...settling in

In Caracas at long last!  I was in straight denial that I was actually leaving until I was on my flight for Miami to Caracas and heard the pilot telling us to glance out the window to see the Bahamas.  My first fellow ETA sighting was in Miami; Carolyn, who was on my flight, managed to guide me from my gate as I sprinted over after my RDU-MIA flight landed late.  I had my fingers crossed that I wouldn't miss my flight and my toes crossed that my bags wouldn't miss it either.

Banners touting the wonders of 'living in socialism'

Oh, we're not in Los Estados anymore

Everything went INCREDIBLY smoothly.  We wound our way through customs where I discovered that once VZ airport officials see my last name, they get a whole lot friendlier ;-)  My bags DID make the flight (Gracias a Dios!) and we exhausted gringas were met as promised by a taxi driver at the front.

At the hotel at last, dragged our overweight bags (I think mine was approaching 70lbs) up to our rooms met up with two other ETAs who'd flown in earlier and swapped stories over a late-night dinner.

A two-day orientation (Thursday and Friday) at the US embassy followed, with us being advised on everything from teaching techniques to the different types of kidnapping.  My favorite: 'virtual kidnapping' where you receive a free T-shirt or other such goody from a table outside a movie theater, let's say, in exchange for signing up for some mailing list where you give your name and phone number or something.  Once inside, your parents get a call saying that you've been kidnapped and are being held for ransom.  They try to call you but oh yes, you're in a movie so your phone is off/silent.  They pay up, you walk out a few hours later to see about 40 missed calls...ingenious, no? 

Depending on what session we were coming out of, I was either excited or terrified about the upcoming 8 months. As the Caracas ETA however, I've gotten massive amounts of support from the rather spectacular people coordinating our program from the embassy.  I'm actually about to run out the door to do some grocery shopping with one of them.

Things to follow - the housing nightmare, which goodness knows probably deserves a post in itself.  Also, sadly don't expect many pictures of Caracas here.  One of the dangers of snapping a few fotos - your camera may get snatched.  Let's see if I can buck up the courage in a few days/weeks.

Still, general feeling? everything is going to be allllright.