I have no Wi-fi in Caracas!

(My trip is over, I'm back home, and I'm going to reconstruct the events starting with two posts I wrote there!)

My first day in Caracas was an eventful one! The flights from Aruba to Curacao and then to Caracas went well, no problems with immigration or customs. Then fun in the airport! I had trouble trying to use the ATM, it just doesn’t work, and changing money was interesting. Seems the airport employees are very helpful but want to change money for you also. I would be a fool to take the bank rate, so they say. I did have a very helpful man who stayed with me, pulling my bag (that way I couldn’t get away) and took me from place to place. Finally I had to convert some of the Traveler’s Checks I brought for emergencies! Well, this was one. Got a taxi with a very nice driver to take me to the hotel. Enjoyed the drive, lots to see. The mountains are very impressive, even close to the sea.

My room at the "Hotel Limon"


I’ve now set up house-keeping in a very cheap place, the Hotel Limon. It does save me money!
I made my way over to the big buildings and area known as Parque Central. It’s a gigantic area with shops in the lower several floors and offices/apartments above. One of theses towers houses the offices of Fesnojiv. I found my way there by asking some students I saw with instruments. They were on the way to a rehearsal. You just can’t hide carrying string instruments! They took me up to the office and after waiting awhile I had a great talk with Mr. Angel Linares. He started out as a Tuba player, played with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra and is now the Musical Coordinator and General Director of the system for the entire country. The office was very busy but he spoke with me for about an hour, answering my questions and explaining the organization. It is truly remarkable to me that the program is set-up mainly to bring about social change through music. The passion with which he spoke of the program was inspiring.
After that I walked around the area then back to the hotel to meet Pablo. When I checked in he helped with some translation. He is a rice farmer in the Los Llanos area of the country and used to be a tour guide. Now he runs the family farm but is in town on business. He speaks English and took me up on my offer for dinner. We had a traffic filled cab ride to the Sabana Grande neighborhood and then a nice meal and conversation. Back to the hotel and sleep!
Tomorrow I hope to see some sights with Pablo and then a rehearsal of a young string group at Parque Central.