Arrival and Orientation

(I wrote this during our first week in Caracas and am just now uploading it.)

I will start by telling one thing that is JUST like Egypt and one thing that is NOT.
My router is hooked up to the internet....through an ethernet wire coming through a vent in the bathroom.
And I am looking out my window at beautiful green mountains topped with dense clouds now releasing our afternoon rains. Ahhh, refreshing and clean!

We left Tuesday the 4th at 10:30 for the airport. We flew Delta from the domestic terminal so check-in was much easier than when we flew from the int'l terminal. We checked our bags (13 of them) curbside - $2000 total - yes, we'll be reimbursed - and then headed up to get on the flight to Atlanta. We had our full allotment of carry-ons and personal items in tow, plus Luke's carseat. We got to security and as my bags were going through the x-ray both of the ones with computers were pulled out and sent back because Jason had forgotten he had his and I thought mine was in the other bag, and THEN my carry-on went through and the security man said, "What is THAT!? Peanut butter!?" Then the next one went through and he said, "Two more jars!?" I tried to quickly explain that peanut butter is $12 a jar in VZ, but he said nothing over 3 oz was allowed. Maybe the TSA needs to go back to science class, but peanut butter is NOT a liquid. Nor would I consider it a cream. Anyway, I tried to go back and check that bag, but they wanted $350 more for it. I gave away the peanut butter to a nice airport ambassador lady and a security man. Big bummer. It was Jif. I just hadn't thought about it being in my carryon when I packed it. So Mom, make sure I buy peanut butter in October! And make sure I don't put it in my carry-on! Anyway, we got through security fine after that and then I checked the very same bag for FREE at the gate. Ugh. Money grubbing airlines! Once you're through security you're doing THEM a favor to check the bag so that there will be plenty of room for the bags everyone's bringing on board so they don't have to pay....but they won't do YOU a favor and let you check one small bag with 3 precious jars of peanut butter for free, even if you've already given them $2000. RRRR.

The flight to Atlanta was fine. Just 2 1/2 hours or so. At the end of the flight Luke said, "Whew. That was a LOOOONG flight." How quickly he's forgotten that 12 hour flight from Cairo to JFK. We walked straight from our first plane onto the second without time to spare. We found 2 other teaching couples seated next to us on the plane. One of them we had met in Thailand when ECA took us out to dinner after we accepted the jobs. The other is a couple that lives in our same apartment complex. We all chatted a bit before takeoff and then met up again when we landed in Caracas. We waited quite a while at baggage claim. Our luggage came pretty quickly but our bins kept not coming out! (Imagine my distress...10 bins.) Finally we made the attendant understand that they were bins, not suitcases, and he led us to a different door where boxes were brought up. Ours were all there. We got through customs, where we were met by principals and the superintendent. There was a special truck just for us and a car to take us directly to our apt. The other people had to all ride the school bus and get dropped off one at a time. The other couple from our apartments said they didn't arrive until 1 AM. We got to ours around 11:30 and were in bed by 1 AM.

Night time impressions upon arrival: HOT and dry at the airport (on the coast), cooler as we drove over the mountain and into the valley where the city lies. Pretty lights, traffic not nearly what I expected. Egypt was much worse. We shall see what it is like someday when we venture back into the city at a normal time, not 11 at night.

We were taken up to our apartment and shown around by the high school principal. Beds were made already, food was in the fridge, toothpaste and soap in the bathrooms. After the principal and maintenance guys (who brought up all of our luggage) left, I stood at the door, looked around our new home, and tears came to my eyes. It already felt home-y. It already felt like ours. The apartment itself is more comfortable (to me) than any we'd lived in in Egypt. And what a nice gesture to take care of us with the food, etc. and to think of Luke and his need to get to bed and bring us home separately... I just felt blessed and well cared-for.

Oh - before the principal left he told us we'd be picked up the next morning at 8:45 downstairs. We unpacked enough to find clothes for the next day (Imagine 6-8 space bags of stuff just dumped out on the couch) and find Luke's swimsuit and towel for the morning, too. Jeff (our supt.) told me at the airport that Luke could participate in the day camp going on at school this week, just to bring swimming stuff.

We all slept in our bed the first night. It's a queen, so it was a little crowded, and Luke rotates 30 degrees on his axis each hour, so periodically I'd find his head suddenly on my stomach or his feet in my face. None of us slept too well, but we were up and ready to go yesterday on time. We discovered that we had forgotten to plug in the hot water heater, so I had a VERY cold shower. Jason and Luke showered last night and learned that the h.w.h. only holds a LITTLE amount of water. We're going to have to stagger showers!

The drive to school from our house is about 10 minutes, all downhill and curvy. There is a gate at the entrance to the school with security guards. When we arrived at school we dropped Luke off immediately. Counselors met him at the curb and took him up to change into his swimsuit. He said a quick, cheerful goodbye and was off. (WOW!!) We went into the school to meet the other new teachers and begin our orientation. They fed us breakfast, Venezuelan style, which included delicious fresh fruit, rolls filled with HAM (thank you, Jesus!) and other rolls filled with cheese. I think I'm gonna like it here! After breakfast, we all introduced ourselves and got to know each other a bit. We met a lady named Mariolga, who I think will be such a godsend in our settling-in time here in Caracas. She is a teacher at the school who seems to know everything. She's planned much of our orientation. She says Venezuelans are very used to lots of noise and yelling at night, but the night before she'd gotten a call the night before from one of her neighbors about yelling outside. "Mariolga," the lady said, "One of your Gringos is lost!!" Mariolga said she listened and heard it too - and it was "Pay-dro! Pay-dro!" (Pedro, not pronounced the Venezuelan way, clearly American. "Don't worry," she told the neighbor. "It is just my boss. He will find his way home." Then she made fun of Jeff's pronunciation and we all laughed. This lady is a riot. Knowing her has made me much more at ease here.

After introductions, we split up into elem, middle, and HS and toured the school. Then we had some orientation about boring stuff (computers, maintenance and housing requests, etc.) and a "how to be new at ECA" talk from Jeff. Jeff's talk was great, really encouraging and inspiring. It's neat to be part of a school community that encourages leadership and helps teachers develop their strengths.

Luke finished day camp at 3 PM, so he had to sit quietly with me for an hour or so while we finished up. He played quietly, drew, and then fell asleep on my lap. After school, I learned that he had had a great day swimming, playing tennis, soccer, and football, and watching a movie. He met Fisher, the son of my fellow 5th grade teacher, and they became fast friends.

Last night the school took us out to dinner at a restaurant in Las Mercedes (the part of Caracas we live in). It lasted a long time and the restaurant was very loud, but the food was good and we got a chance to talk with a lot of different people. We came home around 9:30 and Jason got Luke ready for bed while I unpacked a little more.

This morning began at 8 with breakfast and a trip to the bank. Mariolga took us to the bank and advised us to bring something to read while we waited. We were there for several hours (3?) setting up accounts, activating ATM cards, etc. The bank is in the same building as a grocery store, so I went and checked out the grocery store for a little bit. I am excited because I can get things here to make Mexican food at home and because things seem reasonably priced. I didn't get to go up and down every aisle like I'd hoped, but there will be time for that later!

Back at school we had lunch, I picked up some paperwork for Luke's registration for school (they want to know basic developmental things, but they also asked about his birth weight, the length of my pregnancy, and the type of delivery!), and we had a meeting with the Regional Security Officers from the US Embassy. They had a lot of good information about living safely in Venezuela. They certainly didn't sugar-coat anything, but neither do I feel like I learned anything I hadn't already learned before hand. They gave us some good tips about how not to be a target for thieves and how to drive and be safe in Caracas.

That was about it for today. Luke had another great day at camp. He and Jason are napping right now, and I'm enjoying the quiet time to myself. I should be unpacking... but I will probably do that later tonight. We're leaving in about 45 minutes to go to dinner at Jeff's house -- pizza and cokes for all the new staff. It has been VERY VERY busy and tiring, but still fun and exciting. I think we're really going to love our school -- everyone seems to -- and most of all I think Luke is going to be very happy here. It is a very family-friendly place.