Third email from Venezuela...:
Vanessa has always been a part of the community here in Maracaibo...being soo kind as to take people around the city...lifting them up on her very shoulders. Providing the cool air when it was too hot...and providing the music...when people were low. Just the other day...something tragic happened. It happened as we were driving through the town dropping different youth off at their homes with Vanessa.
´Not NOW Vanessa!! NOT NOW!!!!´..Susan was yelling...as we all looked at Vanessa with lost hope. And then Vanessa got back up again..showing signs of life...¨comon...you can do it!¨...but once again...it happened ¨NO...VANESSA!! COMON!!!¨. To be honest...I found the whole situation quite commical!! I mean...who calls their VAN ´Vanessa´?? But after I asked for a clear explanation..Susan explained how when they first got the Van...they just called it ´Van´. But they saw that the chemistry wasnt working and the relationship wasnt right...untill they found out that the vehicle was a FEMALE...so they called her Vanessa.
(I REALLY should stop faking these tragic stories...I´m going to become the boy who cried wolf. There I go LYING again...i AM the boy who cried wolf...they kicked me out of the village shortly after the wolf ate all the sheep....)
I apologize as it has been a while since my last email...as internet access is a bit more limited in this city compared to where i was before. Let us venture back to...last Wednesday. I was in Barquisimeto, where Bahiyyih is serving. On Wednesday we all went TO DA BEACH! It was about a 2 hour drive up north. ( Before I continue...I must confess a sin...I drank their coffee here....and I...well I...I liked it. OH...and...im REALLY NOT they boy who cried wolf). As we drove next to the beach...I saw that the water was brown. I was quite dissappointed. All those stories I had heard about the BEAUTIFUL BEACH....well...I wasnt going to see them THIS summer. But I WAS WRONG....we paid some guys to take us on their boat...and to an island nearby (about 15 minute boat ride). I tried to scare Bahiyyih by convincing her that they would simply take us to the middle of the water...take our stuff and car keys...and leave without us....that would have made a cool story...The Island was very nice! And the water was a light tint of green...and it got more blue as it went out. Wasnt IDEAL...but better than anything amature Erfan has seen. The fish in the water were BEAUTIFUL...ranging from the yellow fish in the old Telus commercials...to the Squid from little mermaid (That thing scared me pretty good..)
Thursday..AHHh..Thursday...the day I had been awaiting...the day that FINALLY stop livin´it up, and get to serve. ( believe it or not...I came here to serve!) I took a 5.5 hour bus ride West to a city called Maracaibo. I had my first teaching opportunity as I was talking to the person beside me...and the person behind me overheard that I´m from Canada. She also spoke a little bit of English...and I told her about the Bahaí Faith...and now she knows what its all about! To get to Maracaibo, we had to cross a 9km bridge...the longest in South America. Thanks to my Prayers...we hit the bridge JUST as the Sun was setting ( Yea...Those are the kinds of things that i pray for...) Everyone had warned me about the excruciating heat in Maracaibo...and BOY...were they RIGHT...When I stepped out of the bus...I could feel all my skin cells trying to retreat back into the bus. The worst part was....it was NIGHTTIME...and the sun wasnt even out!
I´m staying at a lovely American couples house here, Susan and Peter McLaren, who have been pioneers here for over 20 years. Imagine the Faith it takes to leave a place like America...money...good weather...wealthy country...to a place like Maracaibo...Dangerous...HOTTTT...poor... That should tell you enough about how AMAZING this couple is!! They have a full schedule of Bahaí activities everyday! The youth here are just amazing! They all thought i was coming on Wednesday...so they ALL gathered (about 10 to 12 of them) at the McLarens house on Wednesday...found out that i wasnt coming that day...and ALL returned AGAIN on Thursday! They were soo kind! Funny! They know a little bit of english. They love doing drama. We all sat down and they did a ´game show´ style....going around introducing everyone with a ´host´, putting on a great show! Susan tells me that a lot of these people stopped coming to Bahaí activities because they had conflict with eachother...but the very fact that I came has united them and they have all come again! ( Once again...this just shows how nice Susan is!). I have attended one Ruhi circle (book 2...boy...i MISSED doing Ruhi!), practiced a PERFORMED a step dance...also helped teach ALL of the other youth two of the step moves. Only Three youth here know the step dance...and this community has a LOT of potential for an AMAZING dance workshop. The youth here are just soo amazing...they constantly draw me pictures saying ´Remember us´, and writing things like ¨Welcome Erfan. May you have a great time here¨. etc. etc...
Anyways...all I have left to do is split this email into chapters, and i´ve got one Book with no point to it! Haha...so I will end this email!
Miss you ALL lots! Sorry for making the email soo long...just havent written in soo long!
Love, Erfan
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