Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Breaks which are not breaks, news which are not news

Peñeros on mainland across Margarita
I was looking forward a short break in Margarita, after a particularly stressful third trimester.  But of course, such things are impossible in Venezuela.  To begin with, travel troubles make sure that you make it to your destination only if you have an abundant supply of pain relievers in your travel kit: in short order I had a travel agency mistake, a change of schedule in airline that was unknown by the agency anyway, a waiting list that did not take names, normal delays, normal stampede to the plane as if the last people would not be able to board, etc, etc...  And then arriving in Margarita we had ID checks with fingerprinting as if we were arriving to the US!!!!  That is due, I was told, to the crime wave of Margarita which has for lone solution, it seems, stopping registered criminals from landing at Porlamar.  Yeah, right, as if peñeros did not exist....

So Monday I was hoping to start my 5 days of relax but no.  I had been waiting for weeks for diverse inspection agencies that are absolutely unable to schedule anything, forcing me to postpone, cancel, pay fines for cancelled trips, etc...  I decided to leave anyway, having received an ultimatum by my operator.  Well, they came all on Monday and I spend half of my day on the phone.  Part held from the beach, of course, but still, there is a certain je ne sais quoi about cell phones spoiling your beach naps.

Today, Tuesday I decided to start reading my Sunday papers.  And El Nacional brings you very helpfully the astrological signs of the Unidad primary candidates.

Leopoldo Lopez, Taurus
Maria Corina Machado, Libra
Henrique Capriles, Cancer
Pablo Perez, Leo
Pablo Medina, Cancer
Diego Arria, Libra

Thus you can decide whether it is better to have a Cancer opposing Chavez, or maybe a Leo since it is also Chavez sign......  ruling out Libra and Taurus I suppose.

So there, you can either decide to get your political information from El Nacional or wait for me to return from break for your political news....  As for me, I stopped right there, wrote this bitter note, and I am fixing to go to the beach.

22 comments:

  1. CharlesC3:30 PM

    Enjoy the silence. This is the perfect time.Not too many tourists,
    and perfect weather.
    "Pescado del mar a la cocina y de
    alli al consumidor!" Bon apetit!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Confusing post.On one hand you are going for a rest, then on the other hand you describe such a stressful journey as it would appear that the objective of 'rest' in such an endeavor is attainable only with beings who aren't human.

    But hey, I ain't there to see.

    My fave is Pedro Gonzalez, and the magical mountain of Guayamuri or the place of 'Yucas Bravas'...

    Hope it goes well and that you do actually rest.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Island Canuck3:58 PM

    Welcome back to Margarita Daniel.
    Enjoy your stay.

    "Yeah, right, as if peñeros did not exist...."

    Or ferries??? Like the crooks are going to fly in. Ha, ha.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is the fact that there is already a cancer opposing Chavez some sort of prophecy about Capriles? The one-two cancer punch will take Hugo down?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Leo opposing Leo? Not that good.The same blind spots.

    On one hand a Cancer( Capriles' sign) can be as sneaky as all get out.That might be just what is needed.Hard to say.


    But Libra is strong and has great command, and Taurus is as stubborn as a mule..both have decent possibilities here.

    Under the circumstances of confusion( the main situation now) usually a Cancer might have a certain hold on strategy and a capacity for maneuvering and working secretly.Cancer also has the kind of emotional intuition that can bring down a house without anyone noticing.

    That's not to say he is my favorite though.

    But in the end , all depends on the composite charts, not just the sun sign.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Roger7:35 PM

    Think of it as Victim pre-registration! Wish they had that when I got ripped off there. PTJ was such a hassle and waste of time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous8:06 PM

    I am certainly suspicious about them taking fingerprints "because" of roberies. Something else is going on

    DomingoL

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fingerprints. I hate fingerprints. The only ones that should be fingerprinting should be the criminals.
    And I also hate having to give my cedula number each time I buy something there, as I have said before in previous posts.
    Somebody really is going to have to stand up soon to say something regarding privacy rights.
    Anyway Daniel, enjoy your vacation and try not to think that you are being observed...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:09 PM

    Vaya que idea irse de vacaciones en una isla donde todo esta igual que en tierra firme es decir por el suelo. Los que controlan los pasajeros son unos brutos ignorantes como sus jefes.
    La Maga Lee

    ReplyDelete
  10. Look at it this way:

    It could be that El Nacional had a secret message in there.

    El Tauro nos Libra del Cancer mientras Leo que el otro tiene Cancer y lo Libra fuera de Venezuela.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous12:41 PM

    Not really a surprise here to me, knowing that the Cubans are taking over the control of the ID process in Venezuela.
    In Cuba, every citizen's movement is controlled at all times, so this is just a little taste of what's to come eventually.

    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  12. Daniel, I hope you found the El Nacional article on the astrological signs of candidates in a section for rumors, gossip and other inanities. Sadly, there are those who give this flaky *analysis* much more weight than it deserves.

    Enjoy the rest of your rest.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Island Canuck5:45 PM

    Daniel, if you are still in Margarita avoid the 2 Sigo supermarkets today.

    Kilometers of people lined up trying to get basics, mostly milk. Some with guns firing into the air. Desperate people trying to survive under 21st Century Socialism.

    Here's a link to the story:
    http://www.reporteconfidencial.info/noticia/30715/fotos-varias-se-desmayan-en-kilometicas-colas-para-comprar-leche-/

    ReplyDelete
  14. 1979 Boat People7:22 PM

    After reading this post and other comments, i make sure that i stay clear away from Venezuela for now.

    Have a nice short vacation there Daniel.

    ReplyDelete
  15. syd

    you hopeth wrong...

    it was in the first section along the real news (though a sudden doubt about what "news" mean in venezuela is starting to bug me)

    it was a description of all candidates. you could learn that leopoldo was a taurus and that he had a masters from harvard. apparently for the journalist that wrote this piece the two items are equally relevant.

    ReplyDelete
  16. island

    i guess you are going to rescue me and teach me survival techniques in the pearl island...

    i was in siggo on sunday and i did find uht milk. maybe i should have bought more of it and less güiski. better resale value, no?

    let's hope that there is enough food until next sunday....

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:57 PM

    I just happen to catch this article and am surprised that it has not been discussed on this forum,....yet.

    http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/11/08/hugo-chavezs-big-lie/

    Hugo Chavez is dying,.....according to a former US representative to the OAS.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Daniel,

    I don't think either sun signs or Harvard degrees make a whole lot of difference....

    whereas immature coping skills certainly do.

    ReplyDelete
  19. anonymous citing fox

    Roger Noriega has made so many mistakes on Latin America that he has little credibility. And when carried by Fox, even less.

    For all that I know he may be right but he is only one of the many rumors circulating and I, for one, has made a policy not to follow Chavez health except for the strict minimum.

    Besides he is only saying what is already known: Chavez is sick and not recovering well. The rest is specualtion.

    ReplyDelete
  20. nice tongue in cheek, Daniel, on the equal *relevance* of a Harvard Masters (unspecified) vs a taurus designation. And I'm as bugged as you are that this nonsense appears as front-page news in El Nacional.

    What's next? The toilet training of candidates and how it affects their current psychological state?

    To think there are those who'd lap the pap... sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Syd,

    Maybe we should all be praying for a little understanding :)or maybe a little rumination could serve...

    In a land of free expression and democracy, there is much divergence from commonality in understanding or even goals: without individuality--and with only common ideas, once decided, require no further opinions . -- all very fine-sounding but, on the ground, a nightmare for all involved -- except the 'powers that be', who might these be?

    In Venezuela there are over thirty ethnic groups, Pemon, Yanomammi, Wayu and plenty more: they have their own very sui generis cosmologies and may not appreciate 'our' efforts to educate them to a 'common goal or idea' ; and their cases are multiplied endlessly around the world.


    There is a lot of nonsense written up and coming from all manner of sources, ranging from the nonsense that well educated - cool people write, to the nonsense that uneducated, flaky- people write.

    If people had not been believing in nonsense in ALL its forms from the fake statistics to the falsified and limited polls,to the bad advice given by inexperienced experts with their poorly reasoned analyses, and disembodied minds basing themselves on a zero understanding of how to use instinctual power.....must I linger?

    I guess if it were not for just about everyone, we would have a far better batting average in getting rid of the blight on Venezuela.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This "...stressful third trimester." is funny.
    In the USA, this term would only be used by a woman in her last few weeks of pregnancy.

    ReplyDelete

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