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. 

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 in Cochabamba, 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