What have I done to my family?

Well, Caracas is not the United States. In fact, Fredericksburg, VA looks pretty glamorous compared to this place. We are currently living in a 700 square foot apartment that was described to me as a "luxury corporate apartment" prior to coming here. It reminds me a lot of the apartments I lived in on my mission in Costa Rica and Panama,complete with the permanent smell of manteca, fried plantains, and over ripened fruit permeating the kitchen. I was told that it has air conditioning - an absolute must for Garity and I - only to discover that it has a single window unit in a back room, while the rest of the apartment is cooled by louvered glass windows. We were told this is alright and that the apartments don't need air conditioning because of the mild climate in Caracas. Well, anything over 80 degrees is generally going to heat up a home, especially with a southern exposure and high humidity, and that is where the latest crisis began.

My colleagues at the embassy said they had no problem with the apartment. That is most likely because they were here alone and would be at the nice air conditioned embassy during the day. I really hate the fact that Garity and the boys are relegated to this tiny apartment having come from our comfortable home on acreage in Virginia. At least it gave us an even greater appreciation of what we had. Fortunately, the landlord is very eager to accommodate us, and when she learned that I was ready to go buy an A/C unit for the apartment, she insisted I don't, and bought one for us. She appreciates the business the embassy gives her, but really does try hard to make us comfortable.

There is a faint glimmer of hope in all of this. Last Saturday we went to look at our permanent quarters. It is 3,500 square feet with a private elevator entrance, garden terrace, 12 foot ceilings, marble floors and custom woodwork. All the rooms have walk in closets and their own bathroom complete with bidets. There is a pool, exercise room with really nice equipment, and a courtyard for the kids to play in. It is really over the top. The down side to this is that we will not be able to move in until our sea shipment with all of our household goods arrives. There are a few people who had to wait several months to receive their because Venezuelan customs seized the shipment. We are hoping that does not happen. While nicer than anything on my mission, I do not think I could deal with more than a couple months of the family having to live in our current location.

Garity and the boys have been coping well despite it all. Garity and I have lived in third world countries before and knew what to expect, but it has been a little hard on the boys. They have enjoyed the times where they get to eat food that they are familiar with and doesn't "taste funny." Last Saturday we went to get haircuts and stopped in at the McDonald's nearby. They were able to have a "cajita feliz" (happy little box - or happy meal) and enjoyed getting out of the apartment (something we try to do often). We also went shopping and learned that there are products worse than the generic ones we used in the US. Like the paper thin plastic plates, the hangers that shatter if dropped on the tiled bedroom floors, and the tortillas that we discovered were made last June (yes - 11 month old flour tortillas - I guess they are not that popular down here).

Despite the strange surroundings and being blasted far from our comfort zone, we take comfort in the fact that the church has a solid presence here. We set out on Sunday to find our meetinghouse which is next to the Temple. After an hour of navigating streets that bore no resemblance to our street map, we finally found it. The Temple here is a small temple, but beautiful. As I thought of the large Temples with sprawling grounds that are common to the U.S., I realized that in this small temple, the same saving ordinances are performed inside, and so there is a beacon of light amidst the poverty, materialism, and political unrest that seems to be so pervasive in this place.

I do not doubt that things will get better, I just hate having to wait until then. Our family has become closer in a very quick time, and I do appreciate being able to spend so much more time with them.