Leo, Leo, Leo, Leon!

Here is a brief recap of the past several weeks here in Caracas.

Daily life in Caracas is becoming more and more normal, and as such, it feel like there is less and less interesting to talk about. I've passed a half year in Caracas and am about to roar up on 8 months here. At work, I've been given more responsibilities, and am now finding myself at the office regularly after the close of the business. I'm enjoying the extra challenges, but it feels like I'm constantly just trying to keep up. With regrets though, I won't be telling you what I've been up to. I can say that a few weeks ago, the Embassy honored a group of consular officers with a Meritorious Honor Award, which is essentially a Department acknowledgement of hard work that includes a $250 bonus and a note in our performance review. Not a terribly big deal, but something at the very least. Further, I've been nominated to be the Entry Level Officer rep on the embassy housing board. Essentially I now get help inspect and assign new officers to their apartments, and as the ELO rep, I lobby to make sure the junior officers don't get screwed. Again, not a terribly big deal, but something else to get on my performance review (i.e. checking the box for leadership skills)

Meanwhile, I've been staying busy socially. I've been to a few baseball games in the city center. Baseball is oddly enough the national sport of Venezuela, a carry over from US business dealings here at the beginning of the century. Some of the top players in MLB in the US are coming out of this country. Accordingly, the Venezuelans take their baseball pretty seriously. There is a professional league here, with most major cities having a team. The Caracas team is the Leones (Lions). The embassy purchased a number of tickets for the local games and provided transportation to those who wanted to attend. So far I've been to two. Surprisingly, they are very entertaining. The stadium holds several thousand people, and the fans are almost out of control. Every major play involves a tide of beer tossed in the air, raining down on all the surrounding fans. Also, the food is quite cheap by US standards. Most of the concessions are similar to what is found in US ballparks, but with a Venezuelan twist. The hotdogs come with corn and fried onions and a menagerie of other topping, and at just a few bucks equivalent, nothing to complain about.

A few weeks ago I traveled to Belize with the family. It was a nice respite from some of the "challenges" we face here in Caracas. I've attached some pictures throughout. We hiked, tubed, kayaked, flipped, zipped, floated, swam, dove, snorkeled, bogged, churned, scooted, carted, flew, climbed, ate, and slept our way through the tiny former British colony. The food left much to be desired, but the people were friendly, the weather was cooperative, and company was enjoyable. Overall, a pretty good trip.

The holiday season is now upon us, but leave for my next post.

M