Thursday, Feb 15-Thursday, Feb 22
Our first morning in Venezuela was spent waiting for a couple hours at Gabrielle's house to exchange money. No one uses the official exchange rate if they can help it. The banks give 2,100 Bolivares for $1 USD. On the black market (ie from the uncle of a friend of Gabrielle's) we changed $1 USD for 3,500 Bs. After that we began the first of many, many hours in the car.
There are some crazy, dangerous drivers in Venezuela! Our first day there was spent driving from Gabrielle's city to Choroni, a beach town about 8 hrs. away. It took us 11 hours, though, thanks to 3 traffic jams due to overturned trucks, one of which happened on a twisty mountain road in the dark. If you get into an accident, you have to leave everything as is -- if you want insurance to cover it -- until an inspection is done. This means that even little fender benders result in cars stopped in the middle of the road until things get sorted out. No matter if they are blocking all the lanes in both directions.
We had two relaxing days at the beach -- relaxing except for the death-defying boat rides to and from the port to the beach. Words to describe the boat launching scene include: dozens of boats crammed together in a port area (think row boat with motor attached), men cutting up bloody fish on the sand, kids running around, chickens running around, a band playing metal drums, guards with machine guns. Check out the photos for a taste of what I'm talking about. We had at least one near capsize, and Patti, one of our companions who was sitting on the outside edge of the boat, came up completely drenched. Fortunately Patti had previously switched seats with her 86-YEAR-OLD MOTHER who came from Iowa to spend the winter months in Venezuela with her daughter, who is also a teacher at Gabrielle's school. This woman uses a walker and still managed to make that long car journey and climb into a death-trap boat for a ride to the beach. David and I decided that we have absolutely no excuse not to travel when we get old.
The captains of our little boat also served as chefs at the beach and provided us with drinks and a hot lunch. "All inclusive," just like our honeymoon. Except not like it at all.
We met a family from Caracas while at the beach and became friendly with them. We had some interesting conversations about their perspective on the politics of Venezuela.
They invited us to visit them in Caracas, and since we hadn't made plans for the remainder of our trip yet, so we took them up on the offer. An hour and a half drive from the beach brought us to Caracas, where we had an authentic meal at a nice restaurant, a whirlwind tour of the city, a couple hours of relaxing at their beautiful home, and a trip to a cute shopping area of the city. David got sick, but after puking felt well enough to continue with the evening. We can't figure out what made him sick, as he didn't eat anything different from anyone else. We think perhaps it was stress-induced. He hated every minute of the driving -- and there were a lot of those!
After Caracas, we had a 9-hour drive home, which went much smoother (no dark twisty mountain roads and no traffic jams).
The last day was spent in Gabrielle's city, hanging out, wandering around, visiting her school (she had to teach that day), getting massages (David and me), getting manicures (Gabrielle and me), and meeting some of her friends. She has four third graders, who David and I had the privilege of entertaining -- I mean, educating -- for an hour or so. That was fun. At lunchtime I met two adorable little girls. I asked them where the rest of their class was, and they said, "we are the kindergarten class!" One of them told me she liked my hair and immediately followed up the compliment with a big hug around my neck. Her classmate gave me a hug, too. So easy to make friends with kindergarteners!
We had a long journey home -- our flight left at 8 a.m., and we had a 5-hour layover in Miami. We arrived in Philly at 8 p.m., were picked up by Rebecca, and then drove 3 1/2 hours home. We were very glad to get back, and we've spent most of the weekend so far recovering.
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