It's about time......

It's about time I finally set up a blog to keep everyone updated on what I've been doing in Venezuela, so here it is! I've done my best to pass on what I've done up to this point, but a blog may work better..... I will try to post pics and stories about what I've been up to here as frequently as possible.
So far I've seen a little bit of Caracas (the capital of Venezuela) and Puerta la Cruz, explored the Cave of the Guacharo, camped out at Puy Puy, a remote beach on the Caribbean coast, and most recently hiked upriver to Puertas de Miraflores and stayed the night in a cabin in the mountains surrounding the small town of Caripe. The majority of my time has been spent in Maturin, a smaller city of about 450,000 people located in the eastern part of the country. We are now in the fifth week of school and I've gotten into the routine of waking up at 5:30 every morning, starting classes at 7:30, and heading home at 3:00. So far, work has been fun and I've learned a lot as I have never worked in a classroom before - last time I was in a first grade classroom, I was the one learning how to read and read numbers. Now I'm helping the kids learn their letter sounds, adjust to classes taught all in English, etc.....
So far, just to name a couple of things that have surprised me are: the price of gas and the number of power outages. Cesar can fill up his tank for about US$1. And as energy-rich as Venezuela is, power outages are frequent due to a weak infrastructure. Sometimes it just can't handle the demand. Another big shock for me at first was the difference in how people speak here. I still find it hard to keep up with conversations for two reasons: in this part of the country people can speak extremely fast, and there is a lot of new vocabulary as people use a lot of slang that is distinctly eastern Venezuelan. So I am doing my best to improve my comprehension, and I hope to gradually be able to keep up with the conversations - maybe one day I'll be able to join in!
I hope to post pictures soon.