He Said and She Said: Our Arrival in Caracas

Since Arriving in Caracas we've had very spotty internet service. The series of logs below are a combination of those written by Steph and Brian offline until we've had the opportunity to post them. We hope you enjoy our He Said/She Said post on our arrival...

He Said: As I sit here(Saturday, Oct. 25^th) in our brand new living room, utilizing a "borrowed" internet connection, I'm watching the clouds inch their way across the sky just barely above our apartment. As the sun rises begins to break up the low cloud cover, the Andes are revealed towering over the sprawling urban scene in the valley below, I realize that we definitely aren't in Kansas anymore... or Minnesota, or DC, or the States.

She Said: As I write this (Thursday October 22^nd), I am sitting in our new living room looking out onto the city. We have an absolutely astonishing view from both sides of our apartment. Strangely enough, this place felt like home almost immediately after we walked through the door. Perhaps it was because we had heard a lot about what to expect and the place is beautiful. Brian has commented several times that the living room/ formal dining space is probably larger than the entire square footage of any apartment he and I have ever lived in together. I think that’s true. It’s beautiful and we are very happy with our new place.

He Said: Well, we've finally arrived! After almost 8 months of training, preparation, time apart, moving, and everything else that has occupied our lives, Steph and I just got into Caracas this week. About two weeks ago, I wrapped up training and my consultations in DC to officially end my "in-training" status. We spent a little over a week at home in Minnesota taking one last opportunity to say good-bye to family and friends. A big thank you to everyone that contributed to throwing our going away parties while home. Also, thank you to everyone that came, it was so great to see you all. It really was a great trip and we were so lucky to have time with nearly everyone we wanted to see. As we got on the plane to head back to DC where we would then leave for good, Steph and I reflected on how lucky we truly are to have such wonderful people in our lives.

She Said: Before we left for Caracas, we spent some time at home with family. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at home (even the snow) and loved having the time to spend with family and friends. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. The best part about being home was seeing those we love. We enjoyed all our special time together including time at the tomato farm, playing with kids, watching movies, eating breakfast together, enjoying a glass of wine, you name it. We had two going away parties while we were home, which were both fantastic. In that time, we got to see lots of extended family and friends and had a chance to share our journey with others. In addition to the parties, the last day we were home, we had a combined family dinner and that was one of the most difficult days of my life. To have everyone I love spending time with at one table together, knowing we won’t see them for at least the next six months, made me really sad. As all who were there can attest to, I pretty much cried through the entire lunch. It was a really hard day for us and going to the airport was difficult as well.

Our families have been phenomenal throughout this process. Although some of you are not intimately familiar with foreign service life, you can probably imagine that we ask our families to support us in very unique ways and to redefine a relationship with us in very different ways. I can only imagine that it’s difficult from their perspective to be asked to participate in foreign service life and to support us in something that they themselves do not know very well and did not choose. They have been fantastic in their willingness to help us with mail forwarding, skypeing, keeping copies of important documents, listening to us in hard times, and on and on and on. In short, they’ve been great and I want to be sure to thank them for being so wonderful. We love you guys and we hope to see you soon!!!

From a foreign service spouse perspective, if I had it to do over again, I think I would have reserved our packout and departure for after the family visit. The main reason I mention this is simply because of all the extra baggage we were carrying around. Airlines these days have gotten very particular about carryon luggage and we were confronted each time we flew with whether or not our backpacks would fit, a couple of times with issues with our rollerbags, etc., etc. We had been very careful about packing everything we needed for home in our carryon luggage, but that meant they were bigger than they probably would have been if we had packed out after we went home. I know this seems like a very small thing to worry about, but what I learned from this trip was that moving to post is very stressful as is without any added stressors. The last thing FS families need is airlines stopping them and suggesting they need to check more luggage or asking them to stop and try to fit their bag in the carryon “test space”.

He Said: After one short night in DC (due to a couple of airline delays) we wrapped up a few loose ends and headed to the airport. It was the first time I had ever had to use a cart at the airport, but it was an easy concession when we rolled in with 4 suitcases, 2 carry-on, and 2 backpacks. It was made clear to us to pack as much as we could bring as the delivery of our stuff may take awhile. We listened to people's advice, and this was the result. After an extended check-in process, Steph and I were happy to be rid of the bags and on the plane to Miami. Once we landed, we were checked into our hotel on South Beach and enjoyed a couple of nice meals. We took in the local stone crab, which was great, and were able to also enjoy a great cuban meal at a little restaurant just down from the hotel. I had my first taste of "café con leche," the famous cuban coffee, which I realize now in Venezuela definitely won't be my last.

She Said: After leaving MN we headed back to DC for one last night. Brian had to do a couple of things to checkout in the morning and then we left for Miami. For me, Miami was a wonderful respite. Brian had to work, so his thoughts on the city may be different, but I was able to catch up on sleep and felt more prepared to face the journey ahead of us when we left. While we were there we stayed at a place called The Angler’s Boutique Resort. This is a little plug for them if you’re every in Miami. It was a really marvelous place to stay. It is a boutique hotel, so it is very unique and Brian and I had a 2 story tower room. The ground floor had a sitting area with a tv, bar area, stereo system with sound dock, coffee tables. There was a spiral staircase that led up to the bedroom and bathroom on the top floor which also had a tv. It was a cute place that was comfortable and relaxing. For us, it was perfect and just what we needed before our trip to Venezuela. I had one day to explore and got to enjoy breakfast on South Beach with fresh squeezed orange juice, shopping on Lincoln Road, a manicure/pedicure at a really nice salon and dinner with Brian at a great little Cuban place. It was fun!

He Said: After a day of meetings in Miami and one more night in the hotel, we repacked our carry-ons and were off to MIA one more time to get on the plane to Caracas. I have to admit I was a bit nervous at the airport. It has been sometime since I flew internationally, this is the first time I will have to truly use a foreign language, and the one-last-goodbye phone calls to family didn't make things any easier. I survived, and we boarded the plane. The flight was only around three hours long, and the views of the ocean and the coast Venezuela as we approached were breathtaking from the air. As we deboarded the plane and made our way through customs, we realized quickly we were back in Latin American time when it took 45 minutes to get our bags... after we had already waited a half-hour to get through the initial customs section where they verify our visas. We were met at the airport by my friend James, who I had gotten to know during training and softball this past summer. The hour long car ride (mostly due to traffic and the fact we had to climb 3000 feet to get through the Andes) passed quickly as we caught up and listened to James' stories from the past couple of months. Finally, the van pulled up to our new home for the next two years. Our apartment is very nice. A three bedroom place with a large living room and views of the city from both sides. We will be sure to post pictures once we are up and running full time with internet, which should be this week. After an introduction dinner at a local Arepas place (a typical Venezuelan meal - kind of like a sandwich) Steph and I turned in to get ready for the first day at the Embassy.

She Said: In the morning we left for the Miami airport. Sitting at the gate, we were both very nervous about what was ahead. I think it was a combination of nervous and excitement in anticipation of a new life ahead. When we arrived in Caracas, we passed through Customs with no problems and were kicked out into the bustling airport arrival area. It is, as many people have described it, a sea of people and you are looking for the one familiar face. Luckily ours was easy to find and we headed for the apartment. Traffic was horrendous and it took us over an hour to arrive at our place. We got there with no problem moved our things into the closets and then went to a traditional Venezuelan restaurant for dinner with Brian’s new colleagues. Again, everyone was so welcoming. We had someone pick us up at our apartment, people to enjoy dinner with, and yet another colleague that came and helped us learn how to work our new alarm system and get settled in. We couldn’t have ordered a better welcoming committee. Although we were exhausted once we got home, we did take the time to put our own sheets on the bed and put our bathroom towels out. It was a nice touch that really made it feel like ours instead of a hotel. I would highly recommend this to FS families.

He Said: The first couple of days at work for me are spent handling all of the in-processing necessary for me to transfer from DC to Post. Steph joined me for the first day as many of the short briefings I have to attend are really for her too. I have not really been able to to much work yet, but I realize it's a process. It has been nice to be able to ease in a little bit, get to know other folks in the embassy community, and not be required to use my Spanish full-time quite yet. We've really enjoyed our time here thus far and look forward to the many adventures to come. Last night we joined some friends from the embassy for sushi at a mall just down the road. Interestingly enough, it turns out that sushi is really popular here and it's actually quite good. We enjoyed our little dinner outside and the short taxi ride back up the hill (everything's on a hill here in Caracas) to our apartment. This morning we'll be heading to one of the outdoor markets with friends to hopefully secure some more food. It takes a while to get set up down here, so for the time being we are reliant on borrowed money and rides from others. We'll be looking forward to getting some vegetables and meat into the kitchen and finally being able to cook dinner for ourselves.

We miss you all very much and are looking forward to sharing the many adventures to come!

She Said: This morning (Thursday, Oct. 22) we got up early to catch a ride to the embassy. We had a full day of administrative procedures, which was complicated by the fact that our sponsor got Dengue Fever last week. He has been very ill and therefore has not been able to carry out a lot of the responsibilities that a sponsor would typically complete. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining, I’m not, and there’s absolutely nothing he could have done to prevent it, it simply means that we have to ask others to fill in for him and I feel like a bit of a burden to the folks who have helped us out.

Since we arrived, the thing that has struck me the most is the sense of community within the embassy and the kindness of all the people we have interacted with. That kindness and willingness to help has been visible in each and every person we have met at the embassy. I couldn’t choose one best part about today, so I will write two. In addition to the people at the embassy being so helpful to us and making the arrival as easy as it can be, I am already loving the food. We had café con leche this morning once we got to the embassy and learned about Marón which is like café con leche, but with an extra shot of espresso. We agreed we’ll go with Maron in the future. For lunch we had traditional pabellon criollo at the cafeteria and it was really tasty.

As I sit here tonight (Thursday) reflecting on how much our life has changed over the last year, I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. I can see already that this will be a great opportunity for Brian in terms of his foreign service career. I also know that for me, this will be a wonderful life experience. Regardless of the path I choose to pursue in terms of career here in Caracas, I know that my life will be full and wonderful. Being back here has also helped me regain a confidence and a voice that truly defines me. My passion for culture and language seems to have risen to the surface again and I am enjoying every minute.

Looking forward to sharing more adventures with you all soon (supposed to have internet in the apartment by Wednesday October 28)!