"Maracaibo is like one big frat house"

One of the teachers that's been here for a few years said this in the sense that people do whatever crazy stuff they want to and no one's going to stop them. The drivers are nuts; it's optional to stop at a red light, pedestrians don't have the right of way, and it's normal to drive the wrong way down a one way street if it means you'll get there faster. I've only been in one taxi so far and it was ok, but we've been around the whole city in one of the school's buses and witnessed the insanity. There are police but they break all the traffic laws too so there's no enforcement. Another thing that might take some getting used to is that people don't like to wait in line. Rather, they will kinda push their way forward until they can slip in front of you. This also happens with traffic! ;) Something else that stands out to me is that there's also a lot of graffiti... everywhere. I live in one of the "nice" neighborhoods and there's still some here. Sometimes residents will spray paint messages ranging from "No Mas Chavez" (or "Viva Chavez" depending on their politics) to announcements like "Please Don't Dump Garbage Here." Also, politicians running for office spray paint with a stencil on some concrete walls... probably with permission? Who knows. Lastly, there's plenty of swearing! Even the little kids do it because they don't know any better. I don't know all the words yet, haha, but some of the teachers have told me the ones to look out for so I can remind the students that it's inappropriate.

Yesterday the school took us on a city tour and we got to see all the touristy things: the lake, the basilica, the plaza, an artisan market, the huge mall, and the historic district where the old Spanish-style houses still stand. After the tour a few of the other teachers and I went to the pool for the afternoon. The water was unexpectedly hot! It was like taking a bath basically, haha. I'm guessing they probably don't have to heat it with year round temperatures of 95 degrees. We got lunch at the pool and the options were grilled chicken or hamburger. I explained that I didn't eat chicken or beef and the waiter paused and said "Quiere hamburguesa?" I said no, I just wanted a cheese sandwich with lettuce and then he looked really confused and replied "Hamburguesa con queso?" I explained again and then he seemed to understand (but didn't know why anyone would want just cheese, haha). I ended up with a ham and cheese sandwich. In all fairness ham was not on the list of meats that I told him I didn't eat! He was probably just trying to be nice and give me something more substantial, hehe. If there is one thing I have found so far it's that the people in Maracaibo are very forgiving, compassionate, and willing to help!

The internet is a little too slow right now to add pictures but I will do that when I officially get internet in my apartment!