Well the winter break is coming to an end. I fly back home to BR tomorrow. That's funny I don't think I've ever called BR home before. I usually claim New Orleans, more exciting I guess. I was raised in the Big Easy but I have lived in BR for, off an on, 7 years now. I guess it's time to accept it.
You wanna know another funny thing? Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to travel. I have the blood of a missionary pumping through these veins. That is why I am going through Elevate; it is the preparation part for what God has planned for me. Elevate will be over in May but I know that I am not ready to leave. Of course I won't get my Master's Degree until next year, so I will be sticking around but that's not the only reason. While I was away this break, my travels were filled with a longing to be back home. This is really a new feeling for me. To miss a place that I am already intimately familiar with. More than anything I think I miss my family and friends.
I feel disconnected from what normally gives me life. I feel like I am not connected to the vine anymore. I am shriveling up. I am lonely even though I am surrounded by people. I have developed some great friendships in the past year and I miss that companionship. I miss the freedom I have in their presence, to just be me.
I guess I know what it feels like to be living in the fullness of God's presence and then be removed from it. I know that God is everywhere and that He is always with me, but the challenge presented to me now is to take that same fire keep it with me wherever I go.
Jan 1, 2008
Dec 28, 2007
Venezuela Part III
The food here consists of a lot of queso and jamon - ham and cheese! They make arrepas which is a fried sandwich and it is filled with just about anything you can think of. They make a dough out of masa flour which has the consistency of Southern grits. They make it into a patty and then fry it, cut it in half like a pita pocket and fill it.
The Maracuchos eat a lot of beef, lomito, as well. It is grilled and served with avocado salad, arrepas, plantains, and of course cheese. The drink of choice, when it isn't whiskey and water, is fruit nectar which is like a thick juice from what ever fruit you want and it is very good. Oh and coffee! They have great cafecito which means little coffee - it is like a cross between cappuccino and espresso.
Venezuela is more Caribbean than Spanish. The climate is different across the country because it is so wide, but it is always hot in Maracaibo. There are palm trees every where but not much vegetation.
The traditional music is from a saxophone, bas drum, snare drum and trumpet. It sounds like music from the Andes mountains combined with New Orleans Jazz! The popular music now is called reggatone which is like hip hop and reggae music combined and it is big in the discos.
As different as Maracaibo is on the surface the people there still face many of the same issues as Peru. There is political unrest. There is poverty. There is violence and theft. This is a city trying to carve itself out of its past and into its future and no one knows what that will look like - not even the Maracuchos.
The Maracuchos eat a lot of beef, lomito, as well. It is grilled and served with avocado salad, arrepas, plantains, and of course cheese. The drink of choice, when it isn't whiskey and water, is fruit nectar which is like a thick juice from what ever fruit you want and it is very good. Oh and coffee! They have great cafecito which means little coffee - it is like a cross between cappuccino and espresso.
Venezuela is more Caribbean than Spanish. The climate is different across the country because it is so wide, but it is always hot in Maracaibo. There are palm trees every where but not much vegetation.
The traditional music is from a saxophone, bas drum, snare drum and trumpet. It sounds like music from the Andes mountains combined with New Orleans Jazz! The popular music now is called reggatone which is like hip hop and reggae music combined and it is big in the discos.
As different as Maracaibo is on the surface the people there still face many of the same issues as Peru. There is political unrest. There is poverty. There is violence and theft. This is a city trying to carve itself out of its past and into its future and no one knows what that will look like - not even the Maracuchos.
Venezuela Part II
The Maracuchos party like no body's business! My step-sister's wedding started at 6pm and they didn't stop dancing until 4am! At the Christmas eve party dinner wasn't even served until midnight and we left the party at 2am. I haven't stayed up this late this much in years!
The Maracuchos take pride in everything from the way they dress to the cars they drive to the food they cook! There is a lot of money here but if you look through all of the glitz and glamor you see the same undercurrent of poverty that runs through most of South America.
Maracaibo, Venezuela is more modern than Lima, Peru. There is air conditioning everywhere, most of the buildings are very modern and the city has started to grow up - sky scrapers are coming up out of the ground to forever change the Maracucho skyline.
To Be Continued...
The Maracuchos take pride in everything from the way they dress to the cars they drive to the food they cook! There is a lot of money here but if you look through all of the glitz and glamor you see the same undercurrent of poverty that runs through most of South America.
Maracaibo, Venezuela is more modern than Lima, Peru. There is air conditioning everywhere, most of the buildings are very modern and the city has started to grow up - sky scrapers are coming up out of the ground to forever change the Maracucho skyline.
To Be Continued...
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