Arriving in Caracas

And so here I am, in Caracas in Venezuela. I came yesterday afternoon, it feels very awkward to be here. I have met my two room mates, Kajsa and Petra and I have met Hilda, the lady that we rent our house from.

The night before my early morning flight to Caracas me and Cinthia went to Kastrup, bought a coffee and some chocolate to stay awake and then just waited it out. The only positive thing with leaving to enter that flight was the knowledge that a whole set of american romantic comedies awaited me, but... no. The dissapointment was immense, no film! 9 hours and 20 minutes, we crossed the whole Atlantic ocean, and not one single movie! And even worse, I had to wait about eight hours for a coffee... not that I am supposed to keep that bad bad habit up any longer, but anyways! Isn't that horrific?! Keep away from AirFrance, that's all I have to say!

And then I arrived in what is to be my home for the next months. Green high mountains was the first thing I saw when exiting the airport. And after having been harrassed by different men offering me to change dollars to bolivares I could finally go with the taxi driver who was sent to pick me up by the university. As we are in a rainy period, the rain was pooring down, it was 25 degrees and quite pleasent.

I asked the driver different things about the country and still I refer all my Venezuela-knowledge to his answers!
For example:
What fruits do you have and is it cheap?
The driver: We have all kinds! And yes it is very very cheap! If you like fruit you will love Venezuela!
Lina's comment: Well... as it turned out, fruit is bloody expensive, one apple is about one dollar, I cried blood once I realized this.
How far is Caracas from the ocean?
About 4o minutes.
Great!
How much is the petrol per litre?
Oh, it is very expensive, it costs 97 bolivares.
Hm, ok, it sure depends on what one refers to. This is about 33 öre!
Are there big differences between the different barrios in the city?
Oh yes! Many barrios are very poor. In Venezuela there is so much corruption, everyone is looking for money, that is the problem.
What about the social projcets that Chavez has initiated, are they helping at all?
Chavez is crazy, he is not fulfilling anything. Everyone dislikes him. He will probably not be re-elected. He gives alms to people, but most people don't want to be given money, they want to work to earn their money. He doesn't understand this. And he has not been able to fight the corruption.
Ok, this was when I understod he was an anti-chavista...

Well... I sure will continue my quest. The quest is simply to get an idea of what the venezulan@s think about the bolivarian revolution.

Today, we went to the university Simón Bolívar, where I will be studying biology (marine ecology, etc). It was quite nice, lots of green areas and trees. I have heard that students in Venezuela are very young when they start university, and on this specific university (technical-science and expensive) there are mainly people not supporting the big C-man. The two words within the brackets maybe explain why that is... not showing my prejudices at all.

ok... I will end this now. Tomorrow I will follow Kajsa and Petra to the beach Cuyagua, about 3 hours from Caracas, for a few days. We'll be back sunday. On monday is the introduction for exchange students which we'll be attending.

Now I will check on my kidney beans which are boiling.


The bedroom. My feet. The white door goes out to the living room.

Kajsa and Petra, my roomies. My bed is he middle one. Note the pink sheets!
_
Coming out of the bedroom. This is the living room and the kitchen. Our dining table, and internet corner. The door the entrance and the house that can be seen through the window is Hilda's house.