» 2005 » May

We went to the grocery store to stock up on miscellaneous items for the trek up Roraima (and things we forgot to bring). It was a supermarket in an eight-story mall in the nicer part of Caracas. [I wanted to go to the open-air fresh market to see how the locals really shop, but I imagine they would have been out of Colgate.] Immediately opposite the main entrance there is a baby grand piano. It was a nice serenade for our shopping experience. Except for the piano and the immense selection of fresh vegetables and fruit, the market could have been in Austin.

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Thursday I went for my visa at the somewhat more friendly Brazilian Embassy here in Caracas. Sharing a good sized border, I’m sure they get lots more traffic. I get the form and find out it requires a picture (actually, I had planned on the photo, even carried the extras from the Russian visa fiasco with me down here. If only I had them with me when I left Bob’s that morning.) No problem, mall close by, sit for photos, go get a coffee whilst I fill out the forms. Some amazing questions I had to answer. These are a few word-for-word…

• Are you a drug addict or drug consumer?
• Have you ever been a drug dealer?
• Have you practiced prostitution or been pimp?
• Have you ever taken part in genocide?
• Have you ever ordered, incited, helped or taken part in persecution to any person because of race, nationality or belief under the direct or indirect command of Germany’s Nazi government or any of its Allied or occupied countries?

Those were really word for word. I wrote them down.

For some reason here (you can guess why), no one takes money directly. If you go into a fast food café you order from a cashier, pay there, then take your ticket to the kitchen window, order your food again and show them you have paid. They have proper sit-down restaurants too, but they are always more upscale.

Government services are this way to. If only I’d known that before, I could have saved a lot of scratching of the head. Back at the embassy, Brazilian consul guy hands me a deposit slip and points to the bank. Why do I have to pay a deposit for a visa? No English of course, so he can’t explain, but it’s obvious no deposit, no visa, so off we go. I need to deposit 240,000 Bolivares (2500 Bs = $1). Interestingly that is almost $100, which is what the visa is supposed to cost. Maybe?

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Welcome to Caracas, the murder capital of the world. Five million people in Caracas, last week there were forty-seven murders. This I did not know.

In case some of you don’t know, I left last Wednesday (5/11/05) for South America. I flew into Caracas, Venezuela and fly home from Buenos Aires, Argentina some time in June or July. Between the two, Michael and I don’t have much set in stone. The highlights should be: Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world at 3300 ft; Roraima, the mountain (~9000ft) from Conan-Doyle’s Lost World, a 4-day boat down the Amazon from Manuas to Belem; Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

What would a trip without visa troubles? Brazil requires a visa for any American to enter. The fee is officially called a ‘Reciprocity’ fee (at $100 its pretty steep for a visa). We give them a hassle to come into the US, so they return the favor. The Houston Brazilian Consulate website says five business days for processing, but I talked to several that have done it in the last few years as next day service. The not-so-friendly staffer must not have liked the look of me because his solution was for me to change my trip. When I confused the issue by mentioning that I was flying in to Caracas and wouldn’t be into Brazil for several weeks, he said I could get the visa in Venezuela and was through with me. I knew this, but wanted to only rely on that if I had to. As you may remember, getting a visa outside of the USA (and in another language) can be a task itself.

I don’t know how these things always happen to me. The Atlanta-Caracas flight, my seat was in between two pairs of Polish models on their way to a fashion show in Caracas. Hey, I’ve been to Poland! Somehow I managed an invite to a party at a club in Caracas hosted by the designer they were going to be doing the show for. I also now have a place to stay if ever I am in New York or Warsaw.

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