Election madness!

Elections for Venezuela's "house of representatives" were on Sunday. The results came out yesterday, and many of the locals I know here were very pleased with the results. The state I live in, called Zulia, is the "opposition" state in Venezuela (aka the vast majority of government positions are held by people not in Chavez's party). In the elections, 92% of Zulians voted against the Chavez party. Incredible! But, most of the rest of Venezuela remains "Chavista" and a lot of Chavistas were re-elected or put in office. Still, the Chavistas lost some positions so now in the parliament there are 1/3 opposition representatives and 2/3 Chavistas. This means that the Chavistas don't have enough control to be able to pass new legislation completely on their own--they need to cooperate with the opposition. Everyone that I spoke with at school was very happy that the opposition made progress and hopes that this trend will continue for the next election. I suspect there must be some Chavistas that work at my school but I'm sure they keep their mouths shut since there's a lot of Chavez-bashing that occurs.

Last night there was a big procession of cars and people walking to celebrate the elections. There was music blaring and horns honking (which isn't too out of the ordinary... but this time it was organized, haha).

Since the election process is not very secure or modernized, the city is basically shut down to vote. For instance, my school was canceled from Thursday-Monday. The superintendent decided to cancel school the week before because he suspected that the government would cancel schools around the state on short notice and he wanted to be prepared (apparently the government has done that before and it's been chaotic). So the students didn't have school but we had professional development days. On Sunday, many stores were closed and it was difficult to get around because some streets were blocked off to accommodate the crowds at the voting centers. There were huge lines of people, and vendors selling food and drinks while people waited 1-3 hours to vote. There is an interesting method to ensure that people only vote once. After you vote, you have to dip your pinky finger in to a jar of permanent purple ink. I mean, it's super permanent! Four days after the election everyone is still walking around with bright purple fingers haha! It's an interesting procedure and I suppose it's effective.

There seems to be a pretty good turnout for voting here. In the US voter registration is ridiculously low... and I can't imagine what would happen if people had to wait 1-3 hours in line to vote! People here really seem to value democracy, and especially now that the democracy they have come to know has changed so much in the past ten years they want to have their say. I hope their passion helps them achieve what they want to... but I can't help but wonder if I would feel differently if I lived in a Chavista state. I'm still on the fence about him and probably will stay that way for a while.

I guess I've been busy...

I haven't had much time to update my blog. First of all, I have tried REALLY hard to put new pictures up and a video of my apartment but it's just not happening. :( I will continue to try... some days my internet is faster than others so I hope soon it will go through! My classroom is finally exactly how I want it. I got a new bulletin board and a map and those were the final additions, so

We are now in week five of school and it's unbelievable a) how quickly time has passed b) how much I still have to do! and c) how my students have grown. Even though we're in our routines and have the schedule sorted out there are still days where I feel a little flustered because something always changes. Some days I might need to spend more time on reading, which pushes back writing, which eliminates spelling.... it can get dicey! But I feel like I've gotten better at making myself follow the schedule more closely so I can get to everything I'm supposed to.

The parent open house was last week. I was SO nervous but it went really well. :) I started by thanking the parents for coming and they all said "No, thank YOU for being here!" and they were all so smiley and attentive during my little speech. All the moms kissed me on the cheek, so their kindness and friendliness made up the the inadequacy I felt standing next to them! Most of the moms dress and look like supermodels... lifestyles of the rich and famous I guess! One family in my class owns like 1/3 of the dairy farms in Venezuela, another owns a popular grocery store chain, others work in the oil industry. I don't know how much tuition is for the school (it's kind of a hushed subject) but I know it's a considerable amount. The school doesn't have any scholarship students either so it's generally a safe bet to assume all of the students in the school come from wealthy families. Even still, many families are generous with their money and time--several parents told me that I can notify them if I need something for the classroom or if I need help for a party or holiday. I will be sure to put them to work! ;)

After living in Maracaibo for six weeks now, I am ready to get out of the city!! I'm going to a coconut farm on the Caribbean this weekend and I am so excited! It will be a great chance to relax, lay on the beach, and drink some coconut milk. I go to the pool every Sunday, and that's a nice break from reality, but I'm looking forward to a whole two days out of town.

I'm going to start writing a book

Kids in general say really funny things, but I feel like English Language Learners say even funnier things... and most of the time they don't even realize it.

Me: "When a man is married to a woman, he has a wife. What does the woman have when she is married?"
Boy 1: "Children!"
Boy 2: "Baby! Lots of baby."
--True, I guess....?

Girl 1: "Miss, I see cock-a-roach in the classroom today."
Me: "What?! Where is it?"
Girl 1: "I don't know... I see it this morning."
20 minutes later:
Boy: "Miss, I see the cucaracha!"
All students: *sing* "La cuca-ra-CHA! La cuca-ra-CHA!" ... etc.
--The girl told me that they sang to make me feel better because they all know how much I hate cockroaches! I think it will be a tradition, haha.

Me: "Tell me about a special person in your life."
Girl: "I-Carly... because she talks like you, Miss!" [I-Carly is a Disney show]
Me: "No, I mean someone that you know. Like someone in your family or a friend."
Girl: "I know her! I see her on TV all the time."
Me: "Ok, but you can't talk to her or play with her."
Girl: *pauses* "But, Miss, I have a Build-a-Bear that sings the I-Carly song!! And so it is the same."
--Eventually I helped her make a list of her friends and she wrote about that, though I think she has convinced herself that she is friends with I-Carly.

Me: "In Spanish, to ask 'Can I go to the bathroom' is 'Puedo ir al bano?' To say 'I can go to the bathroom' is 'Puedo ir al bano.' So in Spanish, they are the same, but in English we have to change the first two words around to make it a question.
Boy: "Miss, can you say the Spanish again?"
Me: "Puedo ir al bano?"
All students: *laughing hysterically*
Me: *laughing* "What? That's how you say it, isn't it?"
Girl: "But it's SO funny when you say it!"
Girl 2: *glares at the class* "Hey, STOP it! Miss Van try really hard and she don't know she can't say it right."
--Since then they have begged me to say things in Spanish! At least this opened up a nice conversation to talk about accents and how people who speak different languages have them, etc. However it was very sweet of that girl to stand up for me and my inherent gringa-ness! :)