A crazy 3 years in an unpredictable country

For more on Venezuela, please see the Angel Falls Blog.

Venezuela was definitely a crazy time for me, but I loved it.  I lived in the city of Maracaibo which is the second biggest city behind Caracas.  It is on the west side of the country a little over two hours drive to Colombia.  Just like you have heard in the world, the women here are absolutely gorgeous which was of course fun for me.

I really liked living here a lot.  On the weekends it was a constant party at different places and there was always something going on.  This is perhaps the nicest apartment I have ever lived in, and it was right across the street from the supermarket and just a ten minute walk to work.

The situation was bad when I lived there in 2009-2012 with sometimes finding groceries and inflation was very high, so you do creative things with what you have for food.  As of now, the currency is out of control with the black market exchange at 15 times it was when I left.  I really feel bad for the people of the country, but I see in the next few years big change coming.

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It was a tough city to live in as it was always very noisy and sometimes a lot of muggings.  Luckily, I never got mugged or had anything bad happen to me.  It was always fun to get out on some long weekends to take vacations.  A place we would frequent a lot was nicknamed the Coconut Far.  The real name is Granja El Ojito.  This posada was a few hours drive north of Maracaibo and offered the perfect getaway.  The rooms are clean, the food is good, and you can get out on the town if you wish during the day.  The best thing about this was the beautiful untouched beach that was private, as no one was ever around.  I cant count how many times I went here and just fell in love with the peace and serenity….

Another good place to go in striking distance is Los Cayos (the keys).  Usually you drive up there in a taxi and get a place to stay on the main town of Tucacas.  In the daytime you just go over to a boat and pay them money and they take you around to the different islands to where you can do anything-sit in the sun, swim, and eat a lot of ceviche.  Usually beers or alcohol on ice is included in the price….Just be careful if you are walking at night and slip into a storm drain as you will find yourself at the clinic getting stitches…..

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It was also nice to go out and see Los Palafitos.  These houses built on stilts sit on the water and is how Venezuela got its name hundreds of years ago.  Explorers came in and some of the first things they saw were these houses on stilts sitting on the water.  So they gave it the name Venezuela (Little Venice), and apparently the name stuck.  It was such a fun time as we took boats around to the different parts and even had a traditional lunch along with a lot of coconut cocktails…..It made for a nice nap on the way back….

I had the opportunity twice to go down to Tachira State in southern Venezuela.  One of the times i took a flight, but the other time we drove from Maracaibo which was a long drive but also at the same time a very beautiful drive.  I would of much rather loved to live in San Christobal (capital of the state) than Maracaibo because of the cool climate and the mountains.  One time I went was for New Years, and the other time I went was for my cousins wedding.  I loved the landscape, the food and the people as it was a place that will stay forever in my heart….

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Another place I simply loved was the Andes Mountain area in Venezuela.  I went on a retreat there for a weekend (long ass drive) but loved the scenery and the small town feel to everything…..

Now that i have taken you away from Maracaibo, time to get back to why I liked it so much.  It had to be the friends I was with. Whether it be at apartments or out on the town, I had a blast with all of them and this has been the most social place I have ever lived and never got tired of it.  I have made such good friends there that I have traveled with them to countless destinations like-Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Greece and Islands, UAE, Kuwait, Thailand, DC, Ukraine,  and the Seychelles.  I have also visited them in the United States for a wedding.  These friends truly made it a wonderful experience with all the parties and stuff we did together….

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So why did I stay three years here in this crazy country?  The answer to that along with the friends and social aspect of things was the students and the school.  Class Sizes were small and the students were very hard working.  We did many volunteer things like the Salvation Army which was for orphaned kids.  We collected food for them, did Christmas parties, went and played with them, helped fix their house, and also had games with them.  It was truly a moving experience….

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My acting career got off to a fast start and finish here as the students and teachers did a performance of Sleepy Hollow.  I had a small part in it but I was happy to make my acting debut.  I was waiting for the agents to come calling, but it never happened…

We also had Saturday Girl Scouts and Movie Club in which we discussed films and the Art behind them…

There was also the spirit weeks which all had a theme behind them where I probably had more fun than the students….

I can go on and on and on, but I have already filled up this blog so much.  I have thousands of other pictures to put up and stories to tell, but I think you get the point.  This would definitely be a place that I could spend my whole life.  I loved everything about it.  I just hope the country can recover from the stuff happening as my main thoughts are with the people I know that still live there including the students and their families…..