I haven’t talked a lot about Venezuelan cuisine mainly because I’m not a big fan. The problem that I find with most Caribbean food is that they use the same ingredients as Haitians, but prepare them in a different way. So, dishes that I would expect to taste one way, don’t. For instance, the national Venezuelan dish is called Pabellon. It consists of white rice, black beans, shredded beef or chicken, fried sweet plantains and avocados. In Haiti, we eat all of the above, but not together. Also, the black beans are prepared differently (Haitians puree them, Venezuelans boil them). The fried sweet plantains are usually eaten prior to the rice dish or not at all. We do some eat rice with avocado, but it’s more commonly eaten with polenta or with a dish called ble.

After the arepa (I will post about that later), I would venture to say that Venezuelan’s favorite snack is the empanada. I acquired the taste for

empanadas after a while because the corn meal used to make them is used for porridge in Haiti. Therefore, it always had a subtle sweetness (probably psychological) and that mixed with meat just didn’t work with my palette. Eventually the flavors began to grow on me and I now I have them a couple times a week as a mid-morning snack. Venezuelans commonly eat them for breakfast, though.

So little by little, I am building a healthy relationship with Venezuelan food; one empanada at a time.

After I got over the shock of the first person who asked me to help them get to his apartment (he was also legally blind), I realized that I had never been approached to do anything of the sort in the States. Even when I was a teenager and took the bus everywhere, not once did an elderly person ask for assistance. This actually makes me sad. It’s sad because I think senior citizens in the States need just as much help doing every day things as Venezuelans; but, they must be afraid to ask.

While working in human services, I would always hear how the American society does not take care of its most vulnerable – the youngest and the oldest populations. When the going gets tough, programs for young children and the elderly are the first to feel the squeeze. It goes to show how that sort of thinking in government permeates the culture as a whole. So, we’ve become a culture that gets annoyed when children act like children and pretend we don’t see the 80 year-old struggling to get across the street safely.

What I hope is that these experiences will make me more aware of senior citizens silently struggling wherever I am. I also hope that I’m setting a good example for my kids, so that they see it’s not only okay to ask for help, offering it is even better.

1) Different image of Haitians. Even in the US, people would say things like “You don’t look/sound/dress Haitian”. So, I started making a point of talking about my Haitian heritage. At first I felt like I was denying the American culture that I also grew up with, but I think those traits are easier to see.

2) Fewer illegal propositions. A Venezuelan once told me that when they see Americans, they see dollar signs. Hence, in the few instances that people knew I was from the States, I was offered shady business deals having to do with my access to US dollars. While it was not a big deal, it did make things awkward.

3) Less suspect. I have been asked on numerous occasions by Venezuelans “what are you doing here?” In other words, why would I leave the “promise land” to come live here. I respond with why I think Venezuela is a great place, too and how I enjoy it – but, then they look at me as if I’ve grown a second head. Since they know that Haiti is a troubled country, I think they assume why I would leave there to come here.

There you have it – my pitiful reasons for not disclosing that I am also American to strangers. If someone happens to hear me speaking English to the kids, I tell them that we lived in the States a while and I’d like them to keep their fluency in the language (which is mostly true ). Although trivial, it makes meeting new people a lot easier.

The other night,  we were invited to the premier of Oliver Stone’s documentary South of the Border. President Chavez and Oliver Stone were in attendance and gave speeches prior to the film. As expected, when they went to take their seats, people were going crazy. Everybody wanted to shake their hands and say a few words. From the second story balcony, there was this little boy (about 5 years-old) who kept calling “Chavez, Chavez, el Comandante!!”

I thought it was pretty cute the first 10 times, but after that I started to worry that people in the audience were going to get annoyed. I kept waiting for someone to shout out some rude comment to the mom who was standing right next to him. I had a flashback to that airplane incident a few years ago in the States when a woman was removed from an airplane with her small son because he kept saying “Bye-bye plane”.

Surprisingly, no one ever became annoyed. The kid must have yelled 25 times before President Chavez acknowledged him (which got a huge round of applause) and each time all that happened were laughs from amusement. It’s taking time, but I am slowly getting used to how children are viewed in this society. I just hope I won’t be too disturbed by the change when we go back to the States,

I was not at all disappointed with the place – you don’t notice how much noise you get accustomed to until it is absent. Although it was a busy time for the town, it was relatively quiet and there was enough happening to keep us occupied for four days. It is known for its fruit production and while we were there, strawberries and apricots were in season.

This is downtown Colonia Tovar. It reminds me a lot of the main street of Jacmel, Haiti – with  a little different architecture. This part of the town houses many restaurants and little shops – although all of the surrounding areas have options, as well.

We took a historic tour and one of the stops was  the oldest house in the town. The guide said it is 140 years-old.

BTW – this was the only bit of history that we saw on this tour. We did get to see great views and specialty vendors such as sausage and fruit flavored liquors.

One of the most beautiful things about Colonia Tovar is the greenery. There is a lot of farmland and flowers everywhere you look. Our tour took us to a lookout that had thousands of these flowers (feel free to tell me the name if you recognize it) and it looked splendid.

Here is the view you get from just about anywhere in the town. It’s all a bunch of windy roads throughout the mountains and what stands out is the distinct architecture that gives you a sense of being in Europe.

Every time I told a Venezuelan where we went, I always heard “Hace mucho frio alli” and it’s true, it was quite chilly in comparison to Caracas’ temperate climate. We went prepared with our sweaters and extra socks, but it’s wasn’t as bad I thought it would be. Overall, this was a very nice trip to make (especially after my 3 1/2  hours well spent) and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick  non-beach getaway outside of Caracas.