Tapas, Flamenco, Gaitas, y Jugo de Melocoton

Last night, a couple of us went to a Spanish restaurant here in Caracas. So cool! They served tapas, aka Spanish appetizers. The name comes from how they used to "top" their glasses/bottles with bread while eating, to keep out the flies. Then I guess some genious decided to start piling more food on, and you get tapas. Mmmmm.

Then, about 10pm, the flamenco dancers arrived. The YouTube clip above is from the same restaurant, and the same flamenco group, but a different night and different dancers. (I forgot to bring my camera yet again, thank goodness for the internet). The live music was great, and the dancers were amazing! I knew flamenco was all about the hands/snapping fingers/castanet moves, but I didn't realize how much was going on with the feet. It was like Riverdance, Spanish style! The clip above is pretty long, but see if you can find the part where their feet are going like 100mph. Wow.

After the flamenco dancers left, the Gaitas came in. Gaitas is a local kind of music they only play in December, for the holidays. Except it isn't holiday music. It's just.....Venezuelan music. Sounds Latino, but they use African instruments (there is actually a good bit of African cultural/musical heritage here, especially along the coast).

Here is a picture of the instruments they use, courtesy of gustavonavarrete.com.ve. They have a four stringed guitar called a "cuatro," not sure if it's in this picture, some cool African drums, and my favorite instrument that is like a big stick stuck inside a drum.

And....jugo de melocoton. They make the best fresh juices here, and melocoton happens to be PEACH! Just had to throw that in as one of the highlights of the night.

And....things are going well in general. Work is still busy, but good, I'm slowly meeting more people, and getting to know my way around. I found my way to church today! There was a "maraton" this morning, so all the streets were blocked off, meaning my ride couldn't come get me. These Sunday morning races seem to be a regular occurrence in Latin America, and they often made us late to church in Mexico too :) Anyway, I headed to the shopping center to find a taxi, and when he said he had no idea where the Mormon church by the Burger King was, I took a deep breath and said "Well, let's see if I can find it, and if not, you can just bring me back here." (For those of you who know anything about my complete lack of inner compass, you know this was a big step for me :) 15 minutes later, and after only ONE almost missed turn, we made it to church! Huge confidence booster, I think I'm *almost* ready for my car to get here. Almost.