Well, it's approximately the 1 year mark for a few different things in my life: In mid-October last year I finally moved into my apartment after 3 months in a hotel; in mid-November, I received my car (one day before Thanksgiving!); approximately a year ago I started working in American Citizen Services.

After one year, Caracas really feels like home in many ways. It's hard to think that in less than a year I'll be uprooting and moving everything elsewhere. At this time next year, I'll likely be living in Washington, DC, studying Hindi. I have settled into my apartment here pretty comfortably, and am looking forward to visits from friends and family over the next few months. Just this month, I have moved back into the visas section of the embassy, after spending about a year in ACS.

It's a significant change in job duties and environment. Instead of being one of 2 or 3 officers in ACS, I'm one of 14 in Non-immigrant visas (NIV), and start interviewing visa applicants at 7:30 each morning, and finish somewhere between 3 and 4 each day. We generally do an average of 80-110 interviews per day per officer. In many ways it's more stressful because the work is non-stop and we must be suspicious of people all day long. In other ways, I enjoy having more camaraderie with a larger section of co-workers. I really enjoy my coworkers, both American and Venezuelan, and work is largely enjoyable, despite the stresses that it involves.

Recently, I attended the Marine Ball, the 236th birthday of the Marine Corps. Most U.S.embassies around the world are guarded the Marine Security Guard (MSG). For a marine, it's an unusual but prestigious assignment to be posted in an embassy msg position. US Embassy Caracas' MSG consists of 8 marines. Besides manning "post 1" (the main entrance of the embassy) they maintain a 24-hour guard of the embassy, watch out for security violations (classified information not locked up at the end of the day). While their mission is to protect the embassy and the classified information within its walls, they also run weekly drills that affect the entire embassy (fire drills, bomb drills, intruder drills, etc.). The marine ball takes place worldwide annually to celebrate the marine corps existence and to recognize our appreciation for their service.

I also recently took a cross-country trip with several friends to a picturesque city called Merida, known for its mountains and beautiful scenery. We had a lot of fun paragliding, driving through the mountains, and being outside the city.

One year down...one to go

Well, it's actually been just over a month since my one year anniversary in Caracas (Aug 17), but it's kind of just hitting me. All the friends I arrived with are getting their onward assignments, as I did a couple months ago. In a lot of ways, it's sad to think about moving on. Since I didn't have a lot of time to bond with my classmates in Washington, this is the first group of colleagues that I really feel I've bonded with. I'm already starting to make tentative plans to visit a couple of my best friends at their next posts.

I haven't received my official schedule for training, home leave, and departure date for Suva yet, but I arrived here in August, so I could technically leave anytime between July first and September 30. It's more likely to be a bit later in the range, since I had a little extra time between when I'd finish training and when I need to arrive in Suva. I'm supposed to get about 4 weeks of home leave, where I have to be somewhere in the US, and not working. Then I have about 32 weeks of language training. I don't yet know the order of events.

I had an interesting experience covering for a few days at the consulate in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. The US Consulate there only has 3 American officers and about 9 locally employed staff. Two of the three officers were gone, and the Consul General was the only other officer still there. She was not very involved with consular operations, so I learned quite a bit about being the only officer at a small post (ie. there's no one around to ask your questions to). Though Fiji's staff is probably more than 4 times the size of Curacao, it's about one sixth the size of Caracas, so it will be a culture change.

Before Curacao, I had a really nice trip with a group of 7 other friends to Los Roques, which is one of the two most well-known tourist attractions in Venezuela. It is a picturesque archipelago of islands in crystal turquoise water and white sand. There was a lot of fun snorkeling and relaxing times laying on the different beaches. In a couple of weeks I'm heading to another state and part of the country, which is mountainous, chillier, and has a smaller town feel. I'm hoping to look into paragliding, and there is an observatory, a lake, trails to hike, etc.

Yesterday I had some friends over to debut my new little grill that I shipped down in my supplemental HHE shipment, which I received a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time using it, and was fun to grill out on my balcony. I also made Mom's potato salad recipe for the first time since coming back down. I sent some pickles in that same shipment, since I haven't found them for sale anywhere here. It turned out pretty well and was a nice taste of home :)

Suva, Fiji

Well, I found out a couple weeks ago that my next post will be Suva, Fiji! I'm pretty happy about it; it was the number 3 post on my list. I like it for obvious reasons, like the tropical location. I also liked the opportunity to take on a bigger responsibility job-wise at a smaller post. The weird thing is knowing where I'll be going 22 months from now! I have a year to finish up in Caracas, before heading back to the US for a month of home leave, and about 9 months of training in Washington (I have to learn Hindi!).

In other news, I received my HHE supplemental shipment this week, which included an electric piano I bought when I was home in May. It wasn't too hard to set up (it's slightly smaller than a regular upright piano, though it has a full keyboard). It's been so nice to be able to play again! I brought a lot of my and mom's music back with me.

Finally, I learned I was selected to do a TDY (which means a short tour of duty) in Curacao in a couple weeks. There is a small consulate there, and both the consular officer and her back-up will be out of the country, so I'll get to put my newly acquired experience to use covering the office while they're gone, while enjoying the island for a few days :)

We recently had a very hectic week, when my two bosses and my top locally employed prison-portfolio coworker were out of town for a week when we had two new citizens arrested and a change in local laws that left us unable to carry out our prison visits as usual. On top of that, we had 2 delusional citizens walk in to our waiting room unannounced with interesting stories and requests. So my coworkers and I had to figure out how to do a lot of things we're used to turning to others to tell us how to do. It was a challenging but rewarding week.

Doing my Bidding

The past couple weeks have been busy ones. Besides turning thirty two weeks ago, I've been occupied with my bidlist for my second tour. This time, I got a list of 253 jobs, from which I had to select 30 and put them in rank order by preference. People who have served at higher hardship differential posts get higher equity in second tour bidding. Caracas is 20% hardship (the lowest is 0% and the highest is 70%), which is actually in the higher equity group, meaning we bid in the first half of the group, and after we are assigned, those who have served at 15% and lower differential posts will bid on the positions that are left. There are several timing issues to take into account considering start times, training, home leave, etc., and we are only allowed to submit "realistic" bids when all timing requirements are met.

Before seeing the list, I hoped to bid on a French-speaking post so I could get French training. Once the list came, there were few French language designated posts whose timing worked for me, so I ended up with a majority of Portuguese-speaking posts on my list. I chose first based on location and second based on the job description. I ended up with a fairly eclectic list: Havana, Lisbon, Suva, Tokyo, Maputo, Melbourne, Guadalajara, Sydney, Dublin, Rome, Maputo, Tokyo, Skopje, Perth, Praia, Bogota, Bogota, San Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Quito, Kingston, Guatemala, Beirut, Cairo, Cairo, Sao Paulo, Pretoria, Stockholm, Kinshasa, and Manila. I will have my assignment in just over a week, so the wait won't be too long. Work has been plenty busy to keep my mind off it.

I'll post when I find out! In the meantime, I'll continue practicing jiu jitsu, playing violin, waiting on my supplemental HHE shipment, which was supposed have arrived at the port yesterday, and getting together with a cousin, Brittany, who just moved to Caracas to teach at one of the international schools here!

I'm back...

Well, it's been a long time...too long, but it's been hard to write about what has happened over the last few months. While there have been a lot of changes over the last three months, the biggest are that I ended my engagement to Wayne, Joanna and Matt got married, and Mom passed away, about 6 weeks ago. Everything happened just within a couple of weeks' time, and I know it will be a process to adjust to life the way it is now.

I was blessed to be able to spend three weeks at home in Illinois around these events, and it was great to be with family and lean on them during the hard times, as well as enjoy their company and have some joyful times with them. It was nice to see some good friends who I hadn't seen in a while. Throughout the process of Mom's passing, what stood out to me most was the graciousness and kindness of friends and family and the peace we can have despite the deep sadness, due to our faith and the hope we have.

It was also good to get back to Caracas and return to a regular routine and the good friends I've made here. I've taken advantage of a couple of long weekends to travel with some of them, first to a nearby beach for a couple of nights, and more recently to Machu Picchu, in Peru. Both were fun and relaxing, and I've appreciate the chance to see new places not too far from home. I'm currently serving as the "Acting Chief of American Citizen Services" which is not only challenging and looks good on my EER (our annual employee evaluations), but has been a wonderful time to work with a smaller group of co-workers who I've gotten pretty close to. There will most likely be a new permanent chief within 2-3 months, but I'm enjoying this experience while it lasts.

I also recently started taking Jiu Jitsu classes from a co-worker who came to post not too long ago. That's been a new fun way to exercise while keeping it interesting. It's also cool to be learning a new skill that could be used as self defense.

I'll try to work back into writing more regularly. Thanks to all for your prayers and support throughout some challenging times lately.

you're looking at an engaged lady!

Hi All,
I feel bad about the delay in my writing. Many of you know about what's been going on with me lately that's been keeping me from writing. Grandma Cranston passed away about 3 weeks ago. She was a godly woman and I was blessed to have her as my grandma. After that, my internet at home was disconnected, and I was out of touch for almost a week before I got it turned back on. I had termites in my bedroom, and had to evacuate and live in the living room for about 10 days, since the chemicals used here are stronger than the ones used in the States. My room had to be sealed off for 72 hours, then the smell was so strong I couldn't sleep in my room for another week.

The following week, I traveled to Phoenix, where I was able to visit a lot of my family. I was able to see quite a few of the extended family members besides Mom and Dad and Joanna and Matt. Wayne made the trip down too, and took the opportunity to propose to me! It was really a whirlwind trip, but SO worth it. I really enjoyed the chance to spend a little time with many who are so dear to me.

I arrived back in Caracas on just 6 days ago, and jumped right back into my busy schedule at work. I continue to really enjoy my work and my coworkers. It's challenging and varied work, with lots of opportunities to learn. I also continue to pray for Mom and Dad--they've faced challenge after challenge in the last couple of years especially, and I really cherish the time I'm able to spend with them now.

I'm now starting to work on wedding plans! Though I'm lucky that Wayne lives near Champaign, where we'll have the wedding, and that he's willing and able to handle a great deal of the planning. I very much appreciate his doing so. We've set a date of October 8, 2011. Now that I've updated you on my life, I'll get back to intersting stuff about Venezuela next time :)

flying in Venezuela

I can't believe I've let so much time go by since I wrote--sorry! I just got back last night from traveling (three different cities in two days) for some prison visits and a trip to visit an Amcit (American citizen) on behalf of a family member of hers in the states (also known as a Welfare and Whereabouts visit). There are many things I could pick to focus on about my trip, but I'll talk about travel within Venezuela.

Due to the topography and the quality of the interstate system here, it often takes less time/stress to fly somewhere than drive. A destination that might be 250 miles away could take 6-8 hours to get to driving due to lots of mountains and lack of an interstate with smooth roads that don't go through towns every few minutes. So I've had the chance to fly nationally multiple times on a couple of the different national airlines.
Two days ago, we flew to a city on the coast, about a 30 minute flight. It was supposed to leave at 2 pm, but didn't actually leave until 4. We got to our destination, got a taxi to take us to the home of the Amcit we were visiting, then hopped back in the same taxi 45 minutes later (we asked him to wait) and returned to the airport, where we caught our 8:00 pm flight at 9:00 to another state, which happens to be an island.

The following day we did our prison visit in the morning, stopped for lunch and to buy duty-free items for our co-workers in the states, because Margarita island happens to be a duty-free state. We got on our 2:45 flight home and my co-worker and I were commenting to each other about how smoothly the travel and timing of everything had gone (the delays we experienced were not enough to make us change our plans, and delays are completely expected!).

As we taxied down the runway, we slowed, then turned around, then stopped back near the airport. The pilot announced we could not fly after all because the Airport in Caracas had closed for technical difficulties. We all had to deplane and go in to wait for further information. My co-worker dragged her feet and we were the last ones off the plane. As we were walking into the airport (small planes so you just walk to it and walk up the stairs of the plane) she asked an employee what was going on, and we were informed that the airport was again open and we would be reboarding again in 10 minutes. Great news, because this is Carnaval weekend, and we wouldn't have been able to find a hotel room on the entire island!

So instead of making it back for our department staff meeting at 4:30 on Friday afternoon, we arrived at 6:30, since the delay put us right into rush hour traffic. The airport in Caracas was FULL (Venezuelans use the word FULL in English while they're speaking Spanish to mean there was a TON of people) of travelers leaving for the 4-day Carnaval weekend. So while we were going the opposite direction, we still had to battle quite a bit of traffic along the way.

The airport in Caracas is where a huge percentage of crime originates, largely through people pretending to be taxi drivers whose aim is to rob their vulnerable passengers. There is one main highway between the airport and Caracas (about a 40-minute drive when there's no traffic, or "sin cola"), so it's easy for driver/theives to call ahead and tell there counterparts where to meet them for an easy target. For this reason, the embassy will always send a motorpool driver to the airport with an armored car or van. We arrive, we resist all the offers for unofficial taxis, and then we call the embassy driver to coordinate where to meet him.

Other interesting facts to consider when traveling in Venezuela:
-for every local ticket, the airport tax is not included and after checking in, you must get in a separate line to pay an additional $4.50 for the airport tax (and Venezuelans are not famous for knowing how to stand in lines very well)
-there are few restrictions (compared to the TSA) for what you can bring onto the plane, so packing isn't as mentally taxing as for international flights
-you really don't want to deal with checking luggage because of the rumors of how long you have to wait to get it when you arrive at your destination
-It's a beautiful country to fly over--there are plains, coasts, ports, jungles, mountains, etc. all in a country roughly the size of Texas :)

I'm baa-aack

Sorry for my delay in posting. It's been busy couple of weeks, with some ups and downs. I was so excited to finally get my HHE (household effects) last Wednesday! We are allowed to take an admin day off work to supervise the movers and the unpacking. The bringing of the boxes itself only took a couple of hours, and I had the rest of the day to try to arrange it all in my apartment. It's been really nice to have some of the things I haven't seen in months. Now, I'm just waiting for the embassy to send someone over and remove the extra bed and night tables from my living room so I can start inviting people over!

I think everyone's heard the disappointing news about mom's cancer. It continues to be challenging to be so far away from mom and dad during this experience. It is still comforting to know they're surrounded by good friends and that family is visiting often.

My bridesmaid dress came in the mail yesterday for Joanna's wedding in May. I had it sent here in case it needed alterations, but I don't think it's going to need any. I'm looking foward to being back for that in a few short months!

I'll try to start writing more about different cultural/social/language topics that I notice might be of interest in future posts. If you have any topics that you're interested in knowing about let me know and I'll address them as much as possible.

Driving in Venezuela

Driving in Caracas and throughout Venezuela is an adventure. It generally helps to have Diplomatic licence plates, and more importantly, the Diplomatic Carnet, which serves as my drivers license. I haven't had to use it yet, but I've seen and heard about co-workers who flash it at the "police checkpoints" that are randomly set up on the roads. You lower your window slightly, flash your carnet, and say "Soy diplomatica" and keep driving. The checkpoints are usually set up as a ploy for getting bribes from drivers to be allowed to pass through (and may be set up by real police or otherwise). Those manning them are known to have guns, and generally just want money. But they generally leave diplomats alone once you declare yourself as such.

At night, anything goes. Red lights either mean 'stop and go when you can' or else they don't mean much at all. During the day they're obeyed a little more regularly. At night, it's not a good idea to be stopped on the road unless you absolutely have to, as a sitting car is a great target for theft, often by a motorcyclist, which are ubiquitous here. It was an adjustment for me to drive in the states again, where you have to sit through the entire red light, even when there's no one around (just ask Wayne!).

One of the first landmarks we learned after arriving was the "triangle of death" where three streets converge around a triangular median, with two lanes on each of the three sides and no traffic signals. The idea is to approach tentativey but assertively, and pounce when you see daylight. When I first arrived, I commented to one of the motorpool drivers that I didn't think I'd EVER want to drive here, and he gave me a good word picture that has served me well. He said "traffic here is like a river; it flows, faster at some places and slower at others, but it doesn't stop. If you stop you'll completely mess up the flow." That's my motto when nosing my way in at intersections with no traffic signals.

There are no known rules in regards to open containers of alcohol in the vehicle or car seats for babies/children. Over the holidays, my co-worker watched a woman across the street polish off a beer, set her 4-year old in the passenger front seat, crack open another beer, and then take off driving. Speed bumps are everywhere, as are huge potholes, so it's hard to pick up much speed in the city anyway.

GPS is a lifesaver for me here. There's a really good Venezuela map for Garmin available for free download online. Due to the mountains and frequent heavy clouds, the signal is sometimes delayed significantly, so I've done my fair share of touring different parts of the city that I have no need to see while waiting for a signal to reach "Javier" so he can tell me where to go. It's also not a good idea to mount the GPS on the windshield or dashboard because it invites someone to steal it from you while you're stopped in traffic, so I've been mastering the art of balancing it on my cupholder or holding it in my lap while I drive. It may be more possible to mount it once I get my windows tinted, which I'm still trying to figure out, so until then I keep it down.

There's an incredibly high fatality rate for motorcycle drivers, so State employees are not even allowed to bring motorcycles here. Nonetheless, traffic is so congested almost all of the time that many people are willing to take the risk and ride them in order to get through the city much more efficiently. They weave in and out of cars, creating extra lanes, and often are inches away from me as they whip past my car. We're advised that SUVs are a good option (but not required) for getting around here. I will say I'm glad I traded in my manual transmission with all the steep mountain roads and the stop and go traffic. I'll be able to sell it here when I leave for the same price I bought it for last year.

I can't finish talking about driving without mentioning gas prices. It's sold by the liter, and I must admit I can't even tell you how much it costs per liter. All I can tell you for sure is that I pay less than the equivalent of 1 USD to fill my 13-galon tank. I generally tip the man that fills it up as much as the cost of the gas. That is one thing that I will always appreciate. Apparently, there were protests in the streets a year ago or so when gas prices increased approximately 25% to their current level.

January Reflections

I have realized over the last few months that many people in the States don't hear a lot about what's going on in Venezuela. I thought I'd put some links and give a high-level overview of what life is like here.

Venezuela is a socialist country. There is an elected president and parliament, but in the last few years, after being re-elected, Chavez passed a referendum to eliminate limits on re-election. The next presidential elections will be in 2012, and it's anyone's guess whether he'll convince enough people to vote for him again next year to keep him in office. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ve.html)

In the last several years, crime has been on the rise, with a very high percentage of crimes going unpunished (and most unreported). The murder rate is one of the top 5 in the world, and was cited as being more dangerous than Baghdad in an infamous New York Times article in August of last year. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/americas/23venez.html)

The Department of State website, travel.state.gov, lays out the statistics, and is very informative. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1059.html

These factors, plus the deteriorating infrastructure of the city and the frequent shortages of staples such as dairy products, eggs, specific types of produce, electricity, etc. are among the circumstances that contribute to the "hardship" status of this post. You never know what the country's president will declare on one of his nightly two-hour TV or radio programs. It is commonplace for him to take over all stations and make only his own broadcast available. Daily, there are multiple reports of expropriations of private properties and businesses.

While it definitely is a "hardship" post, there are plenty of factors that make me really enjoy working and living in Caracas. The department takes security very seriously, and they take great measures to help us stay safe. The weather here is pretty ideal. It's usually in the 70s or 80s, and now that the rainy season is over, I'm really loving the sunshine. I have wonderful co-workers, both local and direct-hire Americans. Because we have to have such secure housing due to department standards, they provide housing in one of the very nice areas of the city, and my apartment is beautiful. The landscape is beautiful, and the city of Caracas is surrounded by mountains, coast, plains, jungles, and waterfalls. I am looking forward to seeing as much of it as I can over the next year and a half.

Most of the Venezuelans that I've gotten to know so far are very proud of their country, but often are disappointed by how things are going right now. They've seen deterioration in freedoms, infrastructure, economic situations, etc. in the last decade or so. I haven't noticed any racism here (and am told it's really not an issue), though there is quite a variety of racial diversity. What are more prevalent are classism and heated tension between political parties.

One of the biggest hardships has been being away from my family during what has been a really challenging time for my parents. They've been fighting mom's cancer for about 14 months now, and I really wish I could be there to give more concrete support. One of my biggest comforts is the fact that they are surrounded by so many caring friends and family who are there for them in many ways I can't be. I had a great visit home at Christmas when Wayne, Joanna, Matt, Dan, and Beth were also there.

So while there are definite challenges and difficulties associated with living here, I'm also getting into a groove here and starting to settle in to this new life in Caracas. I'm thankful for good friends who are making the transition easier on both ends, and I look forward to seeing what is to come!

beautiful January weather

Hi all,
As I watch the news about the weather in the US, one thing I have to be thankful for is the beautiful weather here. Today I spent a couple hours laying by the pool of the hotel that I lived at when I first got here. It is the perfect relaxing thing to do on a Sunday afternoon :)

I'm settling back into my routine little by little. When I first arrived, there was a feeling that I had to do something all the time with a big group of people, both getting to know everyone here at the embassy and trying to get to know the city. Since I've returned from Illinois, I feel like I've kind of turned a corner toward not feeling obligated to accept every social invitation that comes up. I love hanging out with my co-workers and seeing new things, but I feel a little better taking some time to do things on my own, or feeling ok just staying at home and cleaning, cooking, etc.

This week, a couple of my coworkers (who are married to each other) from Carle are down here visiting her family. She is actually from Colombia, but lived here in Caracas for about 20 years. It was great to get together with them and catch up a bit with them this weekend. I'm looking forward to the chance to catch up a little more on rest tomorrow, since it's a holiday for the embassy.

Chau!

back in the saddle

Hi all,
Sorry not to have kept up with my blog the last couple of weeks. I had a wonderful trip home, and have now been back in Caracas for a week. I was blessed to have no problems whatsoever with my travel. No delays, lost luggage, etc., which is unheard of with the airport here in Caracas. In fact, the motor pool driver assigned to pick me up from the airport got there about 10 minutes after I got through customs and everything on my way home.

It was wonderful to spend time with family and loved ones in Illinois. The time was short, but I think we did a good job of making the most of it. Joanna had a couple of bridal showers, we had a family Christmas celebration with everyone at my parents' house, including Wayne and Joanna's fiance, Matt.

I've gotten right back into the swing of things here in Caracas. Lots and lots of people leave the city during their extended holiday vacations, and traffic dies down considerably between mid-December and mid-January. This past Sunday was when you could really feel it pick up again; the streets were crazy with people getting back into town before school started up again on Monday.

Yesterday I purchased a boxing bag from a co-worker who is leaving post, and I was able to get it assembled in my apartment and box for a little while. I haven't been able to since I left Washington, so it was really fun!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!