Yep, I did that

June 23, 2009

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.

June 15, 2009

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

June 2, 2009

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.