We're Back - And One Reason Why We Were Missing

Thanks to all of our friends who wrote wondering if our blogging stopped because of the political situation in Venzuela. After reading commentary in English and Spanish, I am still undecided whether an actual coup was in progress. Although surely things will develop further, our presence in Mérida is stable for now. Fortunately, we were occupied with much happier events, too many to write about in one blog entry.

Last weekend was filled with cooking preparations for Risa’s Venezuela birthday party, a Monday night event that included eight kids ranging from four to eleven, as well as nine adults. Working as a foursome, we managed a clean house and a pretty nice food spread. The kids enjoyed sugar, the grownups wine. A continuous mix of English and Spanish rang throughout the house, as all the adults and most of the children were somewhat bilingual, with the new kids in town heavy on the English side. My favorite part of the evening was singing Venezuela’s own birthday song, even if I had to twist a few arms for everyone to do it. It had been twenty years since I’d gotten to sing it with a group. The 30 and 40 somethings reminisced about 80s music in Venezuela, songs indelibly burned on my brain from my days as an exchange student.

The kids tore around the sidewalk patio that surrounds our house. Anson insisted on buying extra dice so that he could host a grand Liar’s Dice match. The kids bet everything from broccoli to oreo cookies (guess which was most popular?). The party broke up at 11:15, something parents would never allow in Des Moines. Not a single meltdown ensued and the entire party was great, great fun.

We have struggled to feed the kids to their satisfaction since their arrival, as the food they are used to is unavailable or too expensive for us to justify purchasing on a regular basis. Except for those Venezuelans who use the government subsidized supermarket or exchange Bolivares on the black market, I have not figured out how Venezuelans feed a family on a regular basis. That is why Risa got a jar of peanut butter for her birthday, which she may eat whenever she wants. At 26 Bolivares a jar (about 12 dollars), it is too expensive to be the central part of our diet that it is in the U.S. Everyone is happy with rice, and thankfully both kids like the national bread, arepas. But Risa has yet to find a protein that she consistently likes.

Aside from feeding picky children and planning parties, we threw ourselves into the back to school schedule, the biggest reason for blog silence. More to come!