I was going to do a whole post on the New Year's festivities here, but I couldn't get the video to upload (dang it). Just imagine....a warzone. Have I told you that fireworks are an obsession here? As in: they had fireworks ON STAGE at the Nutcracker Ballet. I thought for sure something was going to catch on fire. But it was kind of cool. After living here two years, I'm either going to turn into a fireworks-hater or a pyro.
Anyway, this year at midnight, we kind of missed the countdown, then all of a sudden, it sounded like a mortar attack!
DUCK AND COVER!!!
And then we shouted Happy New Year.
And then we relived the countdown at 12:30 while we watched the ball drop in New York.
I've never lived in a war zone, but the flashing lights throughout the valley, and the constant booming through the night were definitely....bellicose. Or belligerant? And, no joke, some neighbors from the building we were in.....were shooting fireworks off the roof, and these fireworks had an uncharacteristic downward trajectory. A couple did their *pop!* right outside the window, so we leaned out and shouted "MAS ARRIBA, MAS ARRIBA!!!" Well, that worked for awhile, until one firework came zooming in and *popped!* right in the living room! Yeah, we slid the window shut pretty fast.
In more recent news, this past weekend, I went with a bunch of folks to Morrocoy National Park.
It was beautiful! Pictures coming up below.....we caravaned in 3 cars, mine being one of them, and let me tell you -- caravanning is an art. It is IMPERATIVE that you know the signals and the plays ("he's running defense for you, go!"). I think it's going to take a couple more instructional sessions until I can pass Caravanning 101.
Morrocoy is a national park made up of islands, or cays. It's also kind of like a wildlife preserve -- we saw flamingoes!!! Whole flocks of them. When they all took off out of the water and started flying away, I felt like I was ON SITE for a National Geographic filming. No good pics of that, sorry.
Our journey through the national park started with finding the boat and boater who had been recommended to us. Which was tricky. After driving for what felt like hours, through hills and dales and deserty wastelands (which my Jeep loved), we found the place. We jumped on the boat, and headed through.....
THE MANGROVES!!!
They were beautiful, the trees with their giant roots came right down into the water. There were "roads" cut through the trees that we followed till we got to the ocean.
And the ocean was gorgeous. So clear. At various points, our guide jumped in and brought up a starfish or sea urchin for us to check out. The picture above is of "La Piscina," or "The Pool," where everyone parks their boats and gets out to swim. It's shallow, crystal clear, and the perfect temperature. So awesome.
Then our final stop was one of the bigger cays, Cayo Sombrero. By that point, we were all pretty pink, so we found a perfect spot under the palm trees, and lathered on some more 50 spf. I think the locals thought we were crazy. I reapplied about an hour later :)
So that was our trip! Not bad, eh?
2 comments:
Sigh.
It's snowy here.
Know how I went on foreign exchange to Chile? For a summer?
I brought shorts with me. And like, a couple pairs of jeans. No sweaters, though, or anything like that. Not for my summer trip, you know? We barely wear sweaters during WINTER in California, so I just didn't even think of it.
And that was when I learned that seasons swap below the equator. Oops.
(I was white, white, white after that. Because like, three winters in a row with no summer.)
Fireworks, crystal clear water, and gorgeous nature? Where do we sign up? This sounds fabulous.
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