Photos!

So Stew and I are sitting in an internet cafe in Valera, about an hour from our house in Carorita. The good news is that the internet here is fast, so we were able to put up our pictures. But, the better news is that CSTV has a service where we can watch Auburn games the next day off of their website! Now all we have to do is figure out how to avoid accidentally knowing the scores.........I think we can manage this.

Look for more photos soon, but for now here´s a slideshow of a view. If you click the picasa icon at the bottom you can view the full sized versions on my web album.

Hasta luego,
Coop

Settling In.....

I’ve been here for two weeks now, and I feel like I am getting settled in.

I realize that I haven’t mentioned much about where I am living or what I have been doing. Well, I couldn’t have asked for a better situation. I live in a big house in a town called Carorita, which is maybe 10 minutes up the mountain from a small tourist town called La Puerta. I say Carorita is a town, but it is really just a road with houses and fields along the sides. But what it lacks in size and amenities it makes up for in community. Everybody knows everybody else, and most of the people have a lot of other family in Carorita as well. I live in the house with Francisco, his new wife Auxi, her three kids, Mary Allison from South Carolina, and Stewart. Francisco’s de facto son Adonys and his wife Patricia and their two small children live here as well, although they are in Maracaibo for the next month or two. So it is a full house! But it is such a blessing to be a part of a family. Auxi’s children are all between 17-19, so it is really fun to have them around to hang out with.

During the week I have been studying generally for half of the day and helping my friends in the fields for the other half. At night I walk around the town with my friends and talk. It’s a bit like cruising the Summit in 8^th grade, only without the pretensions of being cool. There´s also a lot less A&F clothing. Weekends are very relaxed. Sunday I got to watch a bootleg copy of the awesome movie Undisputed 2 in English (Spanish subtitles) with my friend Alexandro, which is the riveting tale of an American boxing champions’ hellish stay in a Russian prison where he learns to kickbox and eventually defeats the evil prison champion. I suggest queuing it on Netflix immediately.

Some other highlights from the past week include:

• Hitchhiking to La Puerta in the back of a truck and having the driver thrust his chrome plated pistol out of the window (I think he was just proud of it)
• Gathering roots with my friend Emilio and his horse Relampago. I swear that horse walked up a muddy 60 degree slope with several hundred pounds on his back like it was nothing…it is strong as a horse (sorry for that). We also saw a guy who had to be 80 plowing a similar slope with 2 bulls and one of those wooden plows that Snuffy Smith uses in the comics.
• Nearly going a day without eating an arepa. Notice I said nearly.
• When Stew caught a ride back to Carorita and left his friend Zenair in La Puerta
• Discovering that the only two American songs my friend Katire can sing are “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and “Rapper’s Delight”
• Watching a cockfight on DVD. It’s actually terribly boring.

The only lowlight was realizing that I will not be able to watch any Auburn games here without a miracle. The possibility of listening on internet radio is still up in the air.

Ok, I need to get some arepas before work, so that´s all for now. Hasta Luego.

Pensamientos a Partir de la Semana Una....

So I´ve been here in Carorita for one week and everything has been fantastic. Hopefully soon I will be able to post some pictures on here. But until then, here are some things I´ve learned this past week:

• If a teenage Venezuelan boy knows how to say anything at all in English, it is most likely something vulgar. Now that I think about it, this is true for American kids as well. On a related note, if a teenage Venezuelan boy tells you to make a remark in Spanish to a teenage girl, do not do it…..they are wily and not to be trusted.
• Apparently if a farmer is in his field of lettuce and needs to relieve himself, it is kosher to do so in the middle of the field….on the lettuce. The point is, washing your lettuce does not seem like such a hassle now.
• If you have trouble remembering somebody’s name, and they don’t speak English, just make up an American nickname for them. It is hilarious (and convenient) for you and them. So far I’ve gotten to know LL Cool J, Pimp Daddy, The Fonz, Mary Jane Noble, Stink-eye, and Arsenio Hall.
• Venezuelan kids love ringtones. So far, my favorite one has been a Kenny Rogers song. Also, the other Kenny Rogers was mentioned on the front of the sports page in the local paper the other day. Perhaps Venezuelans have an affinity for people named Kenny Rogers?
• I will be at least 50% cooler when I get a mustache and sombrero.
• Pigs are disgusting. Have you ever seen one of those things eat? I’m pretty sure they would eat diapers if given the chance.
• My local friends threw me a surprise birthday party a few nights ago. Somebody told me that it is tradition for the guest of honor to take a bite directly off of the cake. This is a lie; somebody will shove your face into the cake. I’m pretty sure this is true everywhere.
• Some harmless American idioms should probably not be translated unless you want to end up as a registered sex offender. Ask resident pervert Stewart Hill for details.
• Tilling a field of lettuce is exactly as fun as it looks. I owe that farmer at least $50 for accidental lettuce casualties.

Seriously though, the people have been so gracious and kind to me (even though it takes me at least 30 seconds to stutter out something that translates to ¨what did you doing todays?¨). Ok, that´s all for now; stay posted for pictures, tales, and other reflections.