Eye Opener

I can now officially say that I have been to South America. I visited Isla Margarita, Venezuela today, and it was quite an eye-opener. Through all my travels, I’ve devised two ways of telling how poor a country is: the amount of trash on the streets, and the amount and appearance of stray dogs. Using these criteria I have to say Venezuela is possibly the poorest country I have ever visited. There is garbage all along the roads and incredibly scraggly dogs roaming the streets. A lot of the people I passed seemed to have a longing in their eyes to find a better life, but on the other hand they seemed like the happiest people I have ever seen – more on that later. I also saw an amusing billboard that put things into perspective. Instead of the traditional ‘don’t drink and drive’ slogan, it said ’60 or 120 km/h? Your perception changes when you drink.’ That was it! It seemed to be more of a cautionary sign because they realize people will drink and drive no matter what.

The island is one of the more beautiful ones I’ve visited thus far. I took an open jeep safari tour to the top of one of the mountains that was densely covered with mango trees and banyan trees. I didn’t realize that banyan trees actually grow more trees from their branches to help support the main root system – that’s why so many of them bridge across one another. I also saw a red squirrel and hens with baby chicks, but unfortunately no monkeys! The tour guides and drivers then performed the Venezuelan National Anthem and a donkey dance that I took videos of and hopefully will get them up on youtube at some point along my trip.

After the mountain, we went to the main city in Margarita which is Ascuncion. We visited Simon Bolivar square and saw the 2nd oldest church in Venezuela. I didn’t realize how many countries in South America that Simon Bolivar helped liberate from the Spanish: Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and I can’t remember the other ones. Oh, before I forget, I also noticed numerous communist organizations and signs honoring Che Guevara – nothing about Chavez though.

We then drove to Playa Paraguita which was a very beautiful beach that had a black and white sand mix. Made things very hot on the feet! The waves were actually quite large and I got some good body surfing in. I think good body surfing might be the most exhilarating thing in life. I love the feeling of cresting over the wave and riding down like a slide and then being slammed under water by the wave. My dad would have been in heaven today! After the beach we followed a dramatic coast line back to the ship.

The island is incredibly hot. I started sweating the minute I felt the sun and I can’t imagine what it’s like in July and August. Throughout the drive, I saw families and groups huddled on their porches or under trees or in whatever sliver of shade they could find. It seems that the poorest countries I visit have the strongest sense of community and family. It’s amazing what lack of luxuries and modern amenities will do for human relations. They may be poor, but they have human contact. Conversations aren’t conducted through computers, but with live human voices – what a novelty! It’s the community that makes me feel like the people are content, happy and blessed with what they have. I think I may change my plans of sailing the Virgin Islands to doing some service work in a third-world country. Thanks for making it through this lengthy post!

Okay, so as I was going to access the internet (I type my posts first and then paste them on-line later to save money!) I discovered that Hugo Chavez blocks all access to the internet outside of Venezuela. He also blocks our satellite, so we have no phones or television. Life under a dictator is swell!