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I enjoyed my time in Venezuela immensely; I made many new friends, learned a lot in regard to both work and life, and was able to travel quite a bit in the region. From Caracas, I traveled internationally to Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Puerto Rico (twice), Curacao (twice), Panama, and back to the States a few times to be with my mom and family before she passed away, for my sister's wedding, for Christmas, and most recently for my dad and Tammy's wedding! Inside Venezuela I got to see Los Roques (twice!), the mountains of Merida, the famous lightening and stilt houses in Lake Maracaibo/Catatumbo, Margarita Island, the glorious Avila, and many other beaches. I had the privilege of seeing many of these places through the lens of an amazing photographer and awesome travel companion, my boyfriend Alex.
I got to go inside 10 of the national prisons, which are constantly in the news for their violence and overcrowding (and prisoners taking visitors as hostages to use for negotiating better conditions). I did over 20,000 visa interviews in a year, and was challenged by several cases of American Citizens in need of help. I was mentored by great supervisors and colleagues, and I made several friends who became like family.
I called off an engagement, had knee surgery and Lasik eye surgery, went paragliding twice, averaged a soccer game a week, dressed up as Audrey Hepburn and Sleeping Beauty for work events, and was a regular at the Intercontinental Hotel pool on weekends I wasn't traveling out of town. There were a lot of highs and a few big lows, but I'm thankful to my friends and family for helping me get through them. A week ago tomorrow I left my life from the last two years to begin 36 weeks of Hindi training, before heading to my next assignment in Fiji next summer.
I left Venezuela at a time that is critical for my Venezuelan friends. A month from today, they will have national elections, and many are hopeful that Chavez will be defeated this time around. Many are sure that even if he is, he will fudge the results and maintain his presidency. It was disappointing for me not to be around for the event, but I will be watching with interest to see what happens, and hoping for the best for the citizens of Venezuela.
I definitely experienced some culture shock upon returning to Washington. Notable to me was the ability to walk anywhere I want to go, the ease/safety of public transportation, the variety of food in the grocery stores, and realizing that most people are speaking English around me all the time (and I don't get annoyed when people look at me and automatically speak English). In many ways, though, I feel like my upcoming assignment will feel much more "foreign" than Venezuela did. Spanish was not new to me, though I adapted my accent and learned a lot of new vocabulary. It still felt very comfortable and familiar to me.
The first week of Hindi has been a challenge! We study 5 hours straight in the mornings from 7:40-12:30, then have a couple hours of homework in the evenings. Besides learning all new sounds, letters, and cultural norms, I am the only one in my class who is not going to India when we finish. So I'm having to do a lot of study on my own about Fiji. It will be much further away from my friends and family in the Western Hemisphere, though I think I'll potentially have a lot of visitors as well.
So, as I move from Venezuela to Washington, I'm sad to leave, but I also welcome the change of pace and the opportunity to learn some more. I look forward to visits from Alex, my family and friends here in the States, and hopefully some friends from Venezuela too! I also have several co-workers from Venezuela who are or will be studying languages here over the next few months. Now, to find a place to play soccer!
you can see more of Alex's work at www.rengelphoto.com
