A quick hello!
Posted onJanuary 22, 2009
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Hola a todos y todas!
I havent even had a minute to check my email let alone post on my blog until now! Our days in the first week of being in venezuela have been so jam packed with activities that I havent even had the time i would like to reflect in my own journal. Since arriving I have been to a small community land takeover where people got back land that had been illegally taken from them 20 years ago, met with people from PDVSA (state oil company), BanMujer (womens bank), venezuelan labor experts, historians, university students, Eva Gollinger (venezuelan/american author of books about U.S intervention in venezuela), chocolate growers and producers, an ex minister of industry, community organizers and many other very outgoing Venezuelans!
That is one of the most impressive things about this country and the people here! Just after 6 days, I can pretty much assume that people will want to talk to me when i go out in public. There is so much curiosity about the U.S and so much desire to share experiences. Its so exciting and so foreign to me! The other day I was at a university in Caracas and a student made eye contact with me through a window and came outside to give me a Hugo Chavez tshirt! Other classmates have been gifted jewelry and clothing as well.
Venezuelans know how their country is portrayed in our media back in the U.S. But there arent hard feelings because while they know that the U.S government is against their country, they know that we are here in solidarity with their process and truly want to learn the truth about what is going on here. Everywhere we go, we find that people are grateful for our presence. It is a warm and special feeling to be immediately welcomed by such a generous people.
There is so much more to say, but I don have the time at the moment. I hope you are all doing great!
feel free to send me any questions you might have. that might help inform some of my postings on the blog.
love,
basil
Our Left Foot Slideshow
Posted onJanuary 14, 2009
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so i couldn’t get the slide show to upload directly onto my blog, so here is the link to the google video page that it is on:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7887882240925070979
enjoy!
also check out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCtZFR1ia1c
it’s michael from left foot making potting soil!
January 11, 2009
Posted onJanuary 11, 2009
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So I want to start this post with a very special fact… George W. Bush has only 9 days left in the white house! I was remembering earlier today how you could buy clock at the beginning of his second term that was only designed to count down the days until his exit from office… god that seemed like such a long time! but now we have only days… I’m feeling very happy about that.
Another thing I’m happy about is that in just 5 days my trip in Venezuela begins!
I am currently in Seattle visiting my sister Elsa, brother-in-law Paulo and my niece Twyla Jo. I really wanted to see them before I left for Venezuela. They are great to be around and with Twyla, it’s never boring. She’s a super talker now, always saying what she hears and whatever else she feels like expressing. A note: If you ever want to make her laugh just say “chocolate chip cookie dough.” She finds this combination of words particularly amusing…
So in general I’m getting prepared for my trip. Yesterday Elsa and I went shopping at REI and I found some important items such as underwear, pants and shirts. I even found some cheap flashlights to bring to Venezuela as gifts. Apparently electronics are hyper expensive there and some of our hosts requested flashlights and blank CD’s specifically.
Tomorrow I will be going back to Olympia on the bus in the morning. This week we will just be tying up all the loose ends like money stuff, paper work and all the other preparations necessary for being gone until the end of March. I’m really lucky that I can keep my room in the apartment without paying full price while I”m gone. Storing my stuff and moving out would make this week infinitely more difficult and stressful.
So I think that’s all for now… I expect that after I arrive in Venezuela I will be confronted with many things worth recording and sharing. I am looking forward to experimenting with my blog as a way to do that. And I am also looking forward to your comments! So please let me know what you think about what I’m writing. All thoughts and ideas welcomed!
Until next time,
B
Venezuela slide show
Posted onJanuary 7, 2009
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More pictures to come!
Getting Ready
Posted onJanuary 7, 2009
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Hey Blogwatchers!
This is my first blog. It feels like only yesterday that “blog” was one of those new things that was catching on in the internet world. I never saw myself as a blogger, but here I am… a blogger… So welcome! This is going to be a new exploration in communication as I travel through Venezuela with my class this winter. I hope you’re excited.
Much More to Come!
-b