Packing...

Back in Caracas somehow managing to pack everything back in the bags we came with. The weather today is a bit misty and slightly cloudy. I like to think the country is sad to see us go. I am actually feeling excited for our welcome back party and i am ready to work! I got a work schedule already of 30 hours and a very interesting job related workshop this Friday. I am already checking out the yoga classes that fit in around my schedule and trying to find time for my weekly Spanish tutor, who is Venezuelan living in Rochester!
Other than the weather there is so much I am looking forward to, I will not be sledding with my housemate Ted when he organises another evening sled event. A friend of mine told me yesterday that it will be nostalgic to see the snow because I have not seen any yet this year, but really I know this is not true. For me it is just an element to deal with until it changes. Andy and Zarha were counting the amount of times I mentioned snow and cold the past few days and I guess I was hitting over 15 times daily. You know the weather is bad in the Northeast when random taxi drivers here in Venezuela are telling us how they have seen all about the snow and problems on TV. fun stuff.

Carnival in Margarita was dynamic. We would be heading to some beach or another and pass through a town while a colorful, musical parade marched by. Most of the kids and many of the adults were in costumes. It looks like a version of our Halloween but with great music and more partying! The little girls like to dress up as princes and the boys as some action hero. Stilt walkers and beauty queens on would throw candy into the crowd. I held my own racing for the candy and beat out a few drunk venezuelanos and a firefighter. I felt bad about that and gave the bombero my candy.

The trip back from Margarita to Caracas yesterday was about a 13 hour trip. We took the ferry (this was the fast one!) from Margarita at 9am got to mainland around noon, waited a few hours for our bus to leave for Caracas. We rode 5 hours on another refrigerator double Decker bus that plays the current pirated Hollywood films. We have really enjoyed the copy left country, but the Hollywood movies suck. I mean Rocky Balboa now, I loved the first one maybe the second, then I stopped wathcing. I cried at this movie thinking how pathetic and desperate Stallone must be trying to hold on to his rocky image. Mid life crisis suck and result in many shitty things. It was fun though watching it curled up on the bus in my down sleeping bag curled up next to my favorite guy, minus a little bus wooziness it was very cozy. our trip back to the NY will be about the same travel time as it was traveling to Margarita. I am glad we are flying direct into Rochester and not NYC. Sounds like it has been disastrous there and I always have complications in JFK. We land weds evening around 5pm our phone will be turned back on hopefully by Thursday. call us.

I guess I need to finish packing and hit the last day of carnival in the streets of Caracas. See if we can get blessed by water balloons or eggs hitting us today before we leave at 5am tomorrow.
We travel on the first day of lent, Ash Wednesday. I am joining the ranks of all those who give things up as a sacrifice to prove their commitment to goodness and love etc.
I am officially giving up sun and warmth for 40 days!
see you up north,

Playas Y Alemans

Well you wouldn't know from Zarhas blog how amazingly beautiful this island really is. So many wonders are lost on children, maybe the virtual world is too hard to compete with. However from an adults perspective, one who likes sunny warm places this is a magical land. There are many beaches all around the island and each beach is very unique and offers something different. One beach we went to is the sailing and kite sailing capital of the world. It was a little annoying to try to swim with all these water crafts flying by but it was fun to watch them and experience the power of the wind on that beach. That is also where zarha discovered sand dunes, that beach was called el Yaque. Yesterday we went to a beach town called, Juan Griego that is the town where our Venezuela host father was born. It reminded us of a mix of key west and San Diego. The town had cute shops and little streets and we had our best Cesar salad in all of Venezuela made table side,with our feet buried in warm sand under our table. The mountains along the coast here are beautiful! It is also a place where many boats come into to dock, the old style boats, I saw the wooden houseboat that I dream of living on with andy. As long at is an old bohemian style boat we can feel ok naming it the goofy names we call each other; Bobo and Bimbo!

Today we went to a beach that had strong waves that reminded me of the Atlantic on the eastern coast of Florida. The beaches went on endlessly, they are much cleaner than others and are very private. Once we walked past the lounge chairs and little beach food stands we were alone. Andy and I continue to marvel at the beauty of this while zarha just sees more sand and water. smile.

Well, tomorrow is my last day of Spanish at this other school. CELA. what a huge difference between the language schools. The school in merida was better organized for teaching, cheaper, and fewer students per class. The school in merida is owned by a north American while the one on margarita is owned by a German. In Merida everyone at the school spoke English during breaks and the teachers would clarify things in English if need be. Here everyone primarily speaks German during breaks, of course they all speak varying levels of English but don't use it much. That is better for me, because then I dont speak english as much! Some teachers are German, which I would be opposed to if it was my teacher, luckily I have a Venezuelan. I think that learning languages from native speakers is imperative! I am the only native English speaker in my class the other 4 are Germans. One is Swiss German.

This one week has shattered some of my naive illusions about Europeans and I am trying not to hold a grudge from this experience. The first day of class one of the german students thought I was German, this is nothing new as I get mistaken for German everywhere. There are many German tourists in Venezuela, mainly Merida and Margarita. One student kept talking to me in German asking about Spanish words and from context I knew what he meant so I would give him the meaning of the Spanish word in English. However, it took him a few exchanges before he realized I was American and it was funny when we realized his mistake. I am only one of 2 from the States in the whole school.
we were getting on fine, despite the German arrogance for languages.wink. If they are doing well at the exercise it is because language comes easy and "they know so many" or if they are struggling it is because "I know so many languages I am getting them all confused." I was a bit annoyed at their competitive arrogance but hey, that's nothing I am cant hold my own at! Most of my classmates have lived in spanish speaking countries for significant periods of time and one women as studied for 5 years. I hope to be good with that amount time too!

Shaky ground became worse when I brought politics into the equation. I made a Spanish sentence about Chavez speaking the truth in a an exercise with verb conjugations. That set off the Swiss German who started to declare how he adamantly disagreed with Chavez because he is keeping people poor, not using the money to make the country better, doesn't allow the media to speak against him and doesn't allow other countries to invest in Venezuela. so obviously this guy watches fox news (which is one of many US stations frequently seen here) or reads all the conservative anti chavez papers here in Venezuela, which according to him don't exist, because this guy had no facts and kept comparing Venezuela to Cuba. What infuriated me most, which I have heard from many middle class and elite in Venezuela, but it is much harder to except from a clueless tourist, is that it is only because Chavez is clever that he has figured out how he can get so many people to vote for him. The arrogant way this is said is that the 70% of the people that voted for him have really been manipulated they are too poor and plain stupid to know better!

Of course that set me off and my chavista teacher and we started to passionately disagree and inform him otherwise. He also wanted to hold Europe up as the shining example of democracy which also set me off, I personally think in many ways the EU is just as complicit in the war in Iraq as the United States. almost. During all this the other Germans remained quiet. I tried to get their opinion and they said "we are just listening."

It turned out their listening resulted in complaining to the owner of the school that they didn't come here to talk politics (although the whole conversation was in Spanish!) and if it continued they would leave! so my teacher was reprimanded (she told me privately later) not to talk politics. what bullshit!
I guess it shouldn't really surprise me that I found a bunch of sand moles against chavez I mean this is a tropical island where people come to escape the woes of the world. I mean I am escaping the snow and leaving all those snow buried folks up north and I don't really want to think about it either. I guess what surprised me is finding that same media brainwashed ignorance from Europeans who I had thought were getting a better diet of truth and world events. Apparently this is not the case, they are fed and devour the same shitty junk that that we get in the States, yet claim they to know the answers. For this guy, Hillary Clinton is going to be the great change the United States needs and at that point I realized the division is so great. The gulf of understanding between each other is going to take more modes of transportation than we had time for. sigh. This represents the same division that I saw between those that supported Chavez and Rosales, those that support Bush or Kerry, or whatever illusion of a different face they advertise to us.
It is a very polarized time.

I guess the grudge thing is not because they think differently and buy into the corporate driven media lies but they are upset the topic comes up. Personally the only real motivation I have in learning Spanish right now, is to be able to speak the language of revolution, which I believe Spanish to be. The attitude of most the students in this class is no different than a colonizer taking land, ¨lets conquer this language so I can buy your goods and have a relaxing time on your land but don't tell me what you really think.¨ It disgusts me! When I was in Merida I talked to many teachers that were opposition and I was grateful they could be open with me and tell me the things they didn't like or feared about the government. I can decipher for myself what I believe is true and what I think is hyped by the media and corporate interests. But to shut out discussion and to be opposed to it is another thing. Naively I thought Europeans didn't do that. Germans, wow, and so many of them.
My teacher told me she can´t talk sex or religion with them either. They are very serious and only want to work on the language structure. What else is left to talk about?!

I know the European radicals working for change, fighting for the other world that is possible are far from burying their heads in the sand in Margarita. They are my inspiration, they are in the streets taking tear gas and rubber bullets and who knows what else, I will meet you there one day, I want to grow up to be just like you.

Your invited to RUMBA!

Hey friends and family! Mary our crazy and generous friend is hosting a dinner to welcome us back and inviting you all too. here is the information.
"Let's have dinner...." Join us at Ricardo and Mary's house, 703 Arnett Blvd. on Thurs 2/22 at 6:30pm for dinner together. So far Mary, Rajesh and Louise are cooking -- bring something or not...... If you need directions call 615-1626 or 317-2367.

In the meantime I am studying one more week of spanish and exploring all the beaches on Margarita island, for this last glorious week or so. I hope we are missing the worst of that misserable cold and please cook hot dishes! We are bringing the Venezuelan ron/rum, that could help warm things up.

off to the playa,
big hugs
see you soon

Caraca ( spelled how its pronounced)

...where have all the buhoneros gone....
long time passing...ok so a buhoneros are the street vendors that set up tables and tents and sell all kinds of things, ropa, trinkets, undies aka, interiors. Now they are gone. It is the strangest thing. Caracas is so barren without them. The streets are manageable to walk and more calm yet I am confused about where they went. I know it has been an ongoing battle with residents and the government and these vendors and they have been told to leave the streets before but the authorities have really followed through this time and I wonder if the vendors will return and how long it will take. Personally I miss the added chaos and options of goodies that are normally cheaper than other stores and often bizarre and unique. I cant imagine the amount of people this has put out of work and how they are surviving now. It would have made an interesting side story of documenting Venezuela and now they are gone. I guess I feel a little bad about the whole thing.

so back in Caracas for several days before we head to Margarita island for our last beachy sunny week until June! I am kind of coping with the climate realities in NY but all I say in Spanish to anyone that will listen is how cold and snowy and terrible the climate is in my hometown and how I want to stay in bright and warm south America. So those Spanish terms and expressions I am now terrific at because I have been saying it several times a day as the time to return nears.

The last couple days I have spent networking and planning and at bolivarian university. I just figured out their semester system here. The fall semester starts mid Oct and runs until the end of March. That is when we are aiming to come back. A little sooner than I had thought I was thinking January started a new semester. Either way they are the best months to miss in NY! Unless your nostalgic about foliage or snow, which clearly I am not. 80 degrees and sunny is the only climate I need. OK here I go about weather. Its genetic, right mom?

So the idea is to come and teach ASL and co-create the future interpreting program, but it sounds like I could also be interpreting for deaf who want to take English here, tutor in English and teach Venezuelan sign language. Luz Martin the director who is coordinating this has many ideas for me and lots of energy. My friend Ronald, whom I met randomly on the metro during the world social forum, who I will be primarily working with to create the interpreting program is responsible to for structuring 3 different degree programs. One for interpreters, teachers of the deaf and teacher assistants. He is great at details and organizing and we figured out today we balance each other great! he needs to help me focus my ideas and bring them to fruition and I need to help him multitask! I was startled to learn today he cant walk and talk at the same time. Imagine! We argued for a long time about the validity of signing and talking at the same time. I only adamantly advocate that if its about inclusion and if that is the only way to include deaf folks who are present. he refuses to do that, at the exclusion of the deaf because he wont sign. so I end up interpreting for the Deaf Venezuelans. strange. His reason is signing and talking pollutes his pure LSV and that the deaf Venezuelans will criticize him if he begins to incorporate too much Spanish language structure and not pure sign structure. So I told him to sign instead of talk English with me and he wouldn't. so I kept referring to our deaf friend saying she was left out if he didn't sign. It brought out many differences in our perspective and I explained in the states an interpreter would never only talk and not sign at a lunch date where there was a deaf friend. They would all only sign or simultaneously sign and talk. Then I was able tease Ronald that it was really his inability to multitask that kept him from doing both, not some grand philosophy. Too many details for the readers here but maybe a few interpreters out there will think its interesting. I actually noticed one deaf friend ask Ronald yesterday, refereing to me "she signs and talks at the same time and we can understand why cant you?" So it brings up a few differences and I like the intersection of challenging discourse around these different topics, I think it will create new things.


As we were leaving the Bolivarian university today Global Vision, the right wing media here that backed the coup, was interviewing people leaving the campus. My friend Ronald was charged by a reporter and her camera guy and she asked "are you a socialisto" and then preceded to ask Ronald what he thought about Chavez's recent comments that Jesus was a socialist like Che Guevara. So Ronald said yes he agreed if that Jesus was a socialist if that meant treating people more fairly and not discriminating against them. I was so close to saying "soy una socialists de EEUU, Y yo Odio bush." Then I didn't, and it was too bad.

well, I am off to the great yoga studio in "Caraca."
yo hablo caraqueno! smile
love to all