I was just reading this article by one of my favorite Venezuelan bloggers, titled The Fall of the Last Bastion of Free Speech in Venezuela on Foreign Policy's website. Its a good article, but you can gather the theme from the title.
I began blogging to record our life in China - a country completely lacking freedom of speech.
Now I blog in Venezuela - a country with free speech in their constitution.
Now, granted, we were not part of an American government mission in China - a large factor, certainly. Still, I never worried that posting my opinion would get me into trouble until I lived here.
Addendum: While everything I have said above is true, it also needs to be taken with quite a few grains of salt. I was reading an article on free speech in The Economist a few days ago, and realized how much I have oversimplified both issues. Worth remembering that a: The Chinese lack freedom of speech, but not so much their expatriates. Also that b: our position with the government limits my speech dramatically.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Venezuelan Gun Control
More word has come out about the shooting of two Americans. As I'm hearing more of the story, it is beginning to sound more like equal parts bad conduct and gun prevalence. Very few people are to blame for being shot in the leg or the stomach, but folks in a low-crime city wouldn't think much of a 4:30am shooting outside of a gentleman's club.
That being said, gun prevalence in Caracas is frightening. Everyone within the embassy community lives in a high-rise, because single family houses are simply too dangerous. A person would have to pass our security guard sitting behind (hopefully bullet-proof) glass, two gates requiring two separate keys, an elevator requiring a third key and a door requiring two more keys to get into our apartment. No one could scale the walls - and if they did, they would reach an alarm. Americans live in cities with high crime all over the world, but high crime paired with alarmingly prevalent gun usage means that any crime can easily lead to death. A recent Facebook posting by a friend showed security camera footage of a storefront in broad daylight. A man entered his car. A second man ran up to the front window and pulled a gun. The driver shot the man. He lay dead on the street.
I do not tell this story because I live in fear. I do not. We live a fairly secure life, following around our children and keeping to daylight hours. We stay away from rough neighborhoods and we always keep the windows closed in the car. We don't explore much, but we don't sit around bored, either. Anything could happen at any time, but our odds are good and we can live with that.
But sometimes I fear that America is headed in this direction. Venezuela has given very little solution to the high-crime, high-gun problems and so people create their own solutions. People live behind bars and walls and razor-wire. Schools have high fences and locked gates and multiple guards.
I'm not putting forth a plan - this post has already gotten more political than I'd like. But with the recent gun violence in my own community, I can't help but think of Caracas as a cautionary tale for the U.S.
That being said, gun prevalence in Caracas is frightening. Everyone within the embassy community lives in a high-rise, because single family houses are simply too dangerous. A person would have to pass our security guard sitting behind (hopefully bullet-proof) glass, two gates requiring two separate keys, an elevator requiring a third key and a door requiring two more keys to get into our apartment. No one could scale the walls - and if they did, they would reach an alarm. Americans live in cities with high crime all over the world, but high crime paired with alarmingly prevalent gun usage means that any crime can easily lead to death. A recent Facebook posting by a friend showed security camera footage of a storefront in broad daylight. A man entered his car. A second man ran up to the front window and pulled a gun. The driver shot the man. He lay dead on the street.
I do not tell this story because I live in fear. I do not. We live a fairly secure life, following around our children and keeping to daylight hours. We stay away from rough neighborhoods and we always keep the windows closed in the car. We don't explore much, but we don't sit around bored, either. Anything could happen at any time, but our odds are good and we can live with that.
But sometimes I fear that America is headed in this direction. Venezuela has given very little solution to the high-crime, high-gun problems and so people create their own solutions. People live behind bars and walls and razor-wire. Schools have high fences and locked gates and multiple guards.
I'm not putting forth a plan - this post has already gotten more political than I'd like. But with the recent gun violence in my own community, I can't help but think of Caracas as a cautionary tale for the U.S.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
El Hatillo
Yesterday was Memorial Day in the U.S., so the embassy was closed. But it was not Memorial Day in Venezuela, so the schools were open. This gave Dave and I the opportunity for a date of sorts. We tooked little Annika with us out to El Hatillo, a small village which was swallowed up by Caracas and still retains much of its Venezuelan character. We did a little shopping, a little eating, and a lot of enjoying the day.
This little cutie found a bench just her height.
The city of Caracas as it rises up the hill. Imagine this place in an earthquake!
The motorbikes and the powerlines make it harder to notice the charming little homes and brightly colored buildings, but it is lovely. And seriously about that earthquake!
Lunch on the second floor, looking out toward what rather suddenly is not urban at all. We spotted banana trees, avocado trees, orange trees, horses and all sorts of other growing things. Plus, the tortillas were delicious!
This Surreal Life
I have begun Spanish lessons every week with a fabulous tutor. So fabulous that I have been waiting to begin lessons with her since I arrived in January, and I only got in by taking over a friend's slot while he is away on paternity leave. She's a good tutor, funny, and I always leave feeling like I learned a lot. I always come back feeling like I know shamefully little, but at least I learn a lot every Tuesday morning.
This morning, we spent part of our lesson watching the news in Spanish. She teaches in the cafeteria of the embassy, and today I sat with my back to a large tv screen. A headline on the news caught her attention, and I turned around. I saw EEUU and militario in the headline and knew that something involving the United States (los Estados Unidos) had made the news. She translated that according to the news, an American member of the military had been shot last night at a nightclub in Caracas.
Rumors spread quickly in a small town, and we had soon garnered the story which is now on the American news: Two US Officials Injured in Venezuela Shooting. We are neither of the officials, although they are friends of ours. Word is that they're both going to be alright.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a dangerous place. We are rarely out after bedtime, which is when most of the dangerous crime occurs in this city. But its a dangerous place to live, and learning of a community members' shooting on the local news is surreal.
Sophia and I traveled to the states a few weeks ago for my grandfather's funeral. She made a fabulous traveling companion, and we both enjoyed our time honoring Grandpa Bob and reconnecting with family. Arriving back in the airport in Caracas still felt like travel. We were searching for the bathrooms and sticking close together. We were starting out the windows on the drive home, pulling in images of the homes piling themselves up the sides of el Avila. Things felt foreign until we reached our neighborhood, and quite suddenly I felt at home - a reassuring feeling, when you've only lived somewhere for a few months. We have settled in nicely here, and even the older girls no longer talk about Virginia as home.
Still, in the weeks since our return, I've begun noticing the bad things. The humidity is getting on my nerves. Our floors are constantly filthy. The garbage piled along the sidewalks make it smelly to go for a walk. The weather is beautiful, except when its raining in our windows or the air is thick with humidity. Summer is coming at just the right time for me. The girls and I will disappear to the states for 6 weeks over the summer, and come back ready to be at home. The sidewalks will still be stinky and the air will still be thick with humidity, but our lives will begin afresh and we will all be eager to jump into them. We expect many visitors next year, and are planning much travel.
I am ready for summer, and to escape the surreal life we live in Caracas. I am blessed to have this escape, but also I am blessed with the good life we have here.
This morning, we spent part of our lesson watching the news in Spanish. She teaches in the cafeteria of the embassy, and today I sat with my back to a large tv screen. A headline on the news caught her attention, and I turned around. I saw EEUU and militario in the headline and knew that something involving the United States (los Estados Unidos) had made the news. She translated that according to the news, an American member of the military had been shot last night at a nightclub in Caracas.
Rumors spread quickly in a small town, and we had soon garnered the story which is now on the American news: Two US Officials Injured in Venezuela Shooting. We are neither of the officials, although they are friends of ours. Word is that they're both going to be alright.
We are constantly reminded that we live in a dangerous place. We are rarely out after bedtime, which is when most of the dangerous crime occurs in this city. But its a dangerous place to live, and learning of a community members' shooting on the local news is surreal.
Sophia and I traveled to the states a few weeks ago for my grandfather's funeral. She made a fabulous traveling companion, and we both enjoyed our time honoring Grandpa Bob and reconnecting with family. Arriving back in the airport in Caracas still felt like travel. We were searching for the bathrooms and sticking close together. We were starting out the windows on the drive home, pulling in images of the homes piling themselves up the sides of el Avila. Things felt foreign until we reached our neighborhood, and quite suddenly I felt at home - a reassuring feeling, when you've only lived somewhere for a few months. We have settled in nicely here, and even the older girls no longer talk about Virginia as home.
Still, in the weeks since our return, I've begun noticing the bad things. The humidity is getting on my nerves. Our floors are constantly filthy. The garbage piled along the sidewalks make it smelly to go for a walk. The weather is beautiful, except when its raining in our windows or the air is thick with humidity. Summer is coming at just the right time for me. The girls and I will disappear to the states for 6 weeks over the summer, and come back ready to be at home. The sidewalks will still be stinky and the air will still be thick with humidity, but our lives will begin afresh and we will all be eager to jump into them. We expect many visitors next year, and are planning much travel.
I am ready for summer, and to escape the surreal life we live in Caracas. I am blessed to have this escape, but also I am blessed with the good life we have here.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Interrupted
My grandfather died early on Saturday morning.
I don't have an obituary written in my mind. I'd like to put one together later this week, but I can't guarantee that'll happen. I'd like to, because he was an awesome grandpa. It may be true that the majority of my childhood memories circle around him somehow. They're simple memories, about loving his cats and sitting next to him at dinner and climbing on his tractors and naming the pigs. We didn't do amazing memorable things together - we just spent a lot of time together. And he was funny and fun, and his life was very different from mine and always beautiful and amazing.
Sophia and I will travel tomorrow. We will meet my brother and then drive to the funeral. We'll spend time with a lot of people whom Sophia has never met. People I haven't seen since before I left high school. She'll meet second cousins. And we'll all honor a man I was lucky to call my grandpa.
The travel is tricky. I need to carry documentation and a notarized letter verifying that I have Dave's permission to take his daughter out of the country. We'll leave our house at 4:30 in the morning, my 6-year-old and I, to arrive at the airport early because we don't have seats together on any of our flights. We were lucky simply to have seats at all. I'm hoping that my Spanish is good enough to manage that request.
It'll be a tough few days. Sophia won't see many kids the entire trip, and she'll spend a lot of time en route. After the two flights tomorrow, we still have a 4 hour drive to the funeral. But it will be well worth it. She's going because she wants to say good-bye to Grandpa Bob. I'm looking forward to that as well, and the chance to remember him with so many people who I never felt myself sharing him with.
It should be a good week.
I don't have an obituary written in my mind. I'd like to put one together later this week, but I can't guarantee that'll happen. I'd like to, because he was an awesome grandpa. It may be true that the majority of my childhood memories circle around him somehow. They're simple memories, about loving his cats and sitting next to him at dinner and climbing on his tractors and naming the pigs. We didn't do amazing memorable things together - we just spent a lot of time together. And he was funny and fun, and his life was very different from mine and always beautiful and amazing.
Sophia and I will travel tomorrow. We will meet my brother and then drive to the funeral. We'll spend time with a lot of people whom Sophia has never met. People I haven't seen since before I left high school. She'll meet second cousins. And we'll all honor a man I was lucky to call my grandpa.
The travel is tricky. I need to carry documentation and a notarized letter verifying that I have Dave's permission to take his daughter out of the country. We'll leave our house at 4:30 in the morning, my 6-year-old and I, to arrive at the airport early because we don't have seats together on any of our flights. We were lucky simply to have seats at all. I'm hoping that my Spanish is good enough to manage that request.
It'll be a tough few days. Sophia won't see many kids the entire trip, and she'll spend a lot of time en route. After the two flights tomorrow, we still have a 4 hour drive to the funeral. But it will be well worth it. She's going because she wants to say good-bye to Grandpa Bob. I'm looking forward to that as well, and the chance to remember him with so many people who I never felt myself sharing him with.
It should be a good week.
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Status Update
Ten days ago, I posted about a leak in the roof which had recently developed. Such drama has occurred in the following ten days that I need to catch my breathe. Here goes.
Tuesday: The leak appeared from the roof. It rained all day.
Wednesday: The leak remained in the roof. It rained all day. It was a holiday, so we had no housekeeper. We had planned to go hiking, but little Annika went to bed the night before with a steep fever, and so we all stayed home. Plus, it was raining. On the bright side, we did obtain a secondhand patio table and got permission to keep it down in the garden. I see many more barbeques in our future!
Thursday: The rain let up a bit, but little Annika was still sick. I dragged her into the embassy for the day, anyway, to accompany me to a bunch of meetings. This did not make her feel any better.
Dave had a group of co-workers over for dinner to discuss bidding rules and strategies. Its hard to believe, but 5 months into this post and we're already planning for the next one.
Friday: The sun came out and it was a lovely day. All three girls went to the doctor, just to meet her. Little Annika no longer had a fever. Since the girls got to leave school early, and since no rain meant no ringing out wet cloths every few hours for me, and since Annika had her regular energy level, everyone was happy. We bought cookies from a pasteleria near the doctor's office, and enjoyed our lives.
Also, our housekeeper showed up for the first time all week. Upon arrival, she quit. The poor woman already had back troubles, and then she fell in the rain on Thursday. She needs to take care of herself, and so we can not hold it against her. Plus, she stayed on to clean up the crazy mess from the dinner party the night before.
Saturday: We celebrated our birthday girl with a trip to a petting zoo and lunch at one of our favorites restaurants. The petting zoo was a real hoot. The weather was dry and sunny, everyone felt healthy and happy. Our older girls established a bad habit of throwing temper tantrums in restaurants, but we had an otherwise lovely day.
Sunday: We could not make it to church on time, even though Lilly was supposed to acolyte. I went to bed feeling a bit under the weather.
Monday and Tuesday: Here's the perfect storm.
No housekeeper.
I was sick enough that I couldn't manage anything for more than an hour or so without collapsing on the couch.
It rained like you wouldn't believe.
The housekeeper bathroom flooded.
Wednesday: I took the day off. I did nothing. No cooking or cleaning. Movies for the little one.
Today: The rest yesterday did me good, and today I was able to get quite a few things done while only falling on the couch exhausted twice. A contractor came to repair the flood in the housekeeper's bathroom, although no one is willing to address the leak in the roof. Little Annika has begun again to take naps at random times and places, signifying that we may be in for round two of her little illness.
Tomorrow: Friends are coming over for dinner, meaning that I need to clean all of the floors and bathrooms in this house, as well as cook dinner for 13.
If reading this felt like a slog, you have some idea how this week has felt.
Happily, I am feeling much better. Luckily, neither of the friends coming over has a housekeeper and so will not has unreasonable expectations of the cleanliness of our home. They are coming over to begin a church small group with us, which has me very excited. We're looking at a very fun weekend, so things are certainly not all bad. But they have been a bit overwhelming.
Tuesday: The leak appeared from the roof. It rained all day.
Wednesday: The leak remained in the roof. It rained all day. It was a holiday, so we had no housekeeper. We had planned to go hiking, but little Annika went to bed the night before with a steep fever, and so we all stayed home. Plus, it was raining. On the bright side, we did obtain a secondhand patio table and got permission to keep it down in the garden. I see many more barbeques in our future!
Thursday: The rain let up a bit, but little Annika was still sick. I dragged her into the embassy for the day, anyway, to accompany me to a bunch of meetings. This did not make her feel any better.
Dave had a group of co-workers over for dinner to discuss bidding rules and strategies. Its hard to believe, but 5 months into this post and we're already planning for the next one.
Friday: The sun came out and it was a lovely day. All three girls went to the doctor, just to meet her. Little Annika no longer had a fever. Since the girls got to leave school early, and since no rain meant no ringing out wet cloths every few hours for me, and since Annika had her regular energy level, everyone was happy. We bought cookies from a pasteleria near the doctor's office, and enjoyed our lives.
Also, our housekeeper showed up for the first time all week. Upon arrival, she quit. The poor woman already had back troubles, and then she fell in the rain on Thursday. She needs to take care of herself, and so we can not hold it against her. Plus, she stayed on to clean up the crazy mess from the dinner party the night before.
Saturday: We celebrated our birthday girl with a trip to a petting zoo and lunch at one of our favorites restaurants. The petting zoo was a real hoot. The weather was dry and sunny, everyone felt healthy and happy. Our older girls established a bad habit of throwing temper tantrums in restaurants, but we had an otherwise lovely day.
Sunday: We could not make it to church on time, even though Lilly was supposed to acolyte. I went to bed feeling a bit under the weather.
Monday and Tuesday: Here's the perfect storm.
No housekeeper.
I was sick enough that I couldn't manage anything for more than an hour or so without collapsing on the couch.
It rained like you wouldn't believe.
The housekeeper bathroom flooded.
Wednesday: I took the day off. I did nothing. No cooking or cleaning. Movies for the little one.
Today: The rest yesterday did me good, and today I was able to get quite a few things done while only falling on the couch exhausted twice. A contractor came to repair the flood in the housekeeper's bathroom, although no one is willing to address the leak in the roof. Little Annika has begun again to take naps at random times and places, signifying that we may be in for round two of her little illness.
Tomorrow: Friends are coming over for dinner, meaning that I need to clean all of the floors and bathrooms in this house, as well as cook dinner for 13.
If reading this felt like a slog, you have some idea how this week has felt.
Happily, I am feeling much better. Luckily, neither of the friends coming over has a housekeeper and so will not has unreasonable expectations of the cleanliness of our home. They are coming over to begin a church small group with us, which has me very excited. We're looking at a very fun weekend, so things are certainly not all bad. But they have been a bit overwhelming.
Sunday, May 05, 2013
My Birthday Girl
My baby turned 3 years old today.
I'm full of thoughts about how sad it is to know I'm done with babies, and how awesome it is to watch her grow. She is an amazing little spirit, so peaceful and resilient, so friendly and confident. She blesses everyone around her, and she fully completes this family.
I also keep thinking about how far she has gone in her few short years. She was born in Shanghai. Within her first year, she moved into a hotel, then to Shenzhen, then into another hotel in Falls Church, Virginia. We moved to Arlington soon after her first birthday, and then moved here to Caracas a few months ago. She tallies 6 addresses, 5 cities and 3 countries on 3 continents.
With such change, I can't help but compare her life to the rest of our family.
When I turned 3, I had lived in the same house my whole life. I was a year away from beginning preschool. My grandparents lived either in town, or on a farm a few hours away. I saw them either weekly or monthly.
When Dave turned 3, he had lived in the same house his whole life. He never went to preschool. Most of his family - grandparents and cousins - lived less than 3 hours away and they were a regular part of his life.
When Lilly turned 3, we had lived in Shanghai for 1 year. In the week before her birthday, we changed house and she began preschool. She was in her 3rd address and 2nd city.
When Sophia turned 3, we lived in a charming little lane house in the French Concession of Shanghai. She had been in preschool for 3 months already, and it was a 5 minute walk away from our house. I was 4 months pregnant. She was in her 4th address and 2nd city.
Today, Annika lives on the 6th floor of a condo in a hilly suburb of Caracas. Her sisters go to school, but she does not - and I haven't decided whether or not she'll start in the fall. I'm not ready to give up my little girl.
I'm full of thoughts about how sad it is to know I'm done with babies, and how awesome it is to watch her grow. She is an amazing little spirit, so peaceful and resilient, so friendly and confident. She blesses everyone around her, and she fully completes this family.
I also keep thinking about how far she has gone in her few short years. She was born in Shanghai. Within her first year, she moved into a hotel, then to Shenzhen, then into another hotel in Falls Church, Virginia. We moved to Arlington soon after her first birthday, and then moved here to Caracas a few months ago. She tallies 6 addresses, 5 cities and 3 countries on 3 continents.
With such change, I can't help but compare her life to the rest of our family.
When I turned 3, I had lived in the same house my whole life. I was a year away from beginning preschool. My grandparents lived either in town, or on a farm a few hours away. I saw them either weekly or monthly.
When Dave turned 3, he had lived in the same house his whole life. He never went to preschool. Most of his family - grandparents and cousins - lived less than 3 hours away and they were a regular part of his life.
When Lilly turned 3, we had lived in Shanghai for 1 year. In the week before her birthday, we changed house and she began preschool. She was in her 3rd address and 2nd city.
When Sophia turned 3, we lived in a charming little lane house in the French Concession of Shanghai. She had been in preschool for 3 months already, and it was a 5 minute walk away from our house. I was 4 months pregnant. She was in her 4th address and 2nd city.
Today, Annika lives on the 6th floor of a condo in a hilly suburb of Caracas. Her sisters go to school, but she does not - and I haven't decided whether or not she'll start in the fall. I'm not ready to give up my little girl.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)