Behold the Delta

Friday, February 20, 2009

Tranquilo; it means peaceful.

Our trip to the Delta was magnificent. We saw monkeys and birds and snakes and freshwater dolphins and fish; so much!

Everything went swimmingly; Al showed up at 5:30 in the morning to take us to the airport, our plane left on time and arrived in Puerto Ordaz safely, there was a driver there to meet us, the driver took us to a nice diner for lunch, and our boat was waiting for us at the dock.

It was the most bizarre thing, though; there was this big clump of lily pads (or so I thought). When I first glanced at them they appeared to be moving, but I passed that off as a weird flashback moment. I continued to unload the car until Carrie said, “Hey! Come here and check this out.” Those damn lily pads had moved most of the distance of the dock! They were drifting in the current.
Antonio was our guide. He climbed in next to the outboard while we all piled onto the cushioned seats (I cannot tell you how happy I was to have cushioned seats after that trip to Salto Angel!). He told us that the green plant was called Bora and it was very prevalent in the Delta. The hour long boat ride took us through some magnificent scenery. There was nothing but vegetation for as far as the eye could see. All of a sudden, we’d come upon a village and then it would fade off into the jungle.

We stayed in a wonderful little cabaña built on pilings over the river. There was a concrete boardwalk that joined up the other thirty-three cabañas and the dining hall. The birds were amazing. The sounds to be heard were right out of a Tarzan movie. I woke up in the morning to the sound of howler monkeys!

We journeyed about by boat checking out the local flora and fauna (Zachary even got to drive!). We saw parrots, macaws, toucans, eagles, guacharakas, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, snakes, turtles, ibis, piranha, and dolphins. We also took a walk through the jungle. It was a lovely little ten minute romp through the prime nesting grounds of mosquitoes. We spent the entire time slapping ourselves to kill the little bastards. We finally fled for the safety of the river. As we jumped in we noticed a family of dolphins swimming around us. They hung out for about twenty minutes and then quietly slipped away.

The impending vote was on everyone’s mind. The native villages all had giant signs that said, “SÍ!” On Sunday, the day of the vote, boats cruised up and down the river transporting folks to the polls. Turnout in the area was very high.

Politics here is a lesson in polarization. Either you love Chavez or you hate him. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. If you suggest to a non – Chavista that the president has done some good things they are likely to stop talking to you. This can be helpful if you are faced with a cab driver who can’t stop talking and all you want him to do is shut up, but otherwise it makes it difficult to converse with anyone.

The vote went off without a hitch; no looting, no rioting, just ascent and a fresh spate of Hugo bashing. The hope is that there will be some positive changes happening, but I am afraid that is only a dream. Since the deadline has been removed there is no impetus for moving forward quickly. One can only hope that the opposition will work that much harder to win votes.

Then there is the economy; oil prices keep dropping, the government didn’t bother to save for a rainy day, and one of the main banks for the region just crashed and burned. Sound familiar? Those that had a chunk of change in Stanford Bank are blaming Chavez for their loss; they wouldn’t have had to invest overseas if he hadn’t been president. It would be comical if it wasn’t so tragic.

Some say that there was never any question that the amendment would pass. It is obvious to these folks that the polls are rigged. I don’t know what to think about that. I do know that a lot of people got out and voted. Even those that don’t usually bother went to the polls. It is times like these that make me happy to be an outsider.

Now it is Carnaval. We are recuperating from Carrie’s blowout birthday BBQ. It feels good to sit around the house and do nothing for a change.

Tranquilo

MJR

All's Quiet

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Only four days left until the vote. So far all is quiet. Okay, it’s Venezuela so it is never completely quiet, but there are no burning tires and tear gas like last time. We leave early in the morning for the Orinoco River Delta. It should be beautiful. We arrive back Monday evening. I shall endeavor to update the blog shortly thereafter.

MJR

Crystal Ball Please

Sunday, February 8, 2009

On New Year’s Day I like to reflect on where I was the previous year. Many times, the reflection has amazed me. There have been those years when I was nowhere I had imagined I might be (that makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?).

One fine example is New Year’s Day 2006. We spent that holiday season in Senegal. It was a beautiful occasion on the beach. I bought a drum and took lessons from some fellow in the sand. A skinny little Santa gave Zachary a tin bus and Z thought that was the best gift ever. He just knew that he had met Santa.

The year before that was in the Bronx; it was beyond freezing, my dad was dying, and I worked for Satan. Need I say more? Life changes quickly.

This week it changed too quickly.

Sunday night we got the call that school was closed Monday. This was due to the fact that the president decided at the last minute to declare a national holiday. This meant all schools and most businesses were closed. There we were, off from work, looking for something to entertain ourselves. That’s hard enough during regular weekend time, but a holiday? Everything was closed!

It was really odd to just have the day named as a holiday. I mean in the States, the holidays are all laid out. There is no question about when the next one will be. You can work around them and for them because you know they’re coming. Not so with one declared overnight. The banks were closed, the pharmacy was closed, restaurants were closed; this makes it difficult to get anything done.

The rest of the week went okay. The bummer is the loss of time. Next Sunday is the referendum vote so we have Thursday, Friday, and Monday off. We also have a half day Wednesday to accommodate a professional development day. Now we’re hearing rumors that the school will be shut down all day Wednesday as well. How can I have any consistency with my students if we take every other day off?

However, if the referendum goes unfavorably, then all hell could break loose, in which case we would have to be worried about more than just, “will Johnny understand his learning after having it broken up so much?” We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

We are supposed to go to the Orinoco River Delta for four days during the elections. I am really excited. I have heard that it is a beautiful place and I can hardly wait to see for myself. We will also be spending some time in Puerto Ordaz. It sounds like an interesting city with a few options for things to do. Of course, we could get stuck there for a while…

My mother will be happy to know that we went to church today. We got invited to the service by the Assistant in Zachary’s classroom. It was an anniversary celebration of the church. It was fun! The music was interesting and jazzy and everybody danced. Then I realized that I was expected to stand for the duration of the event…

We finally sat down. I leafed through the bulletin, practicing my Spanish reading the pages. There were stories and editorials and a welcome greeting from the pastor, but not one word about the order in which things were supposed to happen. The minister was really good, though. He spoke slowly and enunciated his words. This made it easy to understand what he had to say. I stayed right with him for the first thirty minutes. I bobbed in and out for the next thirty minutes, and I pretty much lost interest completely for the final thirty minutes. No wonder I haven’t been to church in twenty years.

THAT WAS THE LONGEST SERMON I HAVE EVER LISTENED TO IN MY LIFE (and I’ve listened to a lot of sermons)!!!!!!!!

I will tell you this; last Sunday, I never would have predicted that I would be sitting in church today. Yet there I was, getting meaning from the Spanish words being spewed forth before me. That part was fantastic! I am ecstatic that I actually caught the meaning of the sermon. I almost want to go again so I can practice more (don’t get your hopes up, Mom).

I’ll never get to sleep tonight for the anticipation of what may creep in tomorrow.

MJR

Reflections on Birds and Weekends

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The birds here are fantastic; there are so many different kinds of them! Back in the States, the crows would have awakened me in the morning. Here we have parrots instead. There is a small flock that lives in the neighborhood. They can be heard at the beginning of each day, sounding a lot like crows. They fly overhead and roost in the tops of the palm trees. I always smile when I see them. Caging one just seems so sad; they really do live out in the wild!

There are mourning doves too, which remind me of Mali. There, a day would not have been complete without their plaintive call. Here, it comes sporadically, and then it transports me through time and space to the simplicity of Mali and the beautiful people we knew there. It seems like a lifetime ago.

There are many others as well, too many to name. I have never been much of a bird watcher anyway, but I do enjoy hearing their songs and catching the occasional glimpse of them in the trees or the sky. They offer a welcome respite from any day.

We have been working to focus on these positive things in our day to day lives. It is easy to get mired in negativity here so we are actively working to avoid it. We have also vowed to get out and do more. We are trying to do something different every weekend. We are all a little tired of the beach so we are trying to diversify a bit. Friday night we went out with a group from work. We met at a great little restaurant we had never been to before. We ate, drank, and chatted about something other than work.

Yesterday we went downtown. El Centro is one of those areas that is supposed to be dangerous, but we find it great fun. It is the Latin America we were looking for. There are street vendors, musicians, and lots of stores. We invited others to join us and we spent the day wandering from place to place, peering into windows, and practicing our Spanish.

One of the places we found was a theater school. It’s housed in this beautiful, old, colonial building. There were classes there at the time so we were allowed to roam freely and check it all out. Across the street from that is the municipal theater. This gorgeous building has always been closed when we have come by, but yesterday the vigilante let us in through the stage door. We gazed in wonder at the beauty of the architecture and admired the detail of the ceiling paintings.

We stopped by the library, as always, and then off to lunch. It is so refreshing to get out and see these things rather than staying cooped up in the house all the time. Next weekend is still up in the air. We are trying not to spend too much money as we have big plans for the following weekend.

The following weekend is election weekend. We have bought plane tickets for Puerto Ordaz. From there, we shall travel by car to Tucupita, and from there by boat to the Orinoco Delta Lodge. The area is a rich, diverse, ecosystem. There are plenty of birds, crocodiles, caiman, and fresh water dolphin (or so they say anyway). We shall see. We are excited to go there; it has been on our list of must dos for over a year now. Apparently, this is the best time of year to go as it is easier to see the wildlife.

The elections could prove troubling. I think that if the vote goes to “Yes” then there will be trouble, if it goes “No”, not so much. The poor of the country would like to see it pass. If it doesn’t, I feel they will just go home and lament the fact privately. The rich, on the other hand, have a tendency to be more vocal. If things go southbound for them, they are more likely to kick up a fuss and cause trouble. This could make it difficult to get home as there could be rallies, protests, and tear gas. I do not fear for our personal safety, but I do wonder what the future holds for Venezuela.

The dollar is skyrocketing right now as the government runs short of cash. Rather than saving through times of plenty, the powers that be chose to spend on themselves. Now that oil prices have dropped so dramatically, there is a shortfall. P.D.V.S.A., the local oil company, is actually laying people off. This will probably send the economy into an even steeper spiral. This works well for us as we have dollars; the worse the Bolivar, the better the exchange rate. If things go awry, we are ready to jump ship. We have few things of value here so it would be easy to load into the car and head to Colombia. That is, if we can get home from Puerto Ordaz. Life is an adventure!

It’s better to just focus on the birds. They dazzle me with their sounds, their beauty, and their freedom. One generally has to look up to see the birds.

MJR