Then Came Monday
November 27, 2007
Monday morning we were awakened by the phone. I jumped out of bed, checking the clock on the way to find that it was 5:50 in the morning! It was someone from the school calling to tell us that school was closed due to demonstrations. I went back to bed.
At 8:30 Derrick showed up at our door yelling, “Come quick, they’re throwing rocks at cars!” We went to his place which overlooks the intersection to find a bunch of people gathered. They were dragging a downed street lamp as well as various bric-a-brac into the middle of the road. When they had effectively blocked all lanes of travel, they added tires and lit the whole mess on fire. As we looked above the trees, we could see plenty of smoke rising up in other neighborhoods as well. We also heard explosions which turned out to be fireworks.
These folks were pretty peaceful; chanting anti-Chavez slogans, redirecting motorists, and stoking the fires. Eventually the police showed up and drove them off. They started to clear the intersection when the students returned with rocks and chased the police off. As they retreated, the cops shot off tear gas in the street. This, of course, mingled with the black tire smoke, reached our windows quickly, driving us back inside. We slammed the windows and doors closed and raced for cool, wet cloths for our eyes. Fortunately, Zachary didn’t get much.
As the students ran from the gas, the cops showed up en masse. They shot shotgun blasts into the air and stood guard while several fellows cleaned up the intersection. When it was all clear, they fired off a few more rounds and took off for another hot spot. It only took about thirty minutes for the intersection to be blocked once again. This little game continued for most of the day.
As evening came on we wandered out to scope the scene. We walked down Pocaterra and encountered road blocks about every twenty feet. When we got to Avenida Michelena we found that the entire street was completely torn up. Protestors had removed the drainage grates from the middle of the road, placed large steel plates at the end of the block, and moved huge concrete barriers into the center of the avenue. They were gathered in a large group at the other end of the street, but we didn’t venture too close. We are, after all, foreigners here.
Needless to say, school was cancelled again today. We got the call at 5:30. It was a much calmer day overall, though. We managed to run some errands and have a better look around. There is evidence of mayhem at just about every corner, but for the most part things have died down. Avenida Michelena is still a mess, but we have been told that school will commence tomorrow. We are not optimistic that there will be a lot of students, but as long as we go to work now, we don’t have to make it up later.
On a more personal note; we received news yesterday that our dear feline friend, Gatito, had wandered off. He has not been heard from in over two weeks. He is sixteen if he’s a day. We are thinking the worst. He was a great hunter and a good friend. We will miss him dearly.
MJR
Monday morning we were awakened by the phone. I jumped out of bed, checking the clock on the way to find that it was 5:50 in the morning! It was someone from the school calling to tell us that school was closed due to demonstrations. I went back to bed.
At 8:30 Derrick showed up at our door yelling, “Come quick, they’re throwing rocks at cars!” We went to his place which overlooks the intersection to find a bunch of people gathered. They were dragging a downed street lamp as well as various bric-a-brac into the middle of the road. When they had effectively blocked all lanes of travel, they added tires and lit the whole mess on fire. As we looked above the trees, we could see plenty of smoke rising up in other neighborhoods as well. We also heard explosions which turned out to be fireworks.
These folks were pretty peaceful; chanting anti-Chavez slogans, redirecting motorists, and stoking the fires. Eventually the police showed up and drove them off. They started to clear the intersection when the students returned with rocks and chased the police off. As they retreated, the cops shot off tear gas in the street. This, of course, mingled with the black tire smoke, reached our windows quickly, driving us back inside. We slammed the windows and doors closed and raced for cool, wet cloths for our eyes. Fortunately, Zachary didn’t get much. 
As the students ran from the gas, the cops showed up en masse. They shot shotgun blasts into the air and stood guard while several fellows cleaned up the intersection. When it was all clear, they fired off a few more rounds and took off for another hot spot. It only took about thirty minutes for the intersection to be blocked once again. This little game continued for most of the day.As evening came on we wandered out to scope the scene. We walked down Pocaterra and encountered road blocks about every twenty feet. When we got to Avenida Michelena we found that the entire street was completely torn up. Protestors had removed the drainage grates from the middle of the road, placed large steel plates at the end of the block, and moved huge concrete barriers into the center of the avenue. They were gathered in a large group at the other end of the street, but we didn’t venture too close. We are, after all, foreigners here.
Needless to say, school was cancelled again today. We got the call at 5:30. It was a much calmer day overall, though. We managed to run some errands and have a better look around. There is evidence of mayhem at just about every corner, but for the most part things have died down. Avenida Michelena is still a mess, but we have been told that school will commence tomorrow. We are not optimistic that there will be a lot of students, but as long as we go to work now, we don’t have to make it up later.
On a more personal note; we received news yesterday that our dear feline friend, Gatito, had wandered off. He has not been heard from in over two weeks. He is sixteen if he’s a day. We are thinking the worst. He was a great hunter and a good friend. We will miss him dearly.
MJR
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 1:52 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Mark. We've never actually met, but I read your blog frequently. (My husband is friends with your mom from when they both lived in Topeka, and we've visited her several times in Oregon; we're the ones she collected coins for when she visited you in South Africa.) Anyway, I hope you guys continue to be safe. I just read on MSN about the election now being closer than what the Chavez supporters were originally anticipating, so I clicked over to your blog and it does indeed sound like an exciting/scary time to be there now.
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