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You know, I don't think I've ever really taken the time to truly appreciate a sunrise before. I have seen a lot of them, but never took the time to really watch every progressing moment and movement of the orb rising from the horizon the way it did this morning. It was about 5 AM |
| (...)After lunch, they sent us on a fully guided tour of Caracas. Before we had time to realize what was going on, we were on our way to the Capital of Venezuela in a careening bus going about 130 kilometers an hour. We visited the Parliament Halls and got the full story on how Simon Bolivar freed the Venezuelan people from the Spanish. February 1, 1995… 32'C Sunny and hot! (...) I Got to stop at this beautiful white church by the name of Santa Teresa known throughout Venezuela for it's supposedly |
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miraculous portraits of Nazareno de San Pablo. I got to shop a little bit (limiting myself to street "artist") and found two nice bracelets made out of leather, stones and beads. Got them for a steal, which was not easy because Caracas is turning out to be a lot more expensive then I had been told. (...) On the bus ride home, I spent a very entertaining 45 minutes trying to have a conversation with a local. I think he was trying to talk to me about a certain kind of bird, but I really can't say. I tried to explain |
| Today, we went on the coastal explorer day trip. (...)About a half hour after leaving the city, all the four-wheelers stopped on the side of the roads and for the first time since we had left, we got to gaze at the cliffs that formed the north coast of Venezuela. I have never seen anything like it. The sea was so blue that you had trouble telling where the sky ended and the water started. All of this with the most incredible contrast of perfect dark green |  |
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green from the trees and the gold colored sand made me realize that it would be moments like these that would make all my hard work to go on Semester at Sea worth it. (...)A little further along the road, we made a stop at this beautiful beach. We walked about a mile collecting small little seashells. I got a whole pocket full to bring home as souvenirs for people. (...) Once we reached the end of our journey, we had arrived in La Sabana where after a brief walk in the surrounding jungle, we were left once again to wander. After an hour or so, |
| they called us to assemble so that the children of the village could perform a little musical number they had put together. While the oldest of them formed a half-circle playing conch shells and drums made out of hallowed tree trunks, the younger children would perform beautiful dances. |  |
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Next port of call... |