Sunday, January 16, 2011

Taking off in a thunderstorm, back AGAIN to Caracas

I would like to complain to our aviation safety department for giving the Venezuelan airlines the security OK. Tonight, not only did I not need to remove my computer for security, I didn’t need to take my shoes off, throw out my 2 water bottles, and then… we took off in a lightning storm! Seriously. Seriously? Who does that? I couldn’t believe it… the lightning storm wasn’t directly over us but it was close enough for discomfort. It was fast approaching which is while the pilots speeded to get on the runway and we went up very unsteadily. As the plane hurtled around from the windshear and wind blasts from the storm I gasped a few times before we got away from the lightning clouds and into clear skies. Referring to previous points, you would think a nation that has serious security issues would be a little more precautious. Or, maybe not because they have more serious issues to worry about.

On arrival, I wasn’t harassed too much luckily. A bunch of taxi calls but that was about it. I found someone else going to the same hotel so we waited together for the shuttle. He had been waiting for an hour for it. When it finally came, we piled on to join the many North Americans taking the shuttle for their overnight stay. It was only a 5 minute drive from the airport and probably in a very dangerous location too. The mountains spotted with colorful slums peer over at the hotel located in the middle of the chaos. If they ever decided to gear up and take over, I’m pretty sure they would outnumber the hotel security measures. Don’t want to think about it. My dinner tonight was ridiculously expensive. I guess I should have looked at the prices first. My ceviche was like $25 and combine that with a basil mozzarella salad, a water, a beer, service charges and taxes… you’ve got yourself a hefty bill. Ohhh well. OK I must hit the hay. Goodnight.

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