¡Hola! ¡Hola!

Yesterday was the first day we had free since we arrived in Mérida, and Jenee and I took the time to explore a little and see what's around here in the city. There is a park across the street that we both have been looking at for a few days, and mi padre said a few days ago that it was a good place to go, so we went.

It was probably one of the best parks that I have ever been to. There were lots of cool, new, interesting flowers and plants, and a river ran through the entire park. The view of the Andes was incredible, and it was also almost empty, so we had the entire park to ourselves.

When we were walking along the path, we stumbled upon a cage of parrots. They were all so beautiful, and we found out very quickly that they know how to talk. At first, we started laughing, and they laughed back at us, and they sounded almost exactly the same as us! Naturally, this made us laugh even more, and they in turn laughed harder again. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. Five or six parrots laughing with (or at?) two gringas about... nothing. They also know how to whistle at us, say "¡Hola!" and "Hasta Luego". They were certainly the highlight of my day.

After we left the park, both of us were starving and thirsty, so we went to go find a place we could grab some lunch. We went to a place called Panadería y Pastelería Croacia, which was a restaurant and bakery. We were salivating over all of the delicious desserts they had on display, but after our almuerzo ejecutivo, we were stuffed, quite literally. The almuerzo ejecutivo started with a basket of bread and soup, followed by a HUGE entree with rice, caulifower, more bread, and fried plantains. I had el pollo con champiňones, and Jenee had the trout. Everything tasted absolutely amazing, but it was simply too much food for either of us to finish. We stayed for almost an hour trying to eat everything on our plate, since it's very rude not to finish a meal, but we just couldn't do it...

After lunch, we walked to VENUSA, and found that lots of people were there, even though we didn't have school. Not many of us have cellphones yet, so VENUSA is really the only place we can meet up with eachother. We relaxed in the hammock chairs, and chatted with some other students for a while, and then there was a meeting about weekend excursions. Jenee and I both decided that we wanted to go to the hot springs for the weekend, so we are leaving for that this morning at ten, and we'll get back tomorrow. I am so excited! We are camping in the mountains and hanging out in the natural hot springs, could there be a better way to celebrate the fourth of July? A couple of the girls are also going to bring some champaigne, so we can have a toast to Independence Day.

After we left VENUSA, we walked to a grocery store called Garzón that is very close to our house to get some sweets and a hat for our trip tomorrow. It was INSANE! There were so many people there, my head was spinning, and there was even a beauty pageant for little girls happening in the middle of the grocery store! Who knew? I was also surprised at the prices. Some things were very, very cheap, less than $1 USD, but other things were EXTREMELY expensive, like cheese, and condiments. The other funny thing about Garzón is that apparently, they don't throw out their fruits and vegetables when they get rotten, instead they leave them there until they sell... gross. The entire store smelled rotten because of it, but I suppose you get used to it.

The checkout line reminded me a lot of the traffic in the city. Very long lines, lots of carts butting in to get there first, and having a general feel of disorganization. It was absolutely ridiculous, and it probably took us twenty minutes just to check out of the store. From now on, I'm not complaining about lines in the US. I swear. You don't even know what waiting in line is until you've been to Garzón.

Well, mi madre is calling me for dinner, so I will have to cut this short. Tomorrow when I come back, I will tell you all about last night's barbeque and the trip I am about to go on.

Ciao.

Mi Casa

"I Love You Forever"

Well! Today was the first day of class, finally! On the one hand I am relieved that we have class from now on, at least I can feel like I am getting into some kind of thing that resembles a schedule. On the other hand, from now on, I am on a set schedule. I have two classes each day, Monday-Thursday, 8:00 am - 1:30 pm. It sounds rough, but it wasn't hard today. The first class that I have is called "Cross Cultural Communications" and in the first day, we have broken down what culture is, the ingredients of culture, and the different dynamics of culture. Estuvo facil. The second class that I had was Intermediate Spanish, which will take a little bit of studying. Today we reviewed some grammar and learned how to use a few phrases. Then we wrote a short story about our childhood and talked about a funny thing that happened to us as a child.

Again, classes run on Venezuelan Time. In the United States, I am used to having to be in the classroom before the professor, which means that I need to get there early. Not so here. Class started at 8:00am, but I don't think we started class until 8:20 or so. Again, definitely not what I am used to. Fortunately, we get to take a couple breaks during class, so I took some time to play with the resident cute kid Diego, whose parents work in la cafeteria in VENUSA. During Spanish, we also has a forty minute break for lunch. It was a very pleasant surprise, since I was starving by that time. After class, I took a trip to El Centro to look around and investigate with a friend of mine, Ben. Unfortunately, he had somewhere else to go, so we cut the tour short and headed back to VENUSA on my first...

BUSETA!!! The fare was cheap and the music was bumpin'. Since there aren't really many designated "bus stops", instead you have to yell, over the music, "¡La parada, por favor!" and they'll stop almost immediately, wherever they are. Everywhere you go, reggaeton is BLARING. I am not even sure if they know other music exists! Since I have been here, that is the only music I have heard: coming from cars, kids' cellphones, stores, buses, everywhere! This is the most lively place I have ever been, and it's like that at all hours of the day, both day and night! There's constant cars, music, and talking. I absolutely love it.

Today was the first day that I walked back home alone. Jenee has class until 8:00pm on Thursdays, so I decided to come back home for a while before we meet at around 8:00 to meet our Nuevos Encuentros partners. I can definitely tell a difference when I am walking alone and when I am walking with her. When I am alone, I don't attract much attention, other than the fact that I have short hair. No woman in Venezuela has short hair, NO ONE!! But when I am alone, I don't get too many catcalls or second glances. When I am with other VENUSA students though, I am sure that we stick out like a sore thumb. Everytime I walk with other students, we get lots of whistles, and catcalls. Everything from "mamacita" to "hola chicas" to my personal favorite "I love you forever" in English with a very heavy Venezuelan accent.

I bought my first piece of fruit today as well. On our way to school, Jenee and I saw HUGE mangoes easily twice the size as anything I have seen in the U.S., so when walking home, I couldn't resist myself. I haven't eaten them yet, I am waiting to share them with Jenee.

Tonight we are planning on going to some bars and la discoteca, so hopefully that should be a lot of fun. None of us have class tomorrow, so this is the first time that we really will be able to all get out in a group. I am sure we will have a great time.

Well, now it's nap time for me. Buenas Tardes.

Las Montañas Hoy

¡Las Montañas Son Bonitas!

Today we went into the Andes to take a day trip and explore around. We actually left on time today, which was very surprising to me. Again, this isn't a complaint, but a mere observation, and it is a known fact that most people outside of the United States have a very different view of time.

The bus ride was fantastic. It took over four hours to reach our final destination, since we stopped in many villages and places along the way, including a place called Mucuchies. Here, according to our tour guide, most people are farmers of onions and garlic. Believe me, the entire drive there, you could certainly smell las cebollas y los ajos. The entire mountainside smelled like it. He said that most people in Mérida believe that the people of Muchuchies are only poor farmers, but they actually have lots of money because of the fruits of their labor in the fields. However, they prefer living like los pobres because it is the way that they have always lived, and for them, it is unnecessary to live any other way.

After we drove through Muchucies, we then stopped in a small town with a church built by a man named Juan Felix Sanchez Sanchez. He started building the small churchh when he was 80 years old. Eighty f-ing years old!! It is made with no cement, but only small hand collected rocks stacked on top of eachother with the greatest of care. It was a huge feat, obviously, and took him over four years to complete. It was an amazing church too, obviously very rustic, but nonetheless it was certainly the most charming little (very little) church I have ever seen. This entire day's theme for me was enjoying and appreciated non-materialistic things: my surroundings, the people here, big dreams and accomplishments. I am so happy I have the opportunity to see such a different world from my own. Muchas gracias a todas.

When we left the church, it had started to rain, so we decided to eat lunch in a restaurant called Refugio Mucubaji that served delicious food that in the United States I would categorize under "Comfort Food". We were all chilled to the bone from being in the rain, so most of us bought hot coffee and food. I had la sopa de cebolla, onion soup, and una arepa trigo con mantequilla, a wheat arepa with butter. Everything was so fresh and the arepa was brought to me steaming hot. Even the butter was freshly whipped from fresh cream!

When we finished our meal, we finished our bus ride to the top of one of the peaks that reached 14,000 feet above sea level and took a four kilometer hike from one lake to another. It was absolutely beautiful, but the altitude made it difficult to do anything too fast. You could certainly tell that the air was thinner there.

The walk was great, we saw such a huge variety of things. A few other students saw a BIG spider and got a picture of it, we also saw some deer, and lots of horses. I don't think they were wild, because they didn't seemed bothered with us being there... We also saw some mushrooms that according to our tour guide were used as hallucinogenics. Interestiiiiing... We also saw lots and lots of amazing vistas. The fog came and went, but when it was gone, the view was unbelievable. We saw a few small rivers and waterfalls, and lots of different plants that I didn't recognize at all.

After we got to the second lake, we boarded the bus and started our loooong journey back to Mérida and VENUSA. It took well over two hours to get back, but the bus ride was pleasant nonetheless. When we got back to VENUSA, Jenee, another student Becca, and I went and bought our first cerveza (beer)! It was less than $1.00 USD for a bottle and it was really delicious beer. We payed our three Bolivares each and then watched traffic from the bridge above the street as we enjoyed our drink.

After our beer, we walked home and met mi madre's hermana, sister, y sus sobrinas, nieces. They were all very nice and welcoming, and the two little girls were SOO cute. One was ten, and the other was nine. I feel much more comfortable talking Spanish today and it is getting easier to understand and respond to people in Spanish. It is still a little intimidating talking to mis padres and people at school and on the street, but I have just accepted that I am going to make mistakes, but I need to actually SPEAK before I can learn anything new or get better.

Tomorrow is my first day of school, and it starts bright and early at 8:00 in the morning. I certainly am not a morning person, but any stretch of the imagination, but I am giving it a good try. Tomorrow I need to wake up before 7:00 am to eat and walk to school with Jenee. Tomorrow evening we have an opportunity to meet our Nuevos Encuentros partners, and get to know them a little. They are students from VENUSA that are taking English classes and we are going to get to help eachother learn the other's language. I think that it will be a great and interesting experience. Tomorrow is also the end of our week, which means that we have, get ready... THREE DAYS OFF!! Lots of us are planning on going to the discoteca tomorrow to dance and have some fun outside of VENUSA and explore Mérida a little more. More updates on that later, and until tomorrow, ¡Ciao America!