Anyway...
Where to begin...
Political Situation
Not much has changed in terms of the situation here. Things are still tense and the evenings are filled with gunshots and tear gas being shot like crickets in the basement. Both sides have apparently dug into and talks have stalled. The roadblocks remain, but seem to let some travel go in the am and then close up in the late morning. Things are "safe" (I haven't a reason to call it unsafe), but they get dicey in the evening as depicted above.The stores are getting more bare and the selections remain random. After warnings about our gas (for the stove) being out it finally happened this evening. It's done. A co-worker told me today that it won't be getting refilled and to look for an electric stove. Apparently, this is one way the government can put the squeeze on the middle class pro-opposition neighborhood I live in. I guess I really won't be cooking much now. What can you do?
School
We "started" back up school on Wednesday. We are switching to a distance learning model a lot like those online classes you can take for post-secondary education. I thought it would be easy, but the set up is taking forever. Sixteen hours in the last two days and I'm still not even prepped for next week. Basically we are using our class websites, email, google drive, dropbox, and our iPad training to construct, facilitate, and guide our students. Our admin team as already addressed the strictness our school will have with students not doing the work and the high likelihood of cheating. We'll just do the best we can and see what happens. It's actually kind of exciting to have a schedule again and immerse yourself into some positive work. It's been tough to figure out with technology works best, how to work it, and what you can cover with limited contact. Another thing to add to my resume.Basically, we are doing three days of on campus work, have set office hours where students can contact us or come see us (if able...or in the country), and continually interactions via our web-based programs and email. It'll kind of be like an on campus college prof and kind of like an online prof.
Carnival
While a some of colleagues did get tickets out of country for Carnival, not all of them worked. A group of my friends couldn't go to Los Rosques due to the plane not available. While a group of us planned to stick around and hangout, after nearly four weeks of little to no work/social activity we tried to head out. Jon and Randi contacted several posadas about going up into the mountains and staying for a few days. We were in to go to Colonial Tovar (German colony), but our driver bailed. We scheduled another place in Behuma at a spa and posada. We set up a taxi after a few failed attempts by Jon. We were set to go early in the am so I crashed on Jon and Randi's couch only to find out late that night the driver bailed. Mentally broke, we parted ways in the am and I walked back home. Only to then find out about 15mins after arriving we were back on. I hustled to the school and we took off.It was a relaxing place where we just basically hung out, read books, played Hearts, and had some beers. The food was excellent, every meal was filling. We took a small hike up the side of the mountain. We all ended up paying for a massage (sans Ryan- he's not so much into fun things). Crazy thing about the massage was that masseuse basically did a palm reading on your foot. My spanish sucks so Jon had to translate. Talk about a weird deal. It was alright, as was the massage. The highlight for me was the ART and stretching she did on my shoulder. It loosened up a lot and felt better (with so many businesses closed I haven't been able to start PT).
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| Posada's view into the cabin. |
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| That was our humble abode to the left with the village in the background. |
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| The daytime view. |
Birthday
Jon, Randi, and Ryan offered to grab a burger and have some beers with me. But I was tired from the posada stay (weird- we didn't do much) and just felt like lounging by myself and doing some reflection. I ended up going and getting a pizza and TWO Cokes as my big birthday treat to myself. I devoured the meal, did some reading, watched True Detective and called it good. About 7 hours later my 14 hour bathroom residency began. I thought I was releasing a demon or dying. Neither happened, but I can imagine now how awful it would be die from those symptoms. Happy 32 right? |
| My watch was so nice to wish me happy birthday when I got up. |
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| My birthday was was to get taller not to be Mr. Fantastic. |
Giving a shoutout to one of the most well-read guys I know and the links he provides us weekly:
Ryan Robinson's Links of Knowledge
Seven Things to Know About The Venezuelan Crisis.Turning Butter Vendors Into Currency Manipulators or Why The Lines Are So Damn Long.
A Legacy of Destruction.
How To Turn $1 USD Into $174,000 (no, really).
UN Concerned Over Excessive Force.
Venezuela's Down On Panama.
Chavez Impact A Year Later.
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| This is what happens when a parking lot becomes "the way" due to roadblocks. |
Hard to believe that I've only got 99 days left in Venezuela before I hit the travel circuit and then back to Iowa.
Hope it's warming up for you and Spring is starting to thaw your neighborhood out.
Until Next Time,
KRS
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