well as more and more time passes here, the more I learn about culture and meet more venezuelans. the title of my blog, si dios quiere is one of my favorite slang phrases here. It translates into if god wants. They say it all the time here if a situation is uncertain. If they dont know if they are going somewhere they will say it instead of maybe. Religion is huge down here. With the population being 95 percent Catholic, it is pretty unavoidable. The church always has people in it, its crazy. Also they place churches here right by the main square so that its central to everything. Coming up is holy week here which is supposed to be really cool. They have practicing here for recreations of the passion. There have also been drummers practicing for some kind of procession. Cant wait to see what is all entailed and for my parents to be here for all the activities. My parents come tomorrow. From there, we are headed to los llanos to catch some anacondas and see some amazing wildlife. Spring break is here and could really use the break from school! I cant wait to show my parents around this beautiful city and more importantly eat some really good food!
On another note, registration for next semester is coming up. Very strange looking for classes while in another country. It more difficult because all communication with advisors is through email. Anyways, I am still continuing down the path of public relations. We will see where it will take me. I have been doing alot of thinking about switching into education. I have concluded though that the best thing to do is finish up my undergrad in 3 and a half years and figure it out from there. If all works out this summer i will land this job through americorps doing public relations for habitat for humanity. The nice thing about public relations is that you can work for any company or field you find interesting. If i stick with this i would love to work for a company like habitat. oh well we will see. si dios quiere.
-Alright this post is full of random things but oh well. Its crazy here that it costs more to buy a bottle of water than to fill up your gas tank!
-also if you dont know how to dance salsa you are kinda screwed. They breathe salsa down here and if you cant dance even a little bit, it is very hard to meet girls. All of them want to dance and if you cant, they will easily find someone that can. I actually love dancing salsa. I am not very good, but am slowly getting better. I have come to overall appreciate dancing more while being here. Honestly, why not dance when given the opportunity. It brings people together and is absolutely part of the culture.
-I love the way people greet each here. For guys you say something like epa chamo, which is like hey dude! when you greet girls or women, you give a kiss on the cheek. They are incredibly friendly with anyone they meet. Its such a nice change from the more reserved american style of greeting.
-Well thats it for now. Off to los llanos!!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Big Post
Another weekend gone in Venezuela. I have been in this country for almost 2 months and time is just flying by. I find myself really enjoying the culture. Spanish is coming along nicely. I find it pretty easy to understand most people and their conversations and can talk back pretty well. I have also found the magic of non verbal communications. I find myself using my hands so much more to try to get my point across. I really enjoy learning the slang of this language also. I feel like it makes you so much more less of a foreigner than you already are. However, my Spanish class Is pretty tough. I find it difficult to grasp concepts in grammar because there are so many different kinds of verb tenses here that we don’t have or use in English.
Anyways, this past Saturday I organized a camping trip about an hour out to this mountain lake called la laguna de coromoto. We took a 20 minute bus ride out to the next closest city called tabay. From there we took another 20 minute jeep taxi to this city and park called la mucuy. From there we take this trail to the lake that was supposed to take around 3 hours. Mind you, this trail was pretty much uphill and with all of my gear strapped on, this was no easy task. The trail was beautiful, gaining some real elevation and going through the jungle. The trail was very well maintained however, the signage was absolutely terrible. We reached a point around 3 times when we hit a point where the trail broke into a 3 way fork. Because there were no signs, we pretty much had to guess where we had to go. So needless to say we were pretty much lost in the andes mountains. We had to backtrack like 4 times and reached a point where Andrew ran up the trail to see if there was any chance of making it to this lake before it got dark. He was gone for around 20 minutes running up the trail. Meanwhile, the rest of us were sitting and taking a breather when it got really dark really fast and it started to rain. Andrew came back and let us know that the lake was nowhere to be found and that the trail doesn’t open up for a camping spot. Sooo, we backtracked yet again to see if we could find someplace to set up camp. It continued to rain and we were in a race against time against the darkness. We tried a couple other trails and finally found a spot to set up camp (consisted of an old slab of concrete). As soon as the tents got up, it started to POUR. I guess this meant no fire and no hot food. But…my friend Andrew and I worked to get a fire started for around 2 hours. With the help of a pair of sweatpants of my friend Kelsey, we finally got a fire going with wet wood. This meant all of us huddling around the fire for warmth with bottles of rum and slightly cooked vegetables. Overall if I had to do it again, I would. The trail was gorgeous, like something out of Indiana Jones, crossing waterfalls and running into people fishing with sticks. I love the mountains here and it is soo easy to get up there and spend just a night. The weekends are pretty packed from now on so the night time I get to go will be the last weekend here.
I am going to really miss it here. It has been such a blast. Sometimes I catch myself walking down the street and remembering that I am in Venezuela. But there is so much on my plate coming up. Next week I am heading to the colonial city of Coro with my roommate and some buddies. Then next weekend my parents are coming for a week and we are heading to Los Llanos ( a wildlife paradise full of piranhas and anacondas) and to the mountains. The weekend after that I am going to Catatumbo, a place on a lake where natural lightning occurs. The weekend after that I might take a weekend trip to Columbia..maybe. After that is the last weekend here. After the program is over, I am planning an epic trip through part of South America. My roommate Adam, my friend Nora, and I are going to Cartegena, Colombia for a week. After Nora and I are going to bus through Colombia stopping in Medellin and Cali, and then to Quito, Ecuador. From there were are going to spend a week on the coast of Ecuador. I am soo excited for the epic journey. I have 24 days total after the program is over and cannot wait to explore more of this awesome continent! Well that is it for today, but tomorrow I am going ziplining through the jungle!!
Anyways, this past Saturday I organized a camping trip about an hour out to this mountain lake called la laguna de coromoto. We took a 20 minute bus ride out to the next closest city called tabay. From there we took another 20 minute jeep taxi to this city and park called la mucuy. From there we take this trail to the lake that was supposed to take around 3 hours. Mind you, this trail was pretty much uphill and with all of my gear strapped on, this was no easy task. The trail was beautiful, gaining some real elevation and going through the jungle. The trail was very well maintained however, the signage was absolutely terrible. We reached a point around 3 times when we hit a point where the trail broke into a 3 way fork. Because there were no signs, we pretty much had to guess where we had to go. So needless to say we were pretty much lost in the andes mountains. We had to backtrack like 4 times and reached a point where Andrew ran up the trail to see if there was any chance of making it to this lake before it got dark. He was gone for around 20 minutes running up the trail. Meanwhile, the rest of us were sitting and taking a breather when it got really dark really fast and it started to rain. Andrew came back and let us know that the lake was nowhere to be found and that the trail doesn’t open up for a camping spot. Sooo, we backtracked yet again to see if we could find someplace to set up camp. It continued to rain and we were in a race against time against the darkness. We tried a couple other trails and finally found a spot to set up camp (consisted of an old slab of concrete). As soon as the tents got up, it started to POUR. I guess this meant no fire and no hot food. But…my friend Andrew and I worked to get a fire started for around 2 hours. With the help of a pair of sweatpants of my friend Kelsey, we finally got a fire going with wet wood. This meant all of us huddling around the fire for warmth with bottles of rum and slightly cooked vegetables. Overall if I had to do it again, I would. The trail was gorgeous, like something out of Indiana Jones, crossing waterfalls and running into people fishing with sticks. I love the mountains here and it is soo easy to get up there and spend just a night. The weekends are pretty packed from now on so the night time I get to go will be the last weekend here.
I am going to really miss it here. It has been such a blast. Sometimes I catch myself walking down the street and remembering that I am in Venezuela. But there is so much on my plate coming up. Next week I am heading to the colonial city of Coro with my roommate and some buddies. Then next weekend my parents are coming for a week and we are heading to Los Llanos ( a wildlife paradise full of piranhas and anacondas) and to the mountains. The weekend after that I am going to Catatumbo, a place on a lake where natural lightning occurs. The weekend after that I might take a weekend trip to Columbia..maybe. After that is the last weekend here. After the program is over, I am planning an epic trip through part of South America. My roommate Adam, my friend Nora, and I are going to Cartegena, Colombia for a week. After Nora and I are going to bus through Colombia stopping in Medellin and Cali, and then to Quito, Ecuador. From there were are going to spend a week on the coast of Ecuador. I am soo excited for the epic journey. I have 24 days total after the program is over and cannot wait to explore more of this awesome continent! Well that is it for today, but tomorrow I am going ziplining through the jungle!!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Slow and steady
Well wow, I guess i didnt realize that it has really been a long time since my last post. I am really starting get into this lifestyle and culture. Its kinda neat to know that I have been here for almost 2 months. I have learned so much already about myself and about other people. I feel like this is why they encourage students to study abroad. You can really only learn so much in a classroom. But to be thrown into a brand new culture with a language you dont really know and with no one you know is a humbling experience. I already feel different on the inside and am sure that it is for the better. But anyways, what have i been up to?
Earlier this week, my roommate adam and another buddy and I decided to go to a venezuelan casino. Everything was pretty much the same there except for one major thing....all the games were automated. There were no actual tables or dealers there. I sat at a blackjack table for a while that was an old sega game. too crazy. all video poker and slots. even roulette was automated. The wonderful thing about that place though is that they give you a bunch of free food and drinks. Its a cool feeling sitting playing bingo while eating hot soup and drinking some fruit juice. Free beer, soup, juice, even cake. Anyways, i ended up loosing only 20 dollars but was a great night overall.
Another thing I did this weekend was go on a super cool day hike. Classes on wednesday were cancelled because American supervisors of the program were here evaluating everything. So, me and some friends decided to make the long hike up the mountain to the first teleferico station. The teleferico is the longest cable car system in the world...but I am in venezuela so of course it is broken. Something like one time the car fell and everyone died. But anyways, there are something like four stops on the route before reaching some really high elevation near the top of this mountain. We kind of just wanted to see how long it would take to get to the first station. Its something like a 1000 meter walk total. The walk was strenuous and in the heat, it was no easy task. We made it something like 3/4 of the way there but decided to take a different route that led down to a river. This was a great decision because it was a great time there. We all climbed up this river, scaling rock faces and trailblazing the whole time. we found a series of waterfalls, soaked in a mountain spring, and found really cool walking sticks (the insects). Overall a great way to spend a day off.
Anyways thats it for now, but I will post again really soon.
Earlier this week, my roommate adam and another buddy and I decided to go to a venezuelan casino. Everything was pretty much the same there except for one major thing....all the games were automated. There were no actual tables or dealers there. I sat at a blackjack table for a while that was an old sega game. too crazy. all video poker and slots. even roulette was automated. The wonderful thing about that place though is that they give you a bunch of free food and drinks. Its a cool feeling sitting playing bingo while eating hot soup and drinking some fruit juice. Free beer, soup, juice, even cake. Anyways, i ended up loosing only 20 dollars but was a great night overall.
Another thing I did this weekend was go on a super cool day hike. Classes on wednesday were cancelled because American supervisors of the program were here evaluating everything. So, me and some friends decided to make the long hike up the mountain to the first teleferico station. The teleferico is the longest cable car system in the world...but I am in venezuela so of course it is broken. Something like one time the car fell and everyone died. But anyways, there are something like four stops on the route before reaching some really high elevation near the top of this mountain. We kind of just wanted to see how long it would take to get to the first station. Its something like a 1000 meter walk total. The walk was strenuous and in the heat, it was no easy task. We made it something like 3/4 of the way there but decided to take a different route that led down to a river. This was a great decision because it was a great time there. We all climbed up this river, scaling rock faces and trailblazing the whole time. we found a series of waterfalls, soaked in a mountain spring, and found really cool walking sticks (the insects). Overall a great way to spend a day off.
Anyways thats it for now, but I will post again really soon.
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