¡Bienvenidos a Venezuela!

My first full day in Venezuela was full of adventure... if by adventure you mean waking up at 10am after one of my co-workers knocked on my door and rang the doorbell to have me join him at the director's house for breakfast. I spent the morning unpacking my bags, and exploring my fantastic new apartment. It has two bedrooms, both with full size beds (for all of my visitors...), two bathrooms, a really big shower, a living room with a giant tv and cable, a kitchen with a frigo, dining room table, and wifi internet (whenever the power is on).

The school is in a fairly commercial area, with government housing units nearby. The school area is entirely enclosed by a large concrete wall with barbed wire around it. Inside are large beautiful trees, many of which are mango or lime, and all of which have many colorful birds (mostly yellow).

After eating some breakfast (a cheese, ham, and red pepper spread sandwich), I headed off with a few others to explore all of the grocery stores and food/liquor shops in the area. Pretty much anything you'd want to find, you can find in the pharmacy or large grocery store, almost exactly a mile away from the school along Avenido Jose Antonio Anzoategui. I bought a few items to add to my stache, including 6 bottles of some of the cheapest beer I've ever found that still tastes like beer...about 10 cents per beer.

We also filled up the tank for gas in the director's car.. for 25 liters of gas, it was almost 5.5 bolivars, the equivalent of about 15 cents. I was baffled. More on government surplus and inflation later.
I spent the rest of my evening hanging out with the high school literature teacher Matt, who is from New York, and wondering how one can feel so tired and ready for bed at 7:45pm.