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
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
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 4:56 PM
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