The Rainy Season

It has begun.

Above is a photo looking out our dining room window during the heavy, steady rain this morning.

Below is a photo looking the same direction, as the clouds began to clear and the rain became less.

The rain has not stopped since last night, and we have a nice wet patch in the office and the living room, directly below, to show for it.  It seems there is a leaky roof above the low wall of our office.  That means that the wall is slowly leaking water, as if it is a saturated sponge.  The water gathers on the floor of the office, needing me to soak it up with cloths every hour or so.  If I do not, it leaks through the floor and again through the light fixtures into the living room.

As tomorrow is a holiday, and further as we have no access to the sloping roof above our office, and as the rain may or may not continue for the next 6 months, this problem may continue or worsen for quite some time.

The Venezuelan Caribbean

 Yesterday morning, we got out of town.  With two other families, we cruised the highway across Caracas, through Petare - thought to be one of the most dangerous places in the world, and also where our housekeeper lives - and on into the open countryside of Venezuela.  We were outside of the city fairly quickly, and driving on paved but bumpy roads through light jungle, passing homemade houses and skinny cows along the way to the beach.

In Caracas, it rained most of the day Friday.  It seems that the rainy season has begun.  We considered canceling our foray to the beach for Saturday, but were advised that making plans around the weather during the rainy season is pure folly.  So, I grabbed a pack of cards and we took our chances.

We arrived to a very quiet beach with low clouds and a thin drizzle.  With weather in the 80s and a warm Caribbean sea, it didn't slow any of us down.  The kids were all in the water within 5 minutes, and stayed there for most of the day.

 It was lovely, and relaxing.  The sun stayed hidden most of the day, keeping it from every getting hot or crowded.  Men walked the beach plying fresh ceviche ice-creams and offering to cook fish.  Once you said you wanted fish for lunch, they disappeared for a while and returned with a few fresh offerings.  We're guessing they went fishing and returned with their catch.

 Little Annika was very interested in the fresh fish, and also turned out to be the only kid who would eat it.  She liked it.  Of course she did - it was good.

The sun came out in the last 30 minutes or so of our visit, and made the place bright blue and cheerful.  The draw of the sunlight pulled each of us back into the water once more, after we hastily sunblocked ourselves.  It kept the girls fairly safe from that strong sun, but poor Dave is pretty red this morning.  Sophia and I jumped the waves, with my shoulders pulling her up and over many of the higher ones.  Dave's shoulders hurt this morning from his sunburn;  my shoulder muscles hurt from such exercise.

It was about a 2 hour drive to the beach yesterday, with very little traffic.  We made it home in time to unpack and then run to McDonalds, to complete our very chill day.  Everyone slept hard last night.  The whole family now has plans to frequently return to the beach, possibly trying for a weekend in Moroccoy next.  Although we have been warned that this next beach is so lovely, we will be spoiled for all others.  I'm willing to accept that possibility.

The Yogurt Deficiency

I have come to believe that one's ability to make yogurt is predetermined.  It is becoming increasingly clear to me that hormones regulate this ability, and that I am deficient on the Yogurt hormone.

I approach the yogurt making process with confidence, every time.  No matter how many defeats I have faced, I still believe I can make yogurt.  Every time I pour the yogurt into the dish and place it in the oven, I have full faith that it will be thick and creamy in just a few hours.

I have used yogurt making machines.  I have used the oven.  I have overboiled and underboiled and killed my starter.  I have used tall, thin pitchers and small, glass jars.  I have sat through many a friendly tutorial by a regular yogurt maker.  I have read through blogs and cookbooks, giving me the basics.  Some call it complex and some swear its simple.  I've taken both attitudes.

And still, my fail rate is higher than my success rate.

Yet I am addicted to the cause.  Although most of my mind believes that I am likely deficient of the hormone which makes one able to create fresh yogurt, a small part of my heart thinks I am simply prone to Yogurt Making Errors.  So, even though I opened the fridge to a pitcher full of cooked milk this morning rather than one of thick yogurt, I plan to try again this afternoon.  I have confidence, and in Yogurt Making, that must be worth something.  Right?

Again with the Bugs!

Bugs may be the hardest part of my lifestyle.  When you live in one house for many years, you figure out how to cope with your unique pest problems and they eventually cease. 

After a few months here, we've managed to control the little miniature ants which covered our kitchen.  Grants Kills Ants ships directly to us from Amazon and keeps me ant-free.  Well, it doesn't keep me ant-free, but it makes the ants a small enough number that they don't creep me out.

The mosquitoes seem to have slowed down within the house.  Amusingly, we do have mosquito screens on at least half of our windows.  But the half with a screen is always next to a half without a screen.  It seems the mosquitoes are generally clever enough to move over a foot or so and still sneak in through the windows.  They were quite nasty on our first few weeks.  Then we found some plug-in repellant which seems to have quieted the number making residence in our house.  The occasional mosquito quite maddeningly flies in front of my face every so often, but no one wakes up with the mosquito pox anymore.

The gutter bugs go away as soon as we run a pint of water down each household drain.  Easy enough.

The maggots disappeared as soon as we moved our brand new potatoes to the refrigerator.  After a year of eating our fruits and vegetables straight from the farm, it seems a bit sacrilegious to store potatoes (and apples and more) in the refrigerator, but I digress.

It rained yesterday.  Torrential rain.  You know how on movie sets they have to pour down way more water than will fall in a real life rainstorm?  Because otherwise, you wouldn't see the drops on camera.  They could just film in Caracas, because my camera would certainly have caught the raindrops.  Buckets emptied out of the sky for 30 minutes or so.  It was awesome.

And the following day, we found all sorts of little flying bugs hanging on the dining room drapes.  And swarming near the dining room light.  And sometimes falling on our plates during dinner.  I lost my appetite.

So, now we close the windows when we close the drapes.  I wipe my hands of this issue - one more problem fixed!

Return to Normal

Its been a quiet weekend here.  The new president has been inaugurated, and his challenger has been quieted.  The pots and pans have ceased their banging and tension seems to have released.  Emotions still run high, but the tension seems to have dissipated.

We are looking at a 5-day week at school this week.  We have only had one other full week of school since the beginning of February.  We are all craving some normalcy and the return to a routine.

Annika and I have begun to find our rhythm, too.  Sadly, part of this involved dropping out of Spanish classes.  I'm embarrassed to admit this, because Dave says I have the worst Spanish of anyone he knows here.  I know - sweet, isn't he?  I'm hoping that a better time and a better teacher will come along.  But as my world revolves around a nearly-3-year-old girl during the day, classes taking up two of my mornings every week made it increasingly difficult to get anything done.  I'm wishing that I had continued the distance learning course that I began last fall, but I'm also making an effort to chat with our housekeeper and I do see my Spanish improving (even if Dave does not).

A few things have added into our routine as well.  I've begun a ladies Bible study on Wednesday nights.  Its a small group of regulars, and we're all showing ourselves to be quite unreliable about doing our homework.  Because of this, I don't know that the study will last more than one term.  But I'm enjoying the regular fellowship, the chats afterward, and the opportunity to get to know this group of women as Christians.  It looks as if I'll be able to begin teaching music classes within a few weeks, and I'm going to check out a women's group at the church this week.  Annika and I have discovered the little garden shop down the road, and we're also planning forays to the butcher and the large vegetable market, both without a translator or a driver.

It feels funny to me that I'm still struggling to find my routine here.  Chatting with another mom recently, she identified.  When we first arrived, I spent my time helping the rest of the household to find their rhythms.  With kids, that takes a while.  And Dave faced a steep learning curve in this job, although he seems to be nearing the top now and to have the opportunity to breathe and take a look around.  Only after everyone else settle in have I begun to seek out my own place.  There have been a few hits and misses, and a few things I see becoming commitments in the fall, so I've been holding back a bit this spring.

I'm not really sure how to conclude this one.  Caracas seems to be okay right now, although we recognize that turmoil could erupt at any minute.  The girls seem to be okay right now, although the lack of a routine has really thrown them for a loop the past few weeks.  Dave seems to be okay right now, and to feel confident in both his Spanish and his work.  Annika seems to be okay right now, falling into a comfortable sleeping routine and finding some favorite friends among the playgroup set.  And I think I'm doing okay, too.  I'm blessed with a wonderful group of moms who I see regularly.  I've got projects both through music class and through the church that I'm looking forward to taking up more of my time.  And I'm enjoying my last year with the constant company of a young child.  Thanks for the prayers.  Life here seems to be returning to normal.

Continued Protests

The pots began banging again tonight at 8:00pm.  Lilly believes she has the intent of the protest figured out.  She thinks the opposition knows that Maduro's people have young children with 8:00 bedtimes.  She thinks that the opposition is trying to wear them down, until they cave because their children really need to go to bed on time.

This is out our window at about 8:30 tonight.  Things had begun to die down - it was notably louder 5-10 minutes earlier.

Pots of Protest

Pots banging.  Lots of pots banging.  Horns honking.  Everyone once in a while, someone yells.  But lots of pots.

We don't have a television connection.  My Spanish is so poor, that I doubt I would gather much even if we did.  My regular bloggers haven't caught up yet.  Its kind of an eerie feeling, listening to a neighborhood in protest and not knowing what happened.

I called Grisel, a friend who speaks both Spanish and English.  She has her tv on and said that the electoral board is declaring Maduro president.  The recount may be officially over.

It took a moment, but I just found it on Reuters. 

Venezuela's election authority on Monday formally proclaimed Nicolas Maduro the winner of Sunday's presidential vote, despite insistence by the opposition that the ceremony be suspended until a complete recount was carried out.

The election authority said on Sunday that Maduro, the country's acting president, won the election with 50.7 percent of the vote compared with 49.1 percent for opposition challenger Henrique Capriles.

From the sound of our neighborhood, Caracas is a city divided.

Called

Banging pots is a Latin American way to voice protest. As the election authority called the race for Maduro, the fireworks began. They were a low, steady rumble, coming from far away. And then, a neighbor began angling a pot on his balcony.  Soon the pots rang out in our neighborhood.

Maduro is accepting the presidency as I write, and will be officially sworn in on Friday.  Over a very short 2 week candidacy, he began with a very strong lead and is said to have won with less than 51% of the vote.

Caprilles is not accepting defeat.  Bloggers claim they have clear evidence that he is the true winner.  Volunteers witnessed the counting of the votes at many polling places.

This stands to be a very interesting week.

 An hour later... 

Maduro has accepted his election, but Caprilles refuses to recognize it without a recount. He is speaking now, and says he as evidence of thousands of electoral infractions. One member of the electoral board has called for a recount as well, although his counterparts were walking away from the press conference as he spoke.

 The pots and pans have quieted, but the fireworks are still going.

Election Day Excitement

Wow.

I've got to tell you, we were not expecting this to be exciting.

Now, we were prepared to things to be exciting.  We have a week's worth of food in the kitchen right now.  We have the doors locked.  The school sent out homework for next week, just in case.  We didn't leave home all day today.  But, we were not actually expecting things to be exciting.

The day was fairly quiet up on our hill.  Sometimes we would hear folks driving by with their music blaring, advertising their vote.  And the neighbors downstairs seemed to have a large group of people listening to the radio or the television for quite a while.  But otherwise, fairly quiet from our vantage point.

The polls closed at 6:00pm.  Its now 9:30pm.  I'm not going to play journalist in any way.  But were today's election clear cut, a winner would have been called by now.  No winner has been called.

This may be an election well worth waiting up for.

Good Thing I Had No Plans

We have no school today.  In fact, no one in Caracas has school today due to the upcoming elections.  I don't know why those two things are related.  But in what seemed an inspired choice, one of Lilly's classmates chose to have his birthday party today.  The birthday party is at a day camp and seemed like fabulous way to keep a group of kids entertained on the beginning of a long weekend.

Sophia stayed home sick yesterday, and still had a fever this morning.  Annika seems tired all the time.  I was happy to get Lilly out of the house, and leave the younger two for rest and recuperation today.

Luckly, I had no other plans.  We left the house at 11:30.  My GPS estimated our arrival at 11:45.  I generously assumed it would be closer to noon, since I didn't know the area.

We arrived at 1:35.  We had stopped for directions four times by then.

Traffic was horrendous.  Our housekeeper tells me that everyone is out running errands today, because of the election.  She may have told me the connection between the two, but I didn't understand.  It seems possible that everyone worries about what will happen after the election, and makes a point of stocking up on food and cash before.  This is pure, uneducated speculation.

Also, I got lost.  I followed the hand drawn map closely for quite a while.  But once we arrived in the general neighborhood, I lost track of all landmarks and we circled for at least 30 minutes.  This was where we asked directions, and I realized that even though I can communicate with my housekeeper and my Spanish teacher, mi Espanol is really still quite spare.

Also, we nearly ran out of gas.  This would be funny, in a land where gas is nearly free.  We found a gas station before we began riding on fumes, and I paid 10 bolivares for a full tank of gas.  That includes a good tip for the guy who filled me up.  At the posted exchange rate, that's less than 50 cents to fill up my mini-van.

We finally found the camp.  Poor Lilly stepped out of the car feeling nervous.  I, feeling disgusted with the drive, kissed her forehead and pushed her toward the crowd.  Only halfway down the drive did I realize how callous I had been to her.

Don't worry - its a birthday party with her classmates.  She's okay.

It took over an hour to get home.  I need to pick her up again at 5:00.  I'm guessing that traffic will be approaching rush hour, so I think I'll need to pack her sisters in the car within the next few minutes.  If all goes as I expect it will, I will spend over 5 hours in the car today - just shuttling my 7 year old back and forth to a birthday party which is less than 10 miles away.

Good thing I had nothing else planned for the day.  I think I'll go join the sick and the tired as they watch Toy Story in the den.

Post Script:
The little rest did me good, and less than an hour later I was ready to explore again.  As I was driving, in a new direction this time, I thought about the differences between traveling and simply moving regularly.  When you move regularly, you have more time to delve into a city, really get to know it, explore the nooks and crannies, stumble upon exciting little things and generally learn the vibe of the place.  I love that about living in a new city.  But when you live in a place, you also have to work, and go to school, and make it to birthday parties on time.  It was difficult to fit my head into explorer mode, because my 2nd grader was getting later by the minute to this birthday party.  She was a good sport, but I couldn't stop and check out this little shop here real quick.

I took a different route back to the party, and stumbled upon some very new places.  The roads got very narrow and the house paint got very bright and the streets were suddenly very full of people and I became quite nervous about whether or not my big red minivan would fit through this windy, steep street.  We did.

The traffic on the way home was much better.  And now my city feels that much bigger to me.  Not a great day, but a pretty nice take-away.

Vital Services

Our housekeeper hasn't had water in her home for the past 7 days. 

We've been lucky - we've yet to have either our power or our water disrupted.  Our grocery stores face the same shortages, but our homes have escaped these challenges so far.  Its surprising, really.  The people in power have very little interest in pleasing me and my neighbors.  Our neighborhood will vote for Caprilles.  Its the folks in my housekeeper's neighborhood whose votes ought to be wooed with running water and uninterrupted power supply.

Seven days without water.  Incredible.

Sometimes You've Gotta Go

This week made me a little crazy.  Workers kept me home all day Thursday.  Spanish class was canceled twice, and I didn't know either time until I showed up to an empty classroom.  No school on Wednesday.  Poor Lilly has been sad all week, and little Annika has been a pill.  We went to a pool party on Saturday afternoon, and had a lovely but exhausting time.  We left early for naps.  The whole house seemed overtired.

In bigger news, an American diplomat was killed in Afghanistan while delivering books to a local school.  She had served in Caracas only a year before.  In local news, the election was heating up and major rallies were planned for the weekend, having a major effect on traffic patterns.  The community is sad, and a little tense.

By Saturday afternoon, I was feeling crazy.  I hadn't managed a trip to the grocery store all week, and Saturday afternoon I had no fuel for such a trip.  We got out of the house that afternoon, ending up at an arcade on the rooftop of a local mall.  The girls had a blast and I didn't have to worry about dinner.  But Dave was beginning to feel the crazy as well.  We needed to get out.

So we called up Beth and Drew.  Rumor had it they were headed out to their golf club for the day on Sunday.  We asked if we could tag along.  Thank goodness they said yes.

Their golf club is a simple affair in the hills outside of town.  Its a lovely spot.  This weekend was a bit less lovely, because the dry weather had caused many forest fires.  Some of the hills looked more like charcoal than forest.  Because of the dry conditions, the club had no running water, which made the bathrooms kinda gross and brought about a limited menu.  But the pool was still cold and the food was both tasty and cheap.  We swam, we talked, we ate and we headed home in much better moods.

Sometimes you just need to get out of town.  In Virginia, we spent time at a local farm to get out of town.  Caracas may be more difficult than Arlington, but hanging out at a pool in the hills outside of Caracas is a lovely way to de-stress.

International Fair

One of my favorite things about international schools is the international fair.  I always loved the Festival of Nations hosted by the International Institute in St. Louis, an opportunity for groups of resettled refugees to display their pride in their country's food and craftmanship.  And our college had an international fair each year, too - the same opportunity for international students to put their culture on display.  But the international fair at an international school has a different flavor to it, I think because the majority of the kids are international. 

The fair began with a parade of nations.  We marched with American flags and the girls' wore their Old Navy flag tees.  And I learned that as an American living abroad, we each should own one piece of "American" clothing.  The embassy's DCM led our section, and wore a red gingham shirt with cowboy boots - very Americana.

The school's main plaza was filled with country booths, all selling food.  Lots of delicious food.  And the parking lot and gym were crammed with bouncy castles, spinning tea cup rides, art projects and climbing walls

We hung out for the rest of the afternoon, Dave and I eating as much as we could - Syrian food, Lebanese food, Korean food and Indian food;  the girls snacking on pretzels the size of their face from the German booth and racing from one ride to the next.  We're already looking forward to next year.