3 Days of Travel!

¡Hola!  I have arrived at Aldeas de Paz!  It has been a beautiful journey so far.

Day 1 (9-12):

When I arrived in the Caracas airport I experienced the awful event of my bags not sliding down the luggage ramp.  I asked for help and ended up following a man into a back office to write a report about my lost bag.  It was sort of scary at first but the man, Efraím, was very kind and had some family friends with him so I was not alone with him.  I also had a hard time connecting with the person who was supposed to pick me up, Nelson.  Long story short, after over an hour in this back office my bag arrived (it had been stuck in the plane) and Nelson found me!

Nelson talked about Venezuelan polotics, life, and culture for about half of the drive into Caracas until he told me I could sleep.  While driving on the highway we got stuck behind some big trucks carrying subway cars!  This required us to go about 10mph on the highway into the city--it took over 2 hours.  By 2:30am I was finally in a bed.

Day 2 (9-13):

I woke up early and bought two empanadas for breakfast across the street.  FUN FACT:  Nelson told me that the words for breakfast in English and Spanish (desayuna) mean to break the fast.  Break fast and des ayuna.  I´ve never thought about that before...  With my empanadas and orange juice in hand (I accidentally ordered ¨orange game¨ instead of ¨orange juice¨ at first, but I got what I wanted) I walked down the 10 block pedestrian boulavard.  People were out walking, kids were playing on the randomly placed slides and climbing structures, Chavez´s face was postered all over, and I felt pretty safe walking alone.

Later in the day I started the 24 hour bus ride to Santa Elena.  FUN FACT:  The bus station here is called el términal de bus.  I made friends with a security guard, Edgar, who spoke Spanish with me for over an hour and another solo traveler, Edgardo.  Edgardo and I stuck together during the long bus ride.  He helped me find vegetarian things to eat along the way, explained what was happening at military check points, and we shared some food together.  I spoke to him in Spanish mostly and he spoke to me in English.  We both wanted to practice!

Day 3 (9-14):

We arrived in Santa Elena at a reasonable hour.  Aldeas de Paz is on a large mountain about 3000ft up.  The views are amazing.  Here I met the folks who work at the Peace Villages.  Manfred, Kelvis, Jeder (not sure how to spell his name, but it sounds like ¨hey there¨ in English), and Manfred´s 9 year old daughter Naladia.  It is very safe here.  Not many people come up the road to Aldeas de Paz and the compound is never left alone.  The bugs are only bad at night and dawn.  They also say that there is no malaria up this high.

For dinner, Naladia showed me how to prepare this indigenous bread made from the yucca root.  The bread starts out very hard.  We soak it in water and fry it so it becomes crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  We topped it with a mixture of tomatoes, garlic, onions, and a little mayo, butter, oil, salt, and cheese for a delicious meal!

I slept great under my bug net with the door to the outside open!

Day 4 (today):

I´ve done some research and talking to people here and I´ve decided to stop taking the malaria medication.  I´ve been feeling a little weak and have had a sensitive stomach since taking the antibiotic.  None of the other volunteers here take any meds for malaria.

Later in the day I will do into town with Naladia and Manfred.  Naladia will show me around and we will eat at a Brazilian restaurant that is buffet style and you pay by the weight of your meal!

I am starting to get a little home sick, but when I stay in the moment here it is easy to be happy.  The land is beautiful.  The people I´ve met so far are so kind.  I feel much more safe here, especially in Santa Elena, than I thought I would.

I am trying to find a way to load my pictures to the compter so hopefully I can share some visuals soon!

Until next time,

Brianna