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Ramblings from South America-Anaconda's trip home

Hi Anaconda... did get your message and Donna just send me yout thread!!! My kind of food...
She is campin about 100 feet from us...tok a ride togethert San Antonio today.
She will be leaving the 7th of this month going west and myself somewhere around that time also going east...
Great report and pictures...
Be well... Ara & Spirit
 
Hi Ara! Yeah, she mentioned that in the other forum. She's leaving the same day I get back. Tell her I said hi! Oh, and tell her this (she's gonna get a kick out of this) tell her that everyone here (Caracas) agree with me: that I don't have an accent!!!!! :rofl:
 
enjoyed reading your thread... my last trip to caracas was in the early 90's it was a beautiful city. i enjoy riding one of the cleanest subways in the world. the telefedico up the mountain was neat. i went to colonia tobar(tovar?) was an interesting visit..lots of good dancing and nightclubs.

i remember there were policemen on every street corner with machine guns back then but did not see any in your pics. i hope things have changed for the better.
 
Happy New Year everyone!!

I finally got to ring in the new year with family after a 3 year absence. Christmas and New Year's celebrations are characterized by a fireworks display all over the city. Every year they try to ban the firework sales in the city, but every year it does nothing. I'm not sure there was a ban this year though. Anyways, at exactly 12:00 am you can see fireworks going off all over town. This goes for a good 45 min to an hour, and afterwards the city is left in a haze (for real!) from all the burnt gun powder. This year it wasn't as spectacular as years past, but it was a good show. The pictures just don't do much justice.

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I shot a little clip, but you can "hear" more than see...:doh: the little camera doesn't do too well in low light, and some resolution is lost when uploaded to photobucket. Still I hope you get an idea of the general ambience...

 
Now, about New Years Eve dinner....:eat:

Remember the "Pan de Jamon"? Well, it's such a staple food during the holidays, that even the Cinnabon franchises in Venezuela make them!

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They use the same dough they use for the cinamon rolls, then add ham, raisins and bacon. It was quite good!

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The first dish was the Hallaca... It's kinda like a tamal, but not the same... It's preparation is very cumbersome, so it's usually only prepared in december. The final product looks like this:

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Before serving, you need to put them in boiling water to heat them up (it's already cooked). After 15 minutes, you take them out of the water, open the plantain leave wrap, and serve to a plate.

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For more detailes on how it's prepared, and what's in it, well, someone made a fine job posting an entry on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallaca
 
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After the hallacas, we had ensalada de gallina, or hen salad. Hen meat is tastier, though a tad harder, than that of chicken. Plus you can save the hen broth (a LOT richer than chicken's) and have a hot cup next day to help with the hangover...:trust:

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The salad accompanies the roasted pork (the one I bought from the butcher), and is served with a slice of pan de jamon.

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By the time dinner is almost over, it's almost midnight. So out comes the bubbly, and the grapes... there is a spanish tradition to eat 12 grapes... one with each chime of the bell....not sure on the exact origin of it. Time to exchange hugs, kisses, laughter and tears as we also remember those no longer with us.
 
The half-hour thing is moronic, IMHO. Yeah, sun comes out earlier but also comes down sooner!! It gets dark a little before 6:00 pm.

The new president, Christina, just imposed daylight-savings time here in Argentina (for the next 90 days). Getting dark here now at 9:45! I can't imagine having to adjust to a half-hour time. CRAZEEE!
 
Looks like you are having a great trip and enjoying some awesome food. It makes me hungry just looking at the pictures. Enjoy the rest of your visit and have a safe trip back.
 
enjoying some awesome food.

I am wondering how this is going to affect Ana's Monday morning weigh-in announcements :eat: but maybe there is a crash diet in the works when she returns to the USA... :lol2:
 
I am wondering how this is going to affect Ana's Monday morning weigh-in announcements :eat: but maybe there is a crash diet in the works when she returns to the USA... :lol2:

Or perhaps I'll be misteriously absent from that thread for several weeks... :roll:
 
Or perhaps I'll be misteriously absent from that thread for several weeks... :roll:

Nah. I will probably get in trouble for saying this but you do look good in the photos, so I figure you will do alright, except for making the rest of us hungry... :eat:
 
Nah. I will probably get in trouble for saying this but you do look good in the photos, so I figure you will do alright, except for making the rest of us hungry... :eat:

Why thank you Chuck! :oops: I hope you are right....there will be another food entry from yesterday, and another one coming from next sunday for sure...
 
This how we spend winter around here...(more later) :nana:




Oh yes...I can feel the hate mail coming... :rofl:
 
:eek2: It wasn't a Jicama meal, it was yuca. Sorry it took a few days to figure out. It was a stew like dish that was very tasty. My friends Mom made it when I was down helping work on her house. RH:rider: :eat:
 
This how we spend winter around here...(more later) :nana:

...

Oh yes...I can feel the hate mail coming... :rofl:

Actually, the discerning gentlemen will be there at the beach revisando las piernas largas de las venezolanas. It's not my imagination, it's the first thing that men notice as soon as they get off of the airplane. It must be in the genes :rider:
 
Actually, the discerning gentlemen will be there at the beach revisando las piernas largas de las venezolanas. It's not my imagination, it's the first thing that men notice as soon as they get off of the airplane. It must be in the genes :rider:

Too bad discerning men aren't discerning enough to NOT wear speedos!!! :puke:
 
A little more on typical food.....

This report couldn't possibly be complete without mentioning the all-mighty arepa. The arepa is kinda like a tortilla for a mexican, or bread for an american. It's a corn patty that can be pretty much filled with anything your heart desires. It can be breakfast, it can be lunch, it can be dinner...it's the first thing hungry revelers eat when leaving a party in the wee hours of the morning. It can be served without filling to be used in lieu of bread or a dinner roll on a meal. Some arepa-filling combinations are quite traditional and have their own name. For instance this one is the "reina pepeada", it's filled with pulled chicken, avocado, eggs and mayo:

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This one, is filled with queso de mano, a fresh white cheese, with a consistency slighty similar to mozzarella, but much tastier:

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That night though, I went with the cachapa, a sort of corn cake. Although you can find many places that will serve it with a large variety of fillings, the more traditional ones are filled with your choice of queso de mano or queso guayanes, and different spreads: butter, cream (whey). I had the queso de mano one:

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No matter what neighborhood you're in

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...you'll always find an arepera nearby

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More on arepas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arepa
And cachapas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cachapa
 
It is always interesting to me what ingredients people will mix in different cultures. Often times I read stuff like you have here and I think, "Ewww... I would have NEVER thought to combine those things..." :lol2: Then I start to wonder about the things I combine and how people there might react :wary:
 
Ok guys...don't hate me much (more) for this entry.... :sun:

I went to the beach a couple of mornings. The beach it's close enough to the city that you can drive in the morning and be back home for lunch if you want to save time/money. These aren't the best beaches we have, but they are conveniently close, especially if you're only looking to get a little bit of a tan and play a little on the waves.

This particular beach isn't big, but you pay a fee to enter, a bit more safer and includes some ammenities that you would have to pay for anyways at public beaches.

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It's enclosed by a couple of breakwaters, they take the blunt of the waves, but let in enough waves to make for a fun time in the water.

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My camera is supposed to be waterproof, so it was time to test it. I got LOTS of double takes from people when they saw me going in the water with it...

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We wen't back next morning, but although the day looked quite promising early in the morning...

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...but it got really overcast in a hurry. Not that it mattered much, the water wasn't too cold.

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The waves were much more fun though. And you can still get a bit of a tan even if it's a tad cloudy. At least the sand didn't get too hot...

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As you can see we had a lot of fun taking pictures in the water. I handed the camera to one of my friends and she got busy taking pictures.

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As you can see from the last picture, the waves were getting higher and higher. When they are coming at you, you have to options, you jump REALLY hard and let it carry you...



Or duck under it. Some people dive through it as well. If you're too close to where the wave breaks, or not paying attention, this is what happens:



But hey, I got my sinuses cleared up real nice, so it's all good!:rofl:

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Well I'm back in TX. The trip home was great, but I'm happy to be back. I still have a couple of entries to finish this report. I'll try to do that after I get back from work today.
 
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