Random bits:

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.