Goodbye Venezuela

I sure my mother has said “My son wasn’t thinking straight when he did that; deep down, he’s a very good person.”

Although I respect my mother, I know that this is not true.  I don’t waste my time blaming myself for my rash actions or spend my life forgiving myself for all the wrong I have done – doing that would never set me back on the right path.

I use common sense to judge not the intentions of an action but its consequences.  I take responsibility for everything I do, even if I have to pay a high price for my mistake.

As the old Arabic proverb says: “God judges a tree by its fruits and not by its roots.”

I have been reading a lot on my trip.  I have read 4 books… and for me… that’s a lot.  It has been really good for me to read and write.  I am working on my 5^th book right now.  And it’s raining today so I am going to try to catch up on all my blogs and maybe even finish book #5.

From my journal that I wrote between Venezuela and Colombia:

I’m in Colombia now on a bus headed for Santa Marta.  Yesterday I traveled for a long time to get to Maracaibo because I thought I had a free place to stay there… turns out I didn’t.

A cool thing about Maracaibo is the large cement bridge you have to cross over to get there! Amazing!  I was told it was the largest cement bridge in the world… You should see it at night!

My plan was to go to Sinamaica today… sleep in a palofito again then head to Colombia tomorrow…. I didn’t feel like hanging around for the festival of the chinita…. Festivals are more fun with friends….  Well Sinamaica was a dump!  Not to be rude… but it was rainy… I was almost out of Bolivars and the place was covered in Garbage… so I decided to head straight for Colombia.

It appears there are lots of people in traditional dress in this area.  They weave shoes and put tire tread on the bottom… I’ve seen this in Mexico too… very cool!

The benefit of being in Colombia is that I can withdraw money from an ATM with no worries.  The ATM will give me a good exchange rate.  In Venezuela the banks have devalued the dollar by 50% so if you want to spend any time there you have to change your money on the black market.



sinamaica



sinamaica



Maybe it was the rain, maybe it’s because I’m alone… or maybe it’s because I’m tired of eating Arepas… I felt like today was my day to get out of Venezuela… and when I get strong feelings… I try to listen to them.  I’m lucky I left today because I only had 100 bolivars when I crossed the border. (About 12 bucks)

ok so this is the only place that I could find
that even resembled venice... or what I
think of as venice... but it's definetly not
as pretty :D

On the drive from Maracaibo to Maicao (Colombia) the car was stopped 4 times.  Once they made everyone get out of the car and they searched it.  They searched my pockets and my backpack… and all my clothes.  I started taking pictures because I thought it was cool.  I was then apprehended and taken into a guard shack… the guy was gonna steal my camera… ha!  He told me it was against the law to take pics of the military… I told him he wasn’t gonna take my camera and that I would delete the pictures.  He waited awhile (For money of course) but I gave him nothing…. He let me go.

While they were going through my bag I bought a Popsicle from a boy.  They make them in plastic bags here… you bite off the end and suck on it…. Mine was strawberry…. Care to take a guess what they call those popsicles?  Tetas (of course)…. Once again… tetas…

Maracaibo has people called Maracuchos.  They speak Spanish of course but it’s fast… choppy… and full of slang that is vulgar in most countries but not in Venezuela… at least not in Zulia….

Here are some Examples:  If I write them wrong it’s so you will pronounce it right

Vergataria – Super cool

            The base word of this of course is Verga – which is well… a weenie J  you might think that doesn’t make any sense…. But in English we say… man… that was the S#*t … which is also not a very cool thing… but when you say it like that it is…. I dunno… I'm not a linguist yet… but that’s my interpretation

Vergacion! – Same but different from above

Example sentence: Vergacion! Ese teléfono esta Vergataria!  Wow your phone Rocks!

Que Moyeja! – How cool!

Mira voz! (boz) – Hey you (tu) look at this… even though voz usually means y’all

Como estai mi Viejo? – How are you friend?

Como stai bo? – Como estas – how are you

Pa que mas? Who could ask for more?

No te arreche chico! – don’t get mad!

Bo se soi arrecho – lazy butt!

It’s strange leaving Venezuela.  I have been here exactly 3 weeks.  My first morning I went to the bus terminal in Valencia and it was crowded and full of signs of places I had never heard of.  Now at the terminal I recognize almost every sign.  I know how the terminal works, where the busses are, the cars, the taxis.  The men yelling at the top of their lungs are no longer screaming gibberish but the names of the cities their bus is going to…. Just takes a bit for the ears to adjust.  The terminal is full of stores for food, snacks, water, magazines, luggage storage, and books.  Of course there is always some display of the virgin somewhere with a candle lit in front of it… and a lady who sits in front of the bathroom selling sheets of toilet paper.  I notice guys with lots of money wearing hats that say “bass pro shop” on them.  Did you know that’s an expensive marca (brand) here?  Maybe it is in the US too? I dunno… looks like something you’d get for free at a hillbilly fishin’ contest along with a trophy that best “best noodler” (yes I know you noodle for catfish and not bass )

the first time I looked out the bus window in Colombia this
is what I saw... do I need to explain the thoughts that
were going through my head?

Anyway… all in all Venezuela was great.  I was warned not to go there by many… that it was dangerous… If I showed up to Maracaibo first I would have believed it… Now I know Venezuelans are harmless… and very friendly.  Of course there are stories of danger… but I have found that as long as I stay away from trouble… trouble stays away from me.  The world is a dangerous place… not just Venezuela… it’s all about being cautious and knowing your surroundings…. Being “pila”

One last funny story...  the way to say gay here is Maricon... but they say it fast and cut so it sounds like Marico  ... well this lady i had been talking to in the car and on the bus went into the bus terminal and bough some fish to eat... i didn't see that... fish is Mariscos .... well he columbian accent dropped the S sounds... so... she said I'm gonna sit here and eat my fish... I thought she said I'm gonna sit here by the gay guy... and I was like... I'm not gay! haha! and she cracked up... showed me her food and said... no no mijo... MARISCOS! hahaha