Sunday, April 24th, 2005- La Guaira, Venezuela

Today I went on the Mount Avila hike. Our first stop was the Sabas Nieves Trail that has an altitude of 1,300 meters. Due to the fact that it was Sunday, the trail was crowded with people trying to get exercise. We then drove to the cable car station at Mariperez and took a cable car to the top at 2,150 meters in altitude. The ride up was quite scary because it was so high. When we reached the top I was surprised to find a five-star hotel on top along with an ice rink, shops, and vendors. It was especially surprising because the only real way to get up the mountain was by way of the cable car.

We then returned back to the ship and I decided to walk around by the ship to see if there was anything around. There was absolutely nothing.

For dinner I ended up going to the only restaurant in the area called Restaurant Avila and arrived just in time before all the other SAS people showed up. By the time we left the place was filled to capacity with SAS people.

In the evening I decided to just sit out by the back deck and write in my journal.

- We had a water conservation emergency. Due to the fact that a pipe broke in La Guaira, we couldn’t get anymore water to the ship and we had run down on our reserves. No one could take showers or use water for any reason unless it was emergency. We did make it and left with a little bit of water. It takes 10-15 hours to clean and replenish the ocean water for ship use.

- The film Our Finest Hour, that Ari made on the ship was shown.

Saturday, April 23rd, 2005- La Guaira, Venezuela

Today I went on the Coastal Explorer trip which was a bunch of four wheel drive vehicles driving along the coast. Here’s what the SAS Spring 2005 Final Field Program says about the trip:

Participants will board four-wheel-drive vehicles at the harbor and proceed along the coast past the towns of Macuto and Caraballeda to Los Caracas. There the paved road ends and a rugged dirt road ascends the mountains and descends into the valleys that form the coast as far as Cabo Codera. The trip goes past the fishing villages of Osma, Oripoto, Todasana, and La Sabana. La Sabana is a quaint village inhabited exclusively by fishermen, local farmers and their families. The ride to La Sabana lasts over two hours, and during that time you will see the rugged coast formed by ravines that drop into the ocean, and rocks that come out of the sea. You will also ford rivers and witness the forest of the coastal range. There will be time for swimming in the ocean at La Sabana and in a natural river pool where water cascades from the mountains… (p. 95)

Our first stop was at a beach about an hour drive from the ship. We stopped and stretched for a while and then continued. The roads curved up the mountains (the stretch of mountains along the coast of Venezuela is called the Coaster Corridor) and as we climbed we saw firsthand the effects of the damage from the landslides from 1999 and 2003. We stopped at another beach and swam for two hours, where most of the people body surfed. The river with the mountain waterfall was our next stop to wash the sand off. It was quite beautiful.

After about a half hour at the falls we headed for lunch at a place called Hotel-Rest. Egua. At the end of lunch we headed to a rural village to see the Museo de la Verdad (the Museum of Truth). The curator was a heavy set man in a cloth robe who resembled Jesus. The museum was filled with carvings, by the man, with political meanings. At the end of his spiel he then asked for money as we exited the shack/building. The villagers outside put on a drum performance while little kids danced. We then headed back to the ship in La Guaira with a short stop at a McDonald’s on the way.

Friday, April 22nd, 2005- La Guaira, Venezuela

I was lucky enough to walk onto the Rural Town Visit/ Afro-Venezuelan Drum Workshop combined trip. One of the leaders was Max Brandt, an administrator from ISE who lived in Venezuela for sometime and is very knowledgeable. The bus left at 6:00am and we drove west towards the state of Miranda. Around 8:30am we stopped at a restaurant off the side of the road in the middle of no where, and had a traditional Venezuelan breakfast of Cachapas con queso. It was like a corn pancake folded over a big square of cheese.

Our next stop was the village in Barlovento to pick up the Afro-Venezuelan Community Center Director and then we went to go pick up his daughter at a small local college. We went on a quick drive by the shore. Our excursion then brought us out of the town through a wooded hilly area to the cacao (chocolate) farm. We then drove down a little more and came to the chocolate factory, which was a small building that was basically a kitchen. It was opened six months ago by the Polar Corporation (one of the largest companies in Venezuela predominantly a beer brewer) as a community outreach program to help the rural villagers start industry in their area.

We then headed back to Barlovento to see an Afro-Venezuelan drum performance at the Community Center. After the performance we headed for lunch at a hotel outside the village called the Hotel Tasca Restaurant. We finished lunch at like 5pm and then started our two hour ride back to Caracas to the Las Mercedes section. We arrived around 7pm and had time to look inside one of the many malls of Caracas. There are numerous malls in Caracas and they all are very americanized. We ate at a very good restaurant called Restaurant Caracas where I had pizza to complete my goal of having pizza in every port.

Random Stuff:

- There are so many Chili’s and TGIFriday’s Restaurants.

- Baseball is like the national sport. I was real excited when I passed a TGIFriday’s in the mall and saw an American Baseball game.

- The Venezuelans call us Estado Unidocions (United Statesians). They bring up a good point that everyone in North and South Americans are considered “Americans”.

- Gas in Venezuela is real cheap. It costs 7 American cents a liter compared to the cost of a liter bottle water of 25-50 American cents.

Thursday, April 21st, 2005- La Guaira, Venezuela

I woke up in Venezuela feeling real sick. My stomach was so upset that I decided to skip the Diplomatic Briefing, which I had never done and never wanted to do. I was going to sell my ticket for my day trip but at the last minute, after resting a little bit, felt well enough to go. The day trip was the International Student Exchange: University Visit to the Universidad Simón Bolívar. The SAS Spring 2005 Final Field Program describes the trip as:

Here is an opportunity to make new friends in Venezuela! This practicum will introduce you to local university students who are excellent resources for information about current issues in Venezuela as well as for suggestions of what to see and do in the Caracas area… Then there is time to tour the campus and interact with the students. (p. 91)

Let’s just say there was only one student there. The school was on its trimester break so everyone was on vacation, which put a real damper on the trip.

After an hour drive past Caracas we arrived at the pristine campus and were met by a Language professor, Dan Bailey, an American. He gave us a tour of the administrative offices and then sat us down in a theatre and gave us information on the university.

- It’s a public university with tuition free to all residents

- Entrance exams are quite difficult and only 1 out of every 9-10 people who take them pass them.

- There is no on campus housing.

At the meeting we met the one Venezuelan student. We then headed up to the Professor’s House, which is the name of the faculty cafeteria up in a house on a mountain. Lunch was pretty good especially eating out on the balcony overlooking the campus.

After lunch is when we were supposed to meet the students but that never occurred so we went on a tour of the library. By this time a bunch of the SAS students were getting annoyed and both parties felt that there was really nothing left for us to do so we left. The bus made a stop in Caracas on the way back to drop off anyone who wanted to walk around.

Random Facts:

- The ship is docked in the La Guaira, which is the middle of no where. There is nothing in the area around the ship to do and you must take a taxi into Caracas in order to get near anything of interest. The ride can be anywhere from 20 minutes- 3 hours, depending on traffic, especially since traffic in Caracas is real bad. Another deterrent is the fact that it costs like $20-30 to get there. I plan on doing SAS field trips everyday to help save money.

- Venezuelans admit that they are crazy/bad drivers. There are really no traffic laws, just suggestions. Police don’t enforce the laws anyway; however they are all over the sides of the highways. They are basically there waiting for accidents so they can direct traffic after one occurs. On my trip today, I saw two alone.

Wednesday, April 20th, 2005- Atlantic Ocean

Today was the last day of finals. It was quite a relief to have them all done with. In the evening we had a Variety Show/ Talent Show. Most of the acts were talented and/or funny. It was a nice way to help wind down.

Tuesday, April 19th, 2005- Atlantic Ocean

For the second night in a row I have had to go up to the Bistro on Deck 7 and buy pizza for dinner. The food on the ship has deteriorated and the food has basically no flavor.

Monday, April 18th, 2005- Atlantic Ocean

Today was a study day for finals. I spent a good part of the day finishing papers and sitting staring at my computer screen trying to write my poetry paper. I’ve come to the point where I am really burned out with schoolwork and I just don’t care about the quality anymore.