It´s been so long I don´t even know what to write. My time in Merida was the time of the trip where I had the most access to Internet and yet I wrote you nothing. There are many reasons for that but I will not get tinto them here.

Merida was an interesting place to try to spend three weeks. My experience there was the opposite of the first part of our trip in Barquisimeto/Chivacoa. I didn´t feel like I was part of a family or community. I didn´t feel like I was processing information and learning about people´s lives and experiences. I felt like I was in a touristy location being forced to go to a spanish class I didn´t enjoy.

I enjoyed the mountains of Merida but I didn´t enjoy what i was doing there or how I was spending most of my time. The only thing I felt like I could do for entertainment was shop. Now, I grew up in a touristy little town so I am aware how important money flow can be for a community that rellies on it. But the buying of gifts for the people I love in the US turned into my only goal and I ended up resenting it.

I have become aware that I don´t like the relationship between the buyer and the seller unless it takes the form of a conversation between the artist and the appreciator, an exchange of information about the product. Like what happens when you buy something from someone who´s worked on the product long enough to really care about it. When I, as the buyer, take on the role of someone who wants to think about what I am buying, and am not acting as a blind consumer- trying to get my needs met.

I had two very different shopping experiences in Merida. The first was at the Mercado Principal- I compair it to Pike Place in Seattle- but others didn´t see it that way. I think the idea behind the Mercado is that it functions as a hub of artisinal products from Venezuela. But it seems so huge, many of the venders have so many products I wonder if they could possibly know who made the products, how and why. This was the place where you could definetely find your shot glasses and other such things that are mass produced at the cheapest cost possible.  There coudl have been some artisans there that I think could have made their products or know who made the products. But I was treated as quickly and as concisely as possible- my first experience of this in Venezuela.

My second buying experience was with an artisan who sells his jewelery and and other crafts in a plaza in the center of Merida. My friend and I probable spend an tour practicing our spanish with him and his friend while we learned about how long he´d been making these awesome peices, how he makes a couple of them and where each seed is from and what other uses the seed and other ítems used to make the products have. It was a really relaxing experience. Where I didn´t feel like I was trying to shove as much shit as I could into my bag and run away as soon as possible. It´s nice just to talk and share what people are interested in and hear what they have to say about what you are interested in.

Relationships- they make the world go round- not money.

Venezuelan Government, Opposition, and U.S. React to Constitutional Amendment’s Approval

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4231

U.S. State Department Says Process was Democratic

United States State Department Spokesperson Gordon Duguid said in a daily press briefing Tuesday, “It’s my understanding that the referendum took place in a fully democratic process.”

“It was a matter for the Venezuelan people,” Duguid continued. When asked about the results of the referendum, Duguid said, “The process was held consistent with democratic principles… in the United States, we have term limits, but that’s our practice.”

Today is the first day since I have been in Venezuela that I have had a chance to cruise some news articles via the internet. I ran into the above article and found it effected me kind of emotionally. The idea that a US official could announce publically that Venezuela had a democratic election and that it runs its country differently and that its not a horrid thing.. is AMAZING to me.

I guess I shoudl not be so easy to please because I did a little search on Gordon Duguid and found he made some sassy comments about Ecuador after the president there threw out a US embassy employee after he was found trying to recruit Ecuadorian police for a special anti-narcotics project. I think drugs and the war against drugs has really given an open door for the US to meddle in countries that don´t want to give into the US´s imposed trade policies anymore. It´s frusterating being a US citizen in the midst of all this misinformation from the media. ugh.

Some people refuse to listen to a lot of the political comentary that I have written or chosen to share, but I must emphasise that the world IS changing and that Venezuela is on to some amazing ideas and new processes. There are flaws, there is corruption, but you cannot chose ignorance and think that corruption is happening in the US as well, in the bellies of a US governement that still favors business owners over workers and doesn´t support an economy where workers can be the business owners. Maybe after this weekend I will have enough info to drop a little knowledge on how awesome cooperatives can function.

thanks for reading. Writing this way may be hard to read for you all but it is really helping me process this information I am bombarded with constantly.

Un parte de mi familia en Chivacoa.

2-11-09

A veiw of Barquisimeto

2-2-09 

Alejandra, Yo, y JuanCarlos en la casa de Yoli

1-2?-09

I never realized how important language was until I tried to scold or play with a child in Venezuela. A few of them have been very patient with me and my poorly formed sentences and poorly pronounced words but on the whole I have been little use to any adults as a baby sitter. I have been getting better at consoling children but looking humbley clueless to the adults but all in all- little use.

Continued thoughts from the previous blog….

This time in Barquisimeto and Chivacoa was supposed to provide time for our research of different aspects of Venezuelan life. Many of us have had difficulty researching the programs through the government misiones (programs) because many meetings and regularly scheduled activities have been canceled because of the constitutional amendment election this coming Sunday. Being in Venezuela at this time has provided some unique tensions between the people of Venezuela. My lame analysis thus far is the following: The enmienda (amendment) would eliminate the 12 year limit (two 6 year terms) on presidential terms. Now, there are two main groups in this argument: 1. the people who believe in the revolutionary process and think that president Chavez is the only leader at this time that can successfully push Venezuela to complete its process of becoming a more socialist society. 2. There are also people that believe what most of the people in the US think- that Chavez wants to be the king of Venezuela and that if the term limits are taken away he will win every election and be president forever because he controls the electoral assembly.

Both sides have been hitting the streets advocating for their side and therefore most activities, classes, and programs have been put on hold until after the election- or at the very least rescheduled- for someone learning life in Venezuela from this experience I have made the following reflections:

The people of Venezuela don´t take things sitting down. If there is one thing I have been inspired by so far its Venezuelan´s knowledge of their societal systems. I am inspired by the amount of which the people I have met so far know their political system and how to get involved and how much more average people feel it necessary to be involved in their political process- whether in support or not they know they can possibly effect their political system! Chevere!

It´s a phrase used in the region i have been staying in for the past 3 weeks. It´s close to my favorite thing about the state of Lara at this moment. People use it here in so many different situations. Mainly to express exasperation, surprise, and aww. Hilarious and fantastic.

I have experienced many amazing things since i last wrote on this blog but right now i am in an internet cafe adn am distracted (by two 12 year old boys playing video games on the internet and yelling “na´guara” across the room at eachother)and worried that an hour is going to cost more money than is in my pocket. please expect more writing possibly tomorrow.

This weekend I joined another classmate´s host family for a trip to Chichirivichi to spend some time at the beach. The water was beautiful, the breeze felt amazing, and some of the veiws were breathtaking but all and all I didn´t like it a whole lot. I flt liek a tourist. Which impounded a lot of my disapointment with this trip so far. I feel like I haven´t been able to do as much I wanted to do here in venezuela as far as learning about the process here in venezuela. The amendment election has lead to many cancelations of routinely scheduled meetings……. to… be….. continued….

much love. alida

It has been very difficult for me to get to internet cafes and the like since I have been in Venezuela. Mostly from a lack of effort but also from a lack of time. Please be patient with this blog as Word keeps changing my mispelled spanish words (which are actually correctly spelled english words, so i think).

I am not the world´s best most experienced traveler- far from it- but from what I have seen of Venezuela it has GOT to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I have never felt more like family to complete strangers.

As the title states I have now been in 4 amazing parts of the Venezuela. Carcas, the country´s capital where we visited many of the Venezuelan government buildings (legislative, nacional asembly, Simon Bolivar´s birthplace and many others). Barlovento, a beautifully HOT and tropical location near the Ocean which is home to some of the country´s richest Afrovenezuelan culture, where we had the delight of learning all about the production of Cacoa. And now I am in Chevacoa staying with my amazing host family! I was supposed to be staying in Barquisimeto anda t first was slightly disapointed not to be staying in Barquisimeto with the rest of my classmates however having support and love of the people I am staying with is WAY more important than location right now.

I wish I could tell you all all the things I have learned but I am afraid time doesnt permit me to even try. I leave you right now knowing that I am doing extremely well. That my host family has gone above and beyond all expectations of humanity to make me feel at home and that the Venezuelan people are more inteligent and competent than I can ever truly explain in a blog. I have been truly inspired by the thoughts of the Venezuelan people as well as their determination and hard work toward a more comunal society. Please Donet be fooled by Corporate media in the US. Chavez is not a dictador and the people of Venezuela have not been dooped by media schemes and charismatic leadership (although it his charisma is magnitizing). The people that support Chavez and the venezuelan government support the misiones, the country´s social programs that have done a lot to help the people create a more balanced and just society. Venezuelans are working hard to defend their democratic society and they have way more partipation in elections and comunity than we do in the US.

Thanks for reading the rant- I will hopefully be able to write more stories as I get a more structured Schedule down for myself. I love you all. Thanks for the comments and love.

Every Venezuelan we have met with has been so welcoming. I hope to write more when there is less of a line to use the internet. Please enjoy the following photos.

Much Love.

watch?v=ugLl_nXLByo

In September 2008 Erin and I voyaged across the country to move her into Olympia WA!! What a fantastically hilarious and fun adventure! We started in Saranac Lake moved our way through Pennsylvania to Columbus where we stayed with Kristy Shannon (a great friend of mine from my first year in AmeriCorps in Federal Way, WA- for those of you who do not have the pleasure of knowing her). Kristy was a great guide through a really neat part of Columbus, we had a fantastic diner and excellent relax time- although her cat totally tore down on my toe as i was falling asleep! We then traveled up through Indiana to Chicago, IL to stop by briefly and visit Frank Lloyd Right’s studio and home to find it was closed so we walked through the neighborhood to stretch our legs and spend some time in “chicago”- at the very least. Driving was horrendous- as it was rush hour- but Erin got through it and shortly after that we stopped at a hotel and attempted to get over our near accident experiences! ha! From Illinois we traveled up-up-up to Minneapolis to stay with Kathrine Walter (my great friend from my second year of AmeriCorps in Seattle (again, for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of her presence in your life). Minneapolis and St. Paul were truly fantastic! Kathrine was a great tour guide, showing us both cities and taking us out to have some amazing Thai Food and a real Minnesotan beer!!! From Minnesota we traveled through South Dakota and were surprised by its beauty and mountains (we drove through the right part, we were told). In South Dakota we first stopped off at The Great Corn Palace of Mitchell, SD- what a tourist trap. It was a good thing we stopped when we did because on our way back in the car we noticed a pretty sizable bulge in the driver’s side front tire- AH!. We called AAA and waited for a little while til we noticed a rather squirrelly man circling the driveway on foot. We approached him and tried to explain our concerned- he simply stated we should go to Walmart and buy a tire and they will put it on for us. It was a Sunday and assured us we’d be on our way in an hour if we went on to Walmart (I don’t think he really wanted to fix it at his shop)- and being a little torn up and frustrated at this point- we did just that. From Mitchell we drove a little bit longer and found a hotel. That next day we went on to one of our main points of interest on the trip- Badlands National Park! Many people had tried to warn us that it would be disappointing and boring but Erin and I really enjoyed the landscapes of different shades of sedimentary rock and it was surely a scene I had never seen before. The excitement of Rattlesnakes was almost too much for Erin so we were very careful choosing our walking paths. We attempted to have me learn how to drive standard and I did pretty well for my first lesson. After the Badlands we traveled to Mt. Rushmore to say ‘hey’ to those dead guys carved into a Mt. We got some cool shots but overall the experience seemed surreal- like you were staring at a really nice green screen production. It was kinda fun learning the history behind the carving, I had no idea it was thought of first as a tourist trap carving and then someone suggested putting the president’s in the mountain (to make it patriotic). I also learned that the sculpture was supposed to be a full bust of each president but due to the structural integrity of the mountain they had to stop after the heads. From the Heads we moved on to the Crazy Horse Memorial. Well worth it! I learned a ton about this memorial that I had not heard of before in history class. Here is a blurb from the website: www.crazyhorse.org/story.shtml

“Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear officially started Crazy Horse Memorial June 3, 1948. The Memorial’s  mission is to honor the culture, tradition and living heritage of North American Indians. Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation demonstrates its ongoing commitment to this promise by following these objectives:  Continuing the progress on the world’s largest mountain sculpture, carving a memorial to the spirit of legendary Lakota leader Crazy Horse and his culture; Providing educational and cultural programming to encourage harmony and reconciliation among all people and nations; Acting as a repository for Native American artifacts, arts and crafts through the Indian Museum of North America and the Native American Educational & Cultural Center; And by establishing and operating, when practical, the American Indian University and Medical Training Center.”

From Crazy Horse we stayed in another hotel that was based in a really touristy little area where we had a really excellent meal and beer. We then traveled into Wyoming to visit Yellow Stone National Park. Here we set up camp on one of the higher elevation camps right as the skies started turning dark. By the time we finished setting up the tent Erin was feeling funny and we decided to go for a relaxed walk to get the blood flowing (because we were freezing, as it was close to 35 degrees F). We decided to turn back when we realized how incredibly dark it had gotten in a matter of minutes. It began to snow-the not fun, wet and sticky kind). But Erin and I figured- we are Adirondack women her- we had been in a lot worse weather conditions- we are not wusses- we are staying the night!! Mistake and a half! We were NOT prepared to sleep in temps as low as 25-30 degrees- NO WAY! I, personally, spent the whole night trying to rub my feet in my cocoon 30degree sleeping bag- so they could feel again. Intermixed with tossing and turning, listening to Erin’s teeth chattering,  and worrying about my circulation- I probably slept about 2 hours the whole night. You learn- some slower than others- but you learn. The next morning we both agreed that we were indeed WUSSES and that we needed to stay in a hotel. We packed up the tent and tried to get warm. We drove the part of the park that had the most hydrothermal activity- where Old Faithful is and watched Old Faithful erupt as our pacing back in fourth to get our blood flowing annoyed the crap out of all the people who clearly stayed in the cabins the night before. We grabbed some hot chocolate and started taking a ton of pictures of all the awesomeness that surrounded us.Geysers, pools, and people “ooing” and “awwwing”. It was beautiful and as we walked around a couple of the paths that weaved in and out of the hydrothermal hot spots we started to feel more like human beings. As we left the park we started to become excited to start ending our trip. TO BE CONTINUED>…..