That Felt Good

Thank you. Between the opportunity to vent and a chance to get some shut-eye, I am feeling better. Let me tell you what I really like about Caracas right now.

-Weston and Braedon wear uniforms to school. Along with blue jeans, blue pants or shorts, kindergarten wears red polos, elementary wears white polos (whoever picked that color for elementary is a moron and I'd love to tell him that to his face...yea, I know mom, won't change anything but I'd feel better). They already love the school and so do I. Their classes are full of kids from many nations...the school overall has a higher percentage of international students compared to the percentage of US students. I think they will really benifit from the worldview, at the same time, Kris and I will enjoy teaching them what is great about being an American. Their school web page is http://www.eca.com.ve/ ECA stands for Escuela Campo Alegre or Happy Field School but Campo Alegre is the name of an area here where the original school was founded before it was moved to its present location in Las Mercedes.

-The birds alone are enough to write home about, when else will we ever have the opportunity to watch huge blue macaws flying around free? In an earlier post I mentioned these were called Guacamayas Banderas but I believe I was told wrong by the land lady. The Banded Macaws are red, blue, green and yellow. These are Blue Macaws and every bit as amazing. So, what is going on in the video that is too blurry to even see? What you can't see off camera is another group of macaws. The pair in the palm and the others are squalking back and forth (happens every day at about the same time). At about the 25 second mark they will all take off and do a little fly by. My camera is shaky and doesn't stay on focus very well so the effect is lost when you aren't standing here watching them from the window. I'm getting a new camera soon I hope. This video clip is crystal clear when we watch it on the big TV but downloading it on this blog isn't that great.

-I love that Kris can come home for lunch or I can go to the embassy and have lunch with him or just hang out if he doesn't have much going on. It is so nice to have him home more and I'd gladly put up with our living arrangements if it meant that was the only way I could have him at home as much as he is right now. As long as he were close I'd be happy in a tar-paper shack...well not really but you know what I mean. I don't ever want him to have a 4 hour commute again.

-A whole new pallette of plants to learn and enjoy. There are orchids everywhere and the owner of our apartment (the permanent one) cultivates orchids so they are all over the grounds of the common areas.

-I love the views. There is something about being surrounded by green mountains in this valley. Once the rainy season is in full swing I am told the skies will clear of the pollution and the mountains and landscapes will be even more amazing.

-I am going to enjoy being immersed in the language....by the time I leave here I plan on being fluent. I won't speak it much when we get back to the States (on principle...because that's how I am) so I am enjoying it now except that Venezuelan Spanish isn't very nice to listen to, not a pleasant accent in my opinion and I hope I don't start sounding like them. I compare it to a foreigner moving to the heart of Appalachia and learning English there...then again that's not a great comparison because I happen to like Appalchian dialects. Hmmmm, is ebonics an accent as well as a dialect?...because if it is that would be at the top of my list for aggravating English accents and a better comparison of my opinion of Venezuelan Spanish although that's pretty harsh. One of the women at the embassy who Kris and I have befriended is from Costa Rica and I could listen to her speak all day because I can understand her for the most part and her Spanish is beautiful to listen to. Also, one of the ladies at church (the RS Pres. for those of you who know what that is) is from Peru, again, I can understand her too. I commented on this to her and she said "that's because Venezuelans don't speak Spanish, they speak garbage" seriously, that is what she said. Point being, I am enjoying learning more Spanish and I'll just have to polish it later if I pick up bad habits here.