My 16 Days later......

Well, it's been about 16 days since my last post and I've been a bit busy, although it's no excuse to share with you the good times of 'Zuela.

The past two weeks have been pretty busy down here. After the secondary soccer tournament (which I'm still refusing to admit happened, in fact, I'm just going to pretend I never went to Maturin....ever) I got back into the swing at school. For the first time since January, I don't have ANY after school activities!

I've also been searching for jobs over the past few weeks. I've applied in Poland, Italy, Ireland, four schools in the DC area and Pierre, SD....but sadly, no love yet. Hopefully something will come some time soon. It's a funny situation, but everyone says they want a teacher with experience and teaching abroad is always a bonus....but when the time & that option comes along....they aren't willing to take a chance. It's kind of ironic really....

But on to other things.....

I just got to do/experience something new today: a purchase order for my school for next year....and to be honest...it was weird. I thought it odd to be buying the things that I actually thought my school needed. So with the $$ I was allotted, I went for new 5th grade Science textbooks and 6th & 7th grade Social Studies textbooks (which we didn't actually have). I thought it was interesting to have a certain amount of $$ at my disposal and to actually be thought of as responsible enough to take care of these things......

....whoa.....I'm getting old!

As for other things. We have our last break quickly approaching and to be honest, I have no idea what to do. I really don't. I just want to get back to the States, honestly...but I have a little longer to wait for that.

Tomorrow should be a fun day and I'll try to take and share some pics with you...we're having a Bowling Field Trip (to those of you that snicker, it could be justified to work on PE-fine motor skills and some Math skills as well). Good times ahead.

AND before I go...I just discovered something....well....LEGENDARY on itunes. How I Met Your Mother, one of my favorite shows, is now on there. Suit up! (and watch)

-Dios te bendiga

My Dad's Bday......

Happy Birthday Pops!!!!

I'm so glad that you came down to visit. I hope you have an amazing day and I'll try and call you tonight!!

Love ya

My Machu......PI-CHU! (Bless you)

So I know that I've been back for a week and have yet to actually post anything from the trip, especially photos, so here you are....some fun pics from a beautiful country: a view of the scenic countryside

Dad and I in the mountains

One of the cathedrals in central Cuzco
The walls at Sacsayhuaman
The Fitzpatricks and myself at Ollataytambo

The classic view of Machu Pichu

Dad and I at Machu Pichu

(big thanks to Fitz for taking this one for me)

As I've said before, Peru is amazing. If you ever get the opportunity, take the chance and go! It's incredible!

Dios te bendiga!!

My Viktor Navorski......

Well, well, well, we meet again! This familiar feeling that I´ve had before.....not so long ago in fact!

To tell you the truth, over the last 24 hours I felt a lot like Viktor Navorski, the character played by Tom Hanks in the movie, The Terminal. I suppose I´m a bit better off though....I have money....and I had a hotel room....food.....but the feeling of being stuck....in the airport, that´s what I have.

The back story is quite funny really.

As Dad and I were attempting to get onto our flight to Caracas yesterday, we were told we had to have our Yellow Fever Vaccination cards out and ready to be checked before we could board the plan (or else we´d be stuck in the airport in Caracas). Well.....I forgot mine and was slightly expecting this might happen (Susan had mentioned it to me earlier in the trip), but I looked at dad and he said...."What? Yellow Fever? What´s that?"

uh-oh.

So we were pulled off the plane and told we had to stay in Lima. To be honest, this wasn´t a bad thing, as I would much, much rather be stuck here in Peru, as opposed to being stuck at the airport in Caracas.

Well, after an hour of confusion and attempts to book 5 of us on the same flight the next day, we were taken to the Health Center here at the hospital and we each had to pay $22 for the shot and the little card that comes with it (which is now a sweet souvenir). Then I went to see if I could get dad to the States without coming through Venezuela. He didn´t like his 36 hours there anyways and I figured it would be a heck of a lot easier to do this from here (where due to the high tourism, folks actually speak English), as opposed to Caracas. I had to run back and forth from the nice hotel they set us up in because I had to get some info from my gmail account (all of dad´s paperwork was in his bag....which was heading to Caracas).

Well....with the help of some prayers from a friend and I think maybe God himself stepped in to help us out....because the friendly folks at LAN were able to rerout dad through Houston on Continental Airlines and they even redid his connecting flight to Albuquerque for him. In all, he will end up being home 12 hours earlier than planned (although with no bag). To be honest....I was so happy that this was resolved that I almost wept. It was a stressful situation and I was worried that he would have to go to Caracas and then wait a day.....which neither one of us really wanted to do. It made everything soooo much easier.

For me....I´m on the same flight, just the next day. Then after explaining my poor Spanish abilities, I found the number for Aserca Airlines in Caracas and the folks at LAN called them for me, explained my situation and helped me rebook my flight for tonight at 9:30 pm. SCORE!!!

So now I sit here.....at the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru (btw...fun fact....apparently Jorge was the first to fly over the Andes, at least that´s what one of the LAN folks told me).

My friends Shaun & Susan (who remembered their Yellow Fever Cards) helped us out tremendously by grabbing our bags in Caracas and putting them with the LAN lost baggage folks in Caracas. Hopefully they haven´t been broken into over night and will be waiting for me today. I´m hoping to be able to send my dad´s bag to Albuquerque, but if not I´ll try to ship it from Anaco (my fingers are crossed).

I guess one of the lessons that I´ve learned and picked up through this is that patience gets you through a situation. I tried not to get upset with the LAN folks (they were just doing their jobs and it was my fault for not having the card). Thanks to that, I think they were more ready to help me out, just by keeping cool and keeping a smile on my face (or at least trying too).

Another lesson is how...even through the most stressful situations....God provides. He gets you through it and takes care of you...even when you can´t see what´s coming around the bend in the road.

This whole thing worked out soooo much better than I could have imagined. Dad is in the States, I got to spend another day in Peru (at a sweet hotel mind you) and I get to just sit and relax for a few more hours, before hitting the hustle and stress of Venezuela.

On a side note.....I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter and if you read this today or celebrate today....just remember that this day isn´t about little white rabbits dropping eggs for everyone. Although I suppose it is about one Man, giving everyone the greatest gift we could ever ask for.

-Dios te bendiga

My Ollantaytambo.....

Well, well, I didn´t think it would happen....then bam! I found a decent Internet connection in the lovely little village of Ollantaytambo, Peru. It´s the site of an Inka temple, which is pretty stinkin´cool and I´ll try to post some pics when I get back to VZ....assuming my Internet is working. Odd side note....Shaun and I were talking yesterday and isn´t it weird that they can get a better Internet connection in the middle of no where, Peru (in the Andes Mountains of all places) and yet in Anaco, we´ve got nothing. Weird.

Well, we´ve been in Peru for three days now and I must say...I´m loving it! The people are friendly, the food is great (choices....actual choices!!!) and the views are simply stunning. We went rafting today and it was amazing to just look up for a minute and really take in what was surrounding us. Then on our 2 hour taxi ride back to Ollantaytambo, I was napping and I just suddenly woke up to this amazing view of the mountains. The sun was hitting it just right to alight the base and then the top was covered in dark clouds....it was such an amazing contrast and words don´t really do it justice. Neither would a picture, if I took one. I just looked up, thanked God for the view and stared at it until we were off the mountain. Simply stunning.

Things have gone great so far and we´re really having a lot of fun. We saw some pretty cool ruins the first two days, although one of our tour guides was terrible. He spent three hours telling us about how the walls were made/shaped/formed. I mean, after a short explanation, I´m good, but to continually talk about it.....and talk about it....and talk about it. AHHHH!!!! It reminded me of when I worked at the Wildlife Camps one summer and I would take kids on a walk through the woods, attempting to point out mushrooms and insects along the way.....they would ask me a question about something and I would reply.....um.....well I can tell you about this thing here instead, although it has nothing to do with your original question. The wall was his fallback.

Tomorrow though is the big day...Machu Pichu. God willing, we´ll be taking a train up to Aqua Caliente (yes...the town is named "Hot Water", only because there are hot springs nearby) and then we´ll head to Machu Pichu. I´m pretty psyched, as this is one of the places on my list of things to see (maybe I´ll share the list on a later post).

To be honest, this trip has been such a blessing. I haven´t seen my dad since August, so it´s a blast reconnecting with him....even though his Spanish is terrible!!! It´s also been fun to see all these amazing landscapes the God created here. It´s simply stunning to see these high plateaus amongst the stunning mountain back-drops. Hopefully some of the pics I bring back can do it even a bit of justice.

Well....the cafe is closing and the dude behind the counter is staring at me.....so I better run. I´ll see if I can find a café again before we head back to VZ on Saturday.

Dios te benidga!!!

My Whoa! Moment.....

I only have a whopping 5 minutes of time left at this Internet cafe, so this one will be quick. Sorry for the delay in posting, our Internet at school has been sporadic at best and that mixed with our water problems is making the 2nd semester an interesting one.

The soccer tourney went well. We took 2nd out of 7 teams. My elementary kids were excited and now I´m focusing with the high school kids.

My Dad is here!!! We´re in Caracas today and tomorrow we meet up with some friends of mine and head for Peru. We´ll be back in Venezuela next Saturday.

Okay, times running out......I hope things are going well wherever you are!!!

Dios te bendiga!

My Mis-Match.....

We are having a "Spirit Week" this week during our Read-a-thon. Each day the students get to dress up or dress differently. Yesterday was hat day, and a majority of the students came wearing hats or crazy wigs.

Today is Mis-Match Day and to be honest, I couldn't be happier. Many of the students look hilarious in their outfits (except for the ones that are, "too cool" to participte....they still have to come in their uniforms).

To go along with the fun, I have dressed up as well. I tried to dress like a famous picture that is on Dustin and Sara's fridge.....hopefully I'm close!

Dios te bendiga!

My Busy Upcoming Two Weeks......

Wow....I can't believe it's been two weeks....I was doing so well too!

So today was the start of a two week run that is going to really take it's tool on me, both physically, mentally and maybe even a bit emotionally (although I'm not really that emo....I have no heart after working with kids for so long.....).

Today was the first day of High School soccer practice. Believe it or not, I was extremely nervous last night and this morning. In fact, I've been thinking of this day for the past two weeks....trying to get prepared, mentally more than anything else.

See, we have some issues with our Secondary students and without going into any details, there have been some problems with respect, which is a big problem for me. This is one of the qualities that Larry and Agnes instilled in me at a young age and one that I continue to try and pass on to my students, daily.

I was nervous because I didn't know if there would be problems with this during practice. However, I told them first thing, "It's either my way, or the door is right there. All I ask is that you try hard, respect myself and your teammates and we'll get along just fine."

Turns out, it went over pretty well. The few that showed up (another problem) were great and we ran....a lot (I'm sore!). But I think we had a good time and I'm excited for Wednesday.

One of the other things I had/have to address is a lack of commitment. We've had problems with kids showing up for practices and thinking that it's just okay to show up at the tourneys. To me, that's unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I told them today and will repeat it on Wednesday, "If we don't practice or show up for practice.....we will not have a team. Period." Hopefully I don't have to follow-through on that, but I'm willing if things take a wrong turn.

On top of this I have been preparing the Elementary Football team for their tournament on March 8th (although we're still not exactly sure where it is yet!). This has been a bit more difficult because while the tournament is for Grades 3-6, I've allowed the 1st and 2nd Graders to come out and kick the ball around with us a bit.....just for fun and to work on their basic skills.

I'm having a tougher time with the youngsters, only because I find that I'm asking them to do to much, or think outside the box if you will. Some are still at the age of "Bumblebee Soccer", where you chase the ball around and completely ignore things like positioning and space. Hopefully in the next two weeks, we can figure that out!

Other than that, things continue to go well. I'm still searching for a job for the fall and I hope some things will develop soon. I'm also continuing to battle the mosquitoes in my house (one day I actually killed 10 in the bathroom, at one time.....wow).

Dios te bendiga

My Lost in Translation.....

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie, Lost in Translation, but I had a similar experience just last night. In the movie, Bill Murray is an older actor that goes to Japan to do a commercial for some big bucks. However, he does not speak any Japanese and therefore is utterly lost in many of the conversations......while yes, there is more to it than this (and a good performance by Scarlett Johanson), I recommend checking it out if you're really curious.

Anyways....I had a similar experience at Subway, just last night. I told the gentleman behind the counter the type of sub I wanted, and what type of cheese (which isn't really an option here, even if you don't want the cheese, they throw it on anyways).

He then asked me, "Salsa?" (sauce? meaning Mayo or any other sauce they had)

I replied, "Mayonesa, porfa" (mayo please).

The man then picked up a yellow bottle and I thought to myself, "hmmm....must be doing things a bit differently, or the bottles are all dirty."

No.

He then shoots mustard all over my club sandwich. For those of you unaware, I really, really dislike mustartd.

So I started saying in a raised voice....."NO, NO! Mayonesa! Mayonesa!"

He says, "Oh," and then points to the white bottle. "Si" I respond.

Then he grabs the red bottle and shoots ketchup all over my sandwich!

NO, NO, NO, NO!! NO MAS!! MAYONESA!

He stops and looks at me quizically. "Huh?"

"No mas salsa," I respond. I think looked at the gentleman to my right in line and he was laughing....so I know I said it right.

Luckily the rest of the sandwich was without any problems, but I was not pleased. I ate the sandwich because, to be honest, I don't know what he would have done! He may have given me crab or something!

(sigh)

Dios te bendiga

My Sudden Surprise....

So I know that I'm supposed to blog about some pups....but as I'm sitting in my class, talking to my kids about weather.....I heard this noise from the ceiling....like something was walking above us.

I looked up and saw what looked like something putting pressure down upon our tiles. Then suddenly:

CRASH!

THUMP!!

MEOW!!!

Turns out a cat was walking across our ceiling tiles, fell through one of the tiles and slammed its head on the desk, then hit the floor. It was amazing! (although I was worried that with the force of the blow to the head, I was going to have a dead cat on my hands).

Suddenly the cat jumped up and ran to the corner...attempted to jump onto our bookcase (failed attempt and fell to the floor again). Then it ran to another corner and sat on top of our shelf, attmepting to figure out how to make the 7 foot jump back up to the ceiling tiles.

Shocked (and giggling on the inside while my students lauged hysterically), I opened the classroom door and used a meter stick to guide the startled cat out of our room and it then sprinted back outside.

Only in Venezuela.

(seriously....this just happened 10 minutes ago)

(seriously)

My Long Weekend at Home.....

This is Carnaval, a Latin American tradition that celebrates.....well, I'm not quite certain what! From what I can tell, there are parades, drinking and dancing....but everyone seems to enjoy themselves!

I had wanted to travel over this long weekend, but to be honest, I was a bit late in trying to plan it out and having just returned from Valencia last weekend (a 9.5 hour bus ride there and 7 hours returning), I was a bit tired and could use a break. I was really looking forward to a weekend here in Anaco (did I really just say that??) and possibly getting a chance to do some grading, work on my resume and maybe start applying for a job in the Fall.

Well, then the water problems started. We have essentially been on water-rations over the past five days, including today. Guys were supposed to come and fix it yesterday, but it's Carnaval and obviously, no one was going to come (I mean seriously, working on a holiday? Did we really expect that?). Luckily they are here today and I managed to get a shower in this morning during one of our "on" periods.

I was really hoping to do a lot of sleeping and resting over this break, but to be honest, it hasn't quite worked out that way. Don't get me wrong, I've been staying up late, it's just that I can't sleep in.....at all. I volunteered to take care of our campus puppies (don't worry, pics and another post to follow soon) and their mom, Asabatchi, has a feeding schedule that starts at around 7:30 am (though I usually made it by 8). I know, I know, this doesn't seem to early, but when their last feeding time is 5 pm at night....you start to feel bad around 7 am and it weighs on the mind and doesn't allow me to sleep any later.

Aside from this, we have also had some electricity problems, because the city is working on the power lines on this side of town. On Saturday we had no electricity for most of the day. Luckily things were okay on Sunday and Monday, but again, it's a Sunday AND Carnaval, who's really going to work?

So today I'm crunching in everything that I meant to do over the past four days. I've just graded some tests and now I have to do some research on renewable energy sources for some reports that we are writing this week.

Good Times.

Dios te bendiga

My Rough Thursday.....

Basically put, yesterday was a difficult day. It was a tough day. It was a rough day.

I should have known that something was up when I awoke and found that I didn't have any water in my shower. I thought maybe it was just here, but I tried the sink in the bathroom--no love. I tried the kitchen sink and the other bathroom....no love there either. No worries, I figured. I took a washcloth style shower with the drinking water I had and called it good. A little extra deodorant, little cologne and I'll be good to go.

All was well until first period ended. I started creating a math test when suddenly....the power goes out. Now I'm sitting in the dark, creating a test. This happens quite frequently, so I didn't think much of it. I figured that in a couple of minutes, the power would be back on....no worries.

By the time 3rd Period started....no power. Now I'm teaching out in the cafeteria because my room doesn't have any direct sunlight (lots of trees outside the window and a gym as well).

So for the rest of the day, I taught my classes outside in the cafeteria. No power also means no A/C and no fans....so by the end of the day I was sweating like crazy (in my dress shirt, dress pants and shoes).

At the end of the day we had soccer practice, which isn't too bad, but our field is basically dirt and a few weeds....which gets one extremely dirty. I figured I was in for another wonderful wash-cloth shower....but I waited and waited.

I was talking with Susan and Shaun when suddenly...the lights came back on! Score! Now I can sit in the A/C and at least I'll be comfortable while I'm dirty. We had ordered pizza, so I was able to sit and eat my pizza with the A/C and the TV....excellent.....then I had a knock at my door. To my surprise it was my boss....who had yet to visit me since I arrived in August. After commenting on my amazing interior design (think bachelor-pad), he told me that we had purchased a tank of water and that I should get a shower in while I could. SWEET!!!!

The shower was nice and I finally felt clean (after a sweaty and gross soccer practice). However the bad news came today.....the pump on our well can't be fixed until Monday at the earliest. This means that we have to continue to purchase tanks of water until then. Luckily most of the school is leaving for Carnaval this weekend, so it will only be myself and a few other teachers here.....hopefully we can make it last!

Dios te bendiga

My Jinx.....

Okay....so I don't know if I'm jinxing myself or not but I just got back from Valencia yesterday and.......I found milk again!!!!

(it makes my Oreos taste soooo much better)

I suppose it's the little things that keep us happy isn't?

Hopefully there's milk wherever you are.....

Dios te bendiga

My First Student Departure....

Sadly last week we had to say good-bye to one of our students, Mark, who moved to another city in Venezuela. While normally this isn't a big deal, as many students across the world switch schools everyday and people are constantly moving from one place to another. But for us, it's a bit different.

With only nine students in the entire class and barely 70 making up our school, the loss of one student has a huge impact. For me, it wasn't the first student I've had move part-way through a year, but I was a little sad with this one. Mark was one of my four 5th Graders and with a class that size, we really have a chance to bond and get to know one another.....seeing him go was like losing one of us.

We have a tradition at the school, a Despedida for anyone that is departing. They show some photos and then a teacher speaks about the leaving student and subsequently anyone in the school can come up and talk about that student as well. This is followed by everyone, literally EVERYONE having the chance to either shake hands, hug and say good-bye personally with the student.

I spoke and almost got a bit choked up....but I survived. Then however, one of my other students, a 6th grader, stood up and said some great things about Mark. This is what really got me. I could see Mark, who is normally a quiet kid that keeps to himself, starting to tear up, but fighting it and....I don't know, it was just tough to handle.....difficult to watch.

After the Despedida, everyone went home. On Saturday, Mark came back to school and met up with nine other students and myself. We had a good-bye football match (soccer). It was a last chance to see him, talk and wish him well for the future.

Mark, if you get a chance to read this, good luck buddy. We miss ya.

Dios te bendiga

My Missing Class....

So I've been back for a little over a week and oddly enough, I had a really quiet week last week....none of my 5th Graders were here! I expected two of them to be gone (they were out of the country), but then I found out that one of them was moving and another was missing in action! I was a bit surprised to come back and not have any 5th Graders, although I'm not going to lie....it was pretty nice to have one or two extra planning periods each day!


Things aren't as giving this week. Three of my 5th Graders showed up, with only one still in the States (and he returns on Saturday, although to be fair, he is doing his homework via the Internet). My student that is moving is here until Friday, when we will have a Despedida for him (a good-bye or going away ceremony) and then we'll hang out in class a bit too.

It's sad to see Mark go, but this is also the way it is at International Schools. Often kids come and go and they also have a tendency to either return a bit later from a break, or sometimes they leave early too. Sadly, there isn't too much we can do about it, but shake our heads, and keep moving along with the curriculum.

My Mozzies....

So aside from the wonderful assortment of tasty goods at the grocery store, I had another amazing surprise in store for me when I arrived at my house. I had pretty well been bug free for the last couple of months, except for the occasional cricket or spider that crept in from under the door.....ah but now.....the mozzies have returned.

Just to give you an idea of how many mosquitoes there are, I killed four last night before I even got into the shower. AND this is supposed to be the dry season, when there are less of them.

The good times just keep on coming!

Dios te bendiga

My Milk.....

Wow....has it really been that long? I suppose after a while you really lose track of time right?

Well.....let's see, where to start! The end of the first semester came rather quickly, especially preparing for Christmas break and getting ready to head home. I managed to make it back to the States for a little while, although the trip to Iowa consisted of 3 delayed flights, 1 missed flight, a night in Caracas-including 7 hours in a hotel that was more like a hostel, one canceled flight because it was "too cold" to land in Des Moines, and ultimately I flew into Cedar Rapids, met mom and drove home. Incredible really....and that was just getting back into the States.

My break went well. I spent a lot of time in Des Moines, visiting family and hanging out with my friends. I was only in Iowa City for a night, so I apologize to all of you I didn't get to see. Hopefully we can reconnect this summer.

The trip back here was less eventful. 3 flights, only one delay (of course in Venezuela....these people can't depart on time, it's just not possible) and another 12 blissful hours spent trying to sleep overnight in the airport in Caracas.

Eventually I made it back to Anaco and got a chance to go to the grocery store, where I was greeted with the usual lack of supplies: No milk (it's been hard to find since September and I had yet to find any since then), no flour, no sugar, no yogurt and no bread. What a welcome back!!

Luckily I went to Farmatodo (think Walgreen's) across the street and found some yogurt and the last loaf of bread. Then as I was walking home yesterday, I stumbled upon a grocery store that....dare I say it....had milk!! So now milk is sitting in my fridge for the first time in months. I'm so excited to actually open it up and take a sip!

Other than that, I'm busy getting back into the swing of things. I'm trying to plan our MUN trip to Germany for April, plan two vacations and finish my report cards. Ah, and I'm helping the boys bball team practice and get ready for their tourney in February (which I have to if we are going to have 10 players and actually scrimmage).

In short, sorry for the delay and I'm going to try to get better with my writing this semester.

Dios te bendiga,

My Angel (Falls).....

On the morning of Thanksgiving, we awoke in a little Posada outside of Ciudad Bolivar, a large city in Southeastern Venezuela. I didn't grab any breakfast because I was hoping for some sort of empenada or arepa at the airport. When we arrived there, I managed to find a small hole-in the wall store, where I picked up a tasty little chicken & veggie empenada and we waited for our flight. (Shaun, another teacher, managed to have his first real doughnut in months at this same time...."real" doughnuts are tough to find down here).

After sitting around and getting checked in, we waited for about another 25 minutes until our pilot told us it was time to go. So the three of us (Shaun, his wife Susan, and myself) boarded a little single engine crop-duster with an Englishman and German and flew to Canaima, the launching point for any trip to Angel Falls.

In there air we had some spectacular views of the countryside as it slowly went from slightly occupied, to uninhabited jungle in the span of an hour. Suddenly on the sides, we saw these huge mountains, rising straight out of the ground. They are called tepuis (te-poo-e) and are supposed to be some of the oldest rock formations on Earth. The plant and animal life on top of these things are sometimes only found in that one spot....and oddly enough, these were also the inspiration for The Lost World, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Eventually we landed in Canaima, on the bumpiest runway (and saddest airport) I've have ever seen. The airport was essentially a small shack with locals selling souvenir jewelry and other items and another small shed, where you payed your entrance fee to the park.

From here we went into the city, got a brief chat from our guide, split into two groups of 10 (thus losing our German and English passengers) and began our tour. We were in the lucky group: 7 Germans, 3 Yanks and a local guide....we were to board a long wooden boat with a single motor engine and head for the falls immediately. The other group would follow the next day.

The boat trip lasted for ever. 3.5 hours on this little boat, meandering our way up river. Luckily this was broken up by a 45 minute hike (while the boat went through some dangerous rapids) and lunch. Still, I was ready to get out of that boat when we finally hit the camp site.

From there we rested for the night and were given some brief views of Angel Falls from our side of the river. Sadly, it was cloudy and there really wasn't a good view, so we instead played cards, read books and relaxed for the night. Our Thanksgiving dinner composed of a quarter of roasted chicken, yucca, and some cheesy rice w/ veggies....not bad really. That evening we all slept in hammocks, which to be honest wasn't too bad, once you adjusted to it.

The next morning we awoke early and were treated to scrambled eggs, a slice of ham and cheese and two arepas, each weighing roughly a pound (and that is without anything inside). Normally you stuff the arepas with the eggs, meat and cheese, which is what I did and the meal will sit with you for about 8 hours, at least. It's very heavy, pretty filling, pretty tasteless and simple/cheap to make.

Next we got in a boat and crossed the river to begin our hike. The hike wasn't too bad and only took about an hour, possibly a little longer. Our trek took us from a rocky river, into a damp and muddy jungle and then we began going up in elevation, hitting a more dense forest. Eventually, after many slips, near-falls and almost twisted ankles, we came upon this view:

Stunning.

I won't lie....it was pretty impressive. After taking a few pictures and staring at it for a while, I was ready to go back to camp. I mean, what else can you do so far away from a huge waterfall? But we stayed for roughly 30 minutes, until finally Shaun, Susan, Tina (one of the Germans) and myself decided to start heading back.

The return trip was a lot faster (aka downhill) and it was much easier. Once we reached the river, we were really far ahead of everyone, so we took the opportunity to soak our weary feet in the river.

At this point, two incredible things happened. One, Shaun saw a river otter playing on the opposite bank of the river and pointed it out, which was pretty amazing to see (I always loved the otters at the zoo). The second thing was that we turned around to look at the Falls one last time and were blessed with this view:

After that we went back to camp, had lunch and then went back to Canaima. The boat ride back only lasted 2 hours, which was much more bearable. Then we got to spend the evening at a little Posada just on the outskirts of town. My bed wasn't as comfortable as the hammock, but it worked.

The next morning we awoke and had to pack everything in preparation to head home. We were going to eat breakfast, then go see Sapo Falls and the lagoon and finally come back for lunch before heading back to Ciudad Bolivar.

Sapo Falls was beautiful and the lagoon was pretty impressive as well. We ended up walking behind the falls, which was cold and wet, but a blast. After Sapo Falls, we ate lunch and tried to head home. Sadly, we had to board a larger plane (carrying 14 passengers) and when everyone was ready and waiting.....we had to head back to the "terminal" (the hut). Suddenly no one could find our pilot, although we think he was playing cards with some of the locals.

A 45 minute plane ride later, we were back in Ciudad Bolivar. We boarded our mini-bus, made a stop at Wendy's (which is a real treat since we don't have one in Anaco) and then began our 3 hour ride home. All-in-all, a good trip, even though I was ready to jump out of the little boat at one point.

God Bless and I hope things are well, wherever you are.

My Thanksgiving in the Falls

Greetings to all! I hope this finds you well. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We are having a feast this afternoon at school and then this evening I will be leaving with two of the other staff members for Angel Falls. I will get to spend my Thanksgiving traveling to the largest waterfall on the planet....how cool is that?

We will be returning to Anaco on Saturday, so hopefully Sunday I will be able to put up some pics for you.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving!!

God Bless

My MUN Experience....

Greetings to all!

The good news is that we have returned safely from a wonderful little MUN experience in Caracas. Luckily there weren't any major problems and believe it or not, all of my kids behaved extremely well. To be completely honest, I was extremely impressed with their behavior and I think they represented our school and our community very well.

MUN was a really intense experience at times. I learned a lot about how it works and about how the UN works as an organization. During the GA (Generally Assembly) meetings, three of my students got up and spoke in front of everyone. One was a Freshman having her first MUN experience, another was a Sophomore who had never spoken at MUN before. Finally (and probably my happiest moment) was when one of our Seniors, who has some difficulty with her English, got up and defended her resolution. Unfortunately, I was at the US Embassy, attempting to get my passport and I missed her speech, but from what I was told (by numerous sources), she did very well.

Politically, there wasn't a lot going on in the city. There was only one demonstration by the Opposition, but it was quite small and lasted only a few minutes.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience and it has laid the foundation for our trip to Germany in April. We will be heading to a city in northeast Germany called Lubeck for a conference and we are very excited about it.

Dios te bendice