A few months ago I saw a segment on 60 Minutes describing this wonderful National Youth Orchestra in Venezuela. The orchestra, partially funded by the government, takes young kids—many of them from the barrios—and turns them into highly trained musical prodigies. The orchestra has been in high demand to play at some of the top music halls around the world.
The reason I bring this up is that it turns out the son of my adoptive family is also quite musically inclined. When I asked him about the above orchestra I believe he said he was in it for a while. He now plays at another music school.
I got to visit the school with the family Sunday to see him perform. I rarely listen to classical music and I don’t think I’ve ever gone to a performance, but this one was quite beautiful and soothing to the ears. The son played both the harp and I believe the cuatro, a classic Venezuelan instrument, at different times during the show.
This evening, much to my surprise, I found out he’s going to Canada for 15 days to go on tour with a musical group. That's saying a lot right there.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
End of Week 1
So the week is over. I've had three more days of classes and finally had a chance to settle and get used to my new routine. I have my Spanish classes every weekday from 9am to 1pm and then from 2pm to 4pm. The first class—the so-called group class—is just me and one other student from Florida. So we basically take turns at answering questions proposed by our professor whether it is from a workbook or anything else she might have on her mind. The second class is just a one-on-one with a different professor going beyond and/or reinforcing whatever I did earlier in the day.
My Spanish is progressing along quite nicely, I think, and according to my professors. I'm going from comprehending almost nothing to understanding and being able to respond to simple questions. I'm also getting quite good at Spanish pronunciation--being able to read short stories and news articles with only a few corrections. While I'm not in school I spend most of my time studying.
I've made a Venezuelan friend who works in the same office as the school and we speak Spanglish to each other--him knowing more English than I know Spanish, but not near fully proficient. He's been there to help me order stuff on the street for lunch. On Friday I had some very good mini pan de queso (cheese bread) in one of the pastry shops.
At home, my adoptive family has high speed Internet access via a DSL line. This is great and far more than I was expecting, but it's connected to only one computer in the central living room with no wireless. That makes my iPod nearly useless and makes it difficult to get internet access through my laptop. Leave it to a certified nerd like me to think of this situation beforehand and bring a wireless router with me on the trip. I was able to install the router by connecting a few wires and now I have English-Spanish translations on my iPod and laptop all from my room. Talk about convenient!
Late Thursday night I made my first Skype (a free voip application) call with my Dad. I had also been perceptive enough to buy my Dad a webcam before the trip so we would both have one (mine is integrated above the computer screen). It was the first time we'd used it from outside the home and the video worked great. We could both see each other talking with no real noticeable delay and it was all free.
There is plenty more I can cover and I want to post some pictures later when I have more time, but feel free to leave comments and ask me any questions.
My Spanish is progressing along quite nicely, I think, and according to my professors. I'm going from comprehending almost nothing to understanding and being able to respond to simple questions. I'm also getting quite good at Spanish pronunciation--being able to read short stories and news articles with only a few corrections. While I'm not in school I spend most of my time studying.
I've made a Venezuelan friend who works in the same office as the school and we speak Spanglish to each other--him knowing more English than I know Spanish, but not near fully proficient. He's been there to help me order stuff on the street for lunch. On Friday I had some very good mini pan de queso (cheese bread) in one of the pastry shops.
At home, my adoptive family has high speed Internet access via a DSL line. This is great and far more than I was expecting, but it's connected to only one computer in the central living room with no wireless. That makes my iPod nearly useless and makes it difficult to get internet access through my laptop. Leave it to a certified nerd like me to think of this situation beforehand and bring a wireless router with me on the trip. I was able to install the router by connecting a few wires and now I have English-Spanish translations on my iPod and laptop all from my room. Talk about convenient!
Late Thursday night I made my first Skype (a free voip application) call with my Dad. I had also been perceptive enough to buy my Dad a webcam before the trip so we would both have one (mine is integrated above the computer screen). It was the first time we'd used it from outside the home and the video worked great. We could both see each other talking with no real noticeable delay and it was all free.
There is plenty more I can cover and I want to post some pictures later when I have more time, but feel free to leave comments and ask me any questions.
Introduction
For all who don't know me I'll just say that I'm a recent college grad from California who has decided to take a trip to Venezuela.
The country has attracted me both because it is Spanish speaking and it is also currently the site of an extraordinary social revolution in progress. The majority of my time here will be spent trying to learn Spanish, but I also want to better understand the current political situation.
If we are to fight collectively for a better world (and I think we must if we care about justice and improving the human condition), I firmly believe it is important to try to learn and understand the steps others are taking whatever their successes or failings.
I will try to be honest about my observations, but of course it will be a while until can better evaluate what I see--not knowing the language and being able to converse with people yet.
The main purpose of this blog is that friends and family who are interested can more easily track my travels in Venezuela. However, since I have other interests it will include my thoughts and meanderings whether they be about Venezuela or not.
The country has attracted me both because it is Spanish speaking and it is also currently the site of an extraordinary social revolution in progress. The majority of my time here will be spent trying to learn Spanish, but I also want to better understand the current political situation.
If we are to fight collectively for a better world (and I think we must if we care about justice and improving the human condition), I firmly believe it is important to try to learn and understand the steps others are taking whatever their successes or failings.
I will try to be honest about my observations, but of course it will be a while until can better evaluate what I see--not knowing the language and being able to converse with people yet.
The main purpose of this blog is that friends and family who are interested can more easily track my travels in Venezuela. However, since I have other interests it will include my thoughts and meanderings whether they be about Venezuela or not.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Getting into Caracas and First Days
Hey everyone, so I bet you’re wondering how things are going. I can say with enthusiasm that everything is going great. I arrived in Caracas on Sunday in late morning and someone was there to meet me at the gate with my name on a sign as promised. Before that though, I managed to change some of my American money with Bolivar Fuertes while waiting for my bags at the carousel. I’m not sure if the bank was run by the government or not, but I got the standard rate $1 = 2.15 Bs. F.
The guy I met took me into the city which was about a half hour away. Apparently there was some miscommunication though so he did a rendezvous with my adoptive father who then proceeded to drive right back to the airport. We waited there for an hour as his wife and son (age 16) landed allowing us all to greet one another for the first time.
We then went to their apartment which is on the 4th floor of a tall residential complex--there are tons of them here. This one was a better looking and had little if any graffiti in contrast to some of the others. The apartment itself has 3 small bedrooms, a kitchen, and living room. It’s very cozy. They gave me my very own room and, surprisingly, my very own full bathroom. The accommodations are more than adequate making me comfortable, but feeling a bit undeserving and overly privileged.
This is still a developing country. There are perhaps four immediately identifiable classes I’ve observed so far: Families who have their own homes and live comfortably, families who live in these many tall residential apartment complexes (often not too nice itself with graffiti all over and urban decay), families who in the small (maybe 1 room?) barrios that carpet the outskirts of the city, and families who have no home at all. Here I’m in the 2nd tier with my own room. I must say that I haven’t explored much yet in the 3 days I’ve been here though.
My adoptive family could not be more kind. Not only do I get housing, but they feed me delicious vegetarian food when I’m at home. The father doesn’t speak any English as far as I can tell. The mother is (or was?) a Chemistry and Biology teacher, but I she could not carry on a conversation in English although she understands some words. The son can speak a good deal of English but is not perfect. No matter though because I came here to learn Spanish. I do most of my interaction with the Mom. She is wonderful and just like a good teacher, repeats things a few times and in different ways so I can generally understand with my (very) limited Spanish vocabulary.
The first day of school she guided me step by step from the bus to the metro to the school. It takes about an hour (I think). We bought tickets together and went through the whole process like a Mom taking her kid to his first day of school—except in this case the kid can barely understand his mom and nobody else around in a completely foreign environment. Yeah, it’s a little scary.
The school is on the 15th floor of a building and is pretty small as far as I could tell. There seemed to be more staff than students, but maybe that will change. After a quick test in which I (expectingly) sucked at, I was given one-on-one basic Spanish instruction the rest of the day. I can’t say it’s the best instruction because the teacher barely spoke any English which understandably made it very difficult to explain a Spanish word I didn’t know. It was more than a little frustrating at first, but I think I’m starting to get used to it.
During lunch I went down to the local Subway and ordered myself the vegetariano sandwich with todos options. Even while keeping my Spanish to the very minimum I got a few funny looks while as I butchering the words. No one could tell I was a foreigner until I open my mouth. Even then, I think the attendant thought I was speaking French.
After school I went home alone on the metro and then the bus. This was probably the scariest part of my trip as I could barely remember where to get off the bus. I picked a corner and luckily it was the right one. As I opened the door to the apartment, a sigh of relief visibility came from both my adoptive mom and I. It was apparently getting late and she was about to come out to try and find me.
The next day I had off because of a national Venezuelan holiday. It is this holiday that I sit here to type this. I’ve been studying my Spanish all day. Tomorrow (Wednesday), I look forward to yet another adventure.
The guy I met took me into the city which was about a half hour away. Apparently there was some miscommunication though so he did a rendezvous with my adoptive father who then proceeded to drive right back to the airport. We waited there for an hour as his wife and son (age 16) landed allowing us all to greet one another for the first time.
We then went to their apartment which is on the 4th floor of a tall residential complex--there are tons of them here. This one was a better looking and had little if any graffiti in contrast to some of the others. The apartment itself has 3 small bedrooms, a kitchen, and living room. It’s very cozy. They gave me my very own room and, surprisingly, my very own full bathroom. The accommodations are more than adequate making me comfortable, but feeling a bit undeserving and overly privileged.
This is still a developing country. There are perhaps four immediately identifiable classes I’ve observed so far: Families who have their own homes and live comfortably, families who live in these many tall residential apartment complexes (often not too nice itself with graffiti all over and urban decay), families who in the small (maybe 1 room?) barrios that carpet the outskirts of the city, and families who have no home at all. Here I’m in the 2nd tier with my own room. I must say that I haven’t explored much yet in the 3 days I’ve been here though.
My adoptive family could not be more kind. Not only do I get housing, but they feed me delicious vegetarian food when I’m at home. The father doesn’t speak any English as far as I can tell. The mother is (or was?) a Chemistry and Biology teacher, but I she could not carry on a conversation in English although she understands some words. The son can speak a good deal of English but is not perfect. No matter though because I came here to learn Spanish. I do most of my interaction with the Mom. She is wonderful and just like a good teacher, repeats things a few times and in different ways so I can generally understand with my (very) limited Spanish vocabulary.
The first day of school she guided me step by step from the bus to the metro to the school. It takes about an hour (I think). We bought tickets together and went through the whole process like a Mom taking her kid to his first day of school—except in this case the kid can barely understand his mom and nobody else around in a completely foreign environment. Yeah, it’s a little scary.
The school is on the 15th floor of a building and is pretty small as far as I could tell. There seemed to be more staff than students, but maybe that will change. After a quick test in which I (expectingly) sucked at, I was given one-on-one basic Spanish instruction the rest of the day. I can’t say it’s the best instruction because the teacher barely spoke any English which understandably made it very difficult to explain a Spanish word I didn’t know. It was more than a little frustrating at first, but I think I’m starting to get used to it.
During lunch I went down to the local Subway and ordered myself the vegetariano sandwich with todos options. Even while keeping my Spanish to the very minimum I got a few funny looks while as I butchering the words. No one could tell I was a foreigner until I open my mouth. Even then, I think the attendant thought I was speaking French.
After school I went home alone on the metro and then the bus. This was probably the scariest part of my trip as I could barely remember where to get off the bus. I picked a corner and luckily it was the right one. As I opened the door to the apartment, a sigh of relief visibility came from both my adoptive mom and I. It was apparently getting late and she was about to come out to try and find me.
The next day I had off because of a national Venezuelan holiday. It is this holiday that I sit here to type this. I’ve been studying my Spanish all day. Tomorrow (Wednesday), I look forward to yet another adventure.
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