Bienvenidos compadres,
Well, here I am in Merida, Venezuela! Hard to believe I’m here and will be for the next few months. This city is absolutely incredible. I’ve already had such a great experience after my first three days of being here. There’s so much to share, so I may only scratch the surface in this post.
Monday was a very long day full of travel. I arrived at the Miami Airport at 3:30 AM along with most of the group. At the check-in desk, the lady from LAN Airlines told me I would not be able to board the flight because I didn’t have a return ticket. So far, off to a great start. My stomach dropped when she said that. I was told I needed a ticket back into the US in order to enter Venezuela, but the problem was solved when her co-worker confirmed my flight to Colombia as a “return ticket.” We boarded the plane, only to sit and wait for 1 hour and 45 minutes until mechanical issues were solved. My carry-on bag didn’t fit in the skinny overhead compartment above my seat, so I frantically searched for one and found space in the back of the plane. Already I had to start using Spanish- the flight crew was entirely Latin American, and I hadn’t even left the country!
Anyways, we landed in Caracas only to be greeted by the wonderful “VIVE SOCIALISMO” banners and outrageously large photos of Hugo Chavez in the terminal. We flew out of Caracas after a long layover, and landed in El Vigia where we took an hour-long bus ride to Merida. Finally at 9:30 PM, (Venezuelan time, hour and a half later than CST) I met Nilda, my host mom, and her niece Jaizra. I was extremely nervous, but they were incredibly friendly to me right away. In the car ride on the way home, Nilda asked if I was hungry, and I desperately answered “¡Sí!”
Sure enough, we arrive at the house full of family members ready to greet me, and a hot meal waiting on the table. I was still overwhelmed at this point, and my head was throbbing from having to use Spanish so much (it doubles the thinking process of holding even the simplest of conversations). The meal was fantastic. Nilda is an excellent cook, and I really hope to learn a lot from her while down here.
After dinner, I proceeded to unpack my stuff, and while doing so, mi hermano José Alejandro asked me to come and talk to him and my other siblings for a bit. So, at 11:45 PM or so, I walked out to the living room to find José, Jazira, and my hermana Andrea chatting, with four plastic cups filled with ice sitting on the table, and a large bottle of Sangria. This was my first night staying in the house, and so far, one of my favorites. We stayed up until 2 AM chatting and getting to know each other, and it was totally worth the drowsiness in the morning for my 9 AM orientation.
What a great group. I am extremely lucky and blessed to have been placed with them.
From left to right: Jorge (mi papá), Nilda (mi mamá), yo, José Alejandro (19, mi hermano), Andrea (26, mi hermana), Franco (26, mi cuñado/brother-in-law), and Maria Eugenia (2 ½, mi sobrina/niece).
It’s been awesome having a little “sobrina” to play with. She finally has been warming up to me, and today I got to snap some photos of her and her cousin Sabastian.
School is great- the professors are very friendly, the building is awesome (it’s open-air), and the classes will be very interesting. The Spanish-speaking portion is a bit much considering I’ve only had one or two classes in Spanish per semester in the past. I’ve heard that it only takes a week and you become accustomed to it.
Maria Eugenia has a Paradura celebration tomorrow morning, and José Alejandro’s birthday is on Sunday, so I will have much more to share after the weekend.
Hope you all are doing well.
Saludos,
Travis
