Random bits:
Coffee:
Although coffee is grown in Venezuela, the majority of coffee you find in Caracas is from Columbia or elsewhere. (The Institute is developing a class on food soverignty, but it isn´t something that many Venezuelans think about.)
Anyway, one of the differences that struck me between the states and Venezuela is the size of the coffee servings. A normal serving of coffee when you are out on the street is the size of a shot glass and while you can get a double size if you really want it. The majority of the people don´t want the equivelant of a small mug full. The several sips of coffee from the shot glass size cup feels perfect.
Food:
I still don´t feel like I´ve gotten to eat a lot of Venezuelan food so I don´t have any amazing stories to share about food. When I first got here, I had the desire to do a lot of cooking as it was a way that I felt that I could contribute to the house. Now my desire to cook has wained because I feel like I can make other contributions work wise.
Living on top of this hill is absolutely beautiful. Almost every day I look across one of the two valleys and think “wow, gorgeous!”
Of course the reality is that the hill behind our house, across the valley is covered with the houses of the poor. One of the ways to tell is that they are made from red brick and are unpainted. Some of them are very close to the freeway and I´ve seen these steep staircases that go up into these barrios. (Some of them are too steep to be able to drive up even if there was a road.) They probably lack running water and waste infrastructure. But at the moment that I am looking across the valley, the scene with clouds and colors is absolutely beautiful to me.
In the mornings while we are doing yoga I often see wild parrots flying around. They are very beautiful and very vocal. Someday I hope to catch a good picture of these birds.
Speaking of pictures …. I haven not taken my camera out very much because I am concerned about loosing it. However, I have now realized that I can carry it in my money pouch under my clothes so I am now comfortable taking it with me a bit more. I wish that I had figured this out when I went to Puerto La Cruz. I would have liked to have taken pictures of my friend´s birthday there, however I spent several hours in downtown Caracas before leaving for Puerto La Cruza and I didn´t feel comfortable walking around with two bags and my camera.
But now that I´ve figured out a good way to carry my camera, I have pictures.
It is raining quite a bit these days and so the internet connection is pretty spotty. I did manage to get pictures posted:
Pictures from last weekends camping trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2741064&id=2348547&l=11c6d63b31
General pictures I´ve taken: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2741061&id=2348547&l=bea2c23f73
Pics from a birthday party Friday night:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2740987&id=2348547&l=d86d97d90f
Chris and Paula, the couple who rent a room next to my room, invited me to go with them to a friend´s birthday party Friday night. I was trying to talk them into going dancing with me, but it didn´t pan it. So instead I went with them and met some very nice people.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
birthday season ... 3 kinds of cake and Dada made oatmeal rasin cookies, oh my!!! :-)
Hello Everyone,
It seems to be birthday season. Last weekend I had a fantastic trip to Puerto La Cruz and helped celebrate a friend´s birthday party there. Then Wendi´s birthday (my sister-in-law) was this week, and I hope that she got to have a great time with her folks. And today, I went to yet another birthday party. The party today was a joint party for one of the nuns and for one of the little girls who lives with the nun. She is now 10 years old and a wonderful help in practicing my Spanish.
For example, she loves to ride around on my back-shoulders and I get to practice understanding directions and giving directions. :-)
Pureto La Cruz
Pureto La Cruz is the big beach town here in Venezuela. It is currently THE place to go and be and it seems like everyone wants to be there. I noticed that they are building apartments like crazy and I saw a lot of VERY expensive homes, especially the ones on and near the water. Unfortunately, according to my host, there hasn´t been any city planning and so the traffic is abismal and I suspect that eventually the rich people will become sick of spending hours in traffic to drive 10 miles and will either move to the next new fantastic place. Or some additional infrastructure will be added. ... growing pains.
My adventure started off with trying to buy the bus ticket to Puerto La Cruz. It took me three tries, on three different days to actually find the the bus station but I managed to get some help and go and purchase my ticket on Thursday. I got a ticket for 2:45 pm on Friday.
(I had a fantastic Friday morning and I´ll tell you about Friday morning in a little bit.)
Anyway, the bus that goes from Caracas to Puerto La Cruz is a double story tour bus, complete with onboard movies. I was warned that the bus would be freezing cold and I should literally bring a jacket and blanket with me, however this trip wasn´t very cold. When I got on the bus, I realized that I wanted to sit in the very front with the windows, so instead of going to my assigned seat, I went up to the top floor and sat in the front corner. Other people came up and I ended up having to move to the other corner, however they didn´t make me go to my assigned seat. So I had a fantastic view leaving the city and for most of the country side until it got dark. The bus arrived in Puero La Cruz around 8:30 and my friend and her boyfriend picked me up.
We then went to his mother´s house, where I met both Moms and a cousin and where I was fed wonderful Italian lasagna. ... I had said that I wasn´t hungry, but who can say "no" when a plate of fantastic lasagna is put infront of you? My trip to Puerto La Cruz drove home how large the Italian-Venezuelan community is here.
My friend and her boyfriend are renting some rooms in a house very near his mother´s house so we eventually went there and slept.
The next morning I woke up early because I was SO excited to be there and I knew that they´d want to sleep for a while so I went out for a walk. First I walked around the community where they live. It consists of many colorful townhouses that are all very close to the water. (I could walk to the water and the dock.) A number of the houses have a tree or two in their front yard, including one house that had a mango tree with a monkey chained in it. I felt sorry for the monkey because he was obviously going crazy walking back and forth on his chain in the tree waiting for anyone to come out of his house.
While I was watching the monkey, a ripe mango fell out of the tree near me, so I took it home and we had it with breakfast on Monday.
Then I went out and walked by the water and looked at the boats until my friend called me asking where I was. I was only a few minutes away so I walked back to the house and the three of us went out to go shopping for party supplies.
First however, we went to the marina because her boyfriend has a boat there that he needed to take care of.
Then we went by a building that my friend´s boyfriend and his mother are turning into an Italian restaurant. They have a beautiful golden lab that is helping to guard the restaurant building while it is being renovated. I am sure that it will be a very successful restaurant when they are done with the renovations!
Then we stopped at a street vendor and had an empanada for breakfast. (picture and description is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada) and picked up two extra empanadas and drinks to take to the security guards where she and her mom are starting their new business. (Yes, both she and her boyfriend are starting businesses with their Moms. I was very impressed with how the whole family is involved and helps each other.) It was interesting for me to see the town and what the buildings in that area look like, etc...
Then we did some shopping to get supplies for her party that night. We were planning on going to the beach in the afternoon, but as we were leaving the store, it started pouring rain so our beach plans were scrapped.
We also stopped by a fish yard and bought some fresh seafood including jumbo shrimp.
Then we took the food back to the boyfriend´s mother´s house and I hung out while everyone else was in the kitchen, cooking. At one point I was amazed to see a circular metal pan, that was literally at least 3 feet wide. Her boyfriend is apparently a very good cook and he used the pan to make a traditional rice and seafood dish as a main course for the party. It was fantastic.
Later in the afternoon I went with my friend and her little brother to the mall. They had their hair done while I walked around and looked at everything. Her little brother got done before she did, so for a while he kept me company and we explored the mall together. One of the things that they had was a computer kiosk with tourist information. He showed me a bunch of pictures of Venezuela and later on in the evening, he very excitedly told me that we were in one of the places that we´d seen in the pictures.
The birthday party itself was held at a friend´s townhouse house in the marina. It was a very nice house and they had hired a DJ for the party so there was lots of good food, drinks, and lots of new people to meet. It was very much a family affair with aunts, an uncle, cousins, and 4 kids, as well as friends. Everyone had a blast and I really enjoyed meeting her friends and family.
Of course, I learned some new words that evening and unfortunately made the mistake of innocently using one of them in a conversation with my friends mother. ooppss ha ha
We got home at about 4am and then got up sometime between 9 and 10 am to go to the beach. I got to sleep a little extra, they only slept for a few hours and then went and cleaned up from the party. Then we went back to the marina and I suddenly learned that "going to the beach" didn´t actually involve sand. Instead they brought her boyfriend´s boat down and put it in the water for us and we went out and anchored near one of the islands. Yup, living the high life.
We went with a friend of hers who now lives in Miami who was home visiting and her mother, brother in law, and brother in law´s girlfriend. So there were 7 of us in the motor boat which was just perfect for goofing around and playing in the water.
I swam 3 times and forgot to reapply the sunblock so I ended up being a red raccoon. oopps
....
back to Friday morning- One of the people that I´ve been meeting with weekly to practice my Spanish did a really nice thing. Instead of meeting at the University, he asked me to meet him downtown. I warned him that I would have 2 bags with me because I was going to leave town after meeting with him. (One was a duffle bag with a blanket in it.) Anyway, we met up and he took me on a really neat tour of some of the old buildings, the old constitution hall, several museums, and one place that had wonderful little models depicting life and materials from 100 years ago in Caracas. It was absolutely enchanting! And a wonderful way to practice my Spanish!
....
I am going to cut things short for now. Yes, I am still a week behind in my posts, however I am getting tired. I hope that you are all doing well!
Big Hugs
M
It seems to be birthday season. Last weekend I had a fantastic trip to Puerto La Cruz and helped celebrate a friend´s birthday party there. Then Wendi´s birthday (my sister-in-law) was this week, and I hope that she got to have a great time with her folks. And today, I went to yet another birthday party. The party today was a joint party for one of the nuns and for one of the little girls who lives with the nun. She is now 10 years old and a wonderful help in practicing my Spanish.
For example, she loves to ride around on my back-shoulders and I get to practice understanding directions and giving directions. :-)
Pureto La Cruz
Pureto La Cruz is the big beach town here in Venezuela. It is currently THE place to go and be and it seems like everyone wants to be there. I noticed that they are building apartments like crazy and I saw a lot of VERY expensive homes, especially the ones on and near the water. Unfortunately, according to my host, there hasn´t been any city planning and so the traffic is abismal and I suspect that eventually the rich people will become sick of spending hours in traffic to drive 10 miles and will either move to the next new fantastic place. Or some additional infrastructure will be added. ... growing pains.
My adventure started off with trying to buy the bus ticket to Puerto La Cruz. It took me three tries, on three different days to actually find the the bus station but I managed to get some help and go and purchase my ticket on Thursday. I got a ticket for 2:45 pm on Friday.
(I had a fantastic Friday morning and I´ll tell you about Friday morning in a little bit.)
Anyway, the bus that goes from Caracas to Puerto La Cruz is a double story tour bus, complete with onboard movies. I was warned that the bus would be freezing cold and I should literally bring a jacket and blanket with me, however this trip wasn´t very cold. When I got on the bus, I realized that I wanted to sit in the very front with the windows, so instead of going to my assigned seat, I went up to the top floor and sat in the front corner. Other people came up and I ended up having to move to the other corner, however they didn´t make me go to my assigned seat. So I had a fantastic view leaving the city and for most of the country side until it got dark. The bus arrived in Puero La Cruz around 8:30 and my friend and her boyfriend picked me up.
We then went to his mother´s house, where I met both Moms and a cousin and where I was fed wonderful Italian lasagna. ... I had said that I wasn´t hungry, but who can say "no" when a plate of fantastic lasagna is put infront of you? My trip to Puerto La Cruz drove home how large the Italian-Venezuelan community is here.
My friend and her boyfriend are renting some rooms in a house very near his mother´s house so we eventually went there and slept.
The next morning I woke up early because I was SO excited to be there and I knew that they´d want to sleep for a while so I went out for a walk. First I walked around the community where they live. It consists of many colorful townhouses that are all very close to the water. (I could walk to the water and the dock.) A number of the houses have a tree or two in their front yard, including one house that had a mango tree with a monkey chained in it. I felt sorry for the monkey because he was obviously going crazy walking back and forth on his chain in the tree waiting for anyone to come out of his house.
While I was watching the monkey, a ripe mango fell out of the tree near me, so I took it home and we had it with breakfast on Monday.
Then I went out and walked by the water and looked at the boats until my friend called me asking where I was. I was only a few minutes away so I walked back to the house and the three of us went out to go shopping for party supplies.
First however, we went to the marina because her boyfriend has a boat there that he needed to take care of.
Then we went by a building that my friend´s boyfriend and his mother are turning into an Italian restaurant. They have a beautiful golden lab that is helping to guard the restaurant building while it is being renovated. I am sure that it will be a very successful restaurant when they are done with the renovations!
Then we stopped at a street vendor and had an empanada for breakfast. (picture and description is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada) and picked up two extra empanadas and drinks to take to the security guards where she and her mom are starting their new business. (Yes, both she and her boyfriend are starting businesses with their Moms. I was very impressed with how the whole family is involved and helps each other.) It was interesting for me to see the town and what the buildings in that area look like, etc...
Then we did some shopping to get supplies for her party that night. We were planning on going to the beach in the afternoon, but as we were leaving the store, it started pouring rain so our beach plans were scrapped.
We also stopped by a fish yard and bought some fresh seafood including jumbo shrimp.
Then we took the food back to the boyfriend´s mother´s house and I hung out while everyone else was in the kitchen, cooking. At one point I was amazed to see a circular metal pan, that was literally at least 3 feet wide. Her boyfriend is apparently a very good cook and he used the pan to make a traditional rice and seafood dish as a main course for the party. It was fantastic.
Later in the afternoon I went with my friend and her little brother to the mall. They had their hair done while I walked around and looked at everything. Her little brother got done before she did, so for a while he kept me company and we explored the mall together. One of the things that they had was a computer kiosk with tourist information. He showed me a bunch of pictures of Venezuela and later on in the evening, he very excitedly told me that we were in one of the places that we´d seen in the pictures.
The birthday party itself was held at a friend´s townhouse house in the marina. It was a very nice house and they had hired a DJ for the party so there was lots of good food, drinks, and lots of new people to meet. It was very much a family affair with aunts, an uncle, cousins, and 4 kids, as well as friends. Everyone had a blast and I really enjoyed meeting her friends and family.
Of course, I learned some new words that evening and unfortunately made the mistake of innocently using one of them in a conversation with my friends mother. ooppss ha ha
We got home at about 4am and then got up sometime between 9 and 10 am to go to the beach. I got to sleep a little extra, they only slept for a few hours and then went and cleaned up from the party. Then we went back to the marina and I suddenly learned that "going to the beach" didn´t actually involve sand. Instead they brought her boyfriend´s boat down and put it in the water for us and we went out and anchored near one of the islands. Yup, living the high life.
We went with a friend of hers who now lives in Miami who was home visiting and her mother, brother in law, and brother in law´s girlfriend. So there were 7 of us in the motor boat which was just perfect for goofing around and playing in the water.
I swam 3 times and forgot to reapply the sunblock so I ended up being a red raccoon. oopps
....
back to Friday morning- One of the people that I´ve been meeting with weekly to practice my Spanish did a really nice thing. Instead of meeting at the University, he asked me to meet him downtown. I warned him that I would have 2 bags with me because I was going to leave town after meeting with him. (One was a duffle bag with a blanket in it.) Anyway, we met up and he took me on a really neat tour of some of the old buildings, the old constitution hall, several museums, and one place that had wonderful little models depicting life and materials from 100 years ago in Caracas. It was absolutely enchanting! And a wonderful way to practice my Spanish!
....
I am going to cut things short for now. Yes, I am still a week behind in my posts, however I am getting tired. I hope that you are all doing well!
Big Hugs
M
Thursday, June 18, 2009
My boss just posted a story that I wrote on the website
I really appreciate having a boss that reads what I write and uses it. ... I wrote up a basic story and he put it up on the website the same day I gave it to him. www.priven.org
He also used a revision that I gave him ... but it didn´t have the best formatting and he posted it. I thought that we´d be doing some revisions to it. Anyway, we´ll get the formatting fixed soon. http://www.priven.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7
yes, I plan on posting a blog about my trip to Puerto La Cruz. It was a fantastic weekend and I came back a day late so I´ve been cranking on getting caught up since then. ... I´m feeling very productive in the office, this week. Of course, this is at the expensive of my evenings and studying Spanish. Time for me to go and study!
Hope everyone is well!
Hugs
Mariah
He also used a revision that I gave him ... but it didn´t have the best formatting and he posted it. I thought that we´d be doing some revisions to it. Anyway, we´ll get the formatting fixed soon. http://www.priven.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7
yes, I plan on posting a blog about my trip to Puerto La Cruz. It was a fantastic weekend and I came back a day late so I´ve been cranking on getting caught up since then. ... I´m feeling very productive in the office, this week. Of course, this is at the expensive of my evenings and studying Spanish. Time for me to go and study!
Hope everyone is well!
Hugs
Mariah
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Heading to Puerto La Cruz this weekend
Hello Awesome People,
Guess what, I am about to head out on my first big adventure outside of the capital. I´m going to visit a friend, one of my language partners, in Puerto La Cruz. It is her birthday this weekend so it should be double the fun. I´ll get to meet her mother and brothers too. None of them speak a word of English so it should be a very good weekend for me.
This week has been productive, but I haven´t gotten much language practice. Partly because one of my language partners has been in Puerto La Cruz for the past two weeks, partly because I lost my phone earlier in the week and it is hard to connect with people with a phone that I can send them text messages with. So I am looking forward to several days of Spanish submersion. We´ll see how I do! :-)
One of the guys at the office sat down with me two days ago and said that I really should be spending 6 hours or so a day just working with the books. I´ve explained to him several times that where I am weakest is hearing and speaking the language, but he doesn´t seem to understand that. I can conjugate on paper just fine, but if I´m not hearing the words correctly or pronouncing them correctly, it doesn´t do me much good to be able to conjugate on paper. This is why I am trying to spend at least an hour every day talking with a native speaker.
The woman that I am going to visit has been my main language partner. Originally we were trying to meet 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. I think that she has become too busy to do that for the rest of the summer, but we´ll see what happens when she gets back from vacation.
There are several other people that are also being incredibly helpful with practicing Spanish as well and I usually meet with them once or twice a week.
Recently I put up an add requesting volunteers to help us at the Prout Institute and on Tuesday I met a woman who I think will start volunteering in the office and helping me one evening a week with research for the Institute.
One of the issues that we run into is that most of us in the office are not Venezuelan so we have large learning curves about how things work here. Based on my Peace Corps experience I really want to work on all my projects here with locals. I think that my work will be much more viable and efficient if I work with locals. (I know that I need to tell you folks more about the projects, but I am still figuring out exactly what we have and thinking about what comes next.)
But, back to the volunteers: we can´t pay anyone for their time, however being able to put on their resume that they´ve worked in a bilingual office and I am willing to help them with their English, makes it an attractive volunteer option for some students. (Basically, they get free English lessons in exchange for helping us. But right now I´m only offering it to people who have a pretty good command of the English language already.) I put up flyers at two universities and spent Tuesday morning with a promising volunteer. Our conversation was all in English and then I lost my phone so I wasn´t able to meet up with someone in the afternoon to practice my Spanish. :-(
and without my phone, I wasn´t able to set up a language session for today either. :-( I did have a session Wednesday evening, but it was short and I didn´t get a lot of practice.
However today, the office, well everyone in the office, took the afternoon off and we went to the new art museum here. It was a good excursion. I have a new favorite artist: Arturo Michelena (1863-1898)
The museum just opened and it has some absolutely fantastic art!!! I´ve been to a number of museums in the states and in Europe, seen a number of special exhibitions, and was really impressed with their collection. It isn´t a huge museum, but they have wonderful stuff there.
After I´d looked at everything, I sat down to study and then Dada joined me and a guard came up and started talking to us about the pictures. He gave us a small private tour and told us a lot about the pictures, including my favorite painting in the gallery, Carlota Corday Camino al Cadalos 1889 aka Carlota Corday camino al patíbulo (Charlotte Corday marchant vers l’échafaud)
I am absolutely captivated by painters that are able to achieve 3 dimensional illusions. I wanted to touch the canvas to be sure that he hadn´t just packed a lot of paint on to achieve the 3D illusion - lol I resisted. However, I did look at the picture from just about every angle that I could reach without touching the canvas. :-)
The only bummer was that on the way home, Hans got his back pocket picked on a very full metro. We think we know how it happened because there was a little guy who started getting very agitated and Hans ended up with his hands on both of his shoulders. While Hans was distracted with the guy infront of him, a guy behind him picked his backpocket. Then the little guy got off the metro and a moment later another guy followed him off the metro. Dada noticed it was odd that two people got off at the same time but Hans didn´t realize that he´d been pick pocketed until later. :-(
Dusty was kind enough to show me where to buy my ticket and to catch the private bus to Puerto La Cruz. And, since it is a long drive, my boss was kind enough to give me Friday afternoon off. So I now have a ticket for 2:45 pm and I know how to get to the bus station. I´ve been warned that the bus will be freezing cold so I am supposed to bring a blanket with me on the bus and my sweatshirt. :-)
One of the things that Dusty and I ended up talking about while we were walking around was the exchange rate and how having access to US dollars makes it so much easier for us to travel than for Venezuelans to travel. My advice to him was to do as much as he can now because when the rules about buying oil changes and the dollar is no longer needed, the demand for the dollar will go way down.
Anyway, speaking of traveling and what to bring, I need to go and pack.
I have a language lesson tomorrow morning and then I will go get on the bus.
I hope that you all have a fantastic weekend!
Hugs
Mariah
Guess what, I am about to head out on my first big adventure outside of the capital. I´m going to visit a friend, one of my language partners, in Puerto La Cruz. It is her birthday this weekend so it should be double the fun. I´ll get to meet her mother and brothers too. None of them speak a word of English so it should be a very good weekend for me.
This week has been productive, but I haven´t gotten much language practice. Partly because one of my language partners has been in Puerto La Cruz for the past two weeks, partly because I lost my phone earlier in the week and it is hard to connect with people with a phone that I can send them text messages with. So I am looking forward to several days of Spanish submersion. We´ll see how I do! :-)
One of the guys at the office sat down with me two days ago and said that I really should be spending 6 hours or so a day just working with the books. I´ve explained to him several times that where I am weakest is hearing and speaking the language, but he doesn´t seem to understand that. I can conjugate on paper just fine, but if I´m not hearing the words correctly or pronouncing them correctly, it doesn´t do me much good to be able to conjugate on paper. This is why I am trying to spend at least an hour every day talking with a native speaker.
The woman that I am going to visit has been my main language partner. Originally we were trying to meet 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. I think that she has become too busy to do that for the rest of the summer, but we´ll see what happens when she gets back from vacation.
There are several other people that are also being incredibly helpful with practicing Spanish as well and I usually meet with them once or twice a week.
Recently I put up an add requesting volunteers to help us at the Prout Institute and on Tuesday I met a woman who I think will start volunteering in the office and helping me one evening a week with research for the Institute.
One of the issues that we run into is that most of us in the office are not Venezuelan so we have large learning curves about how things work here. Based on my Peace Corps experience I really want to work on all my projects here with locals. I think that my work will be much more viable and efficient if I work with locals. (I know that I need to tell you folks more about the projects, but I am still figuring out exactly what we have and thinking about what comes next.)
But, back to the volunteers: we can´t pay anyone for their time, however being able to put on their resume that they´ve worked in a bilingual office and I am willing to help them with their English, makes it an attractive volunteer option for some students. (Basically, they get free English lessons in exchange for helping us. But right now I´m only offering it to people who have a pretty good command of the English language already.) I put up flyers at two universities and spent Tuesday morning with a promising volunteer. Our conversation was all in English and then I lost my phone so I wasn´t able to meet up with someone in the afternoon to practice my Spanish. :-(
and without my phone, I wasn´t able to set up a language session for today either. :-( I did have a session Wednesday evening, but it was short and I didn´t get a lot of practice.
However today, the office, well everyone in the office, took the afternoon off and we went to the new art museum here. It was a good excursion. I have a new favorite artist: Arturo Michelena (1863-1898)
The museum just opened and it has some absolutely fantastic art!!! I´ve been to a number of museums in the states and in Europe, seen a number of special exhibitions, and was really impressed with their collection. It isn´t a huge museum, but they have wonderful stuff there.
After I´d looked at everything, I sat down to study and then Dada joined me and a guard came up and started talking to us about the pictures. He gave us a small private tour and told us a lot about the pictures, including my favorite painting in the gallery, Carlota Corday Camino al Cadalos 1889 aka Carlota Corday camino al patíbulo (Charlotte Corday marchant vers l’échafaud)
I am absolutely captivated by painters that are able to achieve 3 dimensional illusions. I wanted to touch the canvas to be sure that he hadn´t just packed a lot of paint on to achieve the 3D illusion - lol I resisted. However, I did look at the picture from just about every angle that I could reach without touching the canvas. :-)
The only bummer was that on the way home, Hans got his back pocket picked on a very full metro. We think we know how it happened because there was a little guy who started getting very agitated and Hans ended up with his hands on both of his shoulders. While Hans was distracted with the guy infront of him, a guy behind him picked his backpocket. Then the little guy got off the metro and a moment later another guy followed him off the metro. Dada noticed it was odd that two people got off at the same time but Hans didn´t realize that he´d been pick pocketed until later. :-(
Dusty was kind enough to show me where to buy my ticket and to catch the private bus to Puerto La Cruz. And, since it is a long drive, my boss was kind enough to give me Friday afternoon off. So I now have a ticket for 2:45 pm and I know how to get to the bus station. I´ve been warned that the bus will be freezing cold so I am supposed to bring a blanket with me on the bus and my sweatshirt. :-)
One of the things that Dusty and I ended up talking about while we were walking around was the exchange rate and how having access to US dollars makes it so much easier for us to travel than for Venezuelans to travel. My advice to him was to do as much as he can now because when the rules about buying oil changes and the dollar is no longer needed, the demand for the dollar will go way down.
Anyway, speaking of traveling and what to bring, I need to go and pack.
I have a language lesson tomorrow morning and then I will go get on the bus.
I hope that you all have a fantastic weekend!
Hugs
Mariah
Monday, June 8, 2009
small care package request - Dr. Brommer's Peppermint Soap
So yes, apparently I am a rare delacy here and the mosquitoes love me. I was given a mosquito net for my bed after I came downstairs one morning with 7 bites, just on my hand, but I can't live under the mosquito net - and so the mosquitoes in the office are enjoying full five course meals on me. (And they can bite through my pants!)
I found citronella oil, but that doesn't seem to help - so if anyone would be willing to send me a small care package with a bottle of Dr. Brommer's Peppermint soap in it, I would be VERY grateful.
(If you do take the time to send me Dr. Brommer's, yes, I am specifically hoping for the pepermint liquid soap. Mosquitoes aren't supposed to like peppermint and the Dr. Brommer's peppermint soap worked very well for me in Africa. So, I am hopefull that it might work here.)
Of course, any other anti- mosquito stuff would be appreicated, as well as some extra freezer strength zip lock bags (all sizes). [I didn't bring as many as I had intended to.] The other thing that would be wonderful to get are printed pictures. I brought a few, but would enjoy having some more to put up in my room. :-)
Please don't worry about sending food as I'm in a big city and thus far have been able to get everything that I had hoped for.
Thanks in advance!
Hugs
Mariah
Mariah Branch
Instituto Venezolano de Investigacion de Prout
Avenida Sanz, Calle Terepaima con Mosen Sol
Final Colegio Maria Santisimo, Quinta Prout #11-20
Adyacente al CEMS, Urbanizacion El Marques, Caracas, Venezuela
(The same address that is on the website: www.priven.org. It usually takes about 6 weeks for mail to reach here.)
I found citronella oil, but that doesn't seem to help - so if anyone would be willing to send me a small care package with a bottle of Dr. Brommer's Peppermint soap in it, I would be VERY grateful.
(If you do take the time to send me Dr. Brommer's, yes, I am specifically hoping for the pepermint liquid soap. Mosquitoes aren't supposed to like peppermint and the Dr. Brommer's peppermint soap worked very well for me in Africa. So, I am hopefull that it might work here.)
Of course, any other anti- mosquito stuff would be appreicated, as well as some extra freezer strength zip lock bags (all sizes). [I didn't bring as many as I had intended to.] The other thing that would be wonderful to get are printed pictures. I brought a few, but would enjoy having some more to put up in my room. :-)
Please don't worry about sending food as I'm in a big city and thus far have been able to get everything that I had hoped for.
Thanks in advance!
Hugs
Mariah
Mariah Branch
Instituto Venezolano de Investigacion de Prout
Avenida Sanz, Calle Terepaima con Mosen Sol
Final Colegio Maria Santisimo, Quinta Prout #11-20
Adyacente al CEMS, Urbanizacion El Marques, Caracas, Venezuela
(The same address that is on the website: www.priven.org. It usually takes about 6 weeks for mail to reach here.)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
bits and pieces from my first two weeks in Caracas
Monday morning May 4th I got up at 5:45 and had a yoga class from 6-7 am. The yoga “studio” (covered porch on the third floor) has a beautiful view of the city of Caracas
From 8:30 – 9:00 am is set aside for cleaning. Everyone is supposed to do a chore every day and it really helps to keep the place clean. There is a maid who comes once a week and does the deep cleaning.
She is very nice and enjoys showing me things like what to do so the papaya ripens sweeter. According to her you should take the tip off of both ends, and make shallow incisions (not deep enough to get to the tasty part, but enough to mark the rind) and let it sit in the window sill for a day or two. Juice will leak out of the fruit, and she thinks that it makes it taste better. Not being a papaya expert myself, I’m unable to differentiate between fruit that has been “prepped” and fruit that hasn’t been “prepped.” But she swears that it makes it taste much better. Yesterday (June 3rd) she brought a desert that she made for us to try. It was made from milk, white corn, sugar and a few other ingredients. We had it cold for desert after lunch. I only had a little because it is milk based, but what I had was very tasty.
Anyway, back to my first day … I was very lucky because there is a volunteer who has been here for almost a year named Spencer. In the morning he was kind enough to help me make posters advertising for language exchange and then after lunch, Monday afternoon, we went out and he helped me purchase a cell phone and then I added my phone number to the posters and we went to the University Central de Venezuela (UCV) and put up my posters all over campus.
After we put up our last sign we asked a woman for directions back to the metro/ subway. (
Less than 5 minutes later I get a call on my phone, it is the woman that we just talked to and she is interested in doing a language exchange. She and I decided to meet several times a week, in the mornings before she goes in to work.
Then we headed toward the metro but before we got there, we received a second call from two other girls who were also interested. So we waited for them to come and meet us, but it turned out that they really wanted free English lessons and didn’t even know how to introduce themselves in English, so I didn’t make arrangements to meet them.
Anyway, my posters were a huge success so I ended up with far more potential people to practice with then I actually have time to meet. I try to practice with at least one native speaker every day and I am also trying to put time into studying on my own, but there is so much to do, I am having a hard time juggling everything!
Anyway, I feel like Spencer really helped me get the ball rolling with learning Spanish here!
Eventually he and I took the metro back to our neighborhood and came home. I think that we got home around 6pm and t hen had a quiet evening. I felt like I'd gotten a lot done on my first full day here.
5-6 am meditation (optional - nope I haven't been going to it.)
6-7 am yoga class (required)
7 - 8 am mediation time (I usually only stay for the first 15 minutes or so.)
8 - 8:30 am breakfast - everyone makes their own breakfast. I usually have fruit and toast.
8:30 - 9:00 am household chores.
9:00 - 1:00 work
1:00 - 2:00 lunch
2:00-6:00 work
6:00pm meditation
Of course, the schedule is very flexible, but it provides a general framework for weekdays at the house.
The last day I was there, a group of school children came out to the farm to see what it was like there and I took over 200 pictures of the kids and the farm. It really is a wonderful place!
Big Hugs
Mariah
visit to Centro Madre, my second week in Venezulea
The second week that I was in Venezuela I was invited to go to Centro Madre in Barlovento. (I copied a description of the project from the priven.org webpage and have pasted it below.) They have built a training garden there and the last day of my visit, a group of school kids came out to Centro Madre for a field trip to see the garden.
I took over 200 pictures while the kids were there and my favorites are posted below.
The first picture is of Didi, the nun who runs Centro Madre, showing the kids the worms in the worm composting that they are doing at the farm. Yes, I really appreciate all soil creation that they are doing at the farm. I still don't really know how to grow food, but I can contribute to the soil making! :-)
The second picture is of Didi describing the medicinal garden to the kids. I think that they did a great job of putting up signs at Centro Madre and I'd like for us to have the same at the Prout institute. (Yes, our gardens are a LOT smaller!)
The farm has a fish pond, but it isn't stocked yet. On my to-do list is to read up on how to make sure that fish ponds don't become polluters. If anyone has a good article or two on fish pond design, please send it my way.
They also have bee hives. Here Didi is getting the pieces ready - they put in starter bees wax. Then later they can pull out these slots and easily harvest the honey from them.
Here are the kids around the compost piles! The farm currently has four fantastic compost piles. The kids were surprised at how hot the compost piles get. giggle!
These are the vegetable beds.
The guy in the organge is another Dada (monk). His name is Dada Atmapranananda and he is from the Philippines. The man is he talking to is an agriculture expert from Cuba who is here advising Venezuelans about how to grow more food. (Chavez and Castro worked out a deal where they are trading oil for expertise. Many of the new health clinics that have been opened are staffed by Cuban doctors and/or Cuban dentists.)
And yes, the farm also has a three legged tortuse. It wanders around and hangs out in the shade. Sometimes it wanders into the house, but it isn't house trained. (I never realized that tortuse poo smelled so bad!)
And the farm has 80 chickens. One of the things that I learned from Dada Atma is that it is good to put fresh leaves and other fresh things in the pen for the chickens to peck at. It keeps them from pecking at each other. So, every morning we'd break off some small leafy branches and weave them into the wire mesh of the wall and the chickens would occupy themselves with consuming all the leaves. The chickens were very excited about all the leaves!
The most exciting thing for me was that the farm had some moringa olifera trees. So I brought back two branches to plant here at the house. http://moringa-plant.com/ I also brought back a lot of leaves which I cleaned and froze for later consumption. (They are an excellent source of iron.) One of the branches is planted already but digging holes in this soil is hard work and we have two papaya seedlings to plant as well, so we have three more big holes to dig.
Starting in February 2009, a very intense effort has been undertaken to develop a self-reliant, integrated farm at Centro Madre in Barlovento, Venezuela. Our goal is both to create a regular source of income from a wide variety of agricultural products and to educate the local community about the principles and practices of small-scale organic agriculture. Dada Atmapranananda supervised the agricultural project from dawn to dusk with his tireless effort. At each step of the way, we were advised and supported by two agronomists from the agricultural institute of the government (CIARA) in preparation for an inspection to evaluate the progress of our 3-hectare farm. In addition to two paid farm workers, many volunteers came from the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela and the Ananda Marga community to lend a hand to this collective effort. Several benefactors gave us financial donations to buy materials. It was astonishing how hard everyone worked, and the results were very impressive.
CIARA recognizes 12 aspects of an ideal integrated small-scale agricultural project. Half of them we already had, and the other half we started during this period: [Click Read more...]
Vegetables
Floriculture (flowers)
Medicinal plants
Fruit trees
Compost
Seed Bank and Nursery
Root crops
Apiculture (bee-keeping)
Pisciculture (fish ponds)
Animal husbandry
Food processing (cottage industry)
Training workshops
Nearly 10 tons of cow manure was brought from nearby farms and combined with compost to create a very rich organic fertilizer, which we used to fill15 vegetable beds, each one 10 meters long and one meter wide. We planted them all with 12 different vegetables and built an irrigation system to water half of them. Very delicious tomatoes are now ripening each day.
We also created a special area for herbs and medicinal plants that now has 15 varieties from aloe vera plants to lemongrass. Nine varieties of fruit trees are flourishing, with over 100 trees in total. Our 22 bee hives are starting to produce honey again. As a cottage industry, we dry and package bananas, mangos and tomatoes for sale in local markets.
We created two ponds: one is 12 by 10 meters, the second is 8 by 10 meters, both are one meter deep. We covered the bottom of each pond with manure to encourage the growth of algae, which will provide food to the fish populations, and then pumped water from a small stream that runs adjacent to the back of the farm
The CIARA inspector came on April 25, 2009 to determine the category of our farm: good, very good or excellent. He rated us as excellent, and said that if there had been a higher category, we would certainly deserve it! In July, he will return to evaluate our progress.
Our project is inspired by the following words of P.R. Sarkar: “Self-reliance is the main objective of our farming projects, hence they should be oriented towards production. They should not be dependent on outside resources. An integrated approach to farming should include such areas as agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, sericulture, lac culture, apiculture, dairy farming, animal husbandry, irrigation, pisciculture, pest control, the proper use of fertilizers, cottage industries, energy production, research centres and water conservation. This approach will help make farming projects self-reliant, and should be adopted.”
The climate of Barlovento is very hot and humid, which means that controlling plant diseases and pests is very challenging. Our gardens will be more productive if we can install shade netting. We also want to invest in the development of our seed bank, extend the irrigation system, and build a laboratory and food processing kitchen. For this, donations will be gratefully appreciated. Please get in touch with the director if you’re interested in helping out.
We invite suggestions and proposals for research and experiments, and volunteers are most welcome.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I turned 38 in Caracas. Hip hip hooray!
I was lucky enough to have my birthday fall on a Saturday night so I figured it’d be relatively easy to find a place to go dancing. Je je je. None of the guys that I stay with are dancers, but there is a female volunteer (Yakelin) who stays at another house and she likes to dance, so she brought a friend and the 5 of us went out. I basically told the guys, I hadn’t gone out dancing yet because I didn’t think it was a good idea for me to walk home alone, late at night. I told them that if they came out with us, I wouldn’t bug them about dancing. I just wanted some company for the walk home so they were fine with the idea of coming out for the evening.
Overall the day was a long day for me, and very hot.
I was supposed to leave the house at 9:30 for a language practice session from 10 – 12, but I got delayed.
…For good reason! I showed Jose the 7 bites I’d gotten on my hand the night before to encourage him to find me a mosquito net. He said that he had looked at one place but that they had been out. He suggested trying the old mosquito net that I had been told existed, but had a bunch of holes in it and was pretty much useless as far as the others were concerned. I figured that it was better than nothing, so Jose showed me where the old junky mosquito net was and I got it down and took it up to my room. Anyway, I left the house about 20 minutes late, but then I went to the wrong metro station. So I ended up being about an hour late. ~ not a big deal in Venezula, but it cut our practice time in half because I had to be back at the house by 1pm for an interview.
To make up for being late, my language partner and I practiced mostly in English, but he clarified some useful phrases for me. He also loaned me a Venezuelan video that we (the house + guests) are going to watch tonight (Sunday).
One of the guys in the house was nice enough to text me and tell me that the afternoon interview had been pushed back so I was able to stay and practice for an extra hour. But then I had to walk home in the blazing sun and I was pretty tired by the time I reached the house.
When I went upstairs, it smelled absolutely scrumptious because Dada was baking a birthday cake for Hans and I. (Hans’ birthday is on Tuesday.)
At about 3pm, none of the people who were supposed to be coming to lunch had shown up, so we went ahead and ate without them.
Then Dada and I started to practice some Spanish for our evening language lesson with Yakelin. Around 5pm she and another friend, Ruth, showed up. Yakelin brought me a beautiful white rose for my birthday. When she first arrived, she started talking to me but I just couldn’t understand what she was saying and I almost started to cry … my brain melted. So I told her that I needed to go rest for 10 minutes and that I would then come back and try again and that is what I did. I ended up skipping my Spanish lesson that evening because my brain was tired.
Jose and his friend who has a radio show arrived about 6pm and they didn’t want to eat because they were going to a party later. He invited us to go with him, but we decided against it because it was in a barrio that we didn’t know and we didn’t have anyone that we knew who was comfortable being out guide there.
Anway, Dusty and Spencer asked the radio guy a bunch of questions. It was sort of odd because there were times where I was able to understand almost everything he said and then whole other sections where I only understood a few words. I think it is because of the gaps in my vocabulary.
After the interview was over, I went up and took a shower and got ready to go out dancing. Dusty made a pot of coffee because we were all tired but everyone was still willing to go out. [The sun can really take a lot of energy out of you!]
So, we walked down the hill around 8pm and stopped at one of the restaurants in the mall for our first beer. The conversation mostly focused on what the drinking games are in Venezula. I thought it was funny that there is a version of “I’ve never” that is played here.
We decided to go somewhere else for our second beer and took the metro to Chaicito station. There we walked around looking for Juan Sebatian Bar, when we finally found it, things didn’t go very well. Three of us were in jeans and it is a coat and tie kind of place. Yakelin talked the door man into letting us in, but as we went in, the door guy told Spencer “you’d better leave a big tip at your table” so we decided that it wasn’t the place for us to hang out. Yakelin was disappointed, but it really was a bit pricier than we’d expected. I suggested going back to a place that we’d passed that advertised pool and beer because it was still early and I didn’t think there would be much dancing.
So, we went back to where I had seen the sign and walked down to where I thought was the place. It looked like a restaurant and bar and there was good music and I thought that I saw some pool tables in back. At first they told us that the place was full, so Yakelin was making moves to leave, but I hung out and the door men relented and let us in.
Inside people were dancing, drinking, eating. They also had buckets of beer (10 beers for 50 B … basically about $1 per beer) so the guys were happy.
The staff found us a table upstairs but when a good song came on Yakelin and I went back downstairs to dance. Everyone there was dancing as a couple, but Yakelin is young and cute, so of course one of the guys at a table wanted to dance with her. He made his friend ask me to dance so that he could dance with Yakelin and I felt bad for the guy because I could see that he really didn’t want to dance with me but I figured, heck dude, it is just one song and it is my birthday, so yes, please dance with me.
So we started dancing and about 30 seconds into it I could see his face start to change because he saw that I really could dance. About halfway through the song, he looked like he was actually having fun and I was having fun matching his footwork and at the end of the song he thanked me and said that I was a good dancer. Then the next song, one of his friends came over and danced with me. His friend was an even flashier dancer than the first guy so I really had fun matching his footwork. Then the song changed and I had to follow without being able to see his footwork, but I did Ok there too. One of the connections that we had was a forehead connection and it was so hot in there that by the time the song was done, I about looked like I had just gotten out of the shower. But it felt really good to be on a dancefloor again!
Then I went back upstairs and hung out with the crew for a while and watched the dancing down below.
Our table was back in the corner and Spencer and Yakelin were talking a bit with the waiter. He was a nice guy, a bit older, and Spencer started saying that the waiter was saying nice things about me. At first I figured that someone at the table had told this guy to chat me up because it was my birthday. He started writing me notes in English, but I just took it all as a big joke and figured that my coworkers were having fun with it.
Later while I was still upstairs, there was another couple at a table near ours and the woman there caught my eye and gave me a thumbs up about my dancing. She and her partner were drinking and dancing upstairs and they were VERY good. They would drink and then get up next to their table and dance, then sit back down and drink some more. They were a lot of fun to watch and I loved the fact that there was enough space for them to dance right next to their table. She was doing a little foot kick that I was trying to figure out and I really enjoyed watching them.
The layout of the place was fantastic and people were really dancing everywhere, as well as infront of the band or infront of the DJ. It was basically two rooms separated by large archways with balconies over the archways so you could watch the dance floor in either room. The place was packed, with people of all different ages, including some families and little kids literally running in circles around the tables. LOL
When it came time for the really good couple to settle up their bill, they were talking to the waiter and then the guy came over and asked me to dance. I visually asked his partner/ (?wife?) if it was Ok and she said “yes.” So I got to dance with him and he was also a pleasure to dance with. It made me really happy and it reminded me of a welcome circle jam ... “Hello new person. We are glad you are here. Have fun and dance with us.”
So I felt welcomed into the Venezuelan dance scene. Definitely a good start to dancing here!
Later Yakelin and I were dancing together upstairs, goofing around and the flashy guy that I’d been dancing with downstairs came up and started dancing with the both of us. First he joined us and then he was trying to lead the both of us, but that wasn’t working very well. So the really good guy from the couple came over and danced with Yakelin and I got to dance some more with the flashy guy. I think he was Columbian. We stopped several times because he was wanted to do a different dance that I don’t know that has a hip swing or hip pop, but I couldn’t figure it out exactly and my language skills were not up to the task. So we just ended up doing some other dances instead. Of course, I should have suggested that he and I go back downstairs to dance because we scandalized my co-workers. (LOL I’d love to see their faces at a blues dance. We were being VERY tame. I promise.)
Later in the night, the chairs had been switched around and I was on the end, the waiter brought a glass with some nice whisky in it to share with me. I also shared it with Yakelin, so the three of us were passing his glass back and forth and he introduced himself and we had a nice little conversation. He said that we were friends and shook my hand, and I really appreciated the fact that he still wanted to say “hello” even though it was obvious that I wasn’t going to ask for his number nor give him mine.
So yes, best things of the night … I got to dance!!! And the people that I’m working with are cool and many of the Venezuelans that I am meeting are pretty cool and I think that overall, everyone had a good time.
Overall the day was a long day for me, and very hot.
I was supposed to leave the house at 9:30 for a language practice session from 10 – 12, but I got delayed.
…For good reason! I showed Jose the 7 bites I’d gotten on my hand the night before to encourage him to find me a mosquito net. He said that he had looked at one place but that they had been out. He suggested trying the old mosquito net that I had been told existed, but had a bunch of holes in it and was pretty much useless as far as the others were concerned. I figured that it was better than nothing, so Jose showed me where the old junky mosquito net was and I got it down and took it up to my room. Anyway, I left the house about 20 minutes late, but then I went to the wrong metro station. So I ended up being about an hour late. ~ not a big deal in Venezula, but it cut our practice time in half because I had to be back at the house by 1pm for an interview.
To make up for being late, my language partner and I practiced mostly in English, but he clarified some useful phrases for me. He also loaned me a Venezuelan video that we (the house + guests) are going to watch tonight (Sunday).
One of the guys in the house was nice enough to text me and tell me that the afternoon interview had been pushed back so I was able to stay and practice for an extra hour. But then I had to walk home in the blazing sun and I was pretty tired by the time I reached the house.
When I went upstairs, it smelled absolutely scrumptious because Dada was baking a birthday cake for Hans and I. (Hans’ birthday is on Tuesday.)
At about 3pm, none of the people who were supposed to be coming to lunch had shown up, so we went ahead and ate without them.
Then Dada and I started to practice some Spanish for our evening language lesson with Yakelin. Around 5pm she and another friend, Ruth, showed up. Yakelin brought me a beautiful white rose for my birthday. When she first arrived, she started talking to me but I just couldn’t understand what she was saying and I almost started to cry … my brain melted. So I told her that I needed to go rest for 10 minutes and that I would then come back and try again and that is what I did. I ended up skipping my Spanish lesson that evening because my brain was tired.
Jose and his friend who has a radio show arrived about 6pm and they didn’t want to eat because they were going to a party later. He invited us to go with him, but we decided against it because it was in a barrio that we didn’t know and we didn’t have anyone that we knew who was comfortable being out guide there.
Anway, Dusty and Spencer asked the radio guy a bunch of questions. It was sort of odd because there were times where I was able to understand almost everything he said and then whole other sections where I only understood a few words. I think it is because of the gaps in my vocabulary.
After the interview was over, I went up and took a shower and got ready to go out dancing. Dusty made a pot of coffee because we were all tired but everyone was still willing to go out. [The sun can really take a lot of energy out of you!]
So, we walked down the hill around 8pm and stopped at one of the restaurants in the mall for our first beer. The conversation mostly focused on what the drinking games are in Venezula. I thought it was funny that there is a version of “I’ve never” that is played here.
We decided to go somewhere else for our second beer and took the metro to Chaicito station. There we walked around looking for Juan Sebatian Bar, when we finally found it, things didn’t go very well. Three of us were in jeans and it is a coat and tie kind of place. Yakelin talked the door man into letting us in, but as we went in, the door guy told Spencer “you’d better leave a big tip at your table” so we decided that it wasn’t the place for us to hang out. Yakelin was disappointed, but it really was a bit pricier than we’d expected. I suggested going back to a place that we’d passed that advertised pool and beer because it was still early and I didn’t think there would be much dancing.
So, we went back to where I had seen the sign and walked down to where I thought was the place. It looked like a restaurant and bar and there was good music and I thought that I saw some pool tables in back. At first they told us that the place was full, so Yakelin was making moves to leave, but I hung out and the door men relented and let us in.
Inside people were dancing, drinking, eating. They also had buckets of beer (10 beers for 50 B … basically about $1 per beer) so the guys were happy.
The staff found us a table upstairs but when a good song came on Yakelin and I went back downstairs to dance. Everyone there was dancing as a couple, but Yakelin is young and cute, so of course one of the guys at a table wanted to dance with her. He made his friend ask me to dance so that he could dance with Yakelin and I felt bad for the guy because I could see that he really didn’t want to dance with me but I figured, heck dude, it is just one song and it is my birthday, so yes, please dance with me.
So we started dancing and about 30 seconds into it I could see his face start to change because he saw that I really could dance. About halfway through the song, he looked like he was actually having fun and I was having fun matching his footwork and at the end of the song he thanked me and said that I was a good dancer. Then the next song, one of his friends came over and danced with me. His friend was an even flashier dancer than the first guy so I really had fun matching his footwork. Then the song changed and I had to follow without being able to see his footwork, but I did Ok there too. One of the connections that we had was a forehead connection and it was so hot in there that by the time the song was done, I about looked like I had just gotten out of the shower. But it felt really good to be on a dancefloor again!
Then I went back upstairs and hung out with the crew for a while and watched the dancing down below.
Our table was back in the corner and Spencer and Yakelin were talking a bit with the waiter. He was a nice guy, a bit older, and Spencer started saying that the waiter was saying nice things about me. At first I figured that someone at the table had told this guy to chat me up because it was my birthday. He started writing me notes in English, but I just took it all as a big joke and figured that my coworkers were having fun with it.
Later while I was still upstairs, there was another couple at a table near ours and the woman there caught my eye and gave me a thumbs up about my dancing. She and her partner were drinking and dancing upstairs and they were VERY good. They would drink and then get up next to their table and dance, then sit back down and drink some more. They were a lot of fun to watch and I loved the fact that there was enough space for them to dance right next to their table. She was doing a little foot kick that I was trying to figure out and I really enjoyed watching them.
The layout of the place was fantastic and people were really dancing everywhere, as well as infront of the band or infront of the DJ. It was basically two rooms separated by large archways with balconies over the archways so you could watch the dance floor in either room. The place was packed, with people of all different ages, including some families and little kids literally running in circles around the tables. LOL
When it came time for the really good couple to settle up their bill, they were talking to the waiter and then the guy came over and asked me to dance. I visually asked his partner/ (?wife?) if it was Ok and she said “yes.” So I got to dance with him and he was also a pleasure to dance with. It made me really happy and it reminded me of a welcome circle jam ... “Hello new person. We are glad you are here. Have fun and dance with us.”
So I felt welcomed into the Venezuelan dance scene. Definitely a good start to dancing here!
Later Yakelin and I were dancing together upstairs, goofing around and the flashy guy that I’d been dancing with downstairs came up and started dancing with the both of us. First he joined us and then he was trying to lead the both of us, but that wasn’t working very well. So the really good guy from the couple came over and danced with Yakelin and I got to dance some more with the flashy guy. I think he was Columbian. We stopped several times because he was wanted to do a different dance that I don’t know that has a hip swing or hip pop, but I couldn’t figure it out exactly and my language skills were not up to the task. So we just ended up doing some other dances instead. Of course, I should have suggested that he and I go back downstairs to dance because we scandalized my co-workers. (LOL I’d love to see their faces at a blues dance. We were being VERY tame. I promise.)
Later in the night, the chairs had been switched around and I was on the end, the waiter brought a glass with some nice whisky in it to share with me. I also shared it with Yakelin, so the three of us were passing his glass back and forth and he introduced himself and we had a nice little conversation. He said that we were friends and shook my hand, and I really appreciated the fact that he still wanted to say “hello” even though it was obvious that I wasn’t going to ask for his number nor give him mine.
So yes, best things of the night … I got to dance!!! And the people that I’m working with are cool and many of the Venezuelans that I am meeting are pretty cool and I think that overall, everyone had a good time.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Arrived Safely & Explanation of how I ended up in Caracas
Important Note:
Frankie Manning, one of the original inventors of swing dancing, the Lindy Hop and aerils, passed away about a week before I left for Caracas. I was lucky enough to take classes from him both at Herrang (Sweden) in 2000 and at a MSU workshop. As you can see, he was filled with joy and had a marvelous sense of humor that infused his dancing and choreography. I loved hearing his stories as much as watching him dance. The style of dancing that he helped to create has provided inmesurable amounts of joy to many, many people in this world! Frankie Manning (May 26, 1914 – April 27, 2009)
Brief explanation of why I wanted to come to Venezuela :
Back in 2000 there were a series of protests that took place inCochabamba , Bolivia 's third largest city, between January and April 2000 because of the privatization of the municipal water supply . This time is often referred to as "The Cochabamba Water Wars" and as I followed the water drama in Bolivia I also became aware of Venezuela. Over the past 9 years, I kept reading about various programs that Chavez was trying here in Venezuela and things he was doing internationally to win brownie points, like giving free heating oil to some poor folks in New York City and Michigan. At some point, the idea that I wanted to go and see Venezuela started to grow and Naomi Kline's documentary "The Take" about cooperatives in Argentina furthered this idea because cooperatives are also being heavily promoted by Chavez. (And well, there are a lot of other pieces, but I'll write more about them later.) Thus, after I finished my MS, it seemed like an excellent time to go and see what was happening in Venezuela for myself.
So, after I finished the TwoVoters.com campaign I began researching NGOs in Venezuela with the hope that I could find an internship with one. I was specifically looking for an NGO whose work matched my political beliefs and I only found one in Caracas, the Prout Research Institute. (www.priven.org)
Their website said:
The Mission of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela is to empower all people to improve their quality of life and live in a more just society by fostering the development of worker cooperatives, self-reliant communities, environmental protection, universal ethics and spiritual values.
The Vision of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela is to be an independent model institution, recognized in the national and international community for its research, training, conferences and publications. We will study the potential of each area and analyze current policies, applying the dynamic principles of the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout) to measurably improve the standard of living and the quality of life of the citizens we serve.
We strive to strengthen worker cooperatives, so that people, by working together, become a strong force to create true economic democracy and regional self-reliance. By promoting high quality education and by raising consciousness, we work to enable communities to determine their own economic future.
Prout's goal is to achieve the maximum, rational and sustainable use of natural resources as well as to develop the physical, mental and spiritual potential of people for the ever progressive well-being of all living beings. The Institute will develop specific proposals that promote land, fiscal and monetary reforms and other positive initiatives. We are dedicated to working cooperatively with other governmental and non-governmental organizations in Venezuela, Latin America and the world for the country’s integral and sustainable development.
Values Statement
We believe that all people deserve:
• The right to live in dignity with the minimum requirements guaranteed: food, clothing, housing, education and medical care.
• The right to an honest job with just wages and a clean, sustainable environment
• The power to make decisions over their own resources, environment and working conditions
• Fair and sustainable trade.
We oppose:
• corruption
• violations of human rights
• ecologically unsustainable business practices
• economic rules that adversely impact communities, national governments and entire regions of the world
• Concentration of ownership of land and natural resources in the hands of a few.
So I was truly excited to find a place that matched my beliefs and I wrote to them in December and asked about interning with them. They didn't reply and I went on and applied with a number of other places. Then in early March connections suddenly started happening and I drove up to Massachusetts to meet the director of the Institute (Dada) who was in the states for 3 weeks. He recommended that I be interviewed by the President of the Institute (José) and after the interview, they agreed to let me come and work with them for 6 months. (Visit www.priven.org to see bios and pictures of the people I'm working with.)
[I do have to take a moment to thank all the friends who supported me to make this happen. Especially those of you who helped with my applications, suggested websites, and provided introductions! I also need to thank Jesse and her family for being willing to let me work for them so that I could be near DC and in a better position to find a job!]
I decided that I really wanted to be able to celebrate Deirdre's and Jesse's graduations, so I arranged my flight to fly out Saturday May 2nd, and arrived early in the morning on Sunday May 3rd.
The note below is the one that I sent out to family and friends when I first arrived in Caracas on May 3rd. However, here are now the pictures that go with the information ...
Hello Wonderful People,
I just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely this morning in
Caracas and Dada was waiting right outside customs for me and he
whisked me to the car. We drove through the city and stopped at a
Sunday morning China Town market to pick up some Tofu (not that I can
eat it) but it was neat to see all the Chinese food products that you
can get here. Then we came straight to the Institute.
The Institute is housed in a beautiful building with several gardens.
The first picture looks down from the third floor onto the back yard. It is directly out the door from the dining room. At the second floor level is the back garden. You can see in the front their is a grape covered patio and behind it is an actual garden. The third picture also shows part of the neighbor's back garden, they have far fewer trees and provide a nice view of the hills across the next valley. (The back yard is in the direction away from Caracas. There is an entire valley behind us that is filled with people, a suberb, if you will, but it is mostly slums, especially the buildings that are built up onto the hills.)
The fourth picture is the entrance inside the gate from the street.
These two pictures are of the entry way into the main floor of the house. The house is on the left of these pictures, the door you see goes back past the washing machine to the ground floor garden. Yeay! I was worried I'd have to wash my own jeans (not something that I am good at, LOL.)
On the main floor are the offices, a kitchen and the dining room.
This is the main office where most of us work and we have our meetings and discussions. Spencer, the intern from Canada, is in this picture.
Here is our kitchen and dining room.
On the second floor is the men's dormitory. I had no idea what it looked like the first two weeks I was here. (And I haven't bothered to take pictures, nothing much exciting.) Basically there are a just a bunch of room. One of them, Dada's room is also an indoor meditation room when he is not sleeping. It has a soft carpet and a picture of his guru, Baba.
On the third floor is the women's dormitory. In the first room there
are several bunk beds and also a table for socializing. There is a
kitchen but the only thing that works in it is the electric stove.
Then there are 2 private rooms and 2 bathroom. I've been given my own
room, with a fantastic view of both the mountains and the city.
There is also a covered porch, the length of the house that is used
for daily meditations.
The following pictures are the various views from the third floor.
As you can see, Avila Mountain is practically next door. It is within easy walking distance and is an amazing National Park. It is also a water source for some portion of the city, but I'm not exactly sure how much water comes from there yet. I do know that there are wonderful waterfalls there and now that my knee is doing better I'm looking forward to some hiking. (I spent to much time in the car driving in the weeks before I came to Venezuela and it has taken a couple of weeks for my knee to recover.)
Below are some of the views looking off the yoga studio balcony, that looks down the hill toward Caracas and include the seminary across the street. Its yellow fence is on the left in the first picture. The brothers had a problem with their wall being covered with graffiti but they covered it up and painted a religious picture on their wall and for the past two weeks, none of the local kids have painted on their wall. You can seem most of their dormitory in the second picture. They have a very cute Alaskan Husky puppy that I watch play by himself in the mornings when I go out to the patio for Yoga classes.
There are several mango trees on the property, including one just off the corner of the yoga studio and they should be ripe in the next month or so. (May 28th I got to have a delicious yellow mango off the tree! I can't wait for more! Every morning now, when I come down to the office I go out to the side garden to see if any more have ripened and fallen off the tree. It is a bit like an Easter Egg Hunt. :-)
On May 3rd, I slept most of the day because I didn't really get to sleep at all
last night. Then I unpacked and went out and sat in the garden for a
while. When I finally came downstairs, I was warmly greeted and Hanz
had made me a salad. (With fresh, organic vegetable from the
Barlavento garden.) So I had a fresh organic salad and some homemade
bread to eat and now I'm about to sit down and read the orientation
manual with a nice cup of tea. :-)
But first I wanted to let you all know that I had arrived safely.
Oh, and I have to thank Lilian for her help in changing my seat for me
for the second part of the flight. It worked out that I ended up
sitting next to the 3 cutest guys on the plane. They were just coming
back from a vacation in Cancun and live in another part of Venezuela.
Anyway, it was fun to talk to them and they invited me to come and
visit them sometime when I have time off. :-) ... Thanks Lilian! ;-)
I hope that things are going well for you.
Lots of Love
M
Frankie Manning, one of the original inventors of swing dancing, the Lindy Hop and aerils, passed away about a week before I left for Caracas. I was lucky enough to take classes from him both at Herrang (Sweden) in 2000 and at a MSU workshop. As you can see, he was filled with joy and had a marvelous sense of humor that infused his dancing and choreography. I loved hearing his stories as much as watching him dance. The style of dancing that he helped to create has provided inmesurable amounts of joy to many, many people in this world! Frankie Manning (May 26, 1914 – April 27, 2009)Brief explanation of why I wanted to come to Venezuela :
Back in 2000 there were a series of protests that took place in
So, after I finished the TwoVoters.com campaign I began researching NGOs in Venezuela with the hope that I could find an internship with one. I was specifically looking for an NGO whose work matched my political beliefs and I only found one in Caracas, the Prout Research Institute. (www.priven.org)
Their website said:
The Mission of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela is to empower all people to improve their quality of life and live in a more just society by fostering the development of worker cooperatives, self-reliant communities, environmental protection, universal ethics and spiritual values.
The Vision of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela is to be an independent model institution, recognized in the national and international community for its research, training, conferences and publications. We will study the potential of each area and analyze current policies, applying the dynamic principles of the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout) to measurably improve the standard of living and the quality of life of the citizens we serve.
We strive to strengthen worker cooperatives, so that people, by working together, become a strong force to create true economic democracy and regional self-reliance. By promoting high quality education and by raising consciousness, we work to enable communities to determine their own economic future.
Prout's goal is to achieve the maximum, rational and sustainable use of natural resources as well as to develop the physical, mental and spiritual potential of people for the ever progressive well-being of all living beings. The Institute will develop specific proposals that promote land, fiscal and monetary reforms and other positive initiatives. We are dedicated to working cooperatively with other governmental and non-governmental organizations in Venezuela, Latin America and the world for the country’s integral and sustainable development.
Values Statement
We believe that all people deserve:
• The right to live in dignity with the minimum requirements guaranteed: food, clothing, housing, education and medical care.
• The right to an honest job with just wages and a clean, sustainable environment
• The power to make decisions over their own resources, environment and working conditions
• Fair and sustainable trade.
We oppose:
• corruption
• violations of human rights
• ecologically unsustainable business practices
• economic rules that adversely impact communities, national governments and entire regions of the world
• Concentration of ownership of land and natural resources in the hands of a few.
So I was truly excited to find a place that matched my beliefs and I wrote to them in December and asked about interning with them. They didn't reply and I went on and applied with a number of other places. Then in early March connections suddenly started happening and I drove up to Massachusetts to meet the director of the Institute (Dada) who was in the states for 3 weeks. He recommended that I be interviewed by the President of the Institute (José) and after the interview, they agreed to let me come and work with them for 6 months. (Visit www.priven.org to see bios and pictures of the people I'm working with.)
[I do have to take a moment to thank all the friends who supported me to make this happen. Especially those of you who helped with my applications, suggested websites, and provided introductions! I also need to thank Jesse and her family for being willing to let me work for them so that I could be near DC and in a better position to find a job!]
I decided that I really wanted to be able to celebrate Deirdre's and Jesse's graduations, so I arranged my flight to fly out Saturday May 2nd, and arrived early in the morning on Sunday May 3rd.
The note below is the one that I sent out to family and friends when I first arrived in Caracas on May 3rd. However, here are now the pictures that go with the information ...
Hello Wonderful People,
I just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely this morning in
Caracas and Dada was waiting right outside customs for me and he
whisked me to the car. We drove through the city and stopped at a
Sunday morning China Town market to pick up some Tofu (not that I can
eat it) but it was neat to see all the Chinese food products that you
can get here. Then we came straight to the Institute.
The Institute is housed in a beautiful building with several gardens.
The first picture looks down from the third floor onto the back yard. It is directly out the door from the dining room. At the second floor level is the back garden. You can see in the front their is a grape covered patio and behind it is an actual garden. The third picture also shows part of the neighbor's back garden, they have far fewer trees and provide a nice view of the hills across the next valley. (The back yard is in the direction away from Caracas. There is an entire valley behind us that is filled with people, a suberb, if you will, but it is mostly slums, especially the buildings that are built up onto the hills.)
The fourth picture is the entrance inside the gate from the street.
These two pictures are of the entry way into the main floor of the house. The house is on the left of these pictures, the door you see goes back past the washing machine to the ground floor garden. Yeay! I was worried I'd have to wash my own jeans (not something that I am good at, LOL.)
On the main floor are the offices, a kitchen and the dining room.
This is the main office where most of us work and we have our meetings and discussions. Spencer, the intern from Canada, is in this picture.
Here is our kitchen and dining room.
On the second floor is the men's dormitory. I had no idea what it looked like the first two weeks I was here. (And I haven't bothered to take pictures, nothing much exciting.) Basically there are a just a bunch of room. One of them, Dada's room is also an indoor meditation room when he is not sleeping. It has a soft carpet and a picture of his guru, Baba.
On the third floor is the women's dormitory. In the first room there
are several bunk beds and also a table for socializing. There is a
kitchen but the only thing that works in it is the electric stove.
Then there are 2 private rooms and 2 bathroom. I've been given my own
room, with a fantastic view of both the mountains and the city.
There is also a covered porch, the length of the house that is used
for daily meditations.
The following pictures are the various views from the third floor.
As you can see, Avila Mountain is practically next door. It is within easy walking distance and is an amazing National Park. It is also a water source for some portion of the city, but I'm not exactly sure how much water comes from there yet. I do know that there are wonderful waterfalls there and now that my knee is doing better I'm looking forward to some hiking. (I spent to much time in the car driving in the weeks before I came to Venezuela and it has taken a couple of weeks for my knee to recover.)
Below are some of the views looking off the yoga studio balcony, that looks down the hill toward Caracas and include the seminary across the street. Its yellow fence is on the left in the first picture. The brothers had a problem with their wall being covered with graffiti but they covered it up and painted a religious picture on their wall and for the past two weeks, none of the local kids have painted on their wall. You can seem most of their dormitory in the second picture. They have a very cute Alaskan Husky puppy that I watch play by himself in the mornings when I go out to the patio for Yoga classes.
There are several mango trees on the property, including one just off the corner of the yoga studio and they should be ripe in the next month or so. (May 28th I got to have a delicious yellow mango off the tree! I can't wait for more! Every morning now, when I come down to the office I go out to the side garden to see if any more have ripened and fallen off the tree. It is a bit like an Easter Egg Hunt. :-)
On May 3rd, I slept most of the day because I didn't really get to sleep at all
last night. Then I unpacked and went out and sat in the garden for a
while. When I finally came downstairs, I was warmly greeted and Hanz
had made me a salad. (With fresh, organic vegetable from the
Barlavento garden.) So I had a fresh organic salad and some homemade
bread to eat and now I'm about to sit down and read the orientation
manual with a nice cup of tea. :-)
But first I wanted to let you all know that I had arrived safely.
Oh, and I have to thank Lilian for her help in changing my seat for me
for the second part of the flight. It worked out that I ended up
sitting next to the 3 cutest guys on the plane. They were just coming
back from a vacation in Cancun and live in another part of Venezuela.
Anyway, it was fun to talk to them and they invited me to come and
visit them sometime when I have time off. :-) ... Thanks Lilian! ;-)
I hope that things are going well for you.
Lots of Love
M
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