Gimme Shelter: An Overview of Venezuelan Crime

Good evening everyone, hope you aren't being Polar Vortex-ed too bad.  Don't worry, it WILL get warmer...it just may take a while.  But won't you appreciate Spring more now?  It'll be great!

Nothing too much going on down here.  We are in a span of week after week of school, no breaks, no early dismissals, no in services, just straight grinding.  It is what it is as they say.  It'll happen.

I played some soccer tonight with some staff/parents/teachers/alumni vs the varsity team.  They are good, wow.  We old guys had to use guile and strength to over power them but we lost by a score.  I missed two gimmes, so we could have won.  If Jon would have had cleats he would have had at least three more, the next game is ours!  Oh well, the team got a good look and I burned 980 calories (I wore the heart rate monitor), so that was cool.

Page two (Paul Harvey, remember him?)

The real purpose of this blog is to shed some light on the crime rate in Venezuela.  After repeated questioning about how safe it is, am I scared, is it getting worse, I will shed some light on it.  Not much writing, but lots of data and visuals (left brained people rejoice!)

Let's being.

Preface

I have never felt unsafe here outside of the time Morris and I got robbed by the police, but even then I figured it would just take money to get out.

I have heard of colleagues who either themselves have been robbed or people very close to them.

I have had students tell me they were victims of robberies, kidnapping, and muggings.

Data

To give you a better idea of what we are looking at I created a table (information located by Ryan) to have a side by side (we in teaching call it comparing apples to apples [many people in our business like to compare apples to oranges]).  The "rate" on the left is the number of murders per 100,000 citizens

Let's start with numbers 26-50:

As you can see Venezuela has two cities in this second half of the comparison.  Notice that Maracibo went down in the ranking (no data change) as has Valencia (data improvement).  The US has three in both (under country we are Esados).

Now onto the top 25 (drum roll please):

Now this is a little more depressing.  Two of the three Venezuela cities within the top ten moved up in murders, with Caracas (the capital) having 502 more murders this past year.  One point to note, in many impoverished countries murders may not always be reported (especially in ghettos/barrios/favelas).  Some countries, like Venezuela, do not publish there homicide records so agencies like the one used in generating this data have to use public morgue records to get their numbers.  This causes a concerning discrepancy between official documents and actual rates.

Here is more specific look at Venezuela from the World Justice Report:

This chart provides a little more detail to the concept of crime in Venezuela.  Let's look at two more to get an even deeper perspective.

(Basically you want the line far from the center)

As you can see from the graphs there are certain areas that are not terrible and other areas that are in definite need for improvement.

Now these data sets and graphs aren't perfect:
From seguridadjusticiaypaz.org: However, the biggest obstacle as a research effort that represents the ranking faces is the lack of transparency of the governments of several countries. Worse still is the practice of falsifying figures made ​​rulers of some nations, specifically Mexico and Venezuela.

Regarding the government of Venezuela for his actions has shown that is not interested in transparency and accountability but concealment or propaganda, often based on lies. This policy of the Venezuelan government propaganda instead of solving the problem of violence, confirms fears that Venezuela is led into the abyss.

Who is to Blame?

You're probably wondering who is to blame for this.  While I am no expert, the is no shortage of ideas.  They include, but are not limited to:

Colombian Criminals

Telenovelas (Soap Operas) 

Street gangs

Professionals*

One story I was told by a source said that his kidnappers referred to this as their job and that they worked specific hours.  They taunted him over the ease of his capture and offered to by him dinner with his money.  

What is Being Done?

Since the murder of a telenovela actress and other violence following the government has stepped up their effort against crime.  How you may ask?  Here are a few ways: 

Telling criminals to giving up their guns or else (says one governor).   

Establishing "peace zones" 

Militarizing the police

Again, I assume there is more being done to help curb the violence, but I have only read and been provided the previous articles.  

What Does it All Mean? 

I guess it means that this country is in a state of need (in a variety of ways).  While crimes and homicides raise in certain cities, others have stalled or lowered.  The increase in criminal activity (especially the recent high profile cases) dramatically affects the perception of day to day life, the psychology of the country, and the paranoia that follows these types of trends.  Statistically speaking, it has also lowered the life expectancy.

What's my take on it?  

I view it as living in any major city in the world.  Don't be in shady places (especially late), don't take unneeded chances, travel with others, keep a lower profile (hard being super white), and stay informed.  I think just being diligent in your surroundings and knowing the potential dangers can help keep you on your toes.

I hope this answers some questions you may have about the crime side of Venezuela and gives you some insight to what people have been dealing with for years.  My goal is to not only inform my friends back home, but to start conversation with friends here to learn more about this aspect of the country.  

I apologize for the heavier post, but I figured this would be an easy way to answer lots of questions that people ask me.  I'll try to come up with an amended, lighter post before the week is up.

I heard there is a football game this weekend in the States.  The Super Bowl?  Jon has dubbed it the Smoke-A-Bowl as it is being played by two teams that have legalized marijuana.  I cracked up when he said that.

That's all she wrote for this old boy.  Take care, stay warm, and be cool.

Until next time,

KRS

Seventy-Nine Degrees of Separation (or Another Adventure Announcement)

Greetings. 

Hopefully those of you a few thousand miles north are warm and cozy as another Polar Vortex is grasping you again. [The title of this blog represents the difference in temperature between Clinton, IA and Valencia.  Sorry, I needed a title]

This past week I’ve had the opportunity to experience the Vanas Conference, a different spin on an old beach, and have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT (no spoiler, you’ll have to keep reading) to share. 

Oh and in between all of that I was sick as a dog.

Here we go…

Vanas Conference

This was an all day professional development conference in which all the teachers, admin and staff are invited to come and expand their knowledge base, collaborate with fellow curricular teachers, and exchange ideas. 

The day was split up into three parts.  The morning started with a keynote speaker (who told us we are basically approaching teaching in a terrible way and other countries, mainly Finland is doing so much better; more on that later), two sessions of presentations, and a department (i.e. high school Language Arts) meeting of all the schoolteachers.

The keynote was ok, but as I discussed with several colleagues it’s basically the same speech I’ve heard for about eight of my nine years (my first year I was so overwhelmed my mind was thinking about day one and not the state of education).  Where the US stands in education, how we compare to other nations, and how we are preparing kid for jobs that aren’t even invented yet!  [Don’t worry I’ll get to this, I’m letting the rage build]

Finland: Where Heavy Metal and education reign!

I attended a presentation on technology to build an individual development plan and improving schools.  They were ok.  Sans a few technology glitches, some auditory problems and nervous speakers, I gained a few things.  Which as a veteran teacher told me years ago, is all you can do.

The last meeting of all the high school teachers was a discussion on topics set up by our department head.  The conversation was basically between three people, but gave me some good insight to where CIC is, where CHS is at, and what others are doing (and when).  It slowly gravitated to a “look what I do, it’s great”-type feeling, but the bleeding stopped shortly after it started.

After that we had a raffle and a tasty diner, but on by the Hesperia hotel.  It was later followed with a cocktail hour that led to some hilarious conversation with Ryan, Jon, Javier, Enrique, Kim, and Marshal. We were that table.  After the cocktail dinner was over a bunch of people shuffled two blocks to Jon and Randi’s for a few more drinks and discussion of the Vanas experience.  I learned a lot about public teaching in Venezuela from Javier and the educational lifestyle from Leo.  (A wise person once told me that if you really want to learn, befriend the veterans and the wise.  I’ve taken it to heart and try to learn as much as possible.  It probably helps that I’m an old soul). 

The night ended up (for me) with Jon and I playing air drums and guitar to various Mars Volta, Tool, and A Perfect Circle songs.  I called it an early night (a whooping 10pm), but some others carried on to nearly midnight (we’re old). 

The Beach, Sunday, and Beyond 

The following day I was up early, like it’s still dark out early (5:30), to head to the beach for Lorena’s birthday party.  We had a nice crew of probably 20-25ish and returned to the first beach area I was exposed to here.  We were in a different location, but the water was clear and the sand was white.  Only different was that the water was a little cooler than last time and I was starting to feel ill.  It wasn’t a bad time as we got to relax, get some sun, and shoot the bull. 

While we were sitting around we ran into some teachers from the other schools.  I caught myself in conversation with a guy ended up being another Iowan.  This dude, Tim, graduated from Cedar Rapids Jefferson in 2001, wrestled, and went to Luther.  He’s teaching English and the IB (International Baccalaureate) Coordinator for EBV.  He was a stand up dude who had also taught in Jamaica and the Arab Spring.  Morris and I talked to him at length.  I wondered if I maybe wrestled him as he was about my size.

We also met a Scotsman who had been teaching abroad for eight years.  He’d taught in Thailand, amongst other places.  He had a hilariously, awesome accent and his analysis of the lack of things to do in Caracas was awesome.  Ryan volleyed the conversation with some great wisecracks.  It was the best 20-30 minutes of my day.  The day was chill, but by the end of it I felt awful. 

The best was yet to come.

Sunday was the day I had waited for all week.  I wanted to completely soak up the second to last day of football with all my might.  Turns out the universe had other plans, as I felt awful from the time I woke up.  Body aches, sweating, headaches, a pregnant feeling stomach plagued me. 

By the time the games came up I was in pain.  I tried to fight through it, eat some food, drink some Sprite and try to enjoy the game.  But by the end of game one I was done.  I left the gather and went home for the security of the coach.  I just kept filling worse and worse, so I took some pills and went to bed about 8. 

Woke up and felt the same way.  Powered through school, skipped the work out, watched a movie and went to bed at like 8 again.  I’m feeling better today, but still a little slow.  I have no idea what it was, but it was awful.  So it goes. 

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT SECTION

So I bet you’re asking yourself, what can be bigger than going to the World Cup?  Well, I don’t know about bigger in terms of scale, but if your looking at in terms of a bigger role in an event than yeah, this is a bigger. 

Morris (friend and fellow Iowan) and I are going to run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.  Booyah!  If you don’t know what it is check this out.

It’s going to be gnarly.  Getting chased by a 1000 pound or more bull on the way to the stadium is going to be a rush. 

Why are we doing this? Well it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and found out that so did Morris.  It was also in a Hemingway book I finished this summer so naturally I thought I had to try it. 

We’ll spend a few nights in Barcelona and Madrid prior to heading to Pamplona and then return to Barcelona to fly out. 

Don’t worry guys, I’ll be sure to publish some blogs from Spain and don’t worry I’ll be fine.  It’s only 800 meters; I can run that in my sleep!

Quotes of the Week

“Let’s get Vanas-ed!”

- Me to a still not awake group of colleagues as we waited for the breakfast to start.  I don’t think they thought my college humor was funny, or it was to early.

“So you’re going to Barbados this weekend (or anything beyond the daily norm of most Venezuelan students in travel or having possession of)…? What a life!”

- Jon Moreno doing his best Mr. Barrios.  (Mr. Barrios is one of our PE teachers who tries to remind some of our “privileged” students about how well they have it compared to most.

“I’m so sick of hearing about the Finland school comparison, it’s a homogeneous culture.”

-       Ryan Robinson about halfway through our keynote in regards to the often referenced Finnish schools.

Five Thoughts of the Week 

This week's thoughts are a direct results of the keynote speaker.  If you are aware of our “educational catastrophe” (or so it is referred) please do some digging before you shoot blame to teachers, staff, administrators, unions, and those that are on the front lines. Here are five quick hitters of information on the comparison between “us” (‘Murica) and them (everyone that is “better”).  I could go on, but most won't care or can find the info on their own.  

1.  Finland has only 3% childhood poverty compared to 22% (and rising) childhood poverty in the US.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/books/review/amanda-ripleys-smartest-kids-in-the-world.html?_r=0

2.  Let’s take that a step further.  If you took the schools in the US that have less than a 10% poverty level (the number comparable to those other countries near the top of the list) we had a PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) score of 551.  Which in comparison to the ten countries with similar poverty rankings would make us 1^st.  (If you ain’t first you’re last, Ricky!)

http://nasspblogs.org/principaldifference/2010/12/pisa_its_poverty_not_stupid_1.html

3.  Finland also has “cheaper medical care, smarter children, happier moms, better working conditions, less anxious unemployed people, and lower student loan rates than we do.” The Atlantic

4.  Finland has a population of 5.414 million people. Or as I like to call it, the metro areas of D.C. (5.8 mil), Miami (5.7mil), or Hotlanta (5.4 mil).  If you’d like to talk states I can do that: Missouri (5.9 mil), Maryland (5.7 mil), Wisconsin (5.6 mil), Minnesota (5.3 mil), and Colorado (5.02 mil).  Hmmm…

5.  Finland has 19^th century styled classrooms (no technology, internet, desks in rows, etc.) highly valued and regarded teachers.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/07/the-secret-to-finlands-success-with-schools-moms-kids-and-everything/277699/

*I’m not making this claim to be pro a specific party of the government, pro union, or complain about education in anyway.  I’m just shooting you the facts jack.  Plain and simple.  You’re smart people, how can you compare Finland to us (or anyone else)? It’s apples to oranges.  You want to fix education get experienced, intelligent people from the field, develop a plan, test the plan, make amendments, implement slowly, and continue to improve and modify.  Allow states, districts, and schools the power to tailor their program to needs of it’s students. 

Educator friends, people with kids in schools now, or anyone that wants to read a revealing piece i urge you to check out this piece regarding the Common Core.  It'll really make you look at the whole picture differently.  Click this and read the piece from the Washington Post! 

More reading on the topic if you're still enjoying coffee or not working:

From the Smithsonian and The Atlantic.  

At least Finland provides the US with some heavy metal like Children of Bodom!

That’s enough of that for today…maybe for a long time.  Check back later this week when I address a topic I get asked about quite frequently, safety/crime in Venezuela. 

I’ll make it fair, simple to read, and hopefully easy to understand.  It will clear up some CNN-effect you may be experiencing.

Hope you guys are safe and sound.  I hope I get totally over feeling awful soon.  This sucks.

Remember, I don't hate you Finland. 

Until next time,

KRS

Fill'er up

Happy Hump Day!

I figured that due to the thorough lameness of yesterday's post (not much to say) that I would include a bonus piece today of something you actually may take interest in.

I've had this nugget in my inbox for just over a week and have been trying to remind myself to include it, but I forgot....UNTIL NOW.


Happy New Year! Why does he look constipated?

 As you know, gas (in the form of oil based gasoline, not natural or flatulence) is super cheap here due to Venezuela being #1 on Dick Clark's World's Largest Oil Reserve Top 40.  Their dominance at the top is equal to that of Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon's run at 741 weeks in the Billboard chart. 



Iconic. I listen to it every night before bed.

I'll spare you the details of how the oil turns to gas here, just know this: it's f'n cheap.

How cheap you may add?  Let me show you. 

My friend Jon Moreno-Ramirez (he's cool enough to have TWO last names) and I were trying to find an iPod workout sleeve for his wife's birthday.  I left that and the iPod itself back in Clinton (my one job and I blew it).  After a few failed attempts he said he needed to get some gas, so we pulled up to the gas station and got into line. 

Yep, a line. This ain't Iowa. All of the gas here is pumped by an attendant and not all pumps are open.  On this day they were filtering us through four.  While in line and between hardcore songs  I mumbled I wonder how much a gallon of gas really costs here.  Jon's a smart guy (teaches Calc/AP Physics) so I was hoping to get the gears turning.  We talked it out and came up with an approximate amount. 

Lucky for me when he got home it ate at him and he did the calculations.  This is what he got (all work is his, I'm just cutting and pasting):

How wild is that?  This past December the government is talking about raising the price to help with social works and national issues.  Even with a gradual hike it will still be crazy cheap (at press time gas at Kwik Star on Lincoln Way in Clinton was $3.22 a gallon).

Thanks again to Jon for the legwork.

Have a great rest of the week.

Peace.

Blue Monday's Gone! (But Nothing Else Is Going On Either)

Howdy.

Four days into the new semester and I already have some kids (juniors/seniors) shutting it down.  I know what you are thinking, I should make it much more engaging and do more individualized instruction.  I do. 

The problem is free will (it’s the thing that educational leaders forget to take into consideration when developing doctrine).  If a rebellious 15-18 year old kid doesn’t want to do something, what can you do?  There are limited things in tool belt a teacher can use and even fewer things that can be used as motivation.   I’m not bagging the system (everyone knows it’s flawed, but how to fix it is anyone’s guess- ask 5 people get 7 responses [yes, I realize those numbers are 5 and 7]).  It is what it is.  I’m just stating the fact.   So it goes.

Long story short, nothing is really different when it comes to kids.  Public or private school, USA or Venezuela, kids are kids. But you knew that.

Not Much Ado About Anything

The big story from down here is nothing.  Not much going on.  Even though some of the students are still trickling back from break (crazy right?), most of the citizens are back and the rat race has begun again. 

School has hit the ground running.  Today we had our first semester sports awards assembly.  All of the coaches got to call up there team and they were presented a medal by the athletic department.  Each coach gave a brief synopsis on their season, the tournament, and their MVP.  It was a pretty cool little event.  I had to speak for both of our softball teams since Frank was busy teaching (likely excuse).  I was probably too brief and nervous about mispronouncing a student’s name (I’ve lived it for years, it’s not cool), but I got the job done.  I give myself a B-/C+. 

I get emails or iMessages from friends back stateside and they usually revolve around their wish of having Venezuelan weather opposed to the grey/cold of a large portion of the continental US.  It is nice it actually has really been mild lately.  It’s pulled mental tricks on me making me think it’s near the end of track season and the end of the year.  We are a long way from that.  It’s nice; I just wish I had a bike and some non-crazy-busy roads to crush on it.  Oh well, when I get back I’ll get some miles in. 

Some ex-pat staff is having trouble getting tickets back to their specific port of origin for the summer due to airlines not wanting to accept bolivars.  If you’re interested in the topic the Miami Herald and NYT have had pieces on it.  We have to submit our travel plans tomorrow, so hopefully when I get my itinerary from the agency it’s all good.

It will be.

Congrats on making it through Blue Monday.  The worst day of the year is behind you!  That’s kind of exciting to get that out of the way eh? 

The rest of the week is pretty chill down here.  We have our Vanas Conference on Friday, the beach on Saturday (I’m pretty white, so hopefully my sunscreen works), and then the Division games on Sunday.  I’m starting to learn to enjoy the game without the broadcasters (on mute due to Spanish commentators). 

That’s all I got.  Not much going on here yet.  You can find all the bad news you want in the newspapers if you want to, but I don’t roll like that.  Things are good, I’m fine and the big wheel keeps turning.

Happy Birthday Dave Grohl

In other new’s, today is David Eric Grohl’s 45^th birthday.  If you don’t know who he is he played in a little band called Nirvana (helped shape my high school years) and founded the Foo Fighters.  He’s also a member of Them Crooked Vultures and pseudo-member of Queens of the Stone Age (he has done session work for tons of people, but I’ll leave it be).  Which are all some of my favorite bands.

Here are 4.5 of my favorite Dave Grohl videos.  If you don’t want to see them don’t go down any further.

Have a great rest of the week and be good to each other out there. 

Until next time,

KRS

This interview counts as a half.  

B..B...B...Back in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Hello Again 

You may or may not have noticed the week gap in posts from 1800MPG.  We apologize, but we held the staff holiday party (I hung out with some coaches at Griz house [we are older and wiser now]) and spent time with the family before departing on the 1/2.  

I’m back here for the encore to my first set, so hopefully this goes better than my first go-round (aka I don’t lose my wallet, have gringo stomach, get homesick, you know all the nice things that have nothing to do with others/VZ but me personally).

I’d like to thank you for joining me on this journey the past few months and reading the words that I meticulously (by someone’s standards) and honestly write down depicting all sides of this journey.  That’s really what has been, a journey- not an epic (maybe a short epic [inside joke for my English friends]), but a journey mentally, physically, and spiritually.  It’s tested me in ways I never have been and put me in position to really see who and what I am (still up for debate).  It’s forced me to fall on my faith, my faith in people, and that everything works out well in the end. 

Those of you that know me well understand I’m not linear or Pollack-esq, but some sort of Hemingway meets Tim Ferris at a Pearl Jam concert (if you don’t understand that it’s ok, I didn’t at first either).  This whole experience has been like riding a way (I’ve never surfed by have been in boats and dinghy’s) that has given me perspective I could have never dreamed.  It hasn’t all been smooth sailing and I whole-heartedly appreciate the kind comments, responses, and emails.  It’s really helped me when times get tough (I’m a little emotional just saying that, and I used to be such a tough guy). 

Lastly, I appreciate your patience with my mad hatter approach to this blog.  It’ the most raw thing I’ve ever done/written, totally honest and full of mistakes (grammar/syntax/references), but it’s what I feel when I feel it.  I hope you enjoy the authenticity and thank you for looking past the cracks in the pavement.

Enough of the mushy stuff, onto the goods.

Saying Goodbye Pt. II

I really thought I was going to be able to hold it in and not break.  Nope I tea red up like a kid getting his sucker taken from him after running around the house after being told three times to stop.  We left fairly early as to not be late due to weather (we got lucky getting this flight in as 3700 flights nationwide were cancelled). 

We rolled down packed into my brother’s van, making small talk as the Illinois highway slithered parallel to the Mississippi River. The ride was uneventful and the tone somber.  We pulled into the airport parking lot, I got out my stuff, and in we went.

I reached the Delta kiosk and spoke with a rep.  I had no idea, but apparently you can just slide your passport through the computer, shamans perform voodoo magic, wah-la the boarding pass.  While all this black magic was going on the woman told me she used to teach English at a school in Korea before she met her husband and got married.  She asked where I was heading, I told her and her demeanor changed.  As I tossed my bag into the security scanner, I told her not to worry about me, it’s not as dangerous as CNN/Fox/MSNBC make it out to be. 

We hung out in the waiting area near the baggage claimed and slowly the clock ticked up.  Five weeks so fast and I really didn’t’ do anything besides hang out with family and friends (whole goal of going back) and eat.  I did great not eating crap until Dec. 23 (Lueders Family Christmas) and then it was mash city.  I ate everything, especially crap.  I’m carrying a few extra back with me, but the VZ sun will help with that. 

Waiting there was like being in a doctor’s office or waiting your turn at giving a speech in high school.  We all knew that eventually I had to get on the plane, but instead of being happy about my last few minutes in the states prior to my return, we were rather quiet (except Miles who was wound for sound).  I get really anxious before flying and had bad dreams the previous few nights so I was pretty quiet.  My parents talked to me about how fast this semester will go and how nice the flight will be.  I shook my head, thoughts drifting into the horizon.  I popped a view Xanax and then it was time.  I hugged my sis in law, sister, mom (both started to tear up), then my brother, then my nephew, then my dad, then my mom again and then my dad.  I was filling up with tears trying not to have my voice break while I spoke with them.  With each step towards TSA security, I fought back and won.  But after going through the scanner and putting my shoes on I looked back and waved.  Started crying again, turned and started for the gate. 

I used to be such a tough guy. 

So it goes.

The Flight Back

 After the family goodbye, I made my way to the gate and got into the plane.  Some people were making small talk and I got to thinking that I have never talked to anyone on a flight besides the people.  Except for once in NYC with Heather when she was passed out on Dramamine and this older fellow was telling me places to eat.  He had good advice and made the ensuing hard climb from a “near miss” as the NYC news later reported between us and another plane. 

Any who, the lady next to me apparently heard my inner monologue and started chatting me up.  She was about 80 and had worked for a Christian organization that did missions all over the world.  She was super nice and had some great stories.  She had been everywhere from Russia to Africa to Central American and certain parts of the US.  I enjoyed everything she had to say except about how many times she’s had problems with small planes like the one we were on and specifically at QC Airport. 

That’s what we in the business call foreshadowing. 

Looks cool, but feels oh so cold. 

We have been waiting for about 15mins due to a mechanical issue and then finally the pilot tells us they are letting us get off the plane because the right engine won’t start.  Cool.

We all get off the plane and make our way to the seating area.  I just lean up against the wall away from people trying to relax and listen to music, but I figure I might as well go the bathroom while we are here (I’m afraid to go on the plane).  I am washing my hands and realize something is wrong.  My wallet is there…apt keys… no passport.  OH F&#@.  I hustle out of there and see it in its case right where I had left.  That would have been a deal breaker.  Well done by me I know.

About this time we are allowed to go back into the plane and I sit back down.  The missionary next to me laughed, and said, “See.”  I couldn’t help but chuckle until the pilot got back on the PA.

“Yeah folks sorry about the delay.  We didn’t have air in the cabin early and you may have noticed it was a little warm.  Well we tricked the computer and got both the air and the right engine to start so we are good to go.”

Duuuuuudddeeee….

Meanwhile somewhere over the Southeast...

Flight went great until I got to Atlanta and my mom called and told me that I forgot the iPod I bought to bring down. 

I dropped an F bomb right then and there.  Parents weren’t happy with me, but what can you do.

The next flight was easy, but even with 1.5 Xanax I couldn’t sleep.  I felt like Will Ferrell in Old School though.  

My buddy Marshall was waiting for me at the Caracas airport (he was just getting in from Argentina) and we were splitting a cab.  He said I looked so out of it and slow.  I slept on the cab ride to my apartment and got in at like 1:15am.  Not bad for leaving at 9am. 

The next two days I basically just slept and played Call of Duty (video game for you guys that don't game).  

Observations Since Being Back

1.  It was still the holiday when I got here on Thursday and this place was dead.  Nobody on the road and very few people out in the neighborhood.  It was actually kind of quiet and felt like a small town.
2. The New Year is a bigger deal here.  Venezuelans great each other with a sincere “Happy New Year” followed with a handshake, hug, and conversation about your break.  I admire the sincerity.
3. The huge cross lit up on a power tower.  It’s really cool at night along with the decorations that remain ip January 3^rd is a holiday here as well. 
4. It doesn’t feel the 90 it says it is.  It actually reminds me of the middle of football when the temp has broken a little and the humidity has died down. 
5. Lots of students haven’t returned from break yet.  Apparently five weeks isn’t enough!

Coolest Places My Students Went on Break

1. Dubai 
2. Milan, Italy (Study Italian)
3. Paris, France
4. Barcelona, Spain
5. Miami (seemed most traveled here at some point)

I’ve been a bit of a mess lately and not able to sleep so I’m going to wrap this up and bid you adieu.  Hopefully, I can get over this and get some good zzz’s to be ready for work tomorrow. 

Happy New Year!  I wish you blessings and good tidings in the year of opportunities that lie ahead. 

Until Next Time,

KRS