Full Advantage

So I might not be able to find basic items at the grocery store like coffee or dish soap or laundry detergent, but that does not mean I am living low. Some things are very expensive here like electronics or textiles, but many services are not; especially with the black market exchange rate, which I hear is up to 150 VEF per 1 USD (that is a 100% increase in the short time I've been here).

This means I can afford to have a maid. It seems that in latin cultures many middle class families have maids. Martha only comes once every two weeks, but I think next year I will hire her for once a week. My mom thinks that's ridiculous but I don't see why I wouldn't when it only costs $4 a day. Seems worth it to me, she does such a nice job. Plus, I see it as supporting the local economy.

This also means I can afford a manicure and pedicure whenever I want. Together they cost about $3; although prices might go up soon because there is a shortage of nail polish remover… Again many middle class ladies take part in this too.

And finally this means I can afford to have a professional massage. I have never had one so last week I decided to try it out. It was nice but kind of weird to have a stranger rubbing all over you. It was hard for me not to giggle when the massouse massaged my face. It was relaxing but I don't know that I will become a regular. Some teachers are going to do a spa retreat sometime in the spring just because we can and I am looking forward to that. I guess you have to enjoy the perks while you can.

A part of me always feels guilty when I think about all the people in poverty here or even just about the local teachers at my school who don't get paid in dollars. I am not really sure what I can do to change the situation though.

So after my pampered week, I went on my second hike up the Ávila on Saturday. I hiked the same trail as last time because it was just Walli and I and we are familiar with it. When we arrived at the bottom of the mountain the teleferico was not moving. We were a bit concerned as that is our means of coming down the mountain. We decided to start hiking anyways and reassess the situation halfway up. The first half of the hike was much steeper than I remember and I sure worked up a sweat. Unfortunately when we reached the halfway point the ranger station was closed which meant they were not selling the popsicles (basically the only reason I went on the hike).

No popsicles, just a lazy dog :(

We saw the teleferico working and realized it wasn't working earlier because it was too early and just wasn't open yet. Duh. After four hours we made it to the top, bought some strawberries and took the teleferico back down. It was just Walli and I in the cable car, which was nice because we had space, but the wind was rocking us and I did not enjoy that at all. Overall it was a good workout and I got to break in my new hiking boots. I look forward to trying other trails soon.

The city looks like it goes on forever

And because I'm so fancy, Saturday night I went to an Art Party where fine art and jewelry were being sold. (It was at a teacher's house with friends selling stuff, nothing actually that fancy). I went for the free wine obviously, but it was a good time with the expats. However, it was weird when some students showed up. I asked one student if he was forced to come with his parent and he said, "No, but I didn't know teachers were going to be here, now I have to be good." And my response was, "Well I didn't know students were going to be here and so now I have to be good." I was told that it is not unusual to see students at social functions when you work at an international school because the community is so small. That might take some getting used to. And then the Buckeyes dominating the Big Ten Championship was a perfect end to the night. 'Twas a good week. Now less than one until my vacation!!!!!

Thanksgiving in Caracas

Thanksgiving was last week. I think it may be the one and only holiday that is not celebrated in Venezuela. So while most people I know were stuffing their face and watching football, I was at work. Thanksgiving day was pretty exhausting for me. We had a whole school problem solving day where all the kids were in mixed groups, nursery to 12th grade. It was fun, but those elementary kids are so much work. It was funny to see the high schoolers complaining about them, just like we complain about the high schoolers. That lasted a couple of hours and then we had shortened classes afterward. My seniors decided the purpose of the event was actually to decrease teen pregnancy. They said they never wanted kids after dealing with them for three hours.

Directly after school I helped out with a volunteer activity with 50 kids from an orphanage. So again more screaming children draining my energy.

Then I stayed at school to watch the middle school students put on their Spanish drama production. It was called "La Zapatera Prodigiosa." I was so impressed! Although I couldn't understand everything that was said because it was in Spanish, I got the general idea. My students may not be good at math, but they sure are good at acting. I would almost say it was better acting than my high school ever had.

Then I rushed home to have my Spanish lesson. My Spanish tutor, Isabel, is extremely nice, but this lesson she did tell me that it is very important that I spend a little bit of time every day working on Spanish. I think that was her nice way of saying I need to ensure I do my homework… I may not always do my homework, but I am improving A LOT with comprehension. And I have been practicing a little bit more with speaking, to the vigilantes and the drivers mostly. One of the school drivers even complimented me on my progress yesterday when he took me to the bank and we were discussing our Christmas plans :)

On Saturday afternoon (after the Buckeyes beat Michigan!), some of us expats celebrated Thanksgiving. Ironically it was held at a British lady's house, but it was nice all the same. Everyone brought a dish and we even had a turkey. I was really surprised with how well the meal turned out considering the barriers to getting ingredients here. After the meal we were all stuffed and lounged around, drank lots of wine, and played some games. It was enjoyable but I am so excited to spend the holidays at home with my family! I cannot wait!

Happy Humpday

I know today is not hump day, but the highlight of my week occurred on Wednesday. It was a normal day of work, but I had a really bad cold and felt like crap. And I was busy getting ready for my formal evaluation. This week itself was a pretty stressful one. Anyway, I was in the middle of teaching my 11th grade class (publicly known, my least favorite class) when a beautiful bouquet was delivered to my classroom. I was definitely blushing when I asked who it was for and read the card attached. My super sweet boyfriend, Lane, had them sent to me. He reads my blog, I have to make sure to give him positive reinforcement ;)

He had been planning this for a while I guess. He had gotten a hold of a friend at my school and secretly set it up. He just did it randomly too, he wasn't in trouble or anything.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I went and saw the new Hunger Games (Los Juegos del Hambre). It was in English with Spanish subtitles woo! And went to a less than mediocre dinner another night. Counting down 20 days until Christmas break!

School is for Fools

People in Ohio might be getting snow days but I'm not jealous, it's not like I ever get to teach anyway. Last week was the school's annual South American Model United Nations Conference that the high school students have been preparing for since September. It is a cool opportunity for the students to simulate diplomatic meetings/debates to come up with solutions to global issues with students from other schools. We had diplomats from the USA, Venezuela, Trinidad, France, Germany, Gambia, Ecuador, and the Netherlands present to help the students. It was really cool to see the students acting professional and having serious debates, but it meant three more days I didn't get to teach my high schoolers. No wonder they aren't very good at math...

I thought those few days without the high school classes would mean I would get extra work done and finish all my grading, but they turned out to be very stressful days. I was very happy when Friday came and was passed out by 10 pm. It is a crazy life I live these days...


Saturday I went Christmas shopping in the artisan market in El Hatillo to get Venezuelan goodies for all. We shall see how everyone likes them…

I went with Walli and we were very proud of ourselves that we got ourselves taxis there and back, lunch, and all our presents successfully, despite our limited spanish ability. (Although I must say I am getting much better at understanding what people are saying; however I still need lots of practice speaking).

Then back to work today, but I wasn't teaching. Of course not, what kind of teacher actually gets to teach their class? Today was a "Professional Development" day so as you know, nothing was accomplished and it was a waste of a day. I think all those pointless meetings even gave me a cold!

Venezuela Gastronómica

Yesterday I had a great day exploring a part of the city called Chacao with a few friends. Our main destination was a Venezuelan food festival. It was held at an activity space where there is a produce market on the weekends, but additionally this weekend there was the food festival.

The bottom two floors are the normal produce market, but the top floor was the food festival.

There were a lot of different stands selling so much good looking food. Unfortunately everything had meat in it, even the salads. So I didn't actually eat at the food festival, I just drank beer instead. Which by the way, they don't call the beer Solera and Solera light, it's Solera verde and azul (based on the color of the can). Even though I didn't eat, it was interesting just to see all the foods and it was a beautiful day so I enjoyed myself. And in the market I found some coffee (which hasn't been at the grocery store for a few weeks) and strawberries so that alone was worth it.

 At one point during the festival, all of the sudden this gas line broke and the air shooting out made a really loud and strange sound. No one knew what it was; so everyone downstairs started running and everyone upstairs started dropping to the ground. For about fifteen seconds it was really scary because we didn't know what was going on. Then the pressure was shut off and quickly everything was back to normal. But for a second there I was afraid.

On the way out of the market, there were multiple fresh cut flower stands and I couldn't resist. I bought myself this beautiful bouquet for $2:

After the festival, we decided to go to a restaurant so I could get actual food. I wrote about a Lebanese place a few weeks back that we unsuccessfully tried to find for over an hour… Well we decided to give it another try since we were in walking distance and with someone who knew where it is located. When we got there, there was a line out the door and the wait was going to be an hour. So yet again, we were not successful in trying this restaurant. We ended up driving to another Lebanese restaurant called Fenicia in a different part of town. The food was delicious and they even had a live belly dancer. I will definitely go back there sometime.

After the day out exploring and the big meal, we were all tired. So it worked out perfectly that we skipped happy hour and I got to come back home and watch my Buckeyes beat Michigan State :)

Halloween

I am told that Halloween has only become popular in the recent past in Venezuela. People here love to party so if they have another excuse to they're going to take it, let's be honest. So our school had a Halloween Festival to raise money for the senior class. Teachers were required to attend, but it was actually a blast. The decorations were awesome, the costumes were decent, and the kids had a lot of fun. I volunteered to be in the dunk tank. I was super nervous before I got into it because I wasn't sure if I could get out of it. It wasn't the most high tech dunk tank. But I had so much fun in that thing. The little kids loved it and were lined up to get me and even some of the high schoolers thought it was great to see me making a scene.

A group of us went to an adult Halloween Party another night, but honestly I think I had more fun at the one at school. The adult party was at some hotel bar, which took us an hour to get to even though it is only fifteen minutes away.  We hit traffic (naturally) and then it was really hidden inside the hotel. Side note: The hotel is already fully decorated for Christmas. There weren't that many people at the party and even less dressed up and no one was really having much fun I don't think. I was pretty happy that people decided to go home early.

Soy la bruja. 

And I cannot forget the happy hour we had at school. So this year my school had to be re-evaluated to keep our accreditation and we ended up with stellar marks so the school hosted a happy hour for us. They had food and cake and beer! Less than fifteen minutes into it, some teachers and even the Elementary principal were dancing on the tables! It was weird. I just couldn't imagine doing that at my place of work especially with all of my bosses there. I didn't stay long, but apparently some teachers were there partying until 8pm when they finally got kicked out.

There is no denying it's a fun culture here.

October Break in the States :)

I don't know if it's just a Venezuelan thing, but we get an October Break from school. What a great idea! I had to go back to the States to get my work visa so the school paid for my round trip home so it worked out well. 

I got into Columbus late Saturday night after a long day of travel. The first meal I had when I got back into the US… PB and J. It was amazing. On Sunday, the family, along with Courtney and Abby and I, went apple picking. It was so cold! I was not prepared for it and I did not enjoy it. But apple picking is always fun. I had so much delicious, hot apple cider and fresh cooked kettle corn.

Then Sunday night we took a picnic to a local brewery. It was totally my kind of night. The property was beautiful, the beer was okay, and the company was great. 

I only stayed in Columbus until Wednesday so the rest of the days were filled with visiting family, shopping, eating good food, and getting my hair done by Sunshine of course. (Yes, I fly over 2,000 miles to get my hair did)

On Wednesday night I flew to meet Lane and go to Philadelphia. We didn't get in until midnight so we stayed in the city. Then went exploring downtown on Thursday. I got to see almost all of the "touristy" sites except for the Rocky steps (I had to save something for next time). Saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell and went to this cool market thing. I met the parents briefly, then we had date night and went out to dinner in Lambertville, NJ.

Friday Lane showed me around his hometown: the “borough” called Bryn Athyn. It is a really small town. It's nice. Quaint. But I do not think I could live somewhere where everyone knows everyone. By the end of the weekend, even I was recognizing people. During my tour, we walked around the three castles and got to go up to the top of the Cathedral. It was really beautiful especially with all the leaves changing. It was a nice breathe of fresh air compared to the city.

Cathedral

                     

Castles

Friday night was Lane's class reunion so we went to that. It was really informal and just at someone's house. It wasn't that bad, but after being there for about an hour, I decided that I am not going to go to my class reunion. The post-party was at “The Club” which is a crappy bar in a random house. We should have skipped that part because we stayed out too late.

Saturday we had lots of obligations including standing at a really cold football game and visiting more friends. Let's just say it wasn't my favorite part of my vacation. But Saturday night we got dressed up to go to the party at the castle. It was a lot of fun. I think everyone from the whole borough was there. There was free wine and live music and dancing so I had a great time. But somehow we again ended up at “The Club” until late, again a mistake.

Sunday was Family Funday. We went lunch and then to a corn maze. At the corn maze, we separated into four teams: Lane and I, his parents, his twin brothers, and his oldest brother and his girlfriend. Lane and I lost. We were stuck in that maze forever and by the time we got out over an hour and a half later we still didn't have all of the puzzle pieces. Then that night we watched the Eagles football game. It was pretty fun. His family kind of reminds me of mine. And Lane got permission to stay an extra day so I was really happy.

We spent Monday shopping and making sure I got everything I needed to take back to Caracas with me. But then there was drama. I did not get my visa like I was supposed to. And actually Monday was Columbus day so the consulate wasn't even open. I do not think my superintendent even thought of that being an issue. Lane left and I was stressed because I was going to miss my flight and my school was not offering any advice. Finally at 11 pm on Monday I was able to get ahold of my principal who confirmed that I should change my flight.

Everything ended up working out for the best. I got my visa early on Tuesday but the next flight back to Caracas wasn't until Friday. So instead of staying with Lane's brother until then, I was able to go to Jax Beach because it was so much cheaper. And I got to stay until Saturday because it was even cheaper than Friday.

Oh how I missed the beach. I was so happy to be back in the Sunshine state and on my beach. I got to meet up with most of my friends and stopped by my old school to visit some students. One night Lane and I went to the Garth Brooks concert which made it even more amazing! After all of the visa stress, it was worth it to get an extra week of vacation in Florida.

I got back to Caracas on a Saturday afternoon, after two weeks in the States. I was welcomed back by rain and traffic. Let's just say I was not very excited to be back.

Typical Happenings

The week following camp was an annoying one.

1. Being back at school wasn't fun
2. The week before a break is always slow
3. Nothing was as simple as it should be

I had yet again more trouble reloading my phone. I paid and everything worked like it should until I got home and realized I didn't have 3G and I couldn't use any apps that required internet, which of course are the only apps I rely on here. So I grabbed a spanish-speaking friend and walked back up the hill to the kiosk. After a couple of phone calls the guy said there was nothing he could do and it might just be a problem with the phone company. Awesome. Then my phone decided to quit connecting to wifi at all. (Luckily I was able to get a replacement phone while I was home and everything seems to be working now).

Then a group of us decided to go out to dinner one night. We decided on Lebanese. Long story short: we drove around a not-so-great part of town for an hour and a half. Our taxi played chicken with another car as they were head to head because of a broke down car in the opposing lane and our driver got out to argue with the other driver. Then he got out to argue with another driver again after a bus bumped our taxi later on. We finally gave up on the Lebanese place we couldn't find and went to a burger place. As we were walking in, the hostess told us that their credit card machine was down. So we walked to a nearby mall. Over two hours after we left our apartments, the five of us were squished together eating Mexican fast food at a two-person table. We couldn't even talk about how annoyed we were because the speaker next to us blasting reggaeton. From the sounds of it, there are often events like this that don't go as planned, but I guess it could be worse so as annoyed as I was, I still laughed it off. Some of the people who have been here for a few years no longer find it funny though.

Hungry and Grumpy 

Camp Lagunazo

Updating my blog is WAYYYY overdue. The past month has been crazy busy and I haven't had a chance to properly tell the cyber world about it. So I will highlight the most important parts of the past weeks in the next couple of posts. And then hopefully I can get back on track with my weekly updates; it is much more interesting when I can comment on certain details while they are fresh in my mind.

So this post will highlight my time with my students at Campo Lagunazo. It was a three day/two night trip (that felt like much, much longer) that the grades 6-10 take every year. The camp is located about four hours west of Caracas. The location and the land is gorgeous; it was such a refreshing change from the city. On the way there and back, our rest stop was carefully planned and we had to be extra cautious because I guess it can be dangerous? Our superintendent didn't even want us to stop at all, but all went smoothly.

I was chaperoning grades 6-8, who stay in cabins in the main camp and do normal camp activities. While the 9-10 grades go on a three day hike and camp. My job was awesome because me and the three other teachers who were also chaperones just got to “supervise” and participate in the activities we wanted. There were counselors who planned and led everything for the students. It was a lot of fun for the kids as well as us! I took part in the kayaking, horse-back riding, and made it to the top of the climbing wall.

Miss Morgan ready for fun. 

(Slowly I am turning into Miss Morgan instead of Miss Hunter)

Kids doing "normal" camp stuff.

Chaperones Maria Elena, Tracey and Me 

creeping on the kids' "dance." 

The one thing that I did not enjoy about camp was the food. I emailed the director ahead of time to let them know I was a vegetarian, but apparently they did not plan accordingly. The first lunch was big hamburgers. When I told them I was vegetarian, they told me they could make me some chicken. When I told them that I do not eat chicken, they said they could prepare some fish. When I told them that I don't eat fish and asked if they had rice and beans, they answered that they didn't have anything for me. So I had iceberg lettuce wraps filled with tomatoes... All three days were about the same.

Overall, I really had a great time and it was so cool to see the students in an environment outside of the classroom. I look forward to it next year and hope I get to be a chaperone again.