I must say...all the time I have spent here has made me realize...how DEPRIVED they are of XBOX here! NO XBOX! NONE! But...they do play one game we are all familiar with! Frogger! But this version is much more difficult. You don´t have a top down view...you have a first person view. The cars go a lot faster, and they react by braking or turning if you are on the road. Your also not a frog who can leap one whole lane at a time..and SOME people play it HIGHEST difficulty by carrying lots of things and wearing high heels and crossing the highway where traffic merges...oh...and you only have one life. Personally...I have not played this so called ´game´...as I do not feel it safe to cross the highways of Maracaibo...nor have I needed to...yet.
I´m starting to get used to the excruciating heat here! If the temperature EVER hits 28-29 degrees at night...WOW...its a BEAUTIFUL night! As I look at myself in the mirror, I don´t think I have lost any body mass...because if I did...as you all know...I would cease to exist.
We have continued with Ruhi books here...and the youth themselves suggested that we do INTENSIVE Ruhi...which left Susan in shock...as she said that the youth were never THAT eager to do Ruhi and she felt as though she was always pushing THEM! We had pretty much a PACKED day of Ruhi from 3pm till 9pm, where I had a chance to tutor two youth for a couple hours! It was quite difficult...as there were moments of silence as I tried to make up a question relating to the read paragraphs.
We havent had too many more dance practices yet. The McLarens (the family I´m staying with) are gone for the weekend to see the Voices of Bahá, which is a choir consisting of 80 people from all over the World...and they are pretty much doing a huge Tour...singing all over the place right now. Beacause of the absence of the McLarens...we haven´t been able to hold much here...except for some childrens classes...speaking of which...yesturday was Día de niños! Day of the children, national celebration! We all went to another Bahais house where there were over 20 children...and they all got presents...we danced...they played musical chairs! The kids were very cute! They would constantly come up to me and ask me what their names are in English.
When I first came to Venezuela...I knew I´d NEVER be walking the streets during the night! NO WAY JOSE! (Hosay). Mom...Dad...this is when you two stop reading! Bye!...
Ahem...as I was saying....(mom..dad...i know your still reading..please!) Reinaldo (the youth staying at this house with me currently! Great guy...knows some english!) and I have actually walked the streets a number of times during the night! The night life here is actually quite amusing! Everyone´s got their chairs outside, kids are on the street playing soccer...it actually didnt seem as dangerous as they all made it seem. You would never see a girl walking alone though...they were usually accompanied by a MACHO man! The other night though...(thursday day...the McLarens had just left..) I was waiting for Reinaldo at around 11:30 pm. I was afraid that I wouldnt hear the doorbell from inside...so I waited outside...but inside the metal bar and cemented gates of the house. As I sat there...I heard something that I have heard quite a bit around here. Fireworks are very popular around here...I don´t like the fact that they are popular...because it kind of helps disguise the sound of a gunshot...and THIS firework...sounded a bit different... I thought to myself ´nah...cant be NOTHING! Its just fireworks......right?´...three minutes later...I could hear the sound of the ambulance in the background...by this time...I was already trying to recall all of the moves that Jet Li does to unarm his opponents...just incase I would have to use it if someone came to the gates with a gun...since the ´guard´dogs here seem quite incompetant. One is constantly dancing on is back to scratch off ticks...while the other is the size of a squirrel....as cute as one too! Soon after the sound of the ambulance...I heard two consecutive pistol shots...´PAH....PAH...´...by this time...I had a knife in each hand...and a backup knife in my sock. ( Only kidding!...Jet Li doesnt use knives! He uses his hands!) That.....got me saying the LONGER Protection prayers...I figure...It´d be worth it!
The youth and children here just LOVE my digital camera! Everytime I take a picture...they have to zoom in AS FAR as they can...and analyze every pixel of the picture...thats why I try to avoid taking pictures of LOTS of kids...otherwise...my camera will be covered in half digested, saliva filled chocolat.
Mom and Dad...this part is also not for you...as it is VERY bad....
I´ve pretty much become a pro at washing dishes now! When there are activities here..the dishes just PILE UP like you dont believe...and since I usually have nothing to do after the activities are over...I wash the dishes! If there is ONE thing that I can say that I have done consistently and helped out with here...is helped the McLarens WASH their dishes!
One thing that I have found very interesting is the fact that Home visits are a part of their lives here. In Canada...in our cluster meetings (if some of you have no idea what I´m talking about...feel free to email me and ask me) we talk about how important it is to have home visits...and we set goals for home visits....HERE...its like...´alright...lets go around the streets and visit this person...that person...´, and they will all invite you to sit down...have a drink of Coke or water...etc. I remember one of the ways that clusters are divided is by transportation availability...and its interesting to see that this whole ´sector´ is all walking distance away! All of the 20 youth...20 children...all walking distance away! Its SOOOO NICE and CONVENIENT that way! Want to have a social? Walk around...tell everyone to just join ya! And they all walk around with you and you come back home and watch some movies or something. They dont tell eachother about activities by phone here...they walk around and tell them all individually! I find it to be much more effective...and has served to make me understand maybe why the LEM site hasnt been soo successful (once again...if you are confused...email me!), because we send out these MASS emails (like this one) to invite people to things...but its MUCH more effective if a friend invites you personally...by coming to your door or a phone call! Lesson #1 Learnt! ( About time!).
Reinaldo and I are about to walk to his house to feed his dogs (he lives in an apartment with two BIG dogs). One of them is a Wolf Dog....VERY beautiful creature and it HOWLS like a WOLF!! Its incredible! ( I missed my chance to see a monkey back in Barquisimeto! I´m still jealous of you for that Faran!)
Miss you all and love you all lots,
Erfan
3 comments:
Hey Erfan!
Wow! it's neat to hear all about your trip and the things you are doing there. Sounds like it's a good time. I saw your pictures and they are awesome! It's really amazing the people you get to meet and everything that you are doing for the kids. Keep updating:)
Erfan, you are quite the story teller. I love that your stories start in one direction and then end up somewhere completely different. Maybe you have watched Monty Python and the Flying Circus a few too many times.
haha, thank you Paul! But uh...I have only seen Monty Python once...and havent even heard of Flying Circus...So I´d appreciate it if you gave all the credit to me and called me an original....thank you! haha.
Post a Comment