I've embraced my third and final year in Venezuela with patience and contentment. A summer in Maracaibo means I was itching to get out of town and go to a different country during Fall break. Solanyel was kind enough to join me on a trip to Santa Marta, Colombia for some time in the water.
I insisted on a place with a view so we selected one of the last remaining Airbnb's with a balcony overlooking the sea. We planned 3 diving days and intentionally planned days to do nothing.
We both picked up some books and spent our days goofing off at the pool, going for walks in town, or relaxing at the beach.
Most of the time, we read books sitting on the balcony watching the sun creep along overhead. After finishing a dive day or a poolside day, we sometimes had afternoon storms pass by as we admired them from the safety and comfort of our apartment.
It was hypnotizing to watch the lightening up above. At night I'd lay down at the pool in the water and watch it go off.
Sol has her diving certification now and I just picked up a new GoPro camera so we had our fun in the water. We saw hermit crabs, sea spiders, and little baby eels among much else. I'm still not able to get the color temperature right, but the quality of the video seems much better than previous dives.
Soon upon returning to Venezuela, it was time to for the festivities of autumn and winter to kick into gear! Although we don't exactly have pumpkins here, I thought we could substitute the standard orange pumpkin and use some big squash I found at the local market. Time to carve!
As this part of American culture seeps throughout the globe, each culture adopts it in its own way. Venezuelans have recently taken up pumpkin decorating but instead of carving, they paint their pumpkins in festive colors and patterns. Sol said this was her first time actually carving up the pumpkin and putting a candle inside.
A fun Halloween and Thanksgiving quickly yielded to a festive start to the Christmas season. Sol surprised me with an afternoon activity I haven't done in probably 30 years.
Great idea, Sol! Every time we do something like this, I always say it isn't a competition then end up trying to do it "better". I never do and either try to steal her ideas or begrudgingly admit that hers is awesome.
Solanyel's sister lives in Utah with her husband and baby daughter, so Sol and her family went to visit for two weeks during winter break. This gave me the opportunity to pet-sit and hang out with Ramón for awhile. Just two bachelors kicking back...
This sweet little French bulldog was a great roommate. We went on long walks on the waterfront every morning to watch the sun rise and indulged in the annual Christmas viewing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you're unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings, there are a group of bad guys called Uruk-hai and I just couldn't help myself.
I gave him a treat for playing along. Thanks, Ramón! Time for bed.
I've spent many Christmases alone and have learned how to still enjoy the sentimentality of the holiday even though I'm not surrounded by family and friends. Some tips and tricks are to make sure to indulge in the food and drink that you remember from Christmas as a kid. For the first time in two years, a real IPA beer was sold here. Even though they only had 3 cases in the entire city and were charging $4 a can, I bought two of the three cases and enjoyed every drop.
Solanyel came back a few days after Christmas and brought me some gifts from home. Thanks for the fudge, toffee, and chai, Mom! And a Christmas card by Moriah of Earth. Shop now! My sister is incredible.
New Year's Eve is upon us! Almost caught up. We spent the evening at Solanyel's house then moved on to her Grandpa's neighborhood for midnight. Wonderful food, drinks, and, most of all, people.
Ready to party! But a few photos first. Solanyel is lovely as usual.
After dinner, we moved on to an outdoor gathering where the water flowed like wine and kids blew up fireworks in the street.
As the new year came and went, I took advantage of the free time and got in some hoops at my school. We host an annual Christmas Cup basketball tournament with local schools and organizations. This year we took home the trophy.
And then another stop at the mechanic to work on my power steering. I'm always amazed by how things work in Venezuela. So many garage mechanics. This was one of the nicer ones.
They didn't replace the part (because they can't; the part doesn't exist here because of sanctions on Venezuela), but they ripped it apart and welded the necessary section back together and put it back in. I hung out here for three hours watching the process, mainly to learn but also to make sure they don't steal other parts from my car in the process. They were cool though, no harm done.
And that's all she wrote! It's now mid-January and we are off and rolling. The school year started and I'm excited to get back into a routine. Time to work off all those beer & cheese calories that I took in over the break.
Until next time!