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Published: October 20th 2007
So, we went to Caracas. If you ask me how the trip went, it'd be pretty hard for me to give you a straight answer. Let's just say it was interesting (as they seem to go around here). We got out of class at 8pm last Thursday and headed to our houses to frantically throw the last of our things in our bags. Then we headed out for the bus terminal which was about a half a mile from our neighborhood. We arrived just in time to hop on the bus and head out. We were riding on a double-decker buscama (bus bed) and our seats were on top. So we got settled in and tried to get some sleep. This was not an easy task. Merida is located in the northern part of the Andes mountains which means there aren't any straight roads. Some of those curves really made me feel as though we were going to topple over and there were a few times that I almost landed in the lap of my friend across the isle.
We weren't sure how long the ride would take, so we just tried to be patient. After making several 1 hour
The Ride There...Mary
You can't see her, but she's there.stops, we finally arrived in Caracas around 12pm the next day. There, we were met by my friend Jesus and another guy named Javier. Javier is an older man and a friend of Oscar's...he also works with Oscar (this will be important to the story later on). So, we got into their vehicles and were wisked away to Oscar's house in San Antonio de Los Altos. San Antonio is a sort of suburb of Caracas that is really close to Los Teques which is another city outside of Caracas. I was soooo nervous and excited all at the same time. On top of that, we were all tired and stinky because no one had had a bath in about 24 hours. Anyway, we arrive and rode the elevator up to their floor. Words cannot describe the way I felt when I saw Oscar and Eva again! It was amazing! Oscar had been cooking for us all day....apparently he's a really good cook. He made Paella de Mariscos which is a traditional dish from Spain. I had never eaten it before but it was Deeelicious! He also had all kinds of alcohol if we wanted it and a good selection of
The Ride There...Sharlene
I guess she needs the dark. old American music from the 70's and 80's.
We all had a great time hanging at his house. It was also kinda cool that Oscar had studied in Minneapolis, Minnesota which is where all of my friends study. I remembered that he had studied up north, but didn't realize it was in the same city as all of my new friends. So, it was really cool. They all got to know Oscar and he got to reminisce about his days in the states. I just cannot say enough how much of a good time we had. I'll always have that day on video in my mind.
Another weird coincidence involved a phone call that they received while I was there. Not all of you will know who David Catamo is, but he's the guy that I met the first time I ever went to Venezuela. He and I met my last night in Caracas in a discoteca and we danced and talked the whole night. We both really liked each other and started talking on the phone after that (this was before I met Darwin). Well, I haven't talked to David in over a year. He lives in
The Ride There...Shannon
They were all a little upset that I was taking pictures of their lovely faces so early in the morning. Spain now (and has for 2.5 years). We talked for about a six month period in 2006 and I was supposed to go visit him in Spain. Anyway, Oscar and Eva haven't heard from him since he left Venezuela. About an hour after our arrival to the house, David called to talk to Oscar! I was sitting with Eva at the time and she answered the phone. The next thing I know she hands it to me and says, "Aqui, saluda David." I was confused at first...but I took the phone just the same. I thought that he knew who he was going to talk to...but apparently not.
He said, "Who is this?"
"You don't know who this is?" I replied
"I don't believe it....I can't believe it....I don't believe it.." Was what he said
"So do you know who I am?"
"Lynn???? I can't believe it!"
Yeah, so we talked for a few minutes and then I let him talk to Oscar. He says he had no clue that I was even in Venezuela much less at Oscar and Eva's house. And Eva told me that she thought I had told him I would be here and that that
The Ride There...Me
Guess I'll be a sport and put myself up too. If you look closely you'll see my piercing. I don't have it right now because it fell out before I left Caracas :( was why he called. But, I explained to her that I haven't talked to him in over a year and she couldn't believe the coincidence either. Weird...
Alright....so back to the story! Well, Friday was "puente" aka a holiday in Venezuela. It was the day that they celebrate Columbus Day. Well, as he's been changing everything, Chavez has now made it a "dry" holiday so all of the bars were closed and we weren't going to be able to go out and dance. Unfortunately, all of the hotels were full as well. After an hour or so of looking for hotels, we finally decided that we would stay at Javier's house. He has a nice apartment in a middle-class area of Caracas that's called Santa Monica. Unfortunately, he's a "collector' and his house was full of junk. That part didn't bother us so much though....what did bother us was the fact that he's an alcoholic and that we thought he was going to try to sleep in the same room with all of us. Every man's dream right??? Five women at once? Ummm...I don't think so! So, after a night of slight terror, we got up and me Oscar
The Octopus
This went into our Paella...que rico! and Eva to head to a place called the Colonia Tovar.
It was an interesting trip to the Colonia. Javier once again was our chauffuer and we could tell he was getting the shakes from not having a drink. Every once in a while we would make mysterious stops which consisted of him bringing his bottle into a place while we stayed in the car. We believe he was taking shots....we could be wrong....but I think not. The Colonia Tovar is a really interesting place. Back in the mid 1800's Venezuela was in desperate need for people (they lost a lot of lives in the war for independence). So, they made several attempts to bring immigrants in from Europe. One of the only successful attempts that they made was with a group of Germans from the Black Forest region of Germany. In 1843 these Germans made their way to Venezuela and settled about an hour from what is present-day Caracas. It's really neat. Their houses are made in the traditional German style and the people are blue-eyed and blonde-haired and they speak German and Spanish. They stayed pretty isolated for about 100 years, but in the last half decade
Oscar and Me
He's crazy....CRAZY I tell you!!! have started mixing with Venezuelans. They've also given in to tourism and now make their living off of it.
It was at the Colonia that it just hit me....I LOVE Oscar and Eva! They're such good people and they're so good to me! I know that I have friends and family at home who love me and are good to me too, so don't think that I take that for granted. But, I really do love Oscar and Eva! They've invited me to go back to Tucupita with them for Christmas and I'm really hoping that I'll be able to go!
Okay, back to the story again. So after walking around the Colonia and eating lunch there, we headed back for Caracas. Unfortunately traffic was horrible and it took us about 4 hours to get back (remember...the ride there was only 1 hour). We also talked Oscar, Eva, and Javier into letting us find a hotel without telling them why. Lucky for us, the Floresta had room. It's a hotel in a nicer area of Caracas so it was a little expensive...but well worth it. We settled in and then prepared to go out on the town. My
Oscar and Eva
My beloved friends. They're amazing! friend Jesus and my one of Eva's cousins ended up accompanying us to the bars that night. Oscar had paid the cousin to drive us around but we still needed a taxi as wee because we were a group of 8 at this point. (I forgot to mention that Friday night we broke Jesus' taxi and that that's why we weren't in his car). Well, my friends wanted to go to a gay bar. I must admit, I was a little uncomfortable with this idea because we're in a different culture...and a culture that's not very accepting of homosexuality at that. So, I was nervous to ask the guys to accompany us. But, it was cool. One of my friends ended up doing it and the guys seemed ok with the idea. Notice I used the term "seemed". About half-way through our first gay-bar...the cousin disappeared. He just left without telling anyone and he was supposed to give Jesus a ride home. After that, we headed to yet another gay bar. It was called Revolution, it was huge, and there were drag queens there. I just couldn't enjoy it though. It was waaaay to loud and I was pissed off
Viola!!! Chef Oscar!
Presenting us with his wonderful Paella. He's such a card! You can see it in his expression. about the dude leaving us. So, around 3am, Jesus and I decided to head back to the hotel. He had to wait until around 7am to catch a bus back home. It was nice though, he and I got to talk for a long time and I got to know him a little better. He's a lot different that what I had always thought before. I met him the same night that I met David long long ago and we've kept in contact ever since.
Well, all of my friends showed back up to the hotel around 6am and everyone passed out. We ended up sleeping until 12 and had to be out of the hotel by 1. After that, Javier picked us back up again and took us to an area called El Hatillo. I had been there once before, but didn't realize until we got there. We got some lunch and some coffee and then headed back to the bus terminal. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 6, but in Venezuela time it ended up being 7. The ride back was much nicer because we weren't in the mountains and I was able to fall asleep.
La Familia Diaz
All of them minus Jose who is in Louisiana with his wife Kim. I slept almost the whole way home. We arrived in Merida around 9am Monday morning and went home to shower and start catching up on our homework. Lucky for me, I don't have class on Mondays so I didn't have to go pay attention to anything.
If you ask my friends, you'll get varied answers on whether or not we had a good time. My opinion is that is was GREAT to see Oscar and Eva again and that despite all of the little hickups, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I hope to return again alone and spend some more time with them.
On a final note, I don't think I'm coming home for Christmas. I'm looking into going to Ecuador for a week in December because a ticket only costs $341 from Caracas to Quito. If I go home, a ticket will cost me about $985. I'm choosing Ecuador because I know people from there and would like to know it and because it's a dolarized country and I can get US dollars there. If my clothes are too big by then I don't know what I'll do, maybe I can have Mama send me some or something.
Oscar and the German Lady
This is one of the Germans that lives in the Colonia Tovar. She was demonstrating how they make pottery. Any medicine I need can be prescribed for me here so clothes would be the only thing I can't get here.
I love you all! I know this entry was long...guess it makes up for my lapses in writing. Everyone stay safe, happy, and in touch.
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non-member comment
wow!
What a life! I am SO envious! And what an excellent article. !Muchas gracias! BTW, you look great!