GOOOOOOL!

So today I got up with the intention of walking around this softball complex for exercise, but it wasn't open. I just walked down Avenida Las Americas to waste time and see if the park opened around 8am. It did! I was able to run bleachers, but not for very long. I know I will be feeling it tomorrow. After, my productive morning I came back home ate some yummy empanadas that my dad made filled with mashed potatoes and cheese (a Venezuelan perogie!) and then slept until 11am. We weren't able to go to Johan's house today, because Juan Diego is sick. Poor little guy! Instead, Kelsey, Brittany and I tried out a new panaderia for lunch. YUM!! Then afterwards we went to a soccer game with Viktor. The stadium was huge! As soon as I saw it I thought of Harry Potter. I could just imagine a quidditch game taking place in this stadium. hahahahah Dork....I know. :) It was Los Estuidantes de Merida vs. El Deportivo de Italia. I love how energetic the crowd was, including an impromptu band consisting of a trumpet and some drums. They had so much energy.
Futbol is such a great sport. The guys that play are all in really good shape and are very handsome!! At the halftime, the players came out with two soccer balls to throw into our side of the stadium. Well, I almost caught it. But I'm glad I didn't though because the little boy that did catch it was then immediately tackled by 10 other little boys that wanted that ball. They started fighting for it! and the crowd was just watching, waiting to see who was going to come out of that mess with the ball. Horrible! So happy we went to the futbol game today. It's just something I had to do while in South America.

Fotos de Venezuela de Antier

We had so much fun!! There are pictures of my winnings from the rabbit roulette, the dance of the Diablos and I captured the moment when the 'bull' ran into the audience at the Plaza de Toros. People started running away as if the bull were real. It was pretty funny!

Venezuela de Antier

Today Rosa, Angel, Caitlin y yo fuimos a Venezuela de Antier. It was basically an Epcot theme park, but the Venezuelan version. They had a guided walking tour through all the representations of the different geographic regions of Venezuela. We first started out in Margartia Island and had to do this maypole dance with ribbons, while some cute old men played guitars. The crazy lady in charge spoke with the dialect from Margarita and wore the typical clothes. She also hugged all the guys in our group and grabbed all of their butts when she did!! After that we headed to Los Llanos and placed our bets in a game of Rabbit Roulette. There was an arena with 60 little houses set up inside a circular pit and we had to pick a numbered house. I choose #50! Then the guy would spin the rabbit around and placed it in the middle of the circle. We waited for the rabbit (named Perezoso) to pick a box. He chose #58 and so I was the closest! I WON!! Four people placed bets including myself so I won 8 bolivares. The day continued traveling to Caracas and the Plaza de Toros, where they had a person dressed up as a bull 'fighting' a torero. Good news is that I ate some tequenos while I was in Zulia! Overall we had a great day!

(Pictures will come soon....)

Museo de Ciencia y Tecnologia

Today I met Caitlin in her neck of the woods. I had to take a bus and when I tried to get off at the stop, this buseta had a buzzer, I guess I didn't push the button hard enough because the guy didn't stop. So I pushed it harder and got off at the next stop to find myself in front of a beautiful flower shop! I picked up some flowers for my mom after the muesum and she was so surprised. They smell so good!!
As I was walking back from the musuem every guy I passed asked if the flowers were for them, even a couple of police officers. WHAT?!!
The museum was really fun. We spent almost all day there because it was a guided tour, of course in spanish. They asked if we wanted a translator, but we said no. I understood most of what the guide was saying. They had an ecology exhibit, a dinosaurio exhibit, then an earthquake exhibit with a simulator, an optical illusion area and then a planetarium compelete with one of those inflatable domes where they project the night sky onto the ceiling. So fun!! I learned some new constellations and the guide apoligized after because he spoke so fast. How sweet!

Just throwing it out there that I realized I feel like I am in the movie I am Legend, because I feel like at night I have to stay in, shut the door and close the windows. Not because it's unsafe outside but rather because people just don't go out at night. Or at least my family doesn't. haha

Sangria Night

Wednesday's are my longest days at school. I have classes from 8am-6pm without a break for lunch. It's difficult, but at least it only happens once a week. To unwind after class we had Sangria night!! It wasn't really that good; it was a little bitter. Apparently my dad said he makes really good sangria. Maybe we will make that sometime? Anyway, it was still fun because we also had dance class tonight. Well, at least until the power went out at 8pm. Oh and I found out that our power at home is going to switch times from 2-4pm to just going out for one hour. Gracias a Chavez!

Tequenos WILL make me fat

Johan and Gija are the husband and wife team that cook our lunches in VENUSA (their sons are Juan Diego and Fernando). They are the hardest working and sweetest family I have ever met. Love them!! Well, they sell a ton of chocolate in their little tienda and so of course I buy a little something everyday. Now the two of them know that when I come in, I want chocolate! They ask me what type of chocolate do you want today? Usually I let them pick, because I just want to try everything. Recently, the started making tequenos which are so addicting! They are like the cheese curd of Venezuela. Fried cheese and bread! So salty and SO GOOD! Yesterday I ate two and a half. Johann and Gija made fun of me, asking if I wanted to dip in chocolate. But they also invited me over, as well as Kelsey and Britanny, to make pizzas with their family. So cute!
I guess its a good thing that I started going to yoga today. Although, that may not keep my weight down from all the dulces, I'm at least doing some exercise! I really enjoyed the class this morning. My mom came with me and she really liked it to. We are going to go every Tuesday and Thursday morning. They also have bailoterapia on friday nights which is similar to zumba. As of this morning I am a member, so I will be going to as many classes as I can to offset my horrible eating habits. But hey, when in Merida right?
Oh and you know that dog that I see everyday on the way to school? Well today I found him inside the panaderia (bakery) and of course asked him what he was doing. :)

Chavez, Chavez, Chavez...

So this past weekend was really fun! I had a trip to the Botanical Gardens for my ecology class. I took so many pictures of the beautiful tropical flowers. Bird of paradise is my favorite! We went to the movies on Saturday night to see Valentine's Day. The movie was in English, but with Spanish subtitles. I had fun comparing what they said in English to the translations. Sometimes they were really funny and incorrect!! I plan on going to the movies again if Dear John comes out while I am here in Venezuela. For those two hours I felt like I was back in the states, but then the lights turned back on and everybody was speaking spanish. Back to reality!
Then on Sunday I went to the exposicion again with Marissa and bought another box of chocolates. So bad!! But the guy selling it to me threw in some extra candy bars, so I caved. I also bought two more soccer jerseys. They are so cheap here! Well, while we were spending all our money at the exposicion, Chavez was in Merida blabbing away about opening an electric plant or something. So funny enough the power didn't go out on Sunday from 2-4pm like it has for the past month. Why? Well Chavez was in town and his session was broadcasted on television!! It was nice not having the power go off, since I was working on my ecology exam, but I assumed that meant we would have to 'make-up' those two hours some other time. Well, we didn't! We got a free day...how nice of Chavez.

Botanical Gardens and.....

Today we had a field trip to the Botanical Gardens for our Ecology class. It was so fun and very beautiful. La selva nublada(cloud forest) ecosystem is my favorite. All the different types of ferns, palms and exotic flowers are so beautiful.

I guess it was inevitable (since they only ever wear jeans here), that I would wear out a pair of pants. Yes, today my favorite pairs of jeans now have a hole in the crotch! I can still wear the jeans though. Just won't be doing any cartwheels!

Familia Grande

We went to the exhibition today! It was basically a convention center with a million tents set up inside selling everything from clothes, hats and shoes to furniture and head scratchers. My parents bought a head scratcher! They were so excited. I also felt like I was at the state fair, because they had all sorts of food. There were these 4 mini cinnamon rolls that were sooo good! I also bought two soccer jereseys for 55 Bolivares. What a deal! One is Venezuelan and the other is from Barcelona (it's highlighter pink!) There was also a tent selling a box of chocolate candy bars that you could by for 20 Bs. But the best part is that then you could use the chocolate fountain they had set up to dip your candy bars in! My kind of thing!
After the exhibition, we went to Eira's parent's house, because her parents were celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary. She is one of 7 kids and everyone was there, along with their children. It was so fun! We had cake and wine and took pictures. I meet everyone in her family and the dad told me I spoke Spanish well. :)
Some of the cousins were playing Mario on the computer and I taught them the trick to get the magic whistle so they could transport to another world. Trust me, explaining that in Spanish was very difficult. But I did it and they were so excited!

Dia de los Enamorados y Amistad

Happy Valentine's Day! We all had lunch together as a family, Angel included. We had lasagna and some peach wine, which I couldn't have because I am taking medicine for my cold. For dessert, my mom made red jello! So cute! We went to watch Ali again tonight. There were two dancers tonight and a little girl in the audience that was wearing her pink polka-dot flamenco dress. Adorable! For the very last song, they invited the little girl to dance. Great night!

Flamenco en Merida!

Today Ellie, Claire and I went shopping around Mercado Principal and el centro. I bought a Venezuelan flag! When I showed my family though, they called it a chavista flag because it is different than the flag before Chavez. Apparently, Chavez changed the number of stars from 7 to 8, to include Cuba in the countries that were liberated by Bolivar. Also, the horse in the seal is jumping in the air and before it was standing with it's head turned to the right. CRAZY! Chavez does what he wants I guess.
So tonight we went to watch Angel's brother perform in a flamenco band. He plays guitar and sings. There was also a flamenco dancer who was wearing the most gorgeous dress!! I love flamenco dresses! We were in a small Spanish restaurant with Angel, Rosa and his parents. It was a very personal and intimate performance. Maybe only 30 people? Luckily we are going again tomorrow night! I have a little crush on Ali, Angel's brother. He is soooooo cute!!

Stuck in a rose bush...

Today I ran some errands around the city and didn't receive very many priopos or cat calls. I'm starting to fit in around here! Then I met Ellie and Natalie at Hotel Prado Rio to use the pool. A beautiful day for lounging around and listening to the merengue, salsa and reggeton the had playing. It was so cute, there was this young couple dancing in the water! I planned on taking a taxi when I left and there was one sitting in the drop off area of the hotel. The driver looked like he was sleeping, but I went up to the window to ask if I could get a ride. Except I didn't really know how to say that so I just said "Estas...um okay?" hahaha I just didn't know if he was taking a nap, on break or waiting for somebody else. Well he was free and able to drive me home. So I went to go get in the car, but got stuck in the rose bush. My backpack was completely enwrapped by the thorns on the bush. I was struggling to get in the car and the driver was just looking at me like 'what are you doing?' I finally just ripped myself free, but not without scratching up the backs of my arms. Then I told him to just drop me off at McDonald's because it was right across the street from my house and I wanted una barquilla (ice cream cone). He was going to go through the drive through to get me one! I told him to just drop me off there and I could get it myself. I'm sure he was happy to get me out of the car... I was such a pain.

Bombas de Agua

Part of the traditions of Las Ferias is that people throw water balloons, generally at the women and especially if they are gringa, como yo! As a group, we were hit on two separate occasions. One was when we were walking to school and Brittany got hit on her foot by a car that was passing by. Then the other was the next day walking back from school. These middle school boys threw 3 at us and we ran away screaming! hahaha They all hit Brittany! My goal is to catch one without it popping and chuck it back at them! I also heard that sometimes they fill the water balloons with pee...nasty boys.

Festivities!

So last night we had dance class again. This time they taught us Merengue!! However, the lights went out at 8pm and we "started" at 7pm (of course it didn't really start until around 7:20), we didn't have that long to dance. I was in the middle of a turn when the lights went out and I lost my partner. Too funny!
Tonight we had a Carnival Festival party, because this week is Las Ferias del Sol. There are shows, exposiciones, and bull fights. The corrida del toros is more of a spanish tradition than any part of venezuelan culture, but they have bull fights every day of the Carnival. We were supposed to dress up and I went as an 80's aerboic instructor, complete with blue leggings that I just happened to pack along?! I'm pretty sure the Venezolanos thought I was crazy, what else is new!? I had fun!

Super Bowl Sunday!

They had planned a Super Bowl party at VENUSA tonight for the Americans. Unfortunately, the power is now set to go out from 8-10pm, so we were able to watch the pre-game show and then the 1st quarter before the lights went out. They did cook us hot dogs though! So we stuck around for those. Venzuelan hotdogs come with potato chips on it and they usually put a combination of ketchup and mayonaisse (well, at least my family does). I headed back home after eating 4 hot dogs and then caught the last 5 min of the game, which was very exciting!!

Parapente!

Today I went tandem paragliding off the top of a mountain! It was so much fun! The drive up to the top caused my stomach to get a little queasy knowing I would soon be flying through the valley. There were four of us from VENUSA that went and we met two other older guys from South Africa who were pastors. They were very friendly!
So we got all our gear on and then waited for the wind to be just right. I really didn’t have any time to be nervous, because he attached my harness to his and then we ran off the mountain!! My stomach didn’t get that feeling at all. It was so peaceful and calm. The scenery was gorgeous! We were up in the air for close to 30 minutes. To lower ourselves we both had to lean to the right and spiral down! I loved it!! Overall a great experience and I would definitely do it again!

Would you like a straw with that?

Today I saw a man drinking a bottle of gatorade with a straw! People here don't just drink out of a can or bottle. They always use a straw: for milk, cans of soda, bottles of water. However, they don't drink beer with a straw. It's the one exception. Maybe they know something I don't know. The soda cans/lips of the bottle are tainted with rat poisoning?!?!?

Dance Class

Tonight we had our first dance class at school. Eduardo taught the gringos the 3 steps to salsa for the first hour. It was so fun! Then the venezolanos came and we practiced our new moves with them for about an hour or so. I had one partner who I think learned that night how to dance, because we just went around in circles. At the end of the night though I danced merengue with Luis! It's faster than salsa and your steps are just short ones from side to side, but you spin around and do all sorts of turns. I didn't want to stop!

P.S. I am listening to merengue music right now and just took a break from dancing to write this entry!