I´ve finally made it out of Venezuela! Yeah!
Now Im chillin (literally) at 2800 meters in Quito, Equador.
So I hanged out in Barquisimeto until Friday the 29th of May, then I bussed to Caracas to chill with Lilly, but I couldnt stay at her place because her Venezuelan room mates were conservative and unhospital pieces of shit...and to top it off the fuckers dont even pay rent, their parents do! They had issues with me using the shower there, not having a T-shirt on (scary, i know) for a brief period of time, and staying under the same roof as them. So I crashed at this other persons house, but going back and forth between there and Lilly´s place was a pain in the ass. On Saturday i felt kinda sick all day, but I managed to walk around the town with Lilly. On Sunday me, Lilly, and Brandi (cool chick from Austin teaching english in Caracas) hiked in Parque National Avila, which is bascially the lush montans that seperate Caracas from the Carribean coast. We made it to this amazing 20 meter water fall surrounded by lush tropical growth....it was one of the most amazing tropical environments that I´ve been it. The water was cold and refreshing. Wish i had a camera then but i left it with my stuff. I left Caracas on Monday which made Lilly quite sad, and made me feel a bit sad as well, but I was just sick of Venezuela and was ready to leave. Everything was cool until i got to the ticketing counter at the airport. They wouldnt give me my boarding pass until i had proof that i was leaving Equador. My plan was to leave Equador by bus, and i wasnt worried about immigration because Im an American citizen (sorry Venezuelans, unlike yall, almost all south american immigration officers are not worried about us overstaying our visa), I have proof of sufficent funds, and unlike Venezuela, Equador actually has a developed tourism industry and encourages tourism. Aeropostal ticket desk isnt fuckin Equadorian Immigration!!!! Anyway after lots of arguing and a faild bribe attempt (money talks ya know), I bought a return ticket to Venezuela which I planned on cancelling as soon as i arrived in Equador. So $136 dollar later i finally get on the plane. On the plane i met an american guy who is a teacher and spends his free time traveling the world, he claimed to have visited 87 countries. He was in Venezuela to see Angel Falls (worlds highest water fall). He was bitching to me about Venezuela, i just smiled and said "Welcome to Venezuela". Was interesting to hear from someone more traveled than me that the service, hospitality, tourism infrastructure, and attitudes of Venezuelans rate amoungst the worst that he has encountered in all of his travels. He said the people in Laos are POOR (more so than Venezuelans) and they smile all the time and are friendly, he didnt understand why people in Venezuela where they way they were, and quite frankly neither did I. Once I got to know some Venezuelans better I didnt feel quite so bitter about things, but I completely understand a tourists point of view. Anyways, nice to chat with another yankee.
When we arrived in Quito i could already feel the difference. The immigration people smiled (and didnt ask me for a forwarding ticket you Aeropostal pieces of dogshit) and so did the guards and other employees at the airport. When to the ATM and got some good old greenbacks, shared a taxi with the other gringo, and crashed out at a $5 a night hostal (but sweet cuz i had the room to myself). Next day tried to cancel the ticket from quito to Caracas, but they said it was non refundable, which wasnt what the assholes said at the caracas airport. Anywasy been trying to get that sorted out. Also that first day was a bitch because of the altitude sickness, difficulty breathing, fatigue, and head aches that go along with it. Not may gringos in my hostal so i hanged out and had some drinks with a local guy and chated with him. For some reason im am suddenly communicating in Spanish really well and can understand the people here really well, but i think they have a mellow spanish dialect here so they are easy to understand. Did lots of walking today and saw many churches (one had 7 tons of gold covering the walls and ceilling) and colonial structures in the Old Town. Lots of Indians here...really short people with funny hats and traditional dress selling fruit and old batteries on the street. Things are cheap here too, had a full lunch with 2 drinks for $1.60.
so far so good, going to visit the actual equatorial line tomorrow so I can enjoy hopping between the northern and southern halfs of our planet in the same place.
check yall later