| I FINISHED THE STORY, NOW YOU CAN READ IT ALL
THE VENEZUELA TRIP:
Here it is! I'm back home finally and I had the time of my life, hopefully next year I can save up to go again. For those of you that are interested here is the full story and what I did. There is also a link at the bottom for the pictures from the trip. Enjoy.
Day 1:
Well I left on the 19th of August for Venezuela as you all know, I got there around 9ish. After picking up my bags I saw my friends Alan, Ricardo, Fran, David waiting for me right outside the baggage claim; we said our hellos and then after asking how my trip was Alan asks "Yo you want to go get a beer?" From that point on I knew I was in for one hell of a trip I hadn't even been in the country for 20 minutes and my buddies were already offering to buy me drinks. So we went to a bar that was at the airport and sat down for a beer, about 10 minutes later William and Juan showed up and they brought their own beers and joined us. After the beers (which were about 1000 Bolivares which is the equivalent of about less than 50 cents, no joke) we all decided to go to Ricardos house so I could leave my bags and shit there. We get to the airport parking lot and William opens the back of his car where there is a cooler filled with beer, we then grabbed some more beer for the road and each went into our different cars. We got to Ricardos house where we all just chilled and had some beers. You can see the first night there at Ricardos in the pictures, its the first couple of them. Well that was the first night of many which I wont describe them all just the highlights of most of them. So that first night we all just drank beers at Ricardo's and caught up on good times, Miguel, Andres, Andrea, and some other people showed up later too. At about 5am I was pretty tired and drunk so I went to bed.
Le Club:
On about the 3rd or 2nd night I was there we went out to a club in Caracas called Le Club, its a club for members only but they can bring guests. My friend Hector and Jordan were members so they signed us all in and we went in. I dont have pictures from this night at Le Club unfortunately. Anyways, this night was going to be expensive because the cover fee was about 40,000 Bolivares which is a little less then 20 bucks. Then we had to pay for alcohol once inside so Ricardo, Alan, William, and I decided that we had to pregame alot before going in so on the way to Le Club me and Ricardo went to a liquor store to buy a handle of Sangria. Sangria, for those of you who dont know, tastes like really sweet wine or grapejuice kind of. So anyways Ricardo also brought 1/3 of a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label Whiskey. So in the parking lot before going into Le Club Ricardo, Alan, Willy, and I all began drinking the Sangria. After the Sangria we decided to drink the whiskey which we did. After that you can imagine that we were all set to go so we went in. The reason this night was so expensive at Le Club was because it was like the 60th anniversary or something and we were forced to go because our friend Patricia had her birthday that night and she wanted us to come. So we went in and we met up with our friends, then Alan, Ricardo, Willy, and I decided to order "una ponchera" which WILL fuck you up guaranteed. la ponchera is a tub filled with ice and then they give you 5 red bulls, 1 bottle of vodka, and 1 bottle of champain, you mix it all together in the tub and you have something very potent. So for the rest of the night we drank la ponchera between the 4 of us and finished it off. The rest of the night I dont remember quite that much but afterwards we went to Misia Jacinta which is an Arepera that Ricardo's dad owns. An Arepera is a place where they serve Arepas which are a traditional Venezuelan food. If you want to know what it looks like just google "Arepa" and find a pic. That night I ate about 3 really big ones, and thats where I aquired the nickname from my friends: Julio "La Bestia" Baptista. We left Misia Jacinta and then went home, however the next day we found out that we were about 10 minutes away from getting robbed because about 10 mins after we left some kids that were sitting next to us got robbed by some dudes. So that was a close call....
Soccer:
Soccer, the most beautiful sport I know of. All my friends there played soccer or as we call it futbol. At first I didnt know what to expect, we went to a futbolito court to play a game. Before starting my friends were just messing around and doing tricks, after watching them do tricks I was afraid to play soccer with them because they were GODS at soccer. It was ridiculous, I was afraid and terrified to play. Specially my friend Francisco (Fran), he plays soccer for the University of Miami and he is beyond Godly at soccer. I'm pretty sure he starts at forward for them if not its midfield, but he was telling me once about his last two games before the season was over...he did Hat Tricks in both games!!!! Hat tricks are 3 goals in one game, and doing that is pretty hard, especially in two games in a row. So we played futbolito and they basically tore it up, doing all types of tricks and shit and putting it through everyones legs and just basically ridiculing each other. Next to them, I looked like complete shit. it seemed like I had never played soccer in my life. They all pretty much spanked me right there on the court and I felt it. On the last day I was in Venezuela we played soccer again but in a field, however this time Fran wasnt there but Juan Pablo and Emiliano were there. They also tore it up. Juan Pablo plays soccer for his school in Holland where he studies and Emiliano, well they both just tore it up. They were both on the same team and they just kept doing tricks and some really sick shit that you would only see in street soccer. This time I did alot better than when I played futbolito but I still looked like shit when compared to the other guys. I only wish I was as good as them because it is insane.
Choroni (Reefer Madness):
About the 4th or 5th day I was there we decided to make a trip to Choroni which is this little town with an AWESOME beach. I have pictures of the trip to Choroni on the website as well. It was a long drive and the funniest part of the drive was that I was in the car with Ricardo, Juan and Hector. Hector is probably the funniest kid I know so the car ride with him was interesting. Hector decided to name this vacation in Choroni the "Reefer Madness" and i bet you can imagine why. His slogan for the trip was "One puff is all it takes for you to enter the...Reefer Madness" On the way there, there was traffic on the highway so Hector decided to get out of the car and start dancing. I have a picture of that as well. So Hector was dancing in the middle of the highway and everyone was honking at him and shit. Then another funny part on the highway was that our friend Jordan who is dark like me (they called me and Jordan "los negros") wanted a cigarrette from Hector. So Hector was sitting in the back seat just chillin with his window open. (at the time we were around "los ranchitos" where its pretty much the ghetto) So Ricardo saw from his rearview mirror that Jordan got out of the car and was coming to Hectors window so he begins shouting "MIERDA! VIENE UN NEGRO! VIENE UN NEGRO!" We all got scared at first but then we saw it was Jordan, except for Hector who didnt see Jordan. When Hector turned back around to look through his window Jordan was there and scared the living shit out of Hector, and Hector jumped back. The best part was that after about like 10 seconds after scaring hector we saw that hector broke out in a cold sweat. After the traffic was over it started to rain, the bad thing about that is that we were in Ricardos 4X4 Blazer which had NO AC. So we had to roll up the windows and we all started sweating after about 1 minute with the windows rolled up. This went on for about a good 40 minutes. Later on we finally got to Choroni and went to "la posada" where we went in our rooms. We went to the beach, had a good time and everything. Then later that night we went to eat and during dinner we decided to have a "Sangria Challenge" which basically meant that we all went to the liquor store, bought our own handle of Sangria and drank it by yourself. After dinner we all went to the liquor store to buy the handles of Sangria. We then went to this pier type thing where we all sat down and started drinking Sangria like there is no tomorrow. I have pictures from that night too on the website. That was an interesting night where pretty much everyone got drunk and then a couple people entered the "Reefer Madness". Later on that night there was a freestyle rapper that showed up and he rapped in spanish and he was freaking insane. He ripped on me and all my friends pretty much but we thought it was awesome and hilarious. I have a picture on the website with him, hes the one in between me and Alan. The next day in Choroni we all payed some guys to take us to a private beach by boat. We got there and it was ridiculous, probably one of the best beaches i've seen. We all got there and drank beer, and chilled all day on the beach pretty much. I have a picture on that beach, if you see in the background you can see what it looked like. Pretty much we chilled on the beach and then some people entered the "Reefer Madness" again and then we all went back to "la posada" where we got ready for dinner. That night during dinner we were eating and we had ordered some Guarapita which is a drink you find pretty much only in Choroni. It is natural juice with aguardiente (which is some type of alcohol and about the equivalent of everclear i would say) basically it was a really strong drink and then during dinner we all decided that the night was right to have a "Guarapita Challenge" which basically meant we buy our own bottle of Guarapita and drank it on our own. We all went ahead and bought our bottles of Guarapita and drank away the night. We all chilled in the same spot as the night before, however this night was different because John arrived that day and he brought with him some Venezuelan models. apparently hes dating a model and two other models came along to choroni. it was an interesting night none the less. we all drank our guarapita and just had a great time. The next day we all just went to the beach and chilled, then around 3pm we went back to our rooms, showered, and left for home.
OK NOW IM READY TO FINISH THE REST OF THE STORY SO HERE IS PART 2:
The Wedding:
On the 29th of August Ricardo's sister was getting married to this guy that looked just like Lex Luthor. It was pretty funny. But yeah the wedding was fun, I got to be in it with the rest of my buddies we all dressed up with a white shirt and gray tie. We stood in the aisle holding flowers and then just stood there the whole time holding the flowers. Afterwards we went to a sweet ass club where the party was at. This was a really huge party with tons of people and it was tons of fun. Earlier that day I was helping Ricardo pick up the alcohol for the afterparty to give you an idea this is what we picked up: 12 boxes of Johnnie Walker Black Label..each box had 10 bottles of Whiskey..so for you math majors thats 120 bottles of Black Label. thats ALOT of whiskey. We also picked up tons of boxes of wine and champagne as well. If you see in all the pictures from the wedding everyone is drinking whiskey. Later on in the night we all went into the ballroom to dance and have a good time and all hell broke loose. The salsa group that was singing started throwing all these hats and props and shit, it was insane. If you look in the pictures everyone is wearing something on their head. The rest of the night was awesome, lots of food and more drinking and then the party started dying out at about 5am. Me and Ricardo heard of an afterparty at someones house but we just decided to go home and pass out cuz we were exhausted.
El Avila:
If you see in the pictures I took of the city you will notice this huge mountain surrounding the city. That is called "El Avila" its this huge mountain with this hotel at the top thats closed down now. One day we went up on the teleferico which takes you up to the top and you can go visit the mountain and shit. I took pictures of the city from the teleferico and its reallys omething impressive. We then got to the top and just chilled there until it was dark, you can see the pictures which are pretty impressive. Then on the way down some of the guys "hot boxed" it inside the teleferico. it was pretty funny.
Le Club Round 2:
One night we went to Le Club again with several buddies and this time we planned on ordering two poncheras and drinking them. We first chilled at Ricardo's house and pregamed with wine, then we all headed out later that night. after the two poncheras we were all set for the night. some of the pictures are pretty funny because you can tell how bad some of us are. for instance for ricardo the shit had hit the fan. I saw him one time and the next time I saw him again he looked like shit.
Playa Azul:
On like the 3rd day before I left Ricardo, Alan, Willy, Juan, and I decided to go to Playa Azul which is this closed off beach where Hector is a member so we went to stay with him and his buddy Jose Antonio. So we got to Playa Azul and had to sneak in so we swam out into the ocean from another beach and then swam all the way to Playa Azul, I thought I was going to drown but we made it. We get there and Hector is waiting for us on the beach with a cooler filled with beer, so we dont hesitate and start drinking at about like 12pm. The rest of the day we just chilled on the beach and drank, it was really relaxing. Then Alan and Willy had to leave but Ricardo, Juan, and I decided to crash at Jose Antonio's place. So we spent the rest of the day just chillin on the beach drinking more, then when it was dark Juan and I swam out to this abandoned boat we had been on earlier and we comandeered it. We named it the Black Pearl and then we took this torn up flag that it had and I have it with me right now. Swimming in the ocean at night was pretty fuckin scary...i then remember asking Juan something on the water while we were swimming back: Me: "Dude are there sharks here?" Juan: "Uhhh....I dont know..." later on like the last day I was in venezuela we both found out that yes there are sharks in the water there at playa azul and we were in the water at the worst time. Eventually after commandeering the black pearl we all went to eat dinner. Dinner was hilarious because Hector was telling stories about his friends and he had all of us in tears at the dinner table. I started crying from how hard I laughed and I nearly threw up cuz my stomach hurt so much, I had to stand up and walk around so I didnt throw up. The best part was that the restaurant was filled with older people and in came these 5 guys somewhat drunk and sat down and started making a ruckus. Then later at night we just finished the beer, drank some wine, and then drank some Ronaldos. Then we went to chill at the beach. It was definitley one of the best experiences while down there in Venezuela.
The Supplies:
The last day there in Venezuela we all got together and I went to buy some shit that I needed and then we went to this mall to eat some all you can eat sushi. This was the second time we came into this all you can eat sushi place, this is what happened the first time: We got there and its 20 minutes of as much sushi as you can eat for about 25,000BS which is about 10 bucks. The first time we went it was Juan, Willy, Ricardo, and me. We sat down our waitress took our drink orders and then we waited for the chef to fill up the little boats with sushi. Each boat going around had 1 plate and each plate had 4 pieces of sushi. We were all starving and the fact that we had to eat as much as we could in 20 minutes worried us so we decided to go as fast as we could. We designed a co-op where each person would grab one plate each and then eat one piece of sushi and then pass it on to the next person and we all switch plates. So when we began we all started pigging out, there was one point where I couldnt breathe because I was eating so fast. After a while we asked Ricardo how much time we had gone through and he said 2 minutes...we looked at how many plates we had gone through and it was about 6 or 7 plates, we all cracked up and I looked over at our waitress and she had this face of being completely frightened and shocked. We then ate for the next 18 minutes we had and we each ate about 7 plates each. so thats 28 pieces of sushi. The second time we went we brough two more friends but this time we made teams of two and made a co-op. It was the same thing as before but we paced ourselves this time so we dont get stuffed in the first 5 minutes. Eventually we ate and I ended up eating about 9-9.5 plates of sushi, so thats 36 pieces of sushi. We were all sick to our stomachs and then we decided to go get ice cream and then go to some arcade that was there. Then later on in the day I went to play soccer with some buddies, after soccer everyone got ready and came over to ricardos house where we pregamed with lots of wine and about half a bottle of Absolut Mandarin. That shit is good stuff. This last night I had no idea where we were going because my friends had a "supplies" for me. (aka surprise. you wont get it but you will if i tell you the joke) We then all got together and got ready for guys night out and had the time of our lives, it was a great night. afterwards we went for hamburguesas especiales, these hamburgers had everything i wanted it was good shit. Then I said final goodbyes to some of my friends and then Juan, Ricardo, and I decided to drive around and shit. I went to visit my old house which you can see in the pictures, it was called Quinta Negra. Then we got to Ricardo's house around 4am where we took a two hour nap and woke up at 6am to go to the airport. There I said my final goodbyes and now here I am back in the states.
Overall this trip was an experience I will never forget. I forgot how I had lost touch of my culture, the people, the food, the language, pretty much everything. It was a great experience and hopefully this year I can make some money and save up enough to buy another plane ticket for next summer because it will definitley be an awesome experience as well. If anyone ever has a chance to go to Venezuela I suggest you dont pass up on it because it really is a beautiful country, and i guarantee you will have the time of your life there. I sure did.
here is the website with the pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/album/418519481pCxehl |
