a bus had collided with a tractor-trailer! It was a mess, so we prepared to wait. About a half hour later, the crowd checking out the accident was swelling. Ivan and the drivers were worried people would soon start looting the waiting cars and they decided it was time to make a run for it. We drove through the crowd, the emergency vehicles, ditches and shoulders and somehow made it through the accident. Around 5, we stopped again for bathrooms and coffee. When we got on the road again, I noticed the road was straight and flat. We were in the last two hours of the trip! The two hours became about one and a quarter, because our driver was going consistently about 190 kilometers an hour. There was no sleeping through that! But, they got us to the airport before our flight, so thank God we weren’t killed AND we made our flight.

Groggy but excited, we thanked our drivers and went to check in with our travel agent. An hour later, we got on a 21-person flight headed towards the Canaima National Park and Angel Falls! Five minutes later, we were deboarding due to a problem with the plane! We were so crestfallen. WE WERE NEVER GOING TO MAKE IT. Ivan, who we had nicknamed “Mama Duck” as all we did was follow him around or wait for him to tell us what to do, went to investigate and the rest of us passed out on the benches. To our surprise, we were back on the plane in under an hour! By around 10am, we were in Canaima. We were quickly greeted, gathered and brought to the boats on the river. Everyone was exhausted but brimming with anticipation. The boat ride to Angel Falls seemed so much shorter than last time. Maybe it was because we were lighter, or maybe we were just having fun. We enjoyed swimming in the “happiness pool”, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and enjoyed each other. The cloud cover was significant, and we started referring to the Tepuys as “Ninja Tepuys” because they would be completely covered by clouds and then suddenly peak out. The river water was as red and clear as I remembered and I kept feeling like every moment couldn’t have been a happier moment. Really I was just in awe that we actually made it! I could finally relax my sphincter, as Corey would say!

When we made it to the falls, we tried to hike up right away, but then it started raining. I pitched a fit because it was getting late in the day and I was not about to walk a flooded path in the dark and a rainstorm. My fit was solidified when I almost stepped on a snake right in the middle of the path. No further would I go. We came back down the path and to camp, where the rain just kept coming. It had cleared for about a half hour, at which point I got a lot of “told you so's" from Ivan, but I maintained that my knees, rain, slick paths and the dark was not in anyone’s best interest.  We waited around for dinner, chatting and napping and then had epic fire cooked chicken dinner with rice and vegetables. It was amazingly delicious and no sooner had I finished than I completely passed the hell out in my hammock. Like, do not pass go, do not collect $200, out cold. Hammock, full stomach, no sleep and rain on a tin roof. It was kind of amazing.

When I woke up, I could still hear a soft rain on the roof. I thought it was dawn, as the faintest hint of light was coming in to the shelter. My rustling around must have woken Ivan, and I said excitedly “Baby, it’s almost dawn hooray!” Ivan groggily replied” No baby it’s the moon go back to sleep.” I was indignant. “No, it’s the sunrise!” “Baby, it’s the moon, I promise. Go back to sleep.” He replied. I was sure he was wrong and told him so. As I lay there basking in my correctness, I noticed that it didn’t seem to be getting any lighter and my confidence began to suffer. Finally, despite the warmth and comfort of my hammock, I got up, put on my shoes and walked out of the shelter, only to see the moon shining through the clouds. Dammit, he was right!

After a while, I fell back to sleep only to be awakened in what felt like seconds later by Ivan. We had to quickly pack up and eat so we could hike early to the base of the falls and then head back to the camp at the lagoon for more adventures.  It was foggy at first and then suddenly, the sun burned through the clouds. The falls were twice as big as they were the night before! It was amazing! And huge! It was my turn to tell Ivan “I told you so.” Mom and I got some pictures together with the falls in the background and then the rest of us scarfed some delicious breakfast and hopped in the boat. We had to take a whole other direction to the path since the river was so high from all the rain. We arrived and were all relieved to see that the path was waterlogged but passible.  As we got closer to the falls, it felt like it had started to rain again- the wind picked up and we started getting wet from mist and water droplets. But our guide Rafael said that it was actually the falls! There would be no swimming in the pool at the bottom of the falls this time- we would be crushed! We made it to the lookout and it was almost like being in a hurricane- the falls were massive! Almost as soon as we arrive, clouds rolled in, making it hard to see the top.  It was Ivan’s turn to say, “I told you so”. We got a few good glimpses of the top and sat around for a while just enjoying the enormity of it all, and then headed back down. At the camp, we gathered our things and got back in the boat. After what again seemed like a short ride, we made it back to the main camp in Canaima. This time, we stayed outside the little village at a camp right in front of the main falls in the lagoon. We were there all by ourselves and the view from the camp was incredible! We could see the whole falls and had our own private beach! We ate lunch and then went for another excursion to Salto Sapo and Salto Sapito. We took a wooded trail about twenty minutes from the camp. On the way, we saw some Sapito’s- little yellow and black frogs! Christina even caught and held one. When we made it to the falls, we took off our shoes and made the socked journey under the falls. Just like the rest of the falls, it was MASSIVE due to all the rain. Walking under it was such an adventure! We made it to the other side and got some incredible pictures at the base- we hadn’t gotten to do this last time I went so it was a real treat for me. Then, we went to Sapito and from there, you can see a great view of the valley, other falls and Tepuys. Truly beautiful!

We went back to camp, grabbed Mom and went for a swim in the lagoon. The whole trip, Ivan had been pretty protective of Mom, but when we got in the water, Ivan quickly realized that it was he that needed the help, because in the water, Mom and I are practically fishes. There was a pretty strong current from the waterfall, so we had to be careful not to get sucked in. Mom just darted and swam around as if it was, you know, NBD. We stayed there until sunset, enjoying the cool, clear water, the beauty and each other’s company. After dinner and two quick games of Rummy, we hit the hay.

The next day we were off again, this time to my favorite place on earth- Kavak. We woke up early, caught a lovely boat ride through the lagoon, where we got to see the waterfalls up close, and made it to the airport with five minutes to spare. Our plane was late, as was every plane we took the entire trip except the one we missed. When it arrived, we loaded in and as it was a six seater, got to enjoy the plane all to ourselves! I love the flight from Canaima to Kavak. We travel along the side of the Auyen Tepuy on one side and the valleys and rolling hills on the other. Because of all the rain, waterfalls abounded. Before we knew it, we were landing on the Kavak landing strip- a stretch of dirt road in the middle of the prairie. The village of Kavak is truly in an amazing setting. It sits nestled at the base of the Auyen Tepuy and opens up to a beautiful prairie. It was Ivan’s first time in Kavak, so he along with the rest of the crew were truly amazed at the beauty. We dropped our stuff in our rooms, met our guide and then took a siesta in hammocks. Before lunch, Corey, Ivan and I trekked up to the top of the hill right at the edge of the village. From there, we got an amazing view of the village and the whole valley. It was so great to be back!

After another amazing lunch (all the food, the entire trip, was delicious), we took off for our final excursion to the waterfall canyon. We made sure that Mom could come on this one, because the path wasn’t too challenging. We went over the hill and along a river and soon it opened up into a beautiful natural pool flanked on one whole side by canyon walls covered in plants. It was so beautiful and amazing. We swam, skipped rocks and dove from a rock above. The best part was watching Mom’s reaction- she was so excited and happy! It made the rest of us so excited and happy to see her enjoy herself so much! Next, we went into the crevice between the canyon walls. The water was shallow and when we tried to walk, even with our socks on, a few of us bit it hard. I with my crazy knees made the whole traverse on my butt. We swam through the crevice and suddenly the walls opened up to a huge waterfall in a cave! It was so breathtakingly beautiful! We swam a bit and Mom and Corey even swam under the falls- so daring! Then we went back to the first pool to swim some more and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

Back at the camp, we enjoyed the outdoor showers- probably the highlight of my trip to shower outside overlooking the Tepuy- and had another delicious meal. Then, Ivan and I went out to enjoy the night sky. It was perfectly clear and we could see more stars than either of us remembers seeing ever before. We even saw a HUGE shooting star! It was a truly magical evening and something I will probably remember forever.

The next morning, we had an early breakfast so we could go ride bikes across the prairie. There was a river to explore and a small hill in the middle of the prairie we wanted to walk up. We made it to the river and then back up to the hill, where we abandoned our bikes and made the short walk up. The view from the top was incredible. 360 degree views of the whole valley, the Tepuy, the village. It was amazing! As we made our way down the hill, we saw our plane arrive and booked it back to Kavak. Even though we were all dripping in sweat, we had to just grab our stuff and get on the plane. The flight out was equally beautiful and before we knew it, our great adventure vacation was overL. The rest of the day was a blur of driving and waiting, driving and waiting. We arrived very early for our flight, then a power outage bogged down the line, then our plane was three and a half hours delayed. We finally made it back to Caracas around 11pm. Ivan took us home and then we all passed out.

The next day we decided that we didn’t want to do anything. We slept in, Christina made breakfast, and we did a monstrous amount of laundry and caught up on our lives. Christina, Corey and I walked to school to drop off my keys, so they both got to see where I worked. Christina and I also took some time to get our nails done. Christina made an amazing dinner and Ivan came over and we all talked and laughed….and polished off three bottles of wine. Even though our flight the next day was leaving at 6am (so we had to be up at like 2:30!), we stayed up until passed midnight! 2:30 came way earlier than we all expected and we slowly and painstakingly made our way out the door. When we got to the airport, Christina, Corey and Mom were on one flight and I was on another. I checked in no problem, but the other’s line was creeping slower than molasses. Ivan, God bless him, waited patiently the whole time, saying that as long as I was still in his country he wanted to stay with me. :::heart breaks with joy:::. Finally, the others checked in….15 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off. Despite the ticket agents reassurances that the flight would wait, I was anxious. By the time we reached customs, Christina had had enough and told me to just relax my sphincter and stop letting off the anxious energy. Thankfully, we made it through customs quickly and they made it to their gate, where we, you guessed it, waited. They boarded about 45 minutes late, which still gave all of them time to make their connections. I headed to my gate, where I quickly found Colleen and Sean! They were heading to LA, but we had the same flight to Atlanta. Colleen asked if I was still drunk before I even had a chance to tell her we were up until after midnight drinking, so I guess I looked a little worse for wear, which was confirmed when I chugged two bottles of Gatorade in under ten minutes while we waited at the gate.

My plane left on time and without incident and I got a couple hours of shut eye. In Atlanta, Colleen and I took silly pictures together at customs and then parted ways. I was thrilled when I got to my terminal and saw a Chic-Fil-A as soon as I got off the elevator. I was not so thrilled to see that Mom and Christina had sat on the runway again (this time for no reason) and missed their connection! They were once again stranded in Panama City, but this time, they were given meal vouchers and booked on a flight that evening, putting them in Dulles at 1am. I quickly changed my travel plans and arranged to spend some time that evening with James and Cara in Alexandria. Ken, my Mom’s husband, would come and get me around 11pm and then we would head to Dulles together.

On the plane, I savored my Chic-Fil-a and then had another nap. I still didn’t feel human but at least I was no longer drunk AND somehow didn’t have a hangover. Exhausted as I was, I still considered it a win. I landed on time, took a cab to Alexandria and was greeted by a smiling Cara and Katie! I hopped in the shower and as I got out, I heard a Mr. Richard yelling from the playroom “Aunt Tracey, come play with me!” I was home and couldn’t have been happier! Richard and I played trains and picked strawberries and played on his swing set. Cara made tacos for dinner and I enjoyed all the comforts of home- milk, strawberries, cheddar cheese….I was so happy. But soon after I ate, I could barely keep my eyes open. After hugging on Katie for a while and playing with Richard in his bath, I was spent. Thankfully, Cara and James understood and put me to bed in the guest room. To my surprise, James busted in a half hour later. At first I was confused, but then I saw what he was carrying- fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a huge glass of milk. If I hadn’t been so asleep, I would have cried tears of joy. I have amazing friends!

Around 11pm, Ken showed up and James had to wake me up again, and this time we said some whispered goodbyes and we were off to Dulles. Mom and Christina arrived on time and in good spirits, since their plane was way under booked and they each got a row to themselves to stretch out and sleep on. In the car, the trip home was a half-awake blur and then we were home sweet Valley home!

I couldn’t believe, after all the planning and problems, that the trip had actually happened. I also couldn’t believe how amazing it felt to have my friends and Mom visit me in my new country. I was so incredibly happy to have my lives overlap. My friends from home got to meet from friends from Venezuela. My mom met Ivan and Ivan’s mom. My mom noticed that Ivan’s mom collected bells, just like my grandmother had when she was alive. The little details just made the experience so rich. It was all just too good to be true.  The vacation itself was also just epic- an epic adventure, but also just generally a wonderful time. We all travelled together so well, despite my overactive sphincter. I couldn’t have asked for more. And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to replicate such an amazing adventure again!

A Post Where I Say "Wonderful" A Lot

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.

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....

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!