El Principio del Fin

Another solid weekend; I am to the point where I maintain a list of things I need to do before I leave (sadly) and slowly check things off. Friday was devoted to Botany: in the morning we hiked into la Culata to collect information about the biodiversity of the Páramo ecosystem and then to Caparu on the opposite side of Mérida, which is a sort of desert area with orchids and giant cactus epiphytes. I did not mind in the least that the day was devoted to school; hiking in the mountains is exactly how I want to spend my Friday. That night we returned to Emu to check out some live music and eat sausages at the German place next door. For about $1.50, you get a fantastic fire-grilled sausage with the sauce of your choosing, which in my case is curry Berlin. Saturday I exchanged some money for the last time (at a rate of 24 bolívares to the dollar!) and then we headed to a public pool for the afternoon until the daily clouds rolled in around 4PM. That night we ate at one of the two sushi restaurants in Mérida. The place ended up being really fancy and we splurged just a little bit (which here is about $8) and enjoyed two bottles of Chilean white wine. The highlight was definitely a smoked salmon, tuna, and mango roll. I also ate a big ole chunk of wasabi, which was surprisingly tasty and cleared up my sinuses nicely. Later on we headed to my friend’s host sister’s fashion event in the upper part of town (north and south do not really exist in Mérida; it’s all about up or down, bajando or subiendo). It was in a cool little courtyard café with a fountain, lots of flowers, and models parading around in fancy outfits, all put on by the ULA school of design. Venezuela is surprisingly big on their fashion and supermodels; getting plastic surgery is almost more common than not. Sunday we headed over to my friend’s place, ate some rice for lunch, and played cards on the patio. If Venezuela does one thing right, it’s backyard patios. This particular one features a garden of peppers, oregano, and an aguacate tree, and has a wood-fire grill under a sheltered area with a stone table. Capriles is supposedly coming to Mérida  on Wednesday, so there will probably be another installment Thursday morning.