Being illegal isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be…

One week left.  I cannot believe it. So this past week was probably one of the more interesting weeks of my entire summer.  Filled with jumping off bridges and being illegal in a foreign country.

As most of you know I went to Colombia two weekends ago.  I failed (purposely) to mention that upon coming back from Colombia I didn’t receive my exit stamps out of Colombia or my entrance stamps for Venezuela.  The bus didn’t stop for us and at the drug checkpoint the National Guard said we were fine.   At the time I was thinking this could be a problem, but I had no idea that it was going to be such a big one.  On Monday at school all of us were sitting around thing hey we might have some problems when we try to leave in two weeks maybe we should go talk to someone.  So Tuesday was filled with trying to get a passport stuff sorted out.  After waiting in the Foreign line at the Venezuelan Passport Office and going to the airport it became more and more clear that we were going to have to return to Colombia….

Don’t get me wrong, I really want to Colombia but I just don’t want to enter it through the Venezuela boarder.  Venezuela is blocking any try that comes in through the boarder causing food shortages through out the Venezuela side of the boarder, including the town we were going to have go to. Actually the boarder is “closed” right now.  I would love to be there and experience first hand what is happening but I also really want to be able to come home in a week, so that probably isn’t a good idea.  

Anyways, I am glad I listen to my parent’s advice because they told me to contact the US Embassy here in Venezuela.  The embassy came through at the perfect timing too.  I had just gotten back from walking in the rain from the bus terminal where we learned that the 3 am bus was filled and we were going to have to go later.  But when I got home, I probably got one of the best emails in my entire life.  The embassy said,  “Don’t worry about it, it happens all the time.”  That meant no Colombia.  So relieved but I will see in a week how easy it is going to get through migration.

This past weekend I also went bungee jumping.  Well, I was thrown off the bridge, I couldn’t bring myself to jump.  It was so much fun, flying and swinging in the air.  I am working on getting a video up on facebook.

My last week in Venezuela, the first part is going to be spent finishing up school and saying goodbye to Madeline.  The second part I am going to relax since when I get home I am starting work right away.

See everyone in a week!

Esto es Cucuta…

This session has gone by so fast, I have no idea where it has gone.  I think about where I will be two weeks from today… sitting in the Caracas airport waiting for my flight to Miami.  It is just crazy.  I set out this summer with some goals and one of them being to go to Colombia, this past weekend that goal was accomplished.  I didn’t meet Juanes or any FARC members but still did have an amazing time.

We left for Colombia on Friday morning under the impression that would be in Colombia by three or four that afternoon but as the day progressed it be came clear that was not going to happen.  We first had to take a bus from Merida to El Vigia a town about an hour away to take us to our next spot.  Once we got to El Vigia there were no buses that we going directly to the place we needed to go to but still one was going to San Cristobol, which would get us close to the Colombian boarder.  We arrived in San Cristobol thinking we could hop on a bus and just go straight to Cucuta, Colombia (our final destination) but as a reoccurring theme through out this trip, that was not the case.  We probably looked ridiculous, 5 white girls with giant backpacks just wondering around a bus terminal.  We found a guy that would take us to San Antonio for us to get out exit stamp for Venezuela, and then take us to get our stamp for Colombia and then take us to the hotel we were going to stay at.  We were very lucky that did not back fire on us.

We stayed in this hotel named Hotel Arizona, probably one of the nicer hotels in Cucuta.  It was recommended to us by one of the teachers at VENUSA, it had a pool and two meals everyday. So we saved a lot of money on food because the entire time we were there we only had to pay for one meal.  We didn’t to the hotel until around five so we checked in, cleaned ourselves off and went to dinner.  After dinner we went on a search for an ATM so we could get some pesos and then went to the giant mall across the street.  The main reason people go to Cucuta is for the malls.  This one was almost comparable to MOA it had a movie theater, mini amusement park, and three solid floors of stores.  Friday nite we just looked around and decided to see Harry Potter.  I know pretty exciting nite in Colombia.  The movie was in Spanish which one of the workers at the movie theater reminded us several times but still I was able to either remember the book/semi understand what they were saying.  The movie got out really late and we were all exhausted so we just went back to our hotel and went to sleep.

Saturday was spent sitting by the pool, shopping and buying present to bring back home. We walked around Cucuta for a little bit but we really never got to see the city besides the part we stayed in. Since we had to provide our own dinner we went to an authentic Colombian restaurant were we had these huge plates of food, half of it I had no idea what is was but it was still pretty good. 

Sunday was full of traveling and adventure.  In all it took over eight hour to get back to Merida.  On the way back again we put our full trust in taxies and buses to get us home safely.  Minus the minor car accident, getting the bus searched for drugs by a national guard and a dog and not being able to pay for a bus ride back to Merida it was a decent right home.  I am just thankful that is the last bus trip I will have to take here.

Looking back it amazes me how we all even got home, after Sunday.  It even amazes me more that we put our trust in these taxi and bus drivers almost every trip and nothing has happened to us, unlike the stories you here all the time.

This past week of school wasn’t very exciting expect for the fact that Chavez has been on a huge tirade for the past couple weeks.  This week it was all about Colombia and how they are no better than the United States and how there should be a boycott on buying anything Colombian. Sorry Hugo, but I failed you…

Waterfalls and Strawberries

I completely forgot to mention last time, that I experienced an earthquake.  Well when I say experienced I mean I slept through it.  But that was two weeks ago, now for this past week.  This week of school has been pretty uneventful nothing super special this week. It was just school, getting to know people and getting my plane ticket from El Vigia to Caracas.  

Over the weekend I went to a town about a two hour bus ride from Merida.  The town was known for two things strawberries and waterfalls.  We got to Bailadores around noon and our first priority after finding a hotel to stay was getting food.  We found this little restaurant where four of us shared this thing called a Parilla.  It included a couple pieces of fried chicken, couple pieces of pork, steak, plantains, yucca and rice.  All this was for around two dollars, not bad at all.

After lunch we started our walk to the waterfalls.  We found a sign that said 2500 mts, which did not seem so bad until we saw the hill we had to climb.  So we made it about forth of the way up the hill when we realized that this was going to be hard than we thought.  Luckily a man with a truck came driving by and offered us a ride up the hill.  After we were dropped off we saw the waterfall in the distance.  After about another twenty minute walk we FINALLY made it to the waterfall.  It was a cool park with mini waterfalls and one very big waterfall.  Since Bailadores is also know for strawberries we had to get some strawberries with cream probably the most popular way to eat strawberries here.  They were delicious.  We got back to our hotel found some more people and went and hung out at the Plaza Bolivar. After that we grabbed some dinner and made our way back to the hotel for the night.  I am really glad I went because it was a chance to meet and talk with people from school that I really never had a chance to talk to.

I got back today to my house just in time to celebrate Children’s Day.  Yes, here in Venezuela they have a day to celebrate children.  When I was growing up my parents told me everyday is Children’s Day.  I told my host family that here, they just laughed.  So we got to experience Children’s Day with the family having a huge lunch and cake.

Probably not the most exciting week ever BUT COLOMBIA is the weekend!

For Me Argentina

So last time I left you guys in suspense about the rest of the trip, I am sorry it has taken so long but this thing called school is getting in the way of things.

We were suppose to leave for Uruguay Wend morning but do to less than ideal conditions we weren’t able to leave to Wend nite.  So that gave us an extra day in Buenos Aires, which meant Evita museum.  The museum went through he entire life and I actually learned things. Yes, there were parts of Eva Peron’s life that I didn’t know.  We left for Uruguay around 7 and got to Uruguay around 8.  The boat ride was actually pretty fast and nice but I really don’t have anything to compare it too.  The hostel in Uruguay was nice except for the fact that I got bed bugs. We stayed in a town called Colonia, which was first, a colony of the Portuguese but then was turned over to the Spanish.  Part of the town is a World Heritage Site so it looks exactly like it did in the 1700’s.  There are museums (one room exhibits) we went too and a lighthouse.  I met a really nice Brazilian who offered a place to stay anytime in Brazil, so people let me know if you want to go to Brazil.  The rest of the day was spent watching the sunset, which was beautiful and then going to a Casino, which was awful.  Not because I lost money just because there were only really old slots.

Thursday we returned to BA and changed locations to the main downtown area.  While walking around trying to find a place for lunch I found something that would change the rest of the trip….  There it was sunbeams shining down on it a Phantom of the Opera sign, first I thought it was an illusion because that would just be too good to be true.  But after standing in the middle of the street just gawking at the sign and being pushed by many Argentines I realized that it wasn’t an illusion, Phantom of the Opera was in Buenos Aires.  Needless to say I ran across the street and bought tickets.  At that moment I couldn’t believe I get to live one of my life goals inside another life goal.  The rest of the day was spent going to Plaza Mayo to see the Mothers march and of course to see the Casa Rosada.  Thursday was almost too much to handle I got to see where Eva Peron addressed thousands of people and got tickets to Phantom.

Friday we went to a town called El Tigre a suburb of Buenos Aires.  It was kind of nice to get out of the city.  In El Tigre we walked along the riverfront and went to a giant flea market.  Going to El Tigre also meant the completion of taking all modes of transportation in Buenos Aires (train).  The rest of Friday was spent window-shopping down the only two pedestrian streets in Buenos Aires and dinner at a Parilla or grill.

Saturday we saw the last of the tourist spots and went back to Plaza Mayo to find them filming a movie.  We sat and watched it for a while; kinda hoping they ask us to be extras or something.  Saturday nite was devoted to Phantom.  It was amazing, in Spanish but that didn’t really affect anything since I pretty much have the whole musical memorized.

Sunday was a huge day of flying and standing in lines but we made it home safely on Monday morning.  What a trip, it was more than I could ever imagine.  While over my 24 hours just sitting I realized how lucky I am that I was to this.  I still am just amazed.  Well its back to the whole school thing, it is hard to believe that a month from today I again will be on a plane but this time back to the United States.

Don’t Cry

I got to accomplish two of my life goals this past week: one go to Argentina and two see Phantom of the Opera. So now that my list is slowly being crossed off, I need new life goals because honestly all that is left is going to Machu Pichu, Ireland and the rest of Latin America. Its also pretty cool while I was living out one of my life dreams, my Dad was living out one of his.

But the trip, so we left Merida at 9pm Thursday nite and arrived in Buenos Aires around 5:30 am Saturday morning.  Thursday nite I had to take a bus to Caracas.  It wasn’t till 8 pm that nite that I was informed that where the bus station is… lets just say probably not the best part of Caracas for a pale white American girl to be with a suitcase.  BUT everything went absolutely fine, the taxi was cheap and safe and the worst part of bus experience was being called white as I was walking out of the bus station.  I mean at points I had thoughts I would be the next person on Kidnap Express (where a “taxi” basically kidnaps you for money and/or makes you take all your money our of your bank accounts and then leaves you in the middle of Caracas), which is one of the most frequent crimes that occurs.  We got to the airport really early but it turned out to be a good thing.  Probably the worst part of this entire trip wasn’t being able to shower for almost three days, it was having to go through Venezuelan Migration.  It took almost two hours to walk 50 feet for a person to stamp my passport, I blame swine flu.  We got on my plane to Lima, probably spent 15 minutes in Lima all together and got on my plane for BA.

So my first day in Buenos Aires (Saturday) basically consisted of walking around the neighborhood that my hostel was in, getting medicine for a stomach condition I had and sleeping.  Both Madeline and I were completely exhausted, we ended up going to bed at 8 and woke up at 9 the next morning.

Sunday was supposed to be the day of the soccer game but since it was election day everything was canceled, so no game.  Instead we went to the neighborhood called Recoleta.  There was a cemetery filled with famous people.  Eva Peron’s grave just happened to be there, just as a man singing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” just happened to be there.  After the cemetery we had lunch at an Irish pub where I was introduced to the amazing drink called a liquado.  Basically its fruit, water and a little sugar blended together.  I managed to have a liquado at almost every meal after that.  After lunch we walked to the Flores Gradius.  A big mechanical flower that is opens up in the day and closes at nite.  After the Flores Gradius, we stumbled to the Biblioteca Nacional.  See didn’t die in the library, it was created into a library about 20 years later during the Menum administration. I did not know until we got there, that this was the place Eva Peron died.  I just want to clear things up, I did not go around Buenos Aires trying to relive Eva Peron’s death, some things just happened to be about her, I am not that crazy and obsessed as some of the pictures we say otherwise lead you to believe.  

The third day we were there we went to the Boca neighborhood.  This is the blue-collar part of BA and probably one of the more dangerous areas.  And by saying that it was basically like we were back in Venezuela.  We went to the Boca Junior soccer stadium probably the biggest team in all of Argentina and maybe all of South America.  After that we walked around the touristy part of the area where we constantly were trying to be persuaded to watch a tango show.  After lunch in Boca we went to the MALBA or Museum of Latin American Art.  I was kind of disappointed because all the guidebooks said it was the best museum of Latin American art in Latin America but really it was only a floor of paintings.  Oh well, after that we returned to our hostel to get ready for the tango show.  The tango show was really fun.  Had a huge meal with all the wine or water you could drink.  The water was wonderful, sorry parents I really tried to like the wine but it was just not happening.  The tango went on for about 2 hours and concluded with the Spanish version of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” with Argentina flags and everything.  

So I am not going to overwhelm all of you (and myself) with one massive blog entry, instead I am going to break it up.  So you will just have to wait on the next one, its about Uruguay.

Yep, I did that

I can’t believe it is my last week of school already.  It has probably been one of the fastest six weeks of my life.  But I am ready for Argentina so this week is going to be very long.  So much to squeeze into a couple days: all the final paper and test, saying good-bye to everyone and packing.

I have been busy between school and my wild adventures to Los Llanos.  Last week I went to the movie Terminator.  Lets just say I am glad I only paid a $1.50 for it.  It was fun to go to the movies but the movie itself could have been better.  It was really interesting seeing the movie in English with Spanish subtitles and how they choose to use some words instead of other ones.  The rest of the week was pretty much filled with school.

This past weekend I went to Los Llanos with some of my friends.  Los Llanos is in the east central apart of Venezuela.  It was cool to go through a completely different part of the country and see no mountains.  We also went through the home state of Hugo Chavez and even saw his father’s house. There was so much more Chavez propaganda in the Llanos than in Merida mainly because the Llanos area mostly Chavista.  His brother is the governor of the Barinas state, which is where Chavez is from.

But enough political talk because I am sure all of you care more about what I did then the current political situation.  So we arrived at the camp we were going to stay at around dinnertime.  This was of course after we saw monkeys and an anteater before we even got there.  I was super excited to see monkeys in the wild.  They weren’t you aww so cute monkeys but still monkeys.

Speaking of dinnertime the food I had was amazing.  Probably some of the best steak I have ever had.  Probably has to do with how fresh the meat was. But again side tracking what I actually did not ate.  So we got to camp on Friday and just hung out, enjoying the great outdoors.  We slept in hammocks the entire weekend.  From that experience I learned how much my body and me likes to sleep flat.  So I will not be replacing my twin day bed for a hammock anytime soon.

On Saturday we went horseback riding.  This wasn’t your summer camp horseback riding at all.  The horses went a almost a galloping pace for the most of the time and it wasn’t follow the leader you kinda just did your own thing.  It was cool and it re-installed my trust in horses.  Later on Saturday we went on a jeep safari to search of Anacondas and Caimans or alligators.  We went successful in the Anaconda department but it was really cool to ride on top of the jeep and seeing all the different types of birds.  I never new some place to so flat could be so beautiful but truly it was.

On Sunday we went on a boat safari we saw turtles, piranhas, a bunch of birds, pink dolphins and more alligators. For most this trip I was trying not to freak out about the fish but it was rather enjoyable.  After the boat safari I went horseback riding again but this time I road a mule.  That was a fun experience.  After that my body was feeling like an 80 year old but we still had to find an Anaconda.  So we went on another hunt and we found one.  The male Anaconda we found was on the small side but still was enough to creep me out.  

On Sunday I went white water rafting, probably my favorite part of the entire weekend.  While rafting we stopped and jumped off a cliff.  Yes, I Meaghan Sherden jumped off a 12-foot cliff twice into water.  It was a lot of fun but I also got an anxiety attack, but I did it.  This whole trip I have been doing so many things I never thought I would do, I owe that a lot to the friends I have meet here that force me to coming a long.  So just incase you have lost track so far I have: gone paragliding, swam in the ocean, went white water rafting, jumped off a cliff into water and went snake hunting.

Now I have just have finish these last couple days of school then…. ARGENTINA!

PANDEMIC, just incase you didnt know.

So, I have realized that I have been lacking in the last two weeks in updating my blog.  I am really sorry for that between so much homework and lack of internet I haven’t been able to.

First and foremost, Venezuela has H1N1 and the town next to us has had a reported case.  So I am really curious to see what will happen.  The governor has closed down all the dance clubs on the weekend (a huge bummer for me) and there have been other changes too.  I know some people are worried about re-entering the US because customs is suppose to be getting tighter, not to the point that they are putting out thermal sensors but a lot stricter.  The WHO also declared a pandemic this week.  I might have to start watching the map again.

School is going good, its hard to believe that I have 2 weeks of school left (for this session) and less than two months left in Venezuela.  So who ever told me study aboard would be a walk in the park, the must have been joking.  It’s not so much that it is hard it’s just a ton of busy work but I guess they have to grade us on something.  In my geography class two thirds of the time is spent on talk about current events, our families or Hugo Chavez.  My geography teacher is probably the biggest fan of Chavez that I have met in Venezuela so far, it’s pretty interesting. I liked my lit class a lot this week because I got to read two short stories from two of my favorite Latin American writers, Gabriel García Marquez and Juan Rulfo.  My politics class I have slowly become the go to person for any historical facts.  It’s nice to know that all my Latin American classes have paid off.  My teacher has started calling me Senorita Mexicana, since he has slowly learned that I like/know a lot about Mexican history.

Outside of school I have just been up to the normal jumping off mountains, getting my ticket to Argentina and hanging out with friends.  Pretty normal stuff I would say.  Paragliding was a lot more peaceful than I thought it would be. I had some vision in my head before I went that it would soaring through the mountains but really it was more like floating.  I have some pictures and a video on facebook if anyone hasn’t seen it, but I think my family has been in so much shock that I did it that they are showing everyone.

I got my ticket for Argentina at the amazing price of 450 dollars. So my friend Madeline and I are planning our trip.  Ill be in Argentina for 9 days, which one of those will be spent in Uruguay.  We are also hoping to go to a soccer game.

This weekend I spent most of the time hanging out with my friends who will be leaving in two weeks.  It was a lot of fun, I hope people from the next session are going to be as cool as them.  Tomorrow I am going to go see Terminator, I am super excited for that.  Monday nights are student nights, so it will cost a little over 1 dollar to see it.

I hope you all are having an amazing start to the summer, next entry should be more interesting since it will be after my trip to Los Llanos.  I’m not going to say anything about, but I think this trip will be pretty interesting.

El sol es gratis

I made it through my first full week of school. Doing this eight-hour of school a day thing, really is not for me especially since the classes are all in the afternoon.  But, to celebrate the first full week of school, I went to the beach this past weekend.  Getting to the beach itself was an experience.  All week there had been talk of people wanting to go to the beach but no one was really doing much about it.  So Wednesday a group of us decided to go to Choroní and Porto Colombia.  The bus one-way cost 75 B.S or about $12.  Not bad for a twelve hour bus ride.  
    We left Thursday nite around nine…  Lets just say we were happy to be on the bus.  We got to the bus terminal and couldn’t find our bus.  The bus company did not tell us that we were actually talking a bus that goes to Caracas but stops in Maracay first.  Let me repeat that one more time, I did not go to Caracas, I got off the bus before Caracas.  But before we even left the terminal, we ran into the problem of not paying the exit tax.  So one of the guys we were with had to go off the bus to pay all of our taxes.  If I remembered one thing from orientation, it was NEVER get off the bus, so that is why I didn’t volunteer myself.  Oh, all the busses never turn their air conditioner off, so the bus was freezing cold even by Minnesota standards.
    We made it to Maracay around ten in the morning, there we grabbed some brunch and got ready to set out to Choroní.  When I signed up for this trip I had no idea that the road from Choroní would first be so long, second so hot, sweaty and cramped and thirdly driving on the tinniest and windiest road I have ever been on.  This drive puts the Hills of Northfield and the road up the Andes Mountains to shame.  The road goes through a national park and you go up and down the mountain to get to the beach, while the bus is driving 40 mph and almost falling of the cliffs while honking the horn to warn cars that it is coming.  Words really can’t describe how terrible it was.  
    But I made it, safe and sound and with out throwing up.  When we got to the beach we found a posada (hostel) to stay in. It only cost roughly $6 a nite.  We unloaded our stuff and headed straight for the beach.  The beach was absolutely beautiful, the nicest beach I have been too.  The water was completely clear and mountains surrounded the beach.  After the beach we all went to dinner and hung out by the waterfront for the night.
    The next morning we went to breakfast and I had the most amazing oatmeal ever.  After breakfast we went to the beach.  I know this is going to be hard to imagine but I actually went into the water and loved it. I know after all those times about freaking out about fish and jellyfish, it is really hard. The only reason I did was because the water was so clear (meaning I could see no fish) and there was no sign of animal life in the water. After the beach we went to got ice cream and walked around the town.  We all got dinner at a restaurant, which we ended up eating three times at.  After that we called it a nite because all of us were so tired.
    Sunday, we left for Merida and ended up getting back at eight this morning.  It has been a long couple day, but it was totally worth it.  A couple of friends and I are finalizing plans to now go to Argentina instead of Peru for our week break. Mainly the reason for the switch is because it is cheaper to go to Argentina than Peru (which I never thought would happen and still don’t really understand).  Needless to say I am already practicing  “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”.  The only complaint I have is that even after a weekend at the beach, my teacher today still referred to me and my paleness.  It must be because of all the sunscreen I wore.

Uneventful, just the way I like it

‘m writing under less than ideal conditions due to the fact that a car has hit a tree and taken out half of the city’s power.  The last couple of days have been pretty uneventful but it’s pretty hard to top throwing up in the Andes and getting bit by a spider.  I’m rather enjoying the uneventfulness.

On Saturday, I went to El Centro (downtown) with one of my friends.  Most of the students went up to the mountains to camp for the weekend.  Using my amazing judgment and that of the doctors I thought it would be best to take it easy, besides if I went on the trip I would have missed the Indy 500 (which CLEARLY wasn’t an option).  The other didn’t go because she got a parasite, so we made quiet the duo.  After walking through El Centro we went to the Mercado Principal.  It is a three story indoor market with food, clothes and all those little things you buy on trips thinking they are great until you get home and have no where to put it.  It was almost too overwhelming because there was just so much stuff plus the air smelled of the dried fish with a hint of lemon and salt.  To continue are day of shopping we went to Garcons or the Venezuelan equivalent to a Wal-Mart.  I bought something there that I could have for dinner since our host family only provides two meals for us.

On Sunday (Race Day), I slept in which was amazing because there weren’t cars zooming past my window at six in the morning.  I turned on ESPN Deportes to watch the race and probably understood maybe every tenth word mostly because it would Indianapolis or one of the race car drivers names.  50 laps into the race our power went out for about 30 minutes.  The power went back on around lap 100 just in time to see TK being interviewed. The end of the race was great.  Oh, thanks for who ever drew Ryan Hunter Ray for me…. and Scott congrats at finally winning.  

The last two days of school have been long and exhausting.  All of the Spanish is starting to make my brain hurt, but hopefully that means I am learning something.  I am liking my classes a lot. This weekend I think we are going to the beach.  Hopefully I can get some color, that way when my teachers refer to white people that wont use me as an example anymore (Its happen 3 times already).

I hope to report more uneventful things but lets be honest, its me.

The Whiter You Are , The Sicker You Get

My first day of school was only the start to my last two days.  My classes seem like they will be interesting.  The hardest class for sure will be Latin American politics the teacher is crazy.  In Venezuela they have no problem asking your political views before they even know your name.  My teacher seemed troubled when I responded I was an Independent but he seems to give the same face to everyone.  My other two classes should be good too.  All the teachers are really nice especially since they give us 30-minute break during our class. After classes on Thursdays we have this program called “Nuevos Encuentros” were we get paired up with a Venezuelan student learning English.  For half of the time we talk in English and for the second half in Spanish.

Thursday nite we went out to a popular bar to celebrate the first day of class and one of the other student’s birthdays.  As all of you know, I am not a dancer so the bar we went to was an experience for me PLUS the bar didn’t have any juice to mix drinks with… so probably wont be going back there too much. While at the bar I realized my ankle was hurting so I went to the bathroom and realized it was the size of a grapefruit.  Being the responsible person that I am I decided to go home, totally the next day I would probably need to cut off my foot or something.

Yesterday morning I went to VENUSA to show the people in charge my ankle.  The first person I should was told be just to take an anti-histamine and Ill be fine.  But then I showed it the director of the program and he freaked out because he never seen something like my bite before.  The part that I was worried about was that it was red, warm and felt like there was liquid building up under my skin. Hector took me to the doctor more because he was so interested in what the bite was than anything.  The doctor told me it was probably a spider that bit me while we were up in the mountains and I should take some medicine and Ill be fine in a couple of days.  So that means Wednesday was probably the best day of my life between throwing up and getting bit by a spider.

For the rest of the day I went downtown and looked at all the shops they had there with some people and then last nite we had a BBQ at the school with the Venezuelan students.  I should be thankful though that my spider bite wasn’t so serious because another student got such a bad parasite from something that he left today to go back to Minnesota.

Oh I also got a cell phone here, you can call it from Skype for 20 cents a minute.  The phone number is 04247181798.

Im Safe

Just incase there was people that wanted to know. After waking up Monday morning at 1:30 for our flight to Caracas, then getting to spend 6 hours in the Caracas airport and an hour and half bus ride to Mérida, it was long. But the flight to Caracas was the nicest and largest plane I have ever been on. There was in flight movies and every seat had its own screen.  One of the features the screen has was a map of the flight; I watched it the entire time.  We were greeted in Mérida by our host families and with out running water.  Apparently in Merida it is very common for the water to shut off for a couple of days.  Oh well, least everyone else will smell as bad as I do.  

My host family is really nice, they live in an apartment right by a McDonalds (which sells arapas instead of french fries) and its just the two of them. I share a room with Danielle; she hasn’t had Spanish since high school so slowly I have become the translator.  The view out my room is amazing and pretty much all of Merida.  I have never seen mountains like this before.

This morning my host dad walked us to school, he said it was really close but it ended up being a 50 minute walk, half up hill. So Danielle and I decided we would walk in the mornings and take a taxi at nite more just for the safety factor plus a taxi is only $2.My first day at VenUsa was orientation, placement testing and sitting around getting to know the other 36 people. We got to do lunch on our own, so a group of us found a restaurant. It was a pretty nice one inside a medical school. For lunch I had soup, rice, fried yucca (a potato like starch that has been part of the South American diet since the Incas) beef, salad, juice and flan.  Not bad for roughly $4.

After our placement test we went on a tour of the city. The guide told use that Mérida has over 900,000 people.  The city is huge.  The guide took us to some city squares but also to two ice cream shops.  The first one was really good but the second one not so much.  The second one has over 900 flavors of ice cream; some people got ham and cheese or baby corn, I being the adventurous person that I am got lemon.  My stomach is going to hate me in a couple of hours but the first ice cream was totally worth it.

Tomorrow we get to go see waterfalls, I’m really excited. I have internet at my house, so I will be able to skype and everything so if anyone has a skype, let me know!

Oh I forgot, Dad this is more for you.  VenUsa is right next to a Renault store and have a ton of pictures of their F1 cars.  Its not Indy Cars but I was excited.

I miss everyone!

Meaghan

An Introduction

I thought this would be a good way to keep in touch while I am in Venezuela for the summer.  I will try my best to keep up with the blog, post wont be too long (except for this one) and not everyday. I thought I would answer some of the questions I commonly get about my trip:

*What will you be doing?
    Besides becoming best friends with Hugo Chavez, I will be taking some classes, hopefully either teaching or volunteering and traveling. I am probably most excited about the idea of getting to travel to some parts of South America.  I hope to travel to Caracas just because it was the starting place of Independence movement of South America and Simon Bolivar lived there.  I would love to go to Colombia but the only way I would be able to this is if my host family would take me, so I have my fingers crossed.  I have five days between my two sessions, which I would like to go to Peru for.  Since third grade I have wanted to visit Machu Picchu (no one probably remembers my diorama of Machu Picchu with Polly Pockets).  Also in Peru I would like to go to Lima and Cuzco.  If I have any other free time I would LOVE to make it to Buenos Aires, just so I can pretend to be in the musical Evita but also Buenos Aires and Argentina has a whole different feel then the rest of South America so it would be really cool to visit. And there is always Cuba, but that will have to wait to its legal to travel there, probably. 

*Why Venezuela?
    As probably most of you know I am a Spanish and Latin American studies major (and Public Health but that didn’t factor in) so I cant really study in Spain.  I wanted to study in Mexico but as we know that wouldn’t probably be the best idea.  The public health side of me thought it would be an amazing time to study there but the U of MN and many other people tend to disagree.  The U of MN offers a program in Venezuela, which happened to have the last Spanish classes I need and Venezuela has a very interesting history, so I decided it, would be the best place for me to go.

Where in Venezuela will you be studying?
    I will be living in Mérida for three months. The city is located directly south of Maracabio and a twelve-hour bus ride from Caracas It is a very interesting city because it located at the beginning of the Andes, so it is surrounded by mountains and has a relatively mild climate (65-70 degrees).  I will be staying with the host family with one other student.  My host dad is a lawyer and my host mom is dietician.

If you guys have any questions, let me know!

Hasta próximo tiempo,

Meaghan