Hotel Vicoria

The interesting looking girl with the puppy started talking to me, asked me where i was from. i told her the US and immediatley realized i should probably stick with canada from now on. she was cool, told me her lifes story, has no place to live in maraciabo now, her friends sort of bailed on her, she doesnt pick the right guys, the dog was a gift from a friend so she wouldnt get lonley and it cost something like $150. wow. she was heading home to her parents and brother, sort of invited me along and i almost went but couldnt quite bring myself to do it. she asked me who i was visiting in maraciabo, i told her i didnt know anybody, she asked me why i would come here then. it wasnt promising. we chatted until her bus had to leave and i then walked across the road to some hotels. the first too said no rooms available. i asked the third how much he said how long i said a night. he didnt get it so i told him i needed it until the next morning, he said, "oh, 24 hours, that will be $60." (i translated the currancy for you.) i told him thats ok, tried the next one same thing. lovely. so i took an overpriced taxi to the cheapest hotel in the guide book--Hotel Victoria. it ended up being $20 a night for a dark room with no running water and one bed and a TV with a few cable station. porn was playing when i walked in, and i found out that there is a station that plays pornography 24 hours a day. how nice.

i slept in to the afternoon and then walked around a bit. during the day i was a bit worried, i dont think i would have made it to the front door if i had tried the night before. people yell at you, where you from, give me money. canada canada no no perdon. i got used to saying that. the streets were terrible, trash everywhere, dirty broken down buildings. homeless crackhead-looking people. then i came around a corner to find plaza bolivar. (simon bolivar liberated much of south america from spain the 1800s. the venezuelan currancy is the bolivar, bolivia is named for him, and almost every city in almost every country has a plaza bolivar.) chavez is obsessed with the man. the plaza in his name was gorgeous, plush green grass, big statues, fountains, it was beautiful. across the street people are collecting bottles to turn in for change, selling pencils and begging for anything. the streets are trashed, the buildings run down. makes me question government spending.

i was a bit concerned walking around only because i had my camera and card on me. after i dropped those off at the hotel and went back out i felt much more secure. the street food was fabulous. and cheap, best part of venezuela. i went back to the hotel and went up on the roof when it got dark. maraciabo has unexplained lighting storms almost every night. i tried to get pictures of it, but my timing was always off by a few seconds, a good show though. i went to bed after watching the first scene in kill bill in spanish. alarm set for 7am, excited as hell to get out of venezuela and back to colombia.