Feliz Cumpleanos

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It’s Week Three already! Time has gone so fast here! So far, I’ve had two great weekends, six days of classes, and two exams. I still (or only?) have three weekends, fourteen days of classes, eight exams, and three papers. Eight exams and three classes seem like a lot, but I know it’s going to go by too quickly.
Last week mainly involved a lot of class and a lot of studying. My first two exams went as good as I could hope- I got an A on one, and I’ll get the other back today. They both involved a lot of writing in a short amount of time, but I got through them okay and, having prepared myself for the worst, they weren’t as terrible as I was expecting!
Last weekend also involved my first symptoms of eating new food in a new country. Fortunately, my illness lasted only a few hours and only involved throwing up once…in the middle of class…before it went away completely. Not everyone is as lucky as me, though. We had a meeting last night with one of the professors, and afterward at least three students asked her to take them to the doctor tomorrow to get treated for parasites. Not good…but I’m definitely thankful I have not had to deal with that yet.
So- on to better subjects: the weekend!
Friday was my 21st birthday! I went with ten other students to Los Llanos- a large plain about seven hours away by car. We left early Friday morning and arrived mid-afternoon after a few stops for some scenic shots and delicious food. On the drive down, our guide spotted a few animals including the only two types of anteaters in Venezuela. There was a large anteater in the middle of a field we drove by, and our guide quickly showed us his skills by creeping up on it and chasing it across the field into the road so we could take pictures. It was much bigger than I was expecting- at least four feet long, probably more. We were lucky to see either anteater, as they are both nocturnal animals and usually in hiding during the day.
After arriving at camp, we unloaded and hopped back into (or in my case- on top of) the jeeps for a quick ‘safari.’ We drove around the nearby roads and stopped by the river to fish for piranhas and catfish. Only a few were caught that night, but we had a time set aside the next day for more fishing anyways. Before going back to camp we all stood by the river side and watched a light, peaceful sunset across the plains.
Back at camp, we ate dinner and listened as our guide and a neighbor sang for us and played the guitar and maracas. The local teens and kids danced to the beat and posed like models for our pictures. The music of Los Llanos is very upbeat and from the soul- in a way it’s similar to reggae, but also very distinct. I loved hearing and seeing how much they enjoyed sharing their stories with us through music- and I even got a few birthday songs dedicated to me!
After the music, we set out on a walk down the road in complete darkness with two dying flashlights. Our guide wanted to find poisonous snakes for us- again: in the DARK! We walked for about forty-five minutes, finding ourselves alone every once in a while as our guide went into the field to catch something. More than once, we found ourselves huddled together in a tight group trying not to scream as we thought something was going to attack us. One source of dread ended up being a car (But why in the middle of nowhere? And why did it look like it had eight headlights?), and another scare occurred when our driver unknowingly slipped away from us and started to walk toward the group (Think about this- complete darkness in a strange place and you don’t know anyone’s missing from your group. All of a sudden, you can see the silhouette of a figure slowly moving toward you with only the stars to light your view.) There were eleven twenty-something year-old students holding on to each other not knowing whether to run or scream, and what good either would do. Instead, we decided to stand- absolutely horrified with an unmistakable sense of exhilaration. Despite the scares and hand-holding, our night was fulfilled when our guide caught a caiman (similar to a crocodile) bare-handed and with only a flashlight to light his way.

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