Monday 16 February 2009

Chavez, Si!

Tonight, Hugo Chavez has won the people.


Tonight, with 54% in the preliminary count, Chavez has abolished term limits.

Some say Chavez is turning into a dictator, some say he already is one, some say he is a socialist savior. I have my views which are likely to change as I have only been here 1 month of 12. But for now I think it is wise to keep those views shared with only a select few.

When the announcement was made fireworks sounded off in the distance from my house, I stepped outside to watch.
The boom of the fireworks echoed of the hills surrounding my suburb which is accross the road of a poor area.

Children accross the road paraded red flags, and flags of Venezuela, blowing whistles and dancing in the street. Cars drove up and down sounding their horns and turning their car alarms on (Yes apparently, you can drive your car with the car alarm on! I did not know that...). Cars and Motorbikes continuously passing with the flags of socialism.
For them, a night of celebration, for many others, a night of greiving, it is quite possible people will leave the country. I do not know, but it is a grand victory for Chavez.

The first man to congratulate the President was his socialist commrade, Cuba's Fidal Castro.

" "Dear Hugo, congratulations for you and for your people for a victory that, by its size, is impossible to measure," Castro wrote, according to Chavez.

"This victory is also yours, Fidel, of the Cuban people and of the people of Latin America," responded Chavez, a leader of leftists in the region. " "



For the month I have been living in Venezuela, politically, everything was building up to tonight. Today a vote was held, si or no. The vote was to abolish term limits, which would allow Hugo Chavez (the President of Venezuela for the past 10 years) to stand again at the next election, and continue his desire for a new socialist republic.


I see a very interesting time ahead this year. I am lucky to be in this country during this time, and to witness this, and decide for myself whether this man is positive for the country.



" "The doors of the future are wide open," Chavez told the crowd shouting "victory, victory, popular victory!" "



http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/409322/1/.html

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Day 41 - Horizon

It has been a long time since I updated this, I have been very busy.






Well, some amazing things have happened recently. But I will talk about only one.




On Friday myself and all the other exchange students in Venezuela headed to Caracas, why? Soon we would be jumping on a bus and leaving for Caraou.






I got up at 6 am and jumped into the shower. After, my dad and I got into the GT Mustang and headed for the lower side of Valencia, where I could find my bus. My dad dropped me off and left, and off I went to the station.
When i got there, I met a man from Trinidad and Tobago, who works at the university as an English teacher, he talked to me for a while, invited me to come along and participate in a study he is conducting, and then we parted ways, on to my bus. 2.5 hours later I arrived in Caracas.


Jumped out, grabed a taxi to the YFU office. I met all the Exchange students, 15 of us, from all over the place, Germany, Estonia, USA, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark. All spoke English. So we waited for everyone to arrive, I introduced myself (they all knew eachother from trips before I arrived), I had some lunch, and we jumped on the Bus to our destination. The drive was very beautiful, past beaches, towns, but most of it I was talking to Joosep, from Estonia, and Paul, from Germany. It was difficult though, as the bus was very loud. Lots of loud reggaeton. But it was nice, as we got closer we were heading through lots of jungle, winding mountain roads, very few people, far from the cities. It was great.



Anyway, 5 or so hours later we arrived at a little place in the jungle, surrounded by mountains. Got our bags, headed to our rooms which had an interesting smell. Me and Joosep grabbed the beds upstairs, and Paul and Reider (from Norway) were downstairs. So yeah, we chilled out for a bit, chilled in Hammocks for a while, then did some activities for YFU and ate some awesome food. Later we had music, and they tried to get everyone dancing but no one was really feeling it, so I walked between the cabins and the area wiht the music for a while talking to different people, we sung happy Birthday for Laura. Afterwards, me, Paul and Joosep went to our room, I jumped in bed and went to sleep, paul and Joosep went to talk in the girls room. Later Joosep came in and woke me up! Paul came up and we started talking...Although it was more they talk and I occasionaly did, the first day was very intimidating and I was feeling a little shy. But by 4.30 and both of their cigarette packets were empty (seriously...the house was cloudy...my eyes were burning) we threw in the towel and went to sleep.



Rise and shine its 7am! Got ready, we were told to be ready to eat at 9am, but...that is venezuelan time, so of course our coordinator didnt get there untl 9.30 or 10am...Early really...Had Arepa breakfast. Yum yum yum. I was feeling really good that day, really happy and not shy or intimidated at all! We did some YFU activities, then headed to the beach, so we got in the cars, I jumped in the boot area of the 4WD with Paul and Joosep, and off we went. When we got there there were plenty of people, mainly fishermen, a poor town, but not in poverty. We jumped in a boat, and then we left for our beach. We arrived to quite a small but pretty beach, unloaded, and jumped in! The water was quite cold, but very blue and clear. The water was about the same temperature as in Australia. So I was fairly used to it. We chilled out on the beach, talked, swam, covered people in sand, sunbaked, sang and played guitar, usual stuff! Then we headed back to the boat and back to Caraou. When we got back we chilled for a bit before doing more activities, eating. Then we walked up to the hotsprings in the jungle, which was a beautiful walk, but we ended up going past the hot springs to a swimming hole with a beautiful waterfall...But it was freezing and got dark quickly, so we didnt stay there long. But the walk back was nice, quiet, the sky was amazingly clear, it was beautiful, and the lights of fire flys light spontaneously throughout the jungle, outlining the path which we were to take.

So we got back, chilled out some more, I think we all wanted to pretty much do what we did the night before and just chillout. And thats what we did! Me, Paul, Joosep, and now Reider (from Norway) and Viola (from Switzerland) all just sat upstairs chilling out and talking. This night was much better for me, as I was feeling really comfortable, relaxed, it was nice. So we chilled, talked for hours and hours until Viola couldnt handle the cigarette smoke anymore and left, then us guys talked more until 4.30 about everything. So eventually we had enough and went to sleep.
In the morning we would have our last day.


The sun rose, and we were woken by the sounds of pots banging and a singing Venezuelan...Haha good times. We all got ready, had breakfast, packed our bags, put them on the bus after doing some more activities. We all got on, driver turned the key. Rarararararara, nothing. Bus was broken down. So UNFORTUNATELY we had to stay another 2 hours, and UNFORTUNATELY I missed my bus from Caracas which UNFORTUNATELY meant I had to stay another night and missed another day of school :D Very unfortunate indeed. I was ecstatic. Eventually they fixed the bus, and we were on our way. Saw some typical south american culture on the way, passing through a poor town, the locals were gathered in an alley way, fantastic typical south american music, and a few people dancing salsa in the streets! It was awesome! Kept going, except for one stop to grab some food and go to the bathroom and a cool, lively, but poorish town.
We got into caracas late, said our goodbyes, then myself, Paul, Joosep and Laura (Germany) went to get a taxi. We jumped in and all headed to Lauras house in La Hatillo, a stunningly beautiful place, that took my breath away.
Laura had school in the morning so she went to bed quickly, but me paul and joosep who were sleeping outside in Hammocks and on the porch floor sat down and talked more about everything, Joosep eventually got tired and went to sleep, but me and paul grabbed beers instead and kept talking. We covered almost every conceivable topic from politics, marijuana, religion, lots and lots of stuff. Well the time was 5.40am and we had to get up at 6.30, so Paul decided a little bit of sleep is better than none at all and went to sleep. But I wasnt sleepy so I stayed up and took photos of the sunrise. And funnily enough, I was the least tired in the morning when the others woke up!
So we showered, had breakfast, said thanks to Lauras fantasticly kind host mother, and headed off to Caracas. On the edge of a magnificantly fascinating barrio we waited for a taxi.
Got to the Bus station, bought or tickets. Pauls bus was at 10.30, so we said goodbye to him, and off he went.

Me and Joosep decided to look around Caracas for a while, jumped on the Metro and went to Parque Carabobo, not a very nice area...We needed a lighter, but the only guys that had one were these gangsters, but we thought what the hell, the worst that happens is they rob us, and thats probably going to happen eventually anyway. So we walked up, Joosep talked to them in Spanish, they figured out I was not from there though, they pretty much demanded money, which I was obliged to give them! I only had 2 bolivars in my pocket (like 50 aussie cents) so it wasnt to bad. But an interesting experience, basically we were passively robbed! I am glad it happened though, because now I do not fear it happening again, I know what to do. It is fine. No longer the unknown. So anyway, we headed back to the metro station and went back for our bus...Hung around, mistook Portugese for German, then jumped on our bus (which turned out to be the same one funnily enough!). Bus trip was tiring, but we talked most of the way, arrived in Valencia, said or goodbyes, and off I got!



All up it was a fantastic time, best I have had since getting here, and I have come out of it a very different person, more confident, and much happier with how everything is.
And thats the end of that chapter!

ELIOT OUT.