Ready To Leave Caracas
19 August 2005 (Friday) – Caracas, Venezuela
There really isn’t much left to do in Caracas. I think the reason I am still here is perhaps due to inertia, as I was pretty comfortable where I was staying and I really got along splendidly with my hosts Rafael and Rosa. They would be having a baby soon this January, I am so happy for them. Although the past few days, we could not do much together as they had to work, we spent our evenings very fruitfully chatting and chatting til late at night. I really enjoyed their company, such mature and sensible people. And they also found my stories very diverse and funny.
The other reason was that finally late last night, I got my stash of bolivares. With Rafael acting as the intermediary, my invisible supplier provided me with the money in exchange for my US dollars, all very shady, all very under-the-table.
With my money, I could try and get some stuff posted home. To my surprise, the post office here did not sell boxes of any kind. I ended up spending a good part of the morning, wandering along the streets, hoping to find a box. An elderly man running a snack-and-coffee joint waved to me and gave me a wide friendly smile. I smiled back and took my chance (and charm) and asked him if he could spare a box. He rummaged in the back and came up with one! OK, it was too big, but at least, he was really very helpful.
I then spent another half an hour or so, wandering down more streets to look for a smaller box I could EXCHANGE with. No luck, so I finally started asking for directions to the nearest post office. That took quite a bit of huffing and puffing to get to. Gosh… Caracas’ polluted air was really killing me!
I reached the post office and the lady helping me told me that if I had a smaller box, it would cost less. Yes, I k-n-o-w, but I had just spent a few hours wandering around the streets this morning… and this was all that I could find. To my surprise, she rummaged through her backroom and came up with a smaller box for me!! Then, she helped transfer everything over. That was really nice of her!
Wow, since I arrived in Caracas, I had met many surly people who refused to smile when they performed their services, people who had been downright rude or impatient with me. So, this was a pleasant surprise. Sure, there are rude people in all countries but look, I spent (in total of my entire life) 3.5 months in Brazil, 4 months in Argentina, 1.5 months in Chile, 1.5 months in Peru… and I was never really aware of the rude people, they were there… the odd ones here and there, but not so obvious for me to be fuming mad thinking about them. Yet, 5 days in Caracas, encountering rude and unsmiling people seemed to be the norm and the level of bad service was very glaring to me. Yet, out of nowhere, at certain moments like now, I would meet really helpful people and feel positively warm to the Venezuelans again.
After this, I trooped along more polluted roads and risked crossing through more mad traffic and reached a bus company to buy my bus ticket to Valencia. OK, surly service here.
Well, with absolutely nothing better to do, I cracked my brain hard and decided to go to the Botanic Garden. I thought there, perhaps I could breathe in fresh air, sit on a bench to read or whatever. Well, as I had no idea how to walk there, it took me more than 1.5 hours under the hot sun to find the entrance. Then, it suddenly poured. Nevertheless, I still patiently visited the garden. But what a disappointment!! The special displays were all half-cultivated or closed! And the ONE walkway leading down the length of the long Botanic Garden was right next to the highway!! More noise and pollution! Hmm… there appeared not many benches around and even if there were, they were wet from the rain. Bad bad decision.
At least, I ended the day pleasantly enough by buying a thank-you dinner for Rafael and Rosa at a Lebanese restaurant and we watched the exciting ‘The Island‘ together. Quite enjoyable movie, I liked it.
Tags: 05) Merchants of Little Venice, Caracas
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