Making Friends

It was another relaxing weekend. It started with happy hour on Friday at the fancy Pastana Hotel Lounge. It was an expat meet up arranged by one of the British school teachers. It was cool because there were lots of other new, younger teachers like me. Many work at the other international school, but some work at the British school and some work at the German school. I'm excited to have some contacts apart from my co-workers. Also some other Big 10 fans that I can watch football with!

The after party was at a live music bar. I think it was a college bar, but it was fun anyway. The owner kept giving us free drinks. In typical Venezuelan fashion, the band was late and didn't come on until 1AM. Needless to say, it was a much later night than I had planned.

Saturday I had a BBQ at school that I had to attend. After a late night, it was rough waking up, walking up the hill, and being in charge of games; but it wasn't too bad for a school function. Surprisingly a lot of families showed up too.

When I got home from the BBQ there was a kitten at my door. I don't know how he got on the third floor but he was crying. I got a little bowl of water and put it outside my door for him but he didn't want it and kept meowing. When I went back into my apartment to see if I had any food he might like, he pushed open my cracked open door and came on in. I couldn't help but let him stay and play a while.

I would like to have kept him, but I am not allowed to have pets in my apartment and I plan to travel a lot anyway. I wasn't sure what to do with him. I felt bad leaving him outside in case he was homeless, but I think he must be one of my neighbors otherwise I don't know how he would have gotten into the building. So I left my little friend back out into the hallway. I hope I meet him again sometime :)

The evening ended with a Skype date movie night with Lane… Virtual dates, not as awesome as real ones. But we'll get to have some real ones in less than three weeks!

And then today I was missing the beach like most Sundays. I miss playing sand volleyball and riding my beach cruiser to the beach bars and listening to reggae at the pier. The highlight of my day was either my walk around the park with my other half of the math department, Walli. Or that the grocery store actually had tomato sauce, ketchup, coffee, and cous cous. Woo. But no bananas…Whaaaaat.

First Hike up the Ávila

I finally went hiking! I get to see the beautiful mountains every day from my bedroom, from my classroom, on my walk home from school... and I've been anxious to go hiking since I got here and I finally got to. It was so great :) 

Panorama of Caracas (near our starting point)

The first half of the trail was paved with concrete, but it was steep. The whole trail was quite steep. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was surprised by the degree of incline. It was good exercise that's for sure. After 3.8 km of hiking and two hours, we reached the ranger station where we bought what were essentially homemade fruit popsicles. It was the perfect treat. I haven't been able to find popsicles here yet…The struggle is real.

This is a picture of the teleferico we took back down the mountain. This picture was before our halfway point. When my friend told me we were going to the top of that mountain that you can't see because it's in the clouds, I was secretly not that excited. This picture doesn't do the scene justice, but this was my favorite view from the whole hike. 

The rest of the hike was actual trail hiking. It was so nice and peaceful. One of the Venezuelans who was with us said that lots of Venezuelans enjoy hiking because it's an easy way to get away from the craziness and hardships in the city. I can see that. 

After another 4 km and two and a half hours and we finally made it to the top.

Usually from this point you can see the Caribbean, but the clouds were blocking our view. There were different vendors at the top and lots of people. I guess it is often cold at the top because many people were in hats and scarves and boots even, but it wasn't. There is also an ice skating rink at the top and they sell hot chocoloate?

I find that this picture illustrates part of my perception of Venezuela quite well. The tower in the background is a hotel that was built in the 50s but was only open for a short time. It is pretty interesting to read about and the pictures of it are like a time capsule (http://www.loosarchitects.nl/navigationpages/newsimages/damn-humboldt.pdf). It was basically something the dictator at the time wanted and so he got it. There has been numerous rumors over the years that it will be renovated and opened, but the same has been said about the old teleferico that goes down on the other side of the mountain and check it out:

Overall, I hope I can go hiking at least once a month. There are lots of other trails that I would like to explore and it is really was nice to be "out" of the city for a little bit.

Pig Feet

It was a great weekend when I was able to stream the Buckeye game live, but then it was a sad weekend when the Buckeyes lost. Overall it was the most relaxing weekend I've had since being here. I spent some time lounging at the pool and completed an art project for my apartment.

Collage of Caracas Graffiti Art

On Sunday I went to the Chinese and Peruvian markets with some teachers to get some specialty food items. Some of the meats at the Chinese market made me nauseous just looking at them. All of the pig feet and chicken feet and liver for example.

But it was worth it because I got lots of tofu, which they hand-make here, and a giant bottle of Sriracha sauce (finally my food will be hot and flavorful!) 

At the peruvian market I was able to get quinoa and chia too! These few ingredients will help my diet immensely. The people running everything were friendly and grateful to answer any questions. Unfortunately the only vegetarian option they had for lunch was rice and beans...my usual.

                       

                                      

Myself and Catherine (From England)

After the markets we made a stop at an ATM before going to the famous glass factory. When we stopped, the driver made everyone get out of the car. They said it is not safe for people to sit in the car because of robbings and kidnappings…That made me uncomfortable. Then on our way to the factory, we took a wrong turn, which also made me a little uncomfortable.

The factory was way out in the mountains and we had a beautiful drive to get there. The Murano glass factory was a lot smaller than I was expecting, but it was nice and the glassware was magnificent. The actually factory was closed for the day so we did not get to see the glass blowing process, but the displays were interesting enough. I chose not to purchase anything though because I couldn't rationalize a practical purpose for fancy glass at this time.

         

Most of the country's population can not afford anything inside the showroom. It was pretty sad thinking this as we drove past some slums on the way home. The wealth disparity here is just so visible.  I don't know how people live on a salary of Bolivars, the cost of living here is just so high. I'd say I'm adjusting well because I have access to many of my usual luxuries, but still the hardest thing to adjust to is not being independent and being able to go exploring the city by myself or get around without a car. I think it will get easier when I make some local friends, but learning Spanish is almost necessary for that.  Unfortunately, my spanish progress this week was not much, but I am trying to devote more time to it from now on.

Welcome to the Party

Last week went by so fast! No complaints for a quick school week though. And this weekend was great! I got out and about a lot, which is always good.

Well…before the good, there was some bad. I needed to "re-up" on my data for my phone. Mobile contracts don't exist here, you just pay as you go. So I stopped at the mall and I payed the lady but I never received a message saying I had more data. The lady told me to push *88 and then a message was displayed. I read 260 Bs so I assumed it was my new balance since that was the amount I had just paid her. An hour later I realized (with the help of a Spanish speaking friend) that the message actually said that my balance of 260 Bs had expired three days before. So my phone was still not working. I was pretty angry. I thought I had been ripped off and I felt embarrassed for being a dumb American. So the next day I went to a different place to get more data on my phone. I paid and again, no message. This time I knew not to leave until my phone was working properly again. That's when I realized the man had copied my number down wrong. I had my cell phone number written down so I could show them the number and not have to worry about them not understanding my Spanish. He had thought my 7 was a 1 since I did not put the slash through it. So I don't think the lady at the other place meant to rip me off, it was probably an honest mistake and I was angry at her when it was really my own fault.

Anyway, on to the good! Friday night I went to dinner with some teacher friends. We ended up going to a pretty nice Thai place. Mmmm. It was apparently a HUGE deal that there was a decent selection of desserts. Everyone had to purchase something different and share with the table. I guess dessert menus are not common around here or maybe there usually is not many options.

We followed up dinner with some drinks at a fancy Lounge called Favola. Two things about this place:
1. It is an Italian "Ristorante" but it is decorated in British fashion.

2. The receptionist was not ashamed to show off her rhinoplasty bandages. It seemed so strange to me. If I ever had a nose job, which I will not, but I would want to keep it more discrete I guess. I asked the other teachers about it later and they said that it is culturally "the thing to do." Even one of our eighth graders got a nose job last year and she wore her bandages proudly to school. I can't imagine a thirteen year old having plastic surgery!

We finished the night at another mellow bar that was more Middle-Eastern themed and headed home "early" around 2 AM.

As soon as I woke up Saturday I realized I had been invited to an art gallery event that started in a half hour. I rushed to get ready and was right back out the door. It was a small gallery that had a bookstore and the event was a poetry reading by a famous Venezuelan author. I couldn't understand anything, but I was happy to be there anyway and work on my Spanish with the barista.

After the author spoke, there was a meet and greet and free wine! I ended up talking to two older men who knew English quite well. When they found out I had just moved to the country, one of them said, "Welcome to the party!" They were telling me their views on the country's situation and how it must get worse before it can get better…

We took a taxi to the gallery, but the plan was to take the metro and then a bus to get back home. I wanted to go a Couchsurfing event that I had heard about (La Gran Ruta Caraqueña) but wasn't sure how I was going to get there and wouldn't you know that they were meeting at a metro station. Things always have a way of working out like they are supposed to :) So I met up with the couch surfers who were all very nice (and surprisingly spoke a lot of English). It turns out the event was not just a "route" of the city, but a bar crawl of sorts. The plan was to start on the west side of the city and stop at ten different bars and end up at the east end of the city. In typical Venezuelan fashion, we started an hour late and had only made it to three places after six hours.

                                            The First Bar- Which was in the "Bronx of Caracas"
                                            (Don't worry Mom and Dad, there was a group of
                                                           twenty of us, we were secure)

                                                The Second Bar- Which had Mojitos made
                                                  with Parchita (passion fruit), so delicious!

Our Group of City Explorers

(Please know that I was rocking Ohio State gear since it was game day…)

The group was mostly Venezuelans, some from around the Country even, and there were a few Russian girls and a few French girls. I practiced so much Spanish! It was the most I have ever spoken and they were so helpful with teaching me correct pronunciation. And they invited me to a weekly meeting where they practice different languages. Every Wednesday they meet at a restaurant and there is a table for each language: English, Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Russian. I will have to check it out sometime. 

It was also great to see some of the city. I wanted to take more pictures because it is beautiful, but I have been told not to flash my iPhone around so I only got a few and they are not that great. 

The side of the Capital Building. Wish I could have taken a picture of the front. It is beautiful and it had a huge Palestinian flag hanging in the front to show the government's support of the country.

Simon Bolivar Plaza

In the capital area, it was a nice surprise to find subsidized Venezuelan chocolate at a fixed cheap price. I obviously stocked up on a couple of dark chocolate bars before heading home. I did not finish the route with the group because it was dark and I was exhausted.

Sunday came too quickly and I had lots of school work to do. At least I got a nice break in the afternoon when I attended a "fashion party/ fiesta de moda" at my teacher neighbor's house.

Every so often, some girls get together and have their friends who make jewelry and clothing showcase and sell their work. I got a nice necklace and shirt from the event and then went back to work. 

Slowly adjusting to the city. I REALLY miss the beach! Hopefully I can go to the beach here soon. But I am enjoying meeting new people and trying new things…

                            Trini Eggplant Roti                                   Beets I actually liked

Veggie Sandwiches Drizzled with BBQ