[Paisleychick-lj] Merida, Venezuela

Sun Nov 19 01:14:05 EST 2006

Here's a catch up entry, there are still more to come!  

[![][1]][2]   
[Posada Alemana - Suiza][3]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

Merida is a tranquil city up in the Andes in western Venezuela. It's not that high up, not like Quito or other cities in Ecuador. It's only 1,600 meters high. We stayed here for about a week at the Posada Alemana-Suiza, which is about a 20 minute walk from "downtown". In Caracas, I called the Posada Alemana and made a reservation. They quoted me 45K Bs, a little less than the Hotel Cristal in Sabana Grande. When we got into our taxi in Merida on Sunday morning he took us to the Posada Alemana-Suiza. There's a difference. Turns out it's about 20 blocks. They are both on Avenida 2, but Posada Alemana is at Calle 17 and Posada Alemana-Suiza is at Calle 38. We didn't know that we were at the wrong spot because the street are *not* prominently labeled. The proprietor didn't know about our reservation, but we were not shocked about this and he wasn't either. We got our room around 9:30 in the morning and promptly went to sleep and slept until 2 in the afternoon. The bus camas are more comfortable than regular buses, but I still had a hard time sleeping on board.   

[![][5]][6]   
[Parque las 5 Republicas pathway][7]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

We stayed here for almost a week. It was very relaxing and the weather was really wonderful. Every afternoon there was a breeze, neither warm nor cold, but just right. It stirred the air and refreshed my soul. On Tuesday afternoon, I went for a walk by myself all the way to Calle 13 and back again. It was a wonderful way to explore the city and gave Kragen and I some time to be alone. Respite is a good thing. I took [lots of photos][8] of the church, the Park of Five Republics, [many many slugbugs][9] (13 that day alone) and the Plaza Sucre where some kids were breakdancing! Haven't seen that is a very long time. The guidebook said that photography was strictly prohibited in the Park of Five Republics, but I saw no signs to that effect, so I took photos, even though it was *right* across the street from some sort of military building that was guarded by about a dozen or so soldiers. I was reckless. The Park of Five Republics has earth from all five countries liberated from Spain by Simon Bolivar in the early 1800s: Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. It is the oldest monument to Bolivar in the world - from 1842. Venezuela likes to be the "-est" in a lot of things. Kragen and I have decided that Venezuela is the Texas of South America. On my walk I found the Iowa Institute and made a reservation for a two hour class on Thursday night from 18:30 to 20:30. I had been turned onto them by folks over at Global Exchange and Chris, who we met in Caracas. When I mentioned them folks lit up with smiles. It's good to have references.   

[![][10]][11]   
[Box for la cuenta][12]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

Wednesday morning we got a late start to the Teleferico and missed it by about half an hour. Most unfortunate. We were told to come back on Friday morning because Tuesdays and Thursdays are only for Venezuelans at a discounted price. Kragen and I continued walking and found our way to La Abadia, an old monastery turned into a restaurant. The waiter was dressed like a monk, but didn't follow through with the shaved head.... I dragged Kragen to the end of the city to have a look at the Park of the Five Republics and we ran into a cute dog and Kragen examined a tree branch that had fallen to the ground because it was so laden with epiphites. We had a slow walk back to the Posada as Kragen still wasn't feeling 100%. We visited the Cathedral, looked at some well fed rats in the park foliage and made it to the Bus Terminal to buy tickets to Puerto La Cruz for that Friday. When we got back, I jacked in to follow the nail-biting elections. Go Dems!  

[![][13]][14]   
[Catastrophometer][15]   
Originally uploaded by [FlickrDelusions][16]. 

That was a little too close for comfort and I don't know how much damage they can repair, but it looks like [Patrick Leahy is putting forth a bill to restore _habeas corpus_][17] - good luck! I was pleased to hear that Rumsfeld "stepped down" but I'm holding my breath about his replacement, the ex CIA director who worked for #41. If he does change things, I wonder if one of the things he'll "fix" is the fact that there aren't *enough* troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Will there be a draft? I also wonder if their will be impeachment proceedings. If both Bush and Cheney were booted out then we would get our first female president, from San Francisco no less. I know I'm dreaming here, but it's interesting to contemplate. Both Pelosi and Dean say that it's "off the table" but man it would be sweet to bring the liars to justice. Organizations are looking to bring [war crime charges against Rummy in Germany][18]. We'll see how that goes. I didn't watch any TV or read any newspapers, but people were certainly talking about it. Chavez said that since Rummy quit, [Bush should too][19]. Yeah, fat chance buddy. I'm cautiously optimistic for change. People have been telling me that we can come home now, but we're not escaping, we're learning more about the world and new languages....  

[![][20]][21]   
[Coconut Cheesecake][22]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

Thursday evening I had my Spanish lessons with Hercy and it turns out that she taught both Walter T and Chris P! Small freaking world. I had a very good lesson reviewing the simple future and the simple past tenses and talking for a couple of hours. It was confidence boosting because she was speaking slowly and simply. Hah! I'm doing great, I thought. I took the bus back to near our Posada, met up with Kragen and dragged him out for desert at a nearby restaurant (Sergant Peppers). We had a lovely evening conversation with the owners and two other people who were all friends. One was a British screenwriter who knows JoJo from Global Exchange! Again, small freaking world. She has a farm outside of Merida and invited us if/when we come back. The conversation bounced all over the place, but mainly focused on politics and what we think will change. It was not as easy a conversation as my lesson, so that knocked me back down a knotch or two, but basically it's just back to normal. ;-) I listen a lot in conversations and try to figure out what I want to say and stumble my way through. People are really very patient with our Spanish and appreciate that we are trying. =)  

More soon, we got home from a very good day out and we are very tired. Pillow Fights, Concerts and Kragen's 30th Birthday, oh my!

   [1]: http://static.flickr.com/110/292413811_274129e41b_m.jpg
   [2]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/292413811/ (photo sharing)
   [3]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/292413811/
   [4]: http://www.flickr.com/people/blmurch/
   [5]: http://static.flickr.com/115/292446070_460f1c27c2_m.jpg
   [6]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/292446070/ (photo sharing)
   [7]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/292446070/
   [8]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/sets/72157594373578451/
   [9]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/tags/slugbug/
   [10]: http://static.flickr.com/117/295016164_3d6b40eae6_m.jpg
   [11]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/295016164/ (photo sharing)
   [12]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/295016164/
   [13]: http://static.flickr.com/103/292548684_387830ac61_m.jpg
   [14]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbury/292548684/ (photo sharing)
   [15]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbury/292548684/
   [16]: http://www.flickr.com/people/stanbury/
   [17]: http://pda-appellateblog.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_pda-appellateblog_archive.html#116317805789890859
   [18]: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1557842,00.html
   [19]: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/09/america/LA_GEN_Venezuela_US.php
   [20]: http://static.flickr.com/117/296434779_7f6b097b60_m.jpg
   [21]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296434779/ (photo sharing)
   [22]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296434779/

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/268007.html