Screwed by Brazil and the Credit Union

So I went to the Brazilian Embasy here in Caracas to get a visa. My Lonely Planet said that it was easy, took less than two hours and I needed a passport and a proof of onward ticket or bank statement to show suficant funds. Maybe they didn´t do their research or maybe it was a typo, but ¨or¨ should have been ¨and¨. Ok, I went to a call centre and called Taxi Taxi and got my boss Jeremy to give me the phone number for my bank. I then called my bank and gave them the fax number and told them I needed 4 months of back statements to be safe. I told them that it was urgent as the embasy closed at 1pm here which is 11 am at home. They told me that they had a lot of bank buinsess to take care of and would do it in an hour. I went to the ebasy and waited and waited the statement never arrived. At least two hours had passed and they kicked me out of the embasy. The woman working there had a wicked grin as if she almost reached orgasm in flexing her power denying a lower class griniko entry into her country. I hope the devil is shapening his pitchfork for her. I had a good wad of cash to show her, but that wasn´t enough. Furthermore, Canada is one of about only 5 countries of who´s citizens require visas for Brazil.

Now I have to do what I should have done in the first place and buy a ticket from Caracas to Dallas to hook up with my flight home. Between that, buying the ticket from Caracas to Sao Paulo and how much I would have saved in the first place if I would have flown out of Caracas instead of Rio, it was a $2000 boondogle. Thanks to my mom for comming to the rescue. I´m thinking of changing banks as well, but I can´t think of a bank less evil than the credit union - can you?

Damn banks making the rich richer and foreclosing on the poor. Taking the family farm and selling it to Tyson or Cargill foods. I bought a Hugo Chavez shirt today and he looks mean on it - like he´s ready to fire a scud missle at the World Bank. Every time I walk into the Bow Valley Credit Union, I´m going to wear it and hold my right fist in the air while I wait in line. Viva Chavez.

Last night was pretty cool. I watche El Empirio - I think it´s Roma in English at a bar owned by a Columbian. I was going buisness to buisness, trying to sell my Columbian pesos for some Venezuelan Boliviars. It wasn´t an easy task after bank hours, the same crap I went through the day before in Coro. This fellow was a proud Columbian and traded the money at par, giving me an extra 7% on the mid-market rate.

After that, I watched the Chicago White Sox win against the Astros. It was a big deal in Venezueala as the White Sox manager is Venezuelan. There were random fireworks, horn honking and even some guns fired into the air. It reminded me of when I was in Bolivia and an Isralie guy ran into a resturant when he heard firecrackers to avoid falling bullets he thought were being fired. He explained that many people in Israel die every year from guns being fired into the air, mainly at weddings.

Anyway, tommorow I buy my ticket and head for the beach. I´m not sure where I´m going but I hear Venezuela has some great beaches. I might go to one of the 6 national parks near Caracas.

Caracas is a lot like a Canadian city with maybe a little less matainace. Actually it´s like a big downtown Edmonton (about 4 million people here) There is some very modern buildings and some road infrastructure that is pretty complex. It´s strange to see parking lots at resturants and stores like at home. Normaly in South America, a big department store will have about 6 to 10 parking spots for cars, but here, Hooters has a bigger one. It´s hard to walk most places as the sidewalks are very narrow. It´s even hard to cross at lights as they are very short and almost every change still allows cars across your path. There is one giant `pedestrian street that must have about 10000 people on it at any time during the day.

I just ate a fantastic chicken sandwich there where I met an author born in the States, but a long time resident here. He wrote a book about Chavez and Venezuelan society and told me to go to the presidential palace and talk to people in the park there about politics. I think I´ll do that after the beach. I´m a bit worried that hotels here might be really full. Í was told that I can only stay tonight in mine.

Man I´m mad at Brazil. At least I don´t have to spend any money there or pay their outrageous entry and exit taxxes. If you have been thinking of going to Brazil, go to Columbia instead. It´s so nice in Columbia. If only I had more time there. I have to go back sometime. Columbia is the best. I hope I can travel there in my malaria pill dreams tonight.