Every week we get a little more settled in and adjusted to life here.
Banking: Since dollars cannot be spent here and the banking system does not allow transfers, we have to go through different loop holes everytime we get money. Poor Marla has to deal with us about twice a month. I should not get into it on a blog, but suffice to say there are many hoops to jump before we get our b's (short for bolivares). We do not use credit cards (Vens are the KINGS of cloning), we don't use our US atm's (seriously, cc cloning is the highest in the world in Ven) so we use cash for everything. hmmmm, there are very interesting and frustrating ways in which to do this as EVERYBODY here wants dollars. Lastly, the banks are so controlled here, poor victor is forced to deal with tons of calls to the bank just to purchase airline tickets. Banks who hold YOUR money control how much you can spend and when you spend it.
Extension cords again: our outlet outside broke......it took a week of repeating ourselves that there was no electricity on our outside outlet...they would simply put the plastic cover back on and say it was fixed. Important because la revolucion happened again on Sunday, so we were without power for quite some time. We need that stolen source from the generator for the frig and things. Well, maybe la revolucion wasn't at fault, maybe the "opposition" or US spies did it as that is HC's excuse now.
HC EGO joke: ( i should use initials) H decides that tomorrow we are going to war with the US. Ven has 5000 tanks, 10,000 soldiers and 25 war ships. Then, Obama says okay we have 25,000 tanks, 25 million soldiers and 500 warships,,,so lets go to war. HC says "okay, no war because we don't have enough room for 25 million POWs." ego ego ego.
My life: I got my recertification for scuba the other day and went out with a couple of really nice women. I was a total spaz but managed to pass all the tests. It was a good dive with eels, and crabs, and lots of fish. Not as colorful as other areas of the carribean but nice anyway. I am playing tennis in lessons twice a week and now have a foursome to play once a week doubles. I start with my first English student tomorrow morning so I am excited about that. I continue to spend a great deal of time with the kids doing homework every night and running errands. The girls locked us out of the apartment the other day. The locksmith got us into the apt but broke the handle. It took over 3 hours driving around some of the worse neighborhoods trying to find this rare type of handle. Fercryinoutloud, don't these people have doors and locks???? Where the heck does someone buy a doorknob? I go to the gym a lot and tomorrow I start yoga classes. Vamos a ver. lets see how i do with yoga in Spanish with Latinas with their implants (boobs, butts - that's right....butts, and lips).
Okay, to answer some of you, yes.....i do have a maid. It is a nice thing. She does the cleaning everyday, laundry and some easy cooking. She loves alexa which is hard to find due to most people in 3rd world countries are terribly afraid of dogs especially BIG dogs like alexa. BIG?.... what? Already heard a complaint from a neighbor that Alexa is too big and is scary. those of you who know alexa know how strange that is. Common question when people walk wide and far from the grinning Alexa on a leash is "is she a biter? is she a killer?'
Isabella: She is doubling up on studying for 3 weeks because she is doing her PADI scuba training plus volleyball. She will be certified in about 2 more weeks and then we can go out together. The school has a scuba club and organizes dives at least 2 -3 times a month. She continues to have quite a social life, which can be difficult to manage without a car and the last minute invites. not like "get on your bike and ride to someone's house in SF". Her spanish is coming along really well and she is determined to learn the language. She is on the A team for volleyball but she has a lot to learn. The good thing is, her coaches don't speak English so all of her coaching, she needs to translate on her own. They can't dive or slide for shots though, they play on cement. Different volleyball.....for sure.
Xela: She is doing just fine. She has some great friends and one who, sounds, acts, kind looks like and has the exact personality as Emily Udstuen. Unbelievable. they are insperable. her mom is really nice and my first friend here. Xela is the star of her co-ed basketball team (ahhhh, she is the only one who knows how to NOT double dribble). The boys really keep the girls in their place. Machismo starts early, so she pretty much got pushed out of pickup soccer games in the first week of school. That has been hard for her especially after having the relationship she has had for years with her guy-buds in BS.
The school continues to be exceedingly academically rigourous and definately a different tone and philosophy of education. The good news is, Ophir has done a great job as they are doing well in math and reading. kuddos to you teachers who read this.
Victor is running every morning with Alexa and doing well. he definately gets stressed out with work and then dealing with the everyday stuff here that I can't do. Like translating a stupid door knob to a sales person....vision me standing there, punching my cell phone, rolling my eyes and saying in Spanish "speak to my husband..."
Que mas....we still have not rented a car nor have we made arrangements for a boat rental. The licensing, reg's and corruption are to much to purchase. There are opportunities though, so we are checking them out.
We have a couple of services that get us around PLC so it really isn't difficult to drive around, it just is not the same without a car waiting outside with your own set of keys.
2nd and 3rd generation Italians and Lebonese and other Arab countries are quite represented here as they were in Caracas and Colombia. So, the pic's are of one of our favorite Arab restaurants. We actually have several nice restaurants here: Arab, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Venezuelan and "american".
More later, saludos the sarms
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