Day 1: Arrival!
June 1st, 2012
School has been out for a few weeks now and it’s time to go on a vacation! My parents decided to let me go vacation in beautiful Venezuela for a few weeks as sort of a present for doing excellent on all my finals. I’m so excited!
For this vacation, I had to get a little bit of background information on Venezuela to see what exactly I would need to travel there. I packed two suitcases full of clothes and objects that I would need in Venezuela. Clothes such as a swimsuit, tank tops, short sleeves shirts, flip flops, shorts, sunscreen, and sun glasses. I’m also planning on doing a lot of hiking and exploring while I’m in Venezuela so I packed some hiking shoes, regular tennis shoes, a small first aid kit, and some other miscellaneous items. I’m bringing tons of money with me to exchange for Venezuela’s currency, Bolívars Fuertes. Right now, one US dollar is equivalent to 4.30 Bolívars Fuertes.
When traveling to another country, there’s quite of bit of things you must do first to make sure you can go legally. I made sure my passport was up to date and my immunizations also. I made sure to ask my doctor if I needed any shots to protect me from any foreign diseases. Since I’m only going to be there for 20 days, it wasn’t necessary to get any new shots. Phew! I’m not a fan of needles at all!
My suitcases weighed a ton, and they made me extremely tired dragging them through the airport. Luckily, my dad and little brother helped me out. I was going on this vacation by myself, but I was going to meet with a pen pal when I arrived in Venezuela so I won’t be alone. Her name is Jess, and she invited me to stay with her family in her home in the capital of Venezuela, Caracas. Home cooked meals every day, and a comfy bed to sleep in every night. Lucky me!
As I got on the plane, I prepared myself for the long travel time. Including the two layovers, it would take me just over 24 hours to make it to my final destination! I went from Anchorage, Alaska, to Seattle, Washington, to Houston, Texas, and finally to Caracas, Venezuela. When I finally arrived in Caracas, I was nearly bouncing up and down in my seat. I wanted to finally meet Jess in person and explore my new surroundings! I spotted Jess’ face in the crowed airport lobby and immediately ran over to hug her. We talked up a storm as her parents drove us back to their house. We had a fantastic dinner with some traditional Venezuelan food such as Hallaca, which is a a mixture of beef, pork, chicken, raisins, capers, and, olives all wrapped in cornmeal dough, folded within plantain leaves.
Currently, I am laying on my borrowed bed typing this entry while I try to get used to the seven-hour time difference. It’s almost midnight here, and I’m not tired at all. Jess fell asleep almost immediately after dinner. She told me that she’s going to take me to see the city tomorrow and I can’t wait. When I was still in Alaska, I made a list of all the things I want to do. The list included things such as visiting any landmarks in the area, trying all the unique food, go shopping for exotic clothes or trinkets to bring back home, hike on any nearby trails or mountains, and many other things I hope to accomplish while I am here. This vacation is just getting started and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)