The Beginning

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So I set up this blog, thinking that I would use it to post my pictures so everyone at home could see them. I figured it would be a good way to stay connected to everyone at home, and have them enjoy the same things I’m enjoying. I figured I would write every day, or at least every other. But today is the first day I’ve actually had time to sit down and write! But that’s a good sign- it means I’m busy!
I’ll start at the beginning, but I know that know matter how hard I try, no one else will be able to understand exactly what’s happening here.
I arrived in Venezuela on Monday (May 19th) after an overnight flight. Flying solo wasn’t too bad. The only thing that worried me a little was when I woke up in the middle of the night and the girl from the row behind me was standing in my seat, staring directly at me. As soon as I saw her she turned around, climbed back over the lady sleeping next to me, and sat down in her seat. I was in such a deep sleep that I didn’t think anything of it and closed my eyes again.
The plane I was supposed to take from Caracas (the main terminal in Venezuela) to Mérida (the city I’m staying in) ended up landing in a town about an hour away by car. So I hopped in a taxi with some Venezuelans from my flight, and listened to them speak incredibly fast Spanish during the drive. I found my host mom once I got to Mérida, which took a little work since I was a few hours late because of the route-change. She took me home and introduced me to her daughter, a seventeen-year-old studying dentistry at ULA- “La Universidad de los Andes.” They are a very nice family, and have been really patient with me while I work my way through each conversation, translator in hand.
The second day, I went to the school I’ll be studying at. It’s called Venusa, and mainly works with students from the United States who are learning Spanish, and students from Venezuela who are learning English. We don’t have any classes with the Venezuelan students, but can mingle with them between classes and during special activities the school sets up. There are 26 other American students studying at Venusa this summer. The majority of them are from the University of Minnesota, but only a few already knew each other. So Tuesday, we took a bus tour of the city of Mérida (which is the capital of the state of Mérida). It’s a pretty amazing place, located in the Andes Mountains, in western Venezuela.
The third day, Venusa again set up a bus tour for the American students. The bus ride started out with a dance party in the aisles, led by our tour guide and one of the boys who works at Venusa. During the dance party, we traveled to a large lake where we took tons of pictures and watched “Mr. Canoe Man” paddle his canoe back and forth. Next, we went to a “hacienda de café”- a gorgeous coffee farm home to Venezuela’s oldest coffee mill. We toured the farm and spent a lot of time in the small store they had set up, talking to the owners. They were extremely nice, and kept offering the students free tastes of “vino de fresas” (strawberry wine). We then boarded back on the bus and were led through Johan Santana’s hometown to “Cascada de Bailadores”- the waterfalls of the dancers. We walked up several flights of stairs following a creek scattered with small waterfalls. All of a sudden, we looked up and saw a huge waterfall at the top. Everyone instantly stopped and took out their cameras. We had a lot of fun playing near the waterfall and by the end, we were all pretty wet. Especially Richard, (‘Ricardo’) who actually went under the waterfall. But don’t worry- he wore a coat…and brought an umbrella!
On Thursday, we started classes. Bummer. It would be so much fun just to live here for six weeks and not have to worry about school. But as hard as it is to remember, that is the reason why we’re here. I’m taking three classes- ten credits total. I have over 30 hours of class each week, but once I get back to the U, I’ll only have one more class to take before I finish my minor! I’m taking classes in communications, education, and art. They all should be pretty interesting and challenging in their own way. Class sizes are really small too- the smallest class I have has three people, and my largest has five. There are some classes offered that only have one student in them! I know the small class sizes will be extremely beneficial, and probably more fun than at the U. So although I may not want to study while I’m here, I know it’s worth my while, and I know I’ll be getting a very good education!
Friday was my fourth day in Venezuela. There is no class on Fridays for the US students, so I met up with some others and went to “El Centro.” El Centro (translated: the center) is like the downtown area, where most of the small business and tourism companies are. We walked around for a while, stopping in a few stores and constantly reminding each other to ‘switch arms’- we were warned early on to keep our purses on the side away from the street, because often times people on motorcycles will ride by and snatch your purse from you if you’re not careful. I know this is something to be aware of and watch out for, but it’s not something I’m too concerned about. I just make sure to carry small amounts of money with me and hold onto my purse at all times, putting it under my shirt if possible. Besides reminding each other about our purses, we also visited “La Heladeria”- an ice cream shop home to the world record’s most flavors! You could choose from flavors such as “Carne” or “Atun” (meat or tuna) or be more American, and get chocolate. Amazingly (to those who know me best), I didn’t opt for the chocolate. Instead, I got one scoop of “Coco Pasas” and one scoop of “Higo”. I still don’t know what either was, but they were pretty delicious- a lot smoother and less creamy than in the US. After returning from El Centro, Venusa hosted a BBQ (my host mom had no idea what this was). The BBQ was scheduled to start at 7:30pm, but didn’t start until almost 9. One thing they warned us about before we came was “Venezuelan time.” Virtually no one in Venezuela is on time. Saying you’ll be somewhere at a certain time usually means a half hour to an hour later, sometimes more. Being late is something that everyone has learned to accept, and doesn’t worry about or apologize for. It’s also something that I’m getting used to doing myself.
Saturday was my favorite day so far. Some students from Venusa went to a club Friday night and met up with our tour guide from Wednesday (the one who started the dance party on the bus). They somehow got him to agree to drive 14 of us on our own bus to “La Musuy- agues temporales.” It was a hot spring at over 9000 meters above sea level, only accessible by a narrow, windy road and a long uphill hike. We amazingly made it through the bus ride without tumbling down the side. There were a few times when we came across a car going the opposite direction. When this happened, one of the vehicles would have to back up until there was a spot wide enough for both of us to squeeze through. It was intense and extremely scary, but also pretty amazing. Once we got to La Musuy, we each paid one Bolivar Fuerte (less than $0.50 US) and began our trek. Because of the high elevation, we had to stop every ten to twenty steps to catch our breath in the thin air. Not only this, but we also had to check out the view that was getting more and more spectacular the higher we went. We were literally walking above and through the clouds. Most of the time, we couldn’t see more than ten yards away from us because there were clouds in the way. It was incredible but indescribable, even through pictures. The hot springs was pretty spectacular also. Apparently the maximum capacity is 100 people, but with the fourteen of us and the five Venezuelans that were already there, it was perfect. We stayed in the water for about two hours, and by the time we got out, my hands were so pruney(?) I could barely touch anything. Once people started to get out, we realized that only three people had brought towels. After several rotations, of which I was the last in line, we began our walk back to the bus. This time it was downhill, which meant it was a lot easier on our lungs, but a lot harder to stay upright. On the way down, we ran into three horned cows (bulls?) that were grazing in the grass right next to our path. Some of us got through with no problem, but those that were walking slower ran into some trouble when they had to pass through a narrow gate and there was a cow standing in the middle. Like everything else that day, they made it through with a little patience and much trust.
I got back home just after 8 Saturday night. My host mom has another daughter that lives with her husband a few hours away. Saturday night was her birthday celebration at our house. So basically, it was a time to meet the family and listen to them speak too fast to comprehend while I watched cartoons with their kids (I was still learning though- the cartoons were in Spanish also). My host mom made a huge cake to celebrate. It was really dense, but not too rich like in the US. We also had jello and rice pudding (delicious!) One of the nephews brought a firecracker-type candle that he put on top of the cake. I guess the tradition here is to sing until the candle is blown out, but since she couldn’t blow it out, they sang for at least five minutes, repeating the same thing over and over again. By the end, everyone was laughing so hard they couldn’t sing anymore. It was really fun and interesting to see such a popular tradition my first week here.

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Photos

Welcome Home
The view from my house. Amazing.

Turistas
Our group was touring the city, and this group of school children started following us. Two of the girls started talking to them and ended up giving out autographs

First day jitters
This was before any of us knew eachother. The picture was a little awkward, but it was a good icebreaker.

Mr. Canoe Man
I was pretty intrigued by him. So calm and peaceful

Hacienda
At the hacienda- they have Venezuela's oldest coffee grinder

Distinct
Two farmers at the hacienda- I love the colors in this picture

Cafecita
The store at the hacienda

Cascada
At the Cascada de Bailadores, So gorgeous