Adjustment

I'm getting more used to things here. I actually know where some places are that I need to go.  I know how to walk to school and I also know how to use the bus.  It's really quite quaint when the bus drivers try to rip you off a fare and make you pay more.  It's interesting to be the minority.  I began classes on Wednesday, and they're really interesting.  I'm taking Latin American Culture and Civilization, Spanish Phonetics, Education in Venezuela, Latin American Politics, and Tropical Ecology.  The last one is in English.  I think the Education class is going to be my favorite.  It's all about getting into the psyche and politics of the goverment that controls education, because if you control education, you control how people turn out when they get older.

Venusa has another school for Venezuelans, where they come to learn English.  This program is called Nuevos Encuentros, "New Encounters".  Venusa hosts several events, like Conversation Dinners, Karaoke Nights, Sangria Nights, Dance Lessons, Cooking Lessons, and other fun things so that the Venezuelan students and the American students can come together and practice speaking in the opposite language and also to get to know people from other cultures.  We had a welcome barbeque last night, where we were each partnered up with a Venezuelan to get to know and practice with.  I was soon joined by my roommate and her partner, who happen to be partners in their English class also.  We had steak, sausage, salad and bread.  The steak was particularly good. Juicy, with a little red inside.  I didn't even need ketchup.

Today I had more classes, and afterwards, I met up with one of the students of the flute teacher who will be giving me lessons here.  Her name is Rossmary, and she is really nice.  She introduced me to another flute friend of hers, Fabiola, and together we went to eat strawberries and cream.  It was the best cream I ever had.  I even forced a few strawberries down.  I might be able to tolerate them from now on. TOLERATE. Not eat everyday. But, it's an improvement. Kudos to me.  But I talked to them all in Spanish and I was able to keep up really well! I also am in the process of finding a cell phone.  My mother gave me and my roommate the phones that the students from the summer had left behind, and asked us to keep them safe so she could have them.  However, I needed to buy a prepaid card.  It was an adventure.

I was pretty sure I knew what my roommate's number was, and I assumed, as any American would, that you can find your own number somewhere in your phone's memory. This is not actually the case. So I asked my roommate what my number was, sure that she had it in her phone.  After sifting through the most recent call list, she deduced which of the several Katie's in her phone must be me.  She told me the number, and I continued the transaction to add money to the phone.  It didn't work. Also, every time I tried to call the service, they said they were unable to help me now and to try again later.  So I looked up my roommate'snumber on my phone to try her phone.  It happened to be the same number as the one she told me was my number.  We weren't sure how to get the right numbers. We knew our mom had the list on the fridge at home, but we weren't going there anytime soon.  So we waited. And nothing happened. And she went to El Vigia to pick up her lost luggage, which thankfully came in yesterday, and I went out with my friends.  After I was done with my friends, I get a text message saying I am not quite as in debt with my service as I was 4 hours ago.  After I got home tonight, I looked at the list, and saw that the number that my roommate gave me was in fact my number, and that my roommate's number was not anywhere in my phone.  And the card did in fact work, but it wasn't enough money yet, so I need to go buy some more.  Also, it takes a long time for the money to actually register in your service.  Welcome to Venezuela.  So I still don't technically have service, but I'm getting closer.

I didn't realize I had this much to write about.  Here are some pictures.  One is of our entire group, and the rest is what you see in Merida everywhere on a daily basis.  You just walk through your daily life and see this wherever you are. La de dah de dah MOUNTAINS lah de dah.