Good Things About Venezuela.....

We are back.

I did not leave claw marks on the tarmac in Houston.  I was actually glad to go back.  Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic summer working, visiting friends, and soaking up some Galveston time, but when it was time to go back - I was ready.

You could say I missed my rock star apartment, the near perfect daily spring like weather, the gorgeous mountain view from every window in my home, the kids swanky private school — and you would only be partially correct.

You see, I really, really missed Julia, my maid.

After a summer of single motherhood, while I was bringing in the bacon, driving it home, cooking it, serving it AND cleaning up after it was done made me acutely realize how lucky I am here in Caracas.  I know that most women in America do what I did every day and call it life, and it is very humbling to me.  When I was working, my 100 + hour weeks qualified me for a live-in housekeeper/baby sitter — so I never really did it all before.

I asked Chris to have Julia there when we arrived in Caracas to help us unpack and get settled as the kids were starting school in a couple of days after our arrival.  I missed Julia so much that I had visions of me running in slow motion, to the tune of "Chariots of Fire," towards her, only to crumple, sobbing, at her feet in sheer gratitude.

Well, there was a miscommunication, and she was not there when we arrived.  I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and started unpacking our 9 suitcases.  Julia called and apologized for the misunderstanding and we told her to come the next day.  A few hours later, my door bell rang, and I absentmindedly went to answer it.

It was Julia - in all of her 5 foot 1 shining glory, there to save me from unpacking hell.  I literally threw my arms around her and showered her with the gifts I had brought her back from the states.  She quickly shooed me away, and changed into her uniform.  Within minutes, she took charge of the unpacking I basically acted as her grateful assistant.

She has eased us back into our routine and I am eternally grateful.  The kids are back at school and loving it.  They have new friends, great teachers, and are looking forward to another wonderful year.

Monday is sheet changing day at our house.  I guess Julia decided changing the sheets is not enough.  She decided to wash the duvet covers and pillow shams as well.  Our pillows suffer from years of my Mediterranean blooded husband sleeping on them and his, well essence, being left on them nightly.  The pillows (inside the cases) were stained a splotchy brownish color.  They were cleanish, just stained from years of use.

I figured when I got fed up enough, I would bring in some new ones from the states.

It seems, however, that Julia had other ideas.

She opened the seams of the pillows and removed the stuffing so she could bleach and scour the covers. When I got home from tennis lessons, I watched in shock as she was hand sewing the seams back together after she had dried and restuffed the covers.

I am seriously thinking about putting plastic covers on them now to protect them from future damage!

God I love that woman.

Back in the USA

In a whirlwind of overscheduling, we decided that flying home to Galveston from Venezuela for one day then immediately taking off for Hawaii was a great idea.  We were celebrating Chris' mother's 70th birthday on the Big Island.

It was an 18 hour day of travel to get there and we could only stay a week as Chris had to get back to work. Hawaii was beautiful.  The girls had a great time hiking, seeing the Kilauea volcano and lava flows and hanging out with their cousins and Chris' family.

We flew home, kissed Daddy goodbye, and then the next day left for Disney World.  We went with the Resto's and had a blast. Again, thank you to my cousin Marla for providing all of the arrangements!  It made our trip organized and allowed us to relax and have fun with the kids and not worry about reservations or where we were going and when.

We rode all of the big roller coasters and scary rides (DO NOT MISS DINOSAUR!!!!) and still had time for wonderful dinners and some princess time (Tito

was a huge sport here).

After four wonderful days, we returned home exhausted and happy and ready to just hang out for a while.

I have started working again and it has been great.  I am working with residents again and enjoying it tremendously.

Katherine and I have been busy packing for camp.  I gave her most of the responsibility for packing and just act as her assistant and have been so proud about how organized she has been.  Madeline has been playing non-stop with her Galveston friends and thinks every day is another party!

Chris was able to come home for 4th of July weekend and we were able to celebrate with good friends here in Galveston.  We are looking forward to visiting with my family over the summer as well.  

Is No One Paying Attention ?

Before I go off on my rant, let me give a disclaimer: I can not say that I ever paid much attention to this stuff before I moved to Venezuela. I was a busy working mother with a full social agenda that did not involve long talks about world events or politics, and frankly, I believed the government of the United States was more than capable of protecting me and my family - so why would I care?

Since moving here, I have slowly began to pay more and more attention to the events in the world around me. I have lived in a country where people openly critizied the president - sure, Clinton and Bush II immediately come to mind, but I did not know anyone personally that was calling for their deaths. I mean, we have the luxury of "unelecting" someone after four years if we don't like him enough, or the other guy just looks better.

Now I live in a country where people either want the president dead - or will jump in front of a bullet for him. Kind of weird. I guess now that the people do not have the option of him being seriously "unelected" as he personally controls the legislature, judiciary and military.

I keep asking Chris - how did this happen? He was democratically elected 11 years ago and now he openly says he is going to take all of the banks, private land, private enterprise and turn them over to the government - all in the name of his socialist revolution. I keep wondering why this does not happen in the United States? What makes us so different from them.

I am not writing this because I think that anyone should really care as much as I do about the government in Venezuela - other than they supply 30% of the oil needs of the United States and are the Venezuelans biggest customer.

What is freaking me out is that Venezuela is aligning itself very comfortably with IRAN, CHINA, and RUSSIA. It has signed away its natural resources to China in exchange for money. By the way, the oil is not out of the ground yet and it is years away from being produced. Kind of like selling the plasma of your unborn child. Since I have moved here Ahmadinejad has visited, shook hands and kissed Chavez. Russia is selling massive amounts of arms here, oh, and don't forget about Hugo's BFF's the Castro Brothers of Cuba where Raul is a frequent visitor.

So today I was reading about Iran being really upset about the UN sanctions - due to their refusal to stop enriching uranium and all. In a speech in Shanghai today, Ahmadinejad said that Israel was doomed and singled out US President Barak Obama for scorn after the UN agreed to a to the nuclear sanctions. I also read about many countries in Latin Americas open criticisim of Hilary Clinton's comments during her tour of Latin America recently.

I immediately went to CNN.com to see what they had to say about it. NOTHING. The only information is about the World Cup on the entire front page. The New York Times website did mention it on the front page http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/world/middleeast/11assess.html?hp (were they not supposed to be one of the most liberal newspapers in the world, or did I miss something?). The Los Angeles Times and USA Today had nothing either.

I guess I worry because I have more time on my hands now and I am steeped in it. But I wonder, does anybody else really care? I see an open alignment of countries increasingly critical of the US - many of which would not shed a tear at our demise - and the front page of USA today has POP QUIZ: Do you know celebs and entertainment?

End of the School Year

Some end of the year highlights:

Katherine won the technology award for 3rd grade! She was as surprised as me. I told her sometimes it was nice to get an award for things that just came naturally to you.

Katherine completed her Mini-Society Unit. She created a product (purses) and sold them at the market, and made a profit. At first she thought that charging more than what your raw materials cost was not fair, then we had a long talk about free markets and feeding your children and it made more sense to her. I think teaching capitalism might be illegal in Venezuela - but since we are not recognized as a "real" school by the government, we can get away with it.

Madeline graduated from Kindergarten! It was so cute, as they had the stage dressed up exactly as they did for the High School Graduation. When they enter first grade (through 5th) they wear white shirts instead of red, so here she is receiving her white shirt

Beautiful Madeline in her new white shirt, and graduation cap.

Katherine's Poem

Thoughtful Me.

I am a thoughtful child.

I wonder if wars are going to have violent ends.

I hear everthing in around me in a different way.

I see things from a different perspective.

I want to be understood.

I pretend to be a hero for everyone.

I feel sad when people die of hunger or sickness.

I touch just to feel the textue of something.

I worry about the world and its pollution.

I cry when people die.

I am proud of myself for trying new things.

I understand the way people feel when they are sad.

I say "Don't feel bad" when people get sad.

I dream of a happy world with no fighting.

I try to be a peaceful person.

I hope that my wishes come true.

I am a happy person.

Economic Lessons

I am watching a country fall apart.

It is one of the most fascinating things I have ever had the chance to do.

I have never considered myself a student of politics or economics, but I find myself captivated by what is happening here in Venezuela. I am living in a country with some of the richest natural resources in the world. I am also living in a country with a democratically elected man who is bankrupting the country, giving away its wealth, and driving the best and brightest of its citizens away - all in the name of protecting the poor.

Currently, Caracas has the highest murder rate in the hemisphere and Venezuela has the highest inflation in the world. The basket of goods that the poor here live on went up 8% LAST MONTH. There are few jobs. Crime is skyrocketing. Robbery and kidnapping is an industry and NO ONE is ever caught.

I wonder why this does not happen in the United States. Why are we so lucky? I find this story a cautionary tale for Americans.

I read this article this morning - if you have no interest in politics, please don't read it, but if you do..............

I pasted the text below, but here is the link: http://devilsexcrement.com/2010/05/17/interview-from-el-nacional-with-moises-naim/

The current situation in Venezuela is as complex as the words of Moses Naim are clear and strong to analyze it. His unmistakable style has always remained clear during his long career in the area of international political economy. On this occasion, he wishes to talk about the consequences of the policies implemented in the country, rather than recommendations for their solution because he is convinced that the President will further deepen his devastating policies. “Chavez will not hear anything different from what he believes, even though the reality will send strong signals that he is wrong.”

- What is the economic diagnosis of the country? -
The same that all Venezuelans have. What more need be said of a country that has simultaneously extraordinary oil revenues and the highest inflation in the world? Not even African countries without governments and devastated by war have higher inflation than Venezuela. What can we say about the management of a country with the largest energy resources in the hemisphere, but that forces its inhabitants to live in a constant nightmare of blackouts and energy rationing? A country whose policies have the effect of driving away massive amounts of capital overseas and the best of its human skills, and whose government gives to other countries and without the permission of anyone the nation’s wealth while the vast majority live in misery? The cruelest irony of all this is that the President who says he understands the situation and suffering of the poor is the one that has imposed the most devastating policies for those same poor. There is no “mision“, grants, gifts, subsidies or other handouts to be given to the people, that can offset the impact on the poor of the combination of inflation, unemployment and murders in which it has been condemned to live.

- Capitalism or socialism, market or state? -
I believe in a strong state and that it executes well the things that the market and the private sector can not do or should not do. Police, justice, defense.

The market will not solve education, health, or the insecurity of people in the neighborhoods. That has to be done primarily by the state. But to be effective, the State must be selective. You can not do everything. The Manichean debate between state and market, between capitalism and socialism is a waste of time and serves only to deceive the unwary. It is obvious that it takes both. It is not one or the other, but how to cleverly combine government and market.

- What do you think is the most serious problem in the economic sphere? -
There are many and well known. But perhaps one of the main mistakes President Chávez has made is to fall in love with an economic model that depends for its success on what this country has the least: efficient public officials. When the President nationalizes companies right and left, they are handed over to officials who don’t have the faintest idea of how to efficiently manage such activities. And what we’ve seen is that despite the efforts and good will, or sometimes simply because of laziness or corruption soon these nationalized companies collapse. And if the staff are efficient, why distract them, forcing them to produce sardines or operate cement industries? Top officials should be put in public activities which are a priority for the country, those that if not done by the state are done by no one else. If the state does not produce sardines, rice and cement, others can do it. But if it does not ensure that no one is kidnapped or killed when returning from work, then who will? Protection and personal safety is a service that the rich can buy from the private sector. But the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans depends on the government to protect them and their family.

For Venezuelans it matters less who is the owner of this or that company, that the fact that they are killing their children while the President does not seemed to be too concerned.

- What will be the result of all these policies? -
When a credible accounting of what happened in Venezuela these last ten years is carried out, we will discover that we live in one of the most important episodes in the economic history of the world in terms of wealth destruction, loss of productivity and waste of resources that the country desperately needed to lift people out of poverty. There are many wars that have produced less damage than the economic policies of these times. Today there are more murders in one weekend in Caracas than in Kabul.

-If you had the power for deciding measures an taking decisions on economic matters, what would you do?

One of the paradoxes of the situation we find ourselves in is that it is not even worth talking about what should be done on economic matters. What good is it to talk about the devastating effects which has the fact that the Government steps with one foot on the accelerator of consumption , while at the same time pushes strongly on the break of supply. It maintains an aggressive monetary policy and of public spending which stimulates consumption , while at the same time announces every day a decision which puts the breaks on providing the supply for that consumption. We see constantly how the President thunders against speculation and and the corrupt and following that announces measures that everyone knows will stimulate speculation and will provide even more ample and lucrative opportunities for corruption. He suffers for the poor while his Government is once again the most efficient machinery for the production of poverty.

-Do you think the Government will abolish the capitalist system and replace it with a socialist system? Do you think it will be able to achieve it?

I only know what the President of the Republic says. And Chavez is sincere, repetitive and emphatic with that. Why should I not believe him when he says he hates capitalism and adores socialism? It is one thing for us not to like it, but it is something else to refuse to listen to what a leader says, who has up to now maintained all of his promises on matters of public policy, even if they don’t work and lead him not to fulfill his promises about the results.

-Why do you think the President is so committed to policies that have not worked?

Because he suffers from ideological necrophilia. He is in love with dead ideas. I don’t know what are the psychological motives that lead him to be in love with a vision that he has proof have not worked anywhere. And he does not need to read history. It is sufficient for him to see what is happening to him and the country. At the beginning, the socialist promises and the rhetoric of resentment, racism and taking revenge gave him political dividends, but the bet on fundamentalist socialism has not been won by anyone in the world and at the end those attempts have always created suffering and the political failure of the fundamentalists that promote them. I don’t know if the love for those dead ideologies that the President has are chronic and addictive. Perhaps he will fall out of love with those bad ideas that he is infatuated with once he sees at last that nothing works for him. But for now that love has blinded him. It is a pity that millions of Venezuelans have to pay the immense human cost that Chavez’ passion have had.

-How do you judge the performance of the Venezuelan opposition?

With frustration, understanding and hope. Frustration, because it is difficult to see how it makes mistakes over and over again. Understanding, because the opposition to strong regimes is always fragmented, clumsy, easily sabotaged by the regime and prone to score goals against itself. And hope, because there is no doubt it has matured and learned from its errors. It is admirable to see the persistence and disposition of many to continue their fight despite the risks that implies. How dangerous and costly is to be part of the opposition and how easy and lucrative it is to be Chavista! And it is quite revealing that despite this there is opposition everywhere: in the universities, the high schools, the workers movement, the businessmen, the farmers and cattle ranchers, in the world of culture and science. From the statements of some military that we have read recently even in the Armed Forces. And even within Chavismo. Even the Cubans that come here end up being anti-Chavez.

-What are your projections for the parliamentary elections?

That the opposition will have more representatives in the Assembly that at any time during the Chavez era. It will be interesting to see how he will adapt to a situation in which he no longer controls everything and everyone, all of the time. In a decade the muscles you don’t use can easily become atrophied. And the President has spent too much time without exercising the muscles that allow you to compromise with those that do not share your ideas, the negotiation with opposition politicians and the search for agreement with other social forces. All od this is known in other countries and in the old Venezuela, as democracy…