El Primero Dia en Venezuela
Trip Start
Feb 15, 2005
1
2
14
Trip End
Apr 02, 2006
Caracas,
Venezuela
Thursday, February 17, 2005
The flight over was simple and harmless... at my arrival, substituting the absence of Negro I was greeted by about 800 taxi drivers... all very nice, and very persistent. No gracias! Those were my first spanish words on south american soil! Necesitas un telefono? They kept asking... I kept declining. Then it got to be 1030 and I was getting a little worried I had missed El Negro... so I graciously borrowed a driverīs phone and Negro and his beautiful girlfriend Mercedes,(both of whom speak english fairly well), were on the way...
He picked me up and we went back to his apartment in Cairemare... a great place - humble and cute! It was midnite and the night was still young... Negro and Mercedes took me to check out the strip of bars in centro caracas - got my first Polar Beer and first salsa lesson... the bars here have tons of character and each has its own feel... some discotecas with the strobes, others quiet lounges with sensual ambiance, others are like being in Puerto Vallarta for spring break... and theyīre all right next to each other! The girls paint their clothes on... looks like I may finally fit into a size zero! Everybody else here seems to do so... no matter what size they really are! The guys are forward... yes, forward. thats a nice way to put it. Everyone here looks different. The venezuelans are a beautifully mixed culture... mostly light to dark brown skin... but all look strikingly different... blonde, black, brown, red, curly, straight, dreads, braids, short, tall, large, tiny... all beautiful though.
An hour later, we returned, with the places in mind to which we will return en el fin de semana when the masses of people are there!
I slept like a rock and woke up at 10am, just in time for a run with Negro at the central Parque in Caracas... very humid and hot and I was LOVIN it! I was a little famished because I hadnīt drinken any water for about 16 hours for fear of getting sick... perhaps that Cheese Arepa I just ate will test my naive knucklehead of a brain within the next 24 hours! oh well! The lack of water caused me to collect a significant amount of saliva in my mouth. But before I adhered to my adventure racing instincts of spitting on the ground right away, I paused in my mind and decided against it. Turns out that was a good decision because to have spit in the National Parque would have virtually been a complete disrespect to Venezuela... yeah, kinda like a Catholic spitting in the Popeīs face... yah, dont think I would have earned much of a gracious welcome after that one. thank God for thinking twice.
After the run, we stopped by a market to get fresh fruit for breakfast... guava, parchita, tangerines, bananas, papaya... and fresh mango and watermelon juice! YUM! Oh, Im gonna love it here!
So, here I am at the mall, walkin around, people watching - trying to pick up on the little quirky gestures and sayings that the common people do and say- it may be a crime to be this free in the states! Free to roam around, sit at a cafe and listen to conversation (even though I cant understand a thing), free to smile, or frown, say anything, do anything. YES!
At 7pm tonite, we will go to the Venezuela-Argentina Professional soccer game. The main sport in Venezuela is baseball, second is soccer... but those fans who follow soccer are CRAZY for their team! Should be wild! Tomorrow we will go hike the tallest mountain the the Caracas Andes, El Avia - Saturday we will shop and soak up the nightlife (Mercedes and her girlfriends are taking me out) and perhaps sunday or monday I will take a flight over to Los Roques and do some diving, sunbathing, and chillin out. I know my arrival in Merida will encourage much sight seeing and go-go-go-see-it-all-do-it-all from la familia Quintero... so, with the advice of mi hermana, I figure a few days solamente en la isla, voy a preparar para Merida...
Soooo... itīs a completely new life for me here. I woke up this morning feeling as if I had stepped into a matrix. Its weird, and exciting, and fun, and scary, and wonderful, and beautiful all wrapped into one! Ahhh, life is so RICH and DELICIOUS! Drink up. Muchos Besos.... Tiffany
