Spa Weekend

This past weekend I had a fabulous spa weekend in the mountains. I am quite sure that all spa weekends are probably fabulous, but this might be my only chance to ever experience it.  I spent the equivalent of $70 on a two night stay with all meals included, two anti-stress massages, and a full body exfoliation/hydration. I can't even imagine how much that would cost in the States! So I am thankful that I get to experience it here.

Why didn't I do this every weekend???

Romantic Dinner 

Walli and I, yes obviously I went with Walli, left for Colonial Tovar after school on Friday. We split a taxi with two other teachers, but our arranged driver canceled the morning of. Luckily, we were able to snag another one at the last minute and we made good time to the old German town. Our spa was outside the city and we were the only ones there that night. They gave us a snack as soon as we arrived and then we got to have dinner by an open fire.


In the morning, we got up and did yoga before breakfast and we were still the only ones in the whole place. It was amazing. The grounds at the Renacer Health Spa Center are beautiful and it's quiet and extremely relaxing. I got an anti-stress massage after breakfast and then lounged in a hammock and read until lunch time.

My spot for most of the weekend

After lunch, we got a ride into the town of Colonial Tovar, which has German roots. It is really strange to feel like you're in Germany, but in reality you're in Venezuela. Colonial Tovar is a confused place. We walked around so I could see the city, but there isn't much to do besides shop and eat so shortly after we left the craziness of the tourist town and walked back to our oasis.

The Church

The afternoon was just as relaxing as the morning. They served us smoothies in the jacuzzi and cake with hot chocolate in the hammock. Because it is located up in the mountains, the temperature there was so cool where you needed a light jacket. It was perfect for reading all day! I got a full body exfoliation and hydration treatment and then we ended the day with a live violinist during dinner.

Everything was outdoor

Sunday morning we woke up for yoga before breakfast again. I got another anti-stress massage so I could gather the courage to pack up and get ready to return to Caracas. After lunch, the same taxi picked us up and drove us back home without any problems.

Back to reality: Four more weeks until summer!

The Dreaded Clinic Visit

I just have to illustrate what it's like to go to the doctor here…again. Without giving you too much information, last week I thought I might have a bladder infection and so wanting to avoid the clinic as much as possible, I self diagnosed myself and started taking antibiotics (that I had been saving incase of another sinus infection). When my symptoms were still present a couple days later, I decided I should probably see a real doctor. So I asked the secretary at school to schedule me an appointment as soon as possible with a general physician because it's near impossible for me to do with my limited Spanish. She got back with me telling me she couldn't get an appointment until nine days later… and recommended that I talk to the school nurse… That was unacceptable for me. So I had to request that she try another doctor or another clinic so that I could be seen earlier. She came through and got me an appointment for two days later, but forgot to ask if the doctor spoke English… (Luckily he did).

The main reason I want to avoid the clinic is because it is not unusual for one appointment to take 4-5 hours of waiting, as has happened to me the past three times (and I don't want to be sick). My appointment this time was scheduled from 3:00-5:30pm because in Venezuela you don't get a scheduled appointment time, you get a block where you put your name on a waiting list and it's first come first served. I think this is a cultural thing because Venezuelans are never on time but I find it extremely annoying and very inefficient. Anyway, I was hopeful this time because I figured the office must close around 6pm so the most I would be waiting was two and a half hours, not too bad! I took my book and I was mentally prepared.

I was second on the list and I only waited an hour and a half! I was so impressed. The doctor was really nice and wanted to do a thorough job so even though I did not have to wait long, I was at the clinic until 7:30 pm. And in the end he said I should just finish out the week taking antibiotics. After that I went to the pharmacy to get an over the counter med he recommended but they didn't have any. I felt so bad when they didn't have any medications the old man next to me needed. There were about six on his list and they said, "No hay" to every single one :(

Another issue I have with going to the clinic is the insurance claim following your appointment is also a pain. Before you can get refunded for any money you spent, you have to go back to the lab and pick up your results (which involves waiting of course) and then get another appointment with your doctor so he can fill out the paper work stating the results (which involves significantly more waiting). I'm debating if it is worth it this time for me to file a claim. They probably won't even have it processed before summer anyway.

In the end, I am glad I went to confirm that I did not have anything seriously wrong with me, but I do hope to avoid the clinic for the next 25 days that I am here. The trip was not a complete fail either because I got the following pictures that are a bit amusing:

My "Pee into a Cup" Kit - Notice the
mysterious clear liquid that I am supposed to clean
my lady parts with that is covered with foil and tape…

"Please do not take the toilet paper thanks!" - Dated so they
can keep track of it

The Filing System...

...Seems legit to me

     

Puerto La Cruz

May 1st is Workers Day in Venezuela (it's basically the rest of the World's Labor Day) so we had a three day weekend! So a few weeks before I tried to get some plane tickets to go to the east coast, but there weren't any… The flight situation here is just annoying. Luckily a friend was able to arrange a taxi for Walli and I to go visit friends in Puerto La Cruz. It was about a five hour drive and we left right after school on Thursday to avoid as much traffic as possible. Our driver was out of a Fast and Furious movie and we got there in five hours despite hitting the always unavoidable traffic. You might be thinking how expensive it would be to take a five hour taxi ride because in the rest of the world it would be unaffordable. It cost us $15 each (one way) and we reserved two seats each so we wouldn't be squished in with strangers. It turned out to be easier than taking a flight anyway. Our driver, Erik, picked us up at our apartment and dropped us off at our friend, Gwen's apartment. We passed seven military check points along the way, but only got pulled over once. Erik took care of everything and we just sat in the car silently and there weren't any problems. He was very nice; once, while we were in stopped traffic for 30 minutes he wouldn't let us get out of the car (probably didn't want to bring attention that he was driving two gringas) so he got Walli's sweater out of the trunk for her. So we shared our snacks with him. Most of the drive was in the dark so we didn't see much, but there were so many fires along the side of the road and in the mountains because everything is so dry. The smoke was pretty thick in the air and you could even smell in from inside the car. It was pretty disgusting, but I guess it's a normal occurrence when there hasn't been any rain.

Gwen teaches at the international school in Puerto La Cruz and her apartment was so nice! It had all new appliances, nice furniture, and air conditioning (how luxurious!). Right outside her balcony was the canal and behind that, the mountains so it was a much better view than we have too. She lives close to a strip of stores and restaurants so we were able to walk to dinner before bed. It was nice to be in an area that is considered safe enough to walk around even after dark. It really didn't feel like we were in Venezuela still.

I wouldn't mind this view everyday!

Friday we walked to the beach near her house, rented an umbrella and some chairs, and spent the day lounging there. It wasn't the nicest beach I've ever been to, but it just made me realize how happy I am with my decision to move back to Jacksonville Beach, I miss living by the water so much. The mountains that surround Caracas are beautiful, but the water is just so calming.

On a nearby jetty

Puerto La Cruz is a heavy oil area so out in the bay, there were about twenty oil tankers waiting their turn to be filled at one of the two filling stations along the coast. They ruined the view a little bit, but I was still relaxed to be by the water.

Flying the flag

Saturday we had rented a yacht for the day! Apparently, in general, Venezuelans do not like to share bad news... So it was Friday evening and our friend Erin, who had reserved the yacht, called the company to check if it came with coolers and ice or if we should bring our own and the man nonchalantly says that the captain was in a car accident and will not be able to take us on the water anymore. Was he planning to let us know before we waited all morning for the boat to come? Who knows, but luckily some other teachers at the school have a boat and offered to take us out instead. It wasn't a yacht but it was still a lot of fun.




First, we drove out of the bay area and went into the waters of Parque Nacional Mochima. We followed the dolphins for a while, they were so playful!

Dolphins!

Rough Life

Then we stopped in an area of the park called El Morro and dropped anchor for the day. We had lunch and made drinks and soaked up some sun. There was some coral so you could snorkel around the boat. Well while the owner of the boat and his son went snorkeling, the anchor must have come loose because the boat drifted quite far from shore and since us ladies were chatting away, we didn't even notice until someone said, "Umm does anyone know how to drive a boat?" Around the same time, the owner of the boat noticed from shore how far we were and had to swim out to save us.

El Morro

We returned the boat back to the private marina that the teachers have at their apartments, which were even nicer than Gwen's. Their complex has three infinities pools and they have an uninterrupted view of the bay. I had to say, if I taught at their school, I would probably be staying another year.

I really miss having a view of the water

On Sunday we went up to into the hills of Los Altos de Sucre to a local pottery barn. An artist couple runs their business out of the barn by their house and everything was just so unique and beautiful. We all stocked up on one-of-a-kind pieces. I got five pieces of ceramic art for a whopping $30.

Pretty tree

Speaking of inflation, before Erik took us home (he was two hours late to pick us up so we weren't going to share our snacks, but in the end we gave in and did), he had to fill up his gas tank. For a full tank and a tip to the gas station attendant, it cost a total of $0.03! Yes, three cents. Even at the official exchange rate, it's only fifty cents. It is truly just unbelievable.

Isla Margarita

Gorgeous Flowers Everywhere

To start off my birthday week, Walli and I had lunch with our Spanish tutor, Isabel, on Sunday. She is the most thoughtful person you'll ever meet. She invited us to her cute little house in El Hatillo where she fixed us up some vegetarian food. Then she had arranged for us to visit a nearby garden called Topotepuy. She fibbed to the ticket seller and told them that we were tourists on our way from Valencia and this would be our only chance to visit the garden and we were really looking forward to it so they let us come in after the closing time. Venezuela does have its perks: You can get away with things like that.

When you walked into the gardens, you forgot that you were in Caracas. It was so beautiful and so peaceful, it was really enjoyable; perfect for a Sunday activity.

My Favorite Part- The Conservatory

On our way back to Isabel's house for dessert she gave us a tour of one of the really rich areas in the city. There were houses that were so large I thought they were apartment complexes. Around one of the neighborhoods there is a nice walking path along side the road, but we were advised never to walk there because that's often where people get kidnapped from since it's a wealthy area.

We also stopped into La Iglesia Ortodoxa Rumana Constantino y Elena (the Costantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church) to look around. It seems extremely out of place, so it was fun to peek into.

Kind of Creepy (This photo was taken
from the internet, but this is what it looked like when we
were there because it was raining)

My actual birthday fell on Wednesday and luckily my little munchkins were good for me. All of my classes ended up singing Happy Birthday at some point. To celebrate my quarter of a century I went out to dinner with a few good friends. We had a blast being the obnoxious gringos in the restaurant and drinking too much wine. Magically, Lane provided the best cake in the world. It was like a chocolate mousse cake with a hard chocolate shell. My friends sang Happy Birthday and then Feliz Cumpleaños and then in Venezuelan tradition I had to take a bite out of the cake. Luckily since there was a shell I did not get my face smashed into it. And it tasted so good, that everyone else started taking bites too!

Just Look at That Cake!

My Infamous Birthday Shoes-
True Venezuelan Style

To really celebrate my birthday I planned a weekend trip to the infamous Isla Margarita. So my partner in crime, Walli, and I took a personal day and headed to the island on Thursday after work. It was a super quick and easy 35-minute flight to get there. We stayed at the Hesperia at Playa el Agua, which is an all-inclusive resort that many people had raved about. We tried not to set our expectations too high...as the island is still Venezuela and we know things don't always work or go as planned, but it turned out marvelous.

Playa El Agua

Friday I woke up early in anticipation for the beach so I walked down to claim some beach chairs. It was near 7 AM and the beach was still empty. It was so great, but a bit eery as well. I would have loved to walked on the beach while it was empty like that, but I knew better. So I lounged in the hammock by our pool until Walli woke up and we got breakfast. We spent most of the day lounging on the beach, napping, reading, walking, and relaxing. Vendors were always walking by trying to sell you stuff. I was asked if I was from Holland, Switzerland, and Germany. I soon learned just avoid eye-contact and forget about saying, “No gracias” if you wanted to be left alone. I did get suckered by one guy selling jewelery but I didn't have any cash with me so he assured me he would return the next day and surely enough he did calling me by name and everything, so I ended up buying a bracelet and earrings.

Not a Crowded Beach

After a nice long day at the beach we had fresh piña coladas and did a little bit of shopping before our dinner reservations. Since the resort was all-inclusive, the food wasn't particularly impressive but it was nice not having to get taxis and figure out where to go and how to pay. And because we had made reservations, we got to have dinner in a restaurant atmosphere instead of the cafeteria buffet. We skipped the discotheque in lieu of a movie and fell asleep early after such a hard day.

Saturday was about the same. The only real difference is we decided to upgrade to a better part of the resort. It seemed like a lot of money but in all reality it was a $6 difference and it was definitely worth it. We got access to the nice pool and jacuzzi, other exclusive restaurants and bars, and a way nicer room. We felt like spoiling ourselves so I took more advantage of the all-inclusive drinks and we got massages in the afternoon. We also got to participate in the romantic dinner complete with live entertainment.

Upgrade!

Sunday when it was about noon and I hadn't made it to the drink stand yet, the bartender delivered me a refreshing beer. Now that is costumer service! I was sad to leave the island just as anyone is sad to leave vacation, especially when returning back to Caracas. If I would have known how easy it was to go there for a weekend I probably would have went once a month! 

Viva Venezuela

Machu Picchu (More Pictures to Come When the Internet Isn't So Slow)

One of the Seven Wonders: Machu Picchu

How did I come to the decision to take a five day trek to Machu Picchu instead of taking the train... Well I honestly cannot remember, and in the week leading up to the trek, I began to ask myself that question repeatedly.

Tracey and I decided that we were conned into the trip by Walli; we couldn't possibly say no to a 75 year old woman who made it sound like a walk in the park. However, hiking 35 miles in high altitude is no walk in the park.

After sleeping on the cold floor in the Lima airport and getting my credit card eaten by an ATM machine, we arrived in Cusco early Saturday morning. Once you start walking, you notice the altitude difference because there is less oxygen in the air and you become short of breath immediately. We all took high altitude pills to prevent altitude sickness and I think that helped a lot.

We rented a really nice apartment within walking distance of the main plaza. The first order of business was showering and napping. After becoming real humans again, we headed to the grocery store to get some food and we ended up stumbling upon a local market. I could have stayed there all day, just shopping; everything was so cheap and interesting.

Next we explored the main square, Plaza de Armas. Cusco is a very cute and clean city, I really liked it. After even more shopping, we had dinner at Numa Raymi complete with real Pisco Sours.

Everything we read on the internet said you should take it easy your first two days in high altitude to let your body adjust. So after dinner we were all exhausted and called it a night.

The next day we went back to the plaza to get some pictures in the daytime and to visit our trek office to finalize the details of our adventure. We had lunch on a terrace with the perfect view of the plaza followed by a walking tour of the city given by our trek guide, Nico. By the end of the walking tour I was tired of walking and wondering how I was every going to survive the next five days of hiking.

We went to super delicious and fancy restaurant for dinner called Cicciolina. It was a restaurant that was so fancy, they placed fresh napkins on the table to cover our mess before dessert. We were all fat and happy afterwards, but Walli wouldn't let us take a cab, we had to walk back to our apartment. Then we got all packed for the Salkantay trek. Side note: Salkantay means “The savage one...”

Day 1

Usually the trek starts at 4AM, but one of the girls in our group lost her luggage during transit and it was supposed to be delivered at 7AM to the Cusco airport. So we delayed our start to go to the airport so she could pick up her stuff, but it wasn't delivered so everyone had to lend her things so she could go on the trek. Since we left Cusco way later than usual, they actually just drove us to our first campsite in Soraypampa. It was a beautiful three hour drive through the mountains; although a little frightening when we were going around sharp turns right on the edge of the mountain. When we got the the site, our tents were already set up and lunch was being served. We were the only ones camping in the surrounding area, which was very nice. We had a crew of four: our guide, Nico; our cook, Luis; the assistant, Primo (not sure of his actual name, but that was the nickname he was given); and our horse boy, Christian. Walli and myself are vegetarians and therefore the whole group had to eat vegetarian all week. Luckily, Luis was such a great cook. It was amazing what he could whip up in the middle of nowhere.

Our "Family"- Primo, Tracey, Walli, Nico, me, Luis, Lane, and Christina

Camp #1

After lunch, we took a three hour hike to a glacier lake, Lake Humantay. This was my favorite part of the whole trip. The views were unbelievable.

Tracey and I ready to go 

Happy Cow

Lake Humantay

Our Group

Couple Selfie

Later we had a nap time and then dinner (we even had a bottle of wine!) and off to bed early in preparation for the hardest section the next day.

Day 2

The second day was by far the most difficult, but has the best views. It was a four hour hike to summit the mountain. Even though it got more difficult to breathe as we climbed higher, I enjoyed the ascent much better than the descent. We made it all the way to 4,600 m (15,100 ft)!

Beginning of a Long Day

Full of Energy

Chewing on Coco Leaves - Yuck

Slowly Losing Layers - Still Trekking

Brrrrr

As soon as we got to the top it started snowing! So we didn't stick around long to rest and enjoy the accomplishment, which was alright with me because I really noticed how it was more difficult to breathe. Unfortunately, the snow turned into rain and you couldn't see any of the amazing views that you knew were just hiding behind the clouds. We walked down two and a half hours before we finally made it to our lunch spot. At that point, I was done hiking. It was cold and rainy and you couldn't see anything!

View of our Descent...

Lunch helped a little, but then it was another 4 hours downhill to our campsite. The rain finally stopped, but the trail was so muddy; I was thankful I had walking sticks, but it was still not easy. The last hour my knees were hurting so bad, I just wanted to stop walking. I was so thankful when we finally made it to our campsite. This one was a compound where everyone was camping. When I sat (fell) down into our tent, I almost cried because of the pain in my lower legs and feet. Going downhill was way harder than uphill and I hadn't had any training of downhill.

We had another good meal, popped some Vitamin I, drank some wine and slept very well.

Day 3

We couldn't take the normal trek trail through the jungle because of landslides that had occurred due to the heavy rains so we walked along a road for four hours to our lunch spot. It wasn't too fascinating or too bad until the last hour when my knees began to ache again. It was really painful. 

But a nice surprised awaited us at lunch, Luis had baked a birthday cake for Tracey over a fire! So we sang and celebrated, it was fun. 

Thankfully we didn't have to walk anymore that day. Instead, we took a van to the hot springs in Santa Theresa where we would camp for the night. We soaked in the hot springs, had dinner, and soaked in the hot springs some more. It felt soooooo good on my legs. My calves were extremely tight and they hurt so bad, but the warm water helped a lot.

In the Hot Spring

Day 4

The group split up on this day. Walli and Christina walked to the lunch spot, Tracey took a van (she dislocated her knee the day before), and Lane and I decided to go zip lining. I had never been zip lining before, but I had always wanted to try. When we got to the first line, I was pretty nervous, but it was still worth it to have a break from walking; and it turned out to be really fun! We went across five zip lines and finished with a suspension bridge. The bridge was not fun. There were a few young men who thought it was funny to shake the whole bridge and jump up and down and I did not enjoy that. 

After that little detour we took a van to the lunch spot and met up with “the family.” For the afternoon, we split into two groups, Walli and Christina walked to Aguas Calinetes and the rest of us took the train (Lane and I are just such great friends that we couldn't let Tracey go by herself). When we got to the small town, we checked into our hotel and took a real shower! After cleaning up and turning into real humans again, we went out for pizza, beers, and really bad karaoke. It was so great to sleep in a bed that night.

Day 5

We woke up at 4AM on Friday to catch a bus to Machu Picchu. When we got the the bus station there was already a long line of people ready to go. But it wasn't a Venezuelan line, they transport thousands of people to Machu Picchu daily so it was efficient and we got to the park in no time. The morning clouds were still burning away when we got in, but it was still incredible to see the whole city on the top of the mountain. Nico gave us a tour and history of the Incas. The more I learned about them, the more I was impressed. Only about 500 people lived at Machu Picchu and only over a 100 year span, but the work they did is amazing. At 10 AM, we had tickets to hike to Huayna Picchu. Again, I had booked this for us, without realizing that it meant that we were going to hike the high peak behind Machu Picchu that was 45 minutes of straight stairs. But we made it to the top and from there you could see the whole ruins. After coming back down, Lane and I went too see the Inca Bridge while the others took the bus back to town. The bridge wasn't anything too exciting, but it really illustrated how dangerous some of the Incan trails were; they were extremely narrow and right on the edge of a cliff. We got back to town around 3PM and were so ready to sit down and eat. Then we wasted time drinking and eating and playing Jenga until our train left at 10PM. I passed out on the two hour train ride and then on the two hour van ride and then when we got back to the apartment, I was exhausted.

Saturday we slept in! It was much needed after our trekking adventure. Then we went to a late brunch in the main plaza for the last time and said our goodbyes to our guide. Then back to our apartment to pack and send Lane off to the airport :(

That night, Walli was really sick. Somehow she had gotten double pink eye and a horrible cough. So Tracey and I went out to get her medicine and pick up some food. The only bad thing about staying in the non-tourist area, is that not one single restaurant would take a credit card. And since we were leaving the next morning, we didn't want to take out more local currency. So we went home tired and grumpy. The landlord saw us on the way back and insisted he could help somehow. I am telling you, Peruvians are the nicest people ever. First, he exchanged money with us, then he called to order us pizza, and then he even delivered the pizza to us.

I was sad to leave the next day. I will definitely visit Peru again. It is a gorgeous country with such kind people. Not to mention, they speak beautiful Spanish that even I was able to understand. 

"Yankee Go Home"

Front page of a local newspaper

I have officially made my decision that I will not be returning to Caracas next fall. I will finish out this school year and return to the States for good this summer. It was a very, very tough decision to make and I stressed over it a lot. I love my teaching position, my coworkers, and my school; however, I am not really enjoying the unstableness of Venezuela. I do not want to live in a place where my job has three emergency plans in case “shit hits the fan,” excuse my french.

Plan A: Hold in place. Do not leave your apartment.
Plan B: If evacuation is necessary, take a private boat to Curacao and stay with their international school staff until you can get flights to the States from there.
Plan C: Call in the private security company SWAT to evacuate you out of the country.

If it is not necessary that I put myself in an uncomfortable and stressful living situation, then why should I put myself through it for another year? I will be moving back to Jacksonville Beach; and I know I will be so much happier just knowing that I can go places myself, get the medicines I need, and not worry about what actions the government might decide to take against Americans.

"If you aren't killed in the street, you will die without medicine."

“Holding on is believing that there's only a past; letting go is knowing that there's a future.” - Daphine Rose Kingma

While I have to hold on for two more months, I will try to make the best of it, but that does not stop me from counting down the days until summer...

The Bright Side of Life

I am so, so, so happy with my decision to meet my Aunt Cindi and Uncle Bill in Aruba for a long weekend. I wasn’t sure if I should get a plane ticket to visit just for three days, but it was definitely worth it. It came at the perfect time too. Last week was very stressful and a weekend at the beach was just what I needed. I left for the airport at 3:30 AM on Saturday for my 7 AM flight from Caracas to Orjenstad. I had arranged for one of the school drivers to take me since it was so early, and I knew he would be reliable. It turned out to be a smart choice as well. First we passed two accidents on the opposite side of the freeway blocking traffic. As were we discussing how thankfully they were on the other side of the road, we spotted an accident in front of us. Luckily, he was able to exit the freeway in time and take a side road and reenter the freeway later. Again being thankful for the crisis averted, we continued on our way. After making it through one of the three tunnels to get to the airport, we hit some traffic again. But this time it wasn’t an accident, it was a road block by the military. That portion of the freeway had been shut down for the night. I couldn’t understand the Spanish well enough to know why, but I understood that it was closed until morning and we would have to wait. This had never been a problem on my early flights before so I figured maybe it was for safety reasons or something. I was starting to get nervous. I was so looking forward to the weekend and it had been such a rough week, that if I were to miss my flight, I would have been depressed. Luckily, I was with the school driver who was determined to get me to the airport and he knew the “old” way to get there. Before the tunnels were constructed, there was a long, extremely windy road over the mountains to get to the airport and so that is the route we took. It was the first time I have really been inside a barrio. Not exactly the place you want to be in the middle of the night, but it was interesting all the same. After forty-five minutes of speeding around the narrow curves up the mountain, I was grateful when the sharp turns started to descend. Soon enough we were back at the freeway and at the airport in enough time. The rest of the travel went smoothly and shortly after, I was being picked up in Aruba by my family.

They took me to their resort and showed me around. The Playa Linda Beach Resort was great. It isn’t how I would personally choose to vacation at this time in life, but I can certainly see the appeal. Everything is so convenient; anything you would want/need on a relaxing beach vacation is right there at, or next to, the resort.

Mini Vacation!

We got some bagels and coffee and then went to the beach right outside the resort. It wasn’t a very wide beach, but it had beautiful white sand, baby blue water, and little chickee huts to provide some shade. Because most of the visitors at the resort are time-share owners, many of the people on the beach were friends with my aunt and uncle just from vacationing together over the years. Everyone was very friendly and they watch after each other’s stuff. I learned there are some unwritten rules on their beach. For example:

1. When you go out early to the beach, to claim your chickee hut or otherwise, it is not appropriate to start talking until about 5 AM.
2. Once you have claimed a chickee hut at the beginning of your stay, it is rightfully yours and people shouldn’t try to change the seating arrangement. (*Notice: If you are staying more than one week, the huts are free game again starting on Monday when the new visitors arrive, so plan accordingly.)
3. It is your duty as a Playa Linda guest to watch over other Playa Linda guest’s belongings they may leave in their hut during the day. You never know what those “Boat people” might take. (*Boat people are the cruise passengers that flood the beach for a couple of hours when the ship is at port. It seems they are generally unwelcome, but it has been proven that they are harmless.)

OHHHH YEAHHHH

So Saturday I enjoyed just laying on the beach, reading my book, sipping some adult beverages, people watching, and overall just resting and relaxing. Lunch was bought for me by one of the neighboring hut habitors. He heard I like to eat healthy and bought me a delicious açai fruit cup. MMMMM. He later also gave me two bags of coffee to take with me since he heard about the shortages in Venezuela. That night, we went to dinner with the neighboring hut at Azzurro, the Italian restaurant in between the pool and the beach at the resort. We were hoping to see a good sunset, but it was too cloudy. At least the food was delicious! 

Parmesan Spaghetti: They put the spaghetti in the
cheese wheel and light it on fire to melt the
cheese on the pasta right before it is served!

After dinner, we strolled over to the Holiday Inn Casino and I gambled for the first time in my life. After losing ten dollars in the quarter slot machines, I still don't see the appeal in gambling. It was kind of funny, we were drinking coffee instead of the free drinks since we were tired from being in the sun all day. Hard life.

Woo I won $2.50!

The next day was much of the same. Tanning and swimming and napping. I did get up and used the gym facility. It was so motivational to have actual gym equipment. I miss my old gym; it is so much harder to be motivated without it. Again, we didn’t have to leave the resort area all day. I had lunch out front at a fresh express and we had dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse across the street. Afterwards, we did some window shopping; there is an endless amount of jewelers there. Again, by ten o’clock I was exhausted.

Monday, we switched it up a bit. First we went to the pharmacy and grocery store so I could get some goodies to take back with me. I was even able to get a Venezuelan prescription filled for Walli without any issues. The only problem I almost had was paying with my credit card. The only forms of ID I brought with me were my passport (which I left at the hotel) and a copy of my Venezuelan ID. I am so used to being able to use the laminated copy of my ID, everywhere in Venezuela accepts it, which is sort of strange I suppose. For some reason, I didn't bring my Florida ID like I usually do if I'm going to be using my American credit card. They ended up letting me make my purchase with a warning that next time I need to bring a real identification.

Then we headed to the west side of the island to Malmok beach to go snorkeling. Those of you who know me, know that I am afraid of what's in the water. So it took me a while to gather the bravery to get in, but once I was in the water it was alright. There were so many fish; I kept squirming around when they got too close. There wasn't anything too colorful or exciting but I'm just thankful I didn't see any jellies or sharks!

A more natural Aruba

Then we went to see the California lighthouse, which was so crowded with buses of "boat people." The lighthouse isn't functioning anymore and you can't go inside it so I don't know what makes it a place of interest. I guess just because it's a light house and you can see a lot of the island from it. I got a freshly made cocada drink that was a perfect refreshment.

On the way back east we stopped at Arashi beach, which was my kind of beach. It was a long and sandy with clear water and small waves. And it had a great breeze so you didn't sweat while sitting in the sun. Our stomachs called us back to the resort for lunch and we made it back in time for one more happy hour before I had to get ready to leave.

Thank you Aunt Cindi and Uncle Bill for inviting me and taking such good care of me!!!!!

Everything went smoothly on my flight back to Caracas. I got in on time, but I got held up in customs for a while because I did not have my original Venezuelan ID. They've never asked for it before, usually my passport is all they need. I guess because of the changes to American requirements to enter the country they are being more strict now. I was starting to get really nervous, but luckily they let me through with a warning that next time I travel I need to bring my original.