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Published: June 15th 2009
At around 9 this morning, Ale and I went to a futsal club (they call it futbolito around here...little futbol) to meet some of his friends and play. It really is a little futbol and little field. It´s a little bigger than a basketball court, covered in supersoft rubber flakes, and they play 5 on 5. For those of you who don´t know, I do play back home, but I was a little worried that I was gonna get housed here! Thankfully, I held my own very well, scoring 4 goals and making some friends. They were all very friendly and tried to practice their english with me while I practiced my Spanish with them. SHOOT! They would say. Mala Mia, I would say (My Bad). Good times were had by all. I did suffer a minor big-toenail-purpleizing injury, but I'll be ok. I hope this was the first of many matches of futbol on my trip. We'll see if I can hold my own as well in Colombia. Something tells me no.....
After futbol, I cleaned up and went with Ale, his girlfriend Mariana, his God Daughter Orly, and his Mama and Papa to take the Teleférico (Cable-Car-Lift-Thing) up
to the top of Mt. Avila, the mountain that stands between Caracas and the Carribean. Wow. It´s on an incredibly steep incline and goes up 2,150 meters, which, if my math is right, is like 4 miles in the US. My ears popped 5 or so times and the temperature at the top is a good 10 degrees F cooler. There were all kinds of little food vendors selling things like fresas con crema (Strawberries with Cream), dancers, and restarants at the top. Oh, and an ice skating rink. Ice skating. In Venezuela. Indoors, of course. After walking around and checking out all the views, we went to a fondue restaurant overlooking Caracas. It was ridonkulously beautiful. And then Ale´s Dad paid. What a nice guy. No, really, he´s super, super nice. I´ll just be sitting, talking to Ale or reading, and he'll bring us glasses of fresh squeezed OJ. What a nice guy.
Tomorrow I'll be my own guide since Ale goes back to work. I plan to go check out El Sambil, which is the biggest mall in SA. Caracas is known for it´s shopping, and I gotta spend these Bolivares before I leave VZ. It´s complicated,
but because US Dollars are hoarded by Chavez, there is a thriving Black Market for US $. You get a better rate from the black market than the bank, by far. At the bank it´s like $1 to 2.4 (thousand, but noone says that) Bolivares Fuertes, but black market is like 1 to 5. I got $100 US worth of Bolivares (at 5 to 1...shhhh!), but things are so cheap that even after I pay for transportation to Colombia, I'm going to have a hard time spending it all before I leave the country. If I exchange them at the border, I´ll only get 2.4 to 1. If you´re coming here, be advised. Get your money before you come (It was 5.5 to 1 in Miami at the exchange counter, but they were sold out) or get your cash from a street money changer. Don´t worry, they´ll find you. If not, ask anybody. Average Juan will give you at least 4 to 1.
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Karen
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Buddy: Thanks for letting us jump on your travel train...so far it sounds like you are off to a good start. Please be safe, make good choices (I know, I can't help it- I'm a mom!), and come back soon.