I've been meaning to blog for the last while, but I haven't had internet. Apparently, a construction crew cut all of the phone lines for my entire neighborhood (almost 2000 homes) and we haven't had phone or internet. When I got home from work tonight, everything was back up and running, so I figured I'd try to squeeze a post in before everything suddenly disappears again.

I've reached a point where I'm ready to call Venezuela my new adopted home. For the past 10 months I've been apprehensive about being in Caracas, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, in a country that is in absolute collapse. Going out was always stressful and it was just easier to stay inside, under the guise of personal security. The human spirit, nonetheless, is poorly suited to this lifestyle, so risk be damned. While I still take innumerable precautions when I go out, from watching if I'm being followed, speeding though intersections and stop signs so I won't get carjacked, assessing every room I go into and person I meet, to keeping my fists clenched whenever I see movement in the shadows (sometimes even my own), I'm going out. I've been to many new restaurants, theaters, performances, and even an art walk, and am starting to feel normal again. Even if I am just deceiving myself that the world is not crashing down around me, this place has a lot of great stuff. Though, I still need to escape (regularly), which is what I have done. Since my last post, I have been back to Phoenix, and spent a long weekend in Mexico City. Next week I'm off to Curacao for a long weekend. (I accidentally ended up in Curacao for a day several months ago after getting booted from a flight back to Caracas from Aruba, so I'm looking forward to going back for real!)

My work is still essentially the same. I've been given quite a bit of responsibility, but nothing new to report. A few weeks back we had MLB day at the embassy, which is consular event where all of the major Venezuelan baseball players are invited to the embassy and given somewhat preferential visa appointment for their family members. Sadly, most Venezuelan baseball players come from broken and impoverished families, and as such, most of their relatives would not qualify for a US visa if they applied on their own. Accordingly, we have them come in, whip up a media circus to promote the US and its historical ties with baseball, and the baseball players get to have their families visit them in the US. Win win for all. I brought a baseball to get some autographs, however, I realized I had no idea who most of the players were. I had to be told who was famous and whose signature was valuable (there were several), but in the end, I have a bold covered in ink that is probably going to worth quite a bit to someone someday (be it sentimental for posterity or a dealer willing to give me top dollar). Surprisingly, I could really care less, but it looks great on my bookshelf right now.

Furthermore, last month I spent a long weekend in Mexico, D.F. I have a handful of friends from A100 there that I wanted to go, as well as check out the diplomatic lifestyle there as reference for a possible future tour there. The city is fantastic. It has a gritty edge, but a great center, history, gastro district, accessibility and a lot of cool places nearby to visit. While I'm pretty sure I want to get out of Latin America for my next tour, DF while be high on future bid lists. When I arrived, I took a cab straight to the embassy where I met up with my friends who were just finishing up the workday. I was concerned that I would have difficulty getting access in that I'm not assigned there, but my diplomatic ID got me right in. Later, I went to a friend's apartment where I stayed the night. Many of the officers live in a large well guarded government complex, so its a fairly intimate surrounding. Fortunately, most embassy folks are great people, so it seemed like a nice place to live. The next day, we took a bus out to San Miguel de Allende, a colonial city about three hours a way from DF. There, we toured UNESCO heritage churches, museums, and gorged ourselves on Mexican food. I have to say, Mexican food has no comparison. It is AWESOME! Coming back to Caracas was difficult, but I upgraded to first class and slept most of the week.

Next up, Curacao!

M