Settling Back In

Sunday, September 14, 2008

It is good to be back home. We are settling in to our routines and getting reacquainted with the area.

Last weekend we had a great trip to the beach. We went to Patanemo; a public beach about two hours from here. It was particularly fun because our friend Alejandro brought his sea kayaks. He and I took them out for a nice little jaunt around the bay. It helped me realize that I am in the worst shape ever and I desperately need to exercise more.

I was somewhat nervous at first, actually, as the waves at that beach are rather big. This means that one has to climb in the boat, keep it steady, point it forward, and push hard through the waves so as not to capsize and take a swim. All of this has to be done with about 100 strangers watching and waiting for the action. Fortunately, I managed to get off okay. Somewhere between there and our final destination, however, the blade of my paddle broke free and made a run for it. I chased it down and shoved the whole thing back together as best as I could so that we could continue on.

We rounded the cape and landed on a small beach where we stretched, drank some water, and took a little swim. We then shoved off, tackled the waves, and headed back to the rest of our friends. Ale’s paddle broke this time which made me feel better; knowing that the paddles were poor quality and not that I did something to destroy them. The final challenge of the day was to ride the big waves into the beach without: a) wiping out and swimming and b) crashing into a swimmer and seriously injuring them. We both did great.

Overall it was a grand day. We all slept well that night. We ventured out the next day to go to the hotel pool and do some grocery shopping.

This last work week was long. We had an E.S.L. open house to attend on Thursday. Thursdays are long days for me anyway. I have my after school activity that day. That means that I spend one hour working with non-English speakers on their conversational skills. Next I go home, eat, and head off to guitar lessons. Immediately after the lesson this week I had to go back to school for the open house. This is a required event for all staff even though it is conducted primarily in Spanish. I made sure to be seen by the bosses and then I went home for a beer, an episode of Star Trek, and bed.

Friday night was the Director’s Social. This is an annual event and is pretty fun. There is free food and booze as well as music. I stood around, drinking Scotch, meeting board members, chatting with colleagues, and dancing. Afterwards, Carrie went home with the little man and I headed off for more dancing at a local club. I got home around four. That is not as easy now as it was when I was twenty!

Anyway, it was good fun even if I did sleep most of Saturday away. Today we took a walk on a local trail. It’s a steep climb up to a lookout over the city. We went with a few new folks who had never been. It’s always fun to show new things to new people. We stopped by the hotel pool on the way home for a refreshing little swim, and now we are getting ready for bed.
We have to start seriously thinking about next year. Where do we go? What do we do? We have already started revising our résumés (fun, fun, fun!). Next comes the cover letter and an actual decision (that’s the hard part). Wish us luck!

MJR

Happy Birthday Hide and Seek

Sunday, August 31, 2008

We have been home a month now and I have been searching since we arrived. Searching for what? You might ask. Cameron picked up a box of chocolate covered raisins at Costco for me. I love those things! The plastic container only weighs like three pounds so how could I lose it? I have no idea, but I have looked everywhere for that blasted thing so the only conclusion I can come to is that I left it in Seattle. That’s a big drag because I was so looking forward to eating them.

That’s not the only thing, though. We bought Z some software called “KidPix” for his birthday. I was excited to give it to him because I know he likes it, but I can’t find the damn thing anywhere. It’s like it just disappeared in a puff of smoke. The best that I can hope for is that it is in our storage locker and I will find it there when at last we go back to the Northwest.

Z celebrated his birthday at school on the 20th. Carrie made cupcakes for everyone in his class. We went there at recess/snack time and sang Happy Birthday. We then handed out the cakes and gave him a big time. It was fun. I am really glad that I can be a part of such things. It is a rare privilege that not all parents get to have.
The following Saturday we headed down to El Centro to shop for the real party. We bumped into Steve and Laurie on our way and dragged them along with us. There is a store downtown that is all about piñatas. It, of course, is surrounded by at least two other stores of the same nature. The piñatas in this place were enormous! They also had anything and everything to fill a piñata with; candy, toys, and plastic crap. We loaded ourselves up with a little of each and went across the street for the actual vessel to put them in. They were smaller and cheaper there. We ended up with Lightning McQueen from the movie “Cars”. It was all very exciting for the youngest member of our group. I was still struggling with the cost of this party.

The actual party happened yesterday. We reserved space at a small private park, ordered burgers, dogs, popcorn, and tequeños (Venezuelan cheese sticks) from them and invited about sixteen kids to join us. Twelve of the young ones actually showed up. They played on the equipment and drew on the sidewalk. We played “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”, and “Musical Chairs”. We had filled water balloons so they were all invited to throw them at me at the end. They thought that was great! We broke the piñata, ate a great Wall – E cake, indulged in candy and soda pop, and then we sent them all home. It was great fun, but I’m glad it’s over.

The best part of the story for me is this; when we pulled out the Legos we had bought for the little man, we discovered the raisins and software inside the box! Yeah! I knew I must have packed them. I was so clever about it, I out smarted myself. In the end, everyone lived happily ever after.
MJR

Snakes + Iguanas=Dinner

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The first week of school is over. Linda went home yesterday.

We had a good visit. Linda went off to a posada by herself for a few days last week. She hired a car to take her and while there I think she actually managed to relax a little. She came back to Valencia refreshed and ready to go. She hung out with Zachary, taking him to school, meeting his teachers and friends. We went to dinner at the Syrian Club, hung out at the beach (La Rosa) and even ventured off to the hotel pool for a swim and a good sun basking. I think she enjoyed herself. I know Carrie enjoyed having her here.

Life is settling back to normal. Zachary is thoroughly enjoying first grade. He loves his teacher, Ms Dao, and he loves the fact that he gets to sign up for after school activities. He is especially excited about the fact that he turns six tomorrow. We will bring cupcakes to his class and sing Happy Birthday at snack time. I love the fact that I work at the same school he attends. Now I get to enjoy this stuff without having to figure out any coverage. We have decided to have his party on the 30th so that we have some time to get settled in and get the thing set up.

Today, during my prep period I saw the obrero (custodian) running by my room. Will is a pretty big guy and he doesn’t usually move all that quickly so I was surprised to see the alacrity with which he moved. I followed him up the hill and encountered a snake. Not just a snake but a six foot boa constrictor eating an iguana. I got there just after the head went down. I ran back for the camera and popped off some shots as the snake devoured his meal. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. I was able to get right up next to the serpent. In doing so, I almost tripped over another iguana lying in the grass. I thought it was dead as it was not moving. I nudged him a little and he rolled his eye up at me as if to say, “leave me alone or it’ll eat me too!!” When the meal was over, Jorge picked the snake up, dropped it in a bucket, and took it out to the woods behind the school.

Tonight is my guitar lesson. I have been taking lessons with a fellow named Kleiner. He’s a super nice guy and I have been enjoying the classes. He speaks only the English he has picked up from Rock and Roll tunes. He wants me to help him learn more. He doesn’t want to read or write, just talk. He wants to start with the swear words and work up from there. I think I can probably help him with that.

My new kids are super. I love them already. Maybe that’s because I am comparing them to the students in the other third grade class. They are a nightmare. I am hoping for big things this year.

MJR

Land of the Lost

Monday, August 11, 2008

The adventure continues…

Linda and Zachary arrived Friday night. Their plane was scheduled in at 11:00 p.m. in Caracas. We decided we would drive there to pick them up. A woman we work with has an apartment nearby that she said we could use for the weekend so we decided we would drive down Friday and return on Sunday.

It must be remembered that addresses and street names here are non-existent so directions are nearly impossible. As a result, our friend gave us the number of a cab driver in Caracas who could lead us to her apartment. We left Valencia in the early evening and arrived at the appointed meeting place around 8:30. The fellow met us and led us to the apartment. He then asked what our plan was from there.

Our intention was to park the car in the garage, drop off our bags, and get a cab to the airport. This would relieve us of the challenges of driving in Caracas. The driver said he would tell us the way to the airport and then it would be easy to find our way back (he only spoke Spanish). His directions matched every other direction we have ever gotten to go anywhere in Venezuela; derecho, derecho, derecho. That translates to; straight, straight, straight. When we looked confused he said we should follow him to the airport and then the return trip would be obvious.

He insisted I ride with him. That is when I discovered that he was with his teenage daughter. She was about fourteen and was riding along because school was out and she had nowhere else to go. He was very careful to make sure that Carrie was behind him the entire time. He patiently gave me the directions in Spanish, repeating them ad – nauseum to make sure that I understood.

We arrived at the airport around 10:15. He told us that he was mistaken; the return trip was not as easy as he had thought and it would be better if we followed him back to the apartment. We reminded him that the plane would not even arrive for another forty-five minutes, but that didn’t seem to bother him.

Eleven o’clock came and went with no airplane in sight. At twelve thirty all the flights on the reader board had arrived except for Miami and New York. I heard rumors about storms on the coast and delays because of them. At any rate, at twelve thirty they erased the board and a whole new crop of flights were displayed. There were no announcements; suddenly the New York flight didn’t exist.

A fellow next to me asked me in English what plane I was waiting for. He told me he thought the JFK flight was delayed even more (imagine that!). Since there were no official American Airlines folks wandering around, I asked a porter what the deal was. He said, “3:00, the plane will arrive at 3:00.” That couldn’t be true so I asked another and got the same story.

I went to the driver and told him that I could not keep him and his daughter there until 3:00 in the morning. I insisted he go home. He started to argue and give me directions, but at that point I had been thinking and speaking Spanish for five hours. It was now one in the morning and I was exhausted so we ran inside and found the guy who had spoken to me in English to translate. The driver was not happy with this situation, but he gave us directions, admonishing us, “DON’T STOP FOR ANYONE OR ANYTHING. IF YOU GET LOST, KEEP DRIVING!!!”

Finally he decided that we would never be able to make it so he insisted that we follow him back to the apartment. He would leave us to get back to the airport and in that way he would be assured that we could find our way and he then could sleep well.

We arrived back at the airport around two, exhausted. We slept in the car till three and then ventured inside. The plane got in at three-thirty. Z and Grandma were tired but surviving, and all the bags made it through. We climbed back in the car and headed to the apartment, arriving around 5 a.m. We quickly fell into bed and passed out.

At 9:00 the next morning, some asshole with a hammer starting beating on my head. He was upstairs, beating on the concrete floor to fix the plumbing. After three hours of rest, we were all awake.

We spent Saturday in a beautiful area called El Hatillo. It is a lovely little suburb with great cafés, shops, and parks. We strolled away most of the day there, winding up back where we started in time for dinner. We decided on Sushi. We were sure that the sushi place wasn’t that far so we voted for walking. The restaurant turned out to be a lot further than we thought, down a really busy road, at dusk; never optimal conditions for walking, but especially so in Caracas. Needless to say we called a cab to get home.
Sunday found us on a bus to get to the train to take us to El Centro. We arrived at Plaza Bolivar in time for a big Chavista rally. This turned out to be the highlight of the trip as most of the shops were closed. We returned to the apartment in the afternoon to pack the car and drive back to Valencia. We made it without a hitch!

School started today; Zachary’s first day of First Grade. It was relatively uneventful, but exciting nonetheless. That’s another story for another time.

MJR