Las Ultimas Semanas

On Saturday, we hiked the smaller Pan de Azúcar for the last time and then headed up to la Culata to rent a cabin with some friends. Twelve of us took a bus to the cabin we stayed at previously, which was unfortunately full for the night (they did not look remotely full; it was probably a case of not wanting a bunch of gringos hanging around). We found another one, which was also full (this place was an immense complex of cabins, but had a bunch of Maduro signs so that probably explains how they are “full”). On the third try, we found an amazing place for really cheap (~$4/person). We ate a bunch of fruit, grilled chicken kabobs, and cooked banana boats on the stove. This past week was spent checking off to-do list items like exchanging for the last time, buying a plane ticket from El Vigia to Caracas, and finishing the last of my academic requirements. I also went back to Francisco's place to get some of his music. We ended up sitting down for a few hours and he showed me almost his entire music library. I now have about 5GB of 90's Latin American acid jazz and plenty of other music to listen to. I am thoroughly enjoying my new homestay, especially my own room with a bathroom and internet. It would have been nice to switch about halfway through the semester in order to enjoy both the antics of Cointa and all the comforts of my new place. The host mom is a professor of literature at the University and an extremely nice woman. She is somewhat owl-like and walks around the house singing in a high-pitched (but pleasant) voice, and asks "Cómo le fue???" whenever we return home. She has a great patio outside where we can hang out and do homework. We are now in the midst of the rainy season, which is something I have never experienced. Sometime last week, it started raining one day after not having rained for probably months. Every day since, it has rained starting at about 3PM. Friday night we went back to the sushi restaurant to celebrate a friend’s birthday and to wrap up the semester. A couple friends even came up with high school yearbook-style awards for everyone; I received “least likely to be wearing a shirt” and “best person to be stuck on a desert island with.” Saturday we went on our second of two Venusa-organized day trips. This one was a trip to the Llano del Hato astronomical observatory in the páramo. Unfortunately, I could not focus as much as I would have liked to since I was pretty affected by the altitude and had to sit down at one point. Although a lot of the observatory is now somewhat of a museum, they have some pretty sophisticated telescopes, are credited with a few important discoveries, and work with quite a few other institutions worldwide. The fog on top of the hill was fantastic and I enjoyed the views almost as much as the observatory. I am starting to get really excited about returning to the states, being useful, and doing meaningful work again.