Thursday 14/06
Willians is in Maracay with my suegra.
The boys and I had a great night's sleep at El Mene.
After breakfast we went up to the Colegio Evangelico (christan school) there in Mene. We said hello in all the classrooms and took lots of photos to take back.
From there we went back home to finish packing our few things and the car to leave for Coro to spend the night with Julianne and the children. We made 2 stops along the way at 2 different brothers' workshops to say a hello. We stopped to buy some chinese fried rice (etc) upon arriving in Coro and took it to Julianne's to eat.
After lunch, Dad, Fernelis and myself took all the kids to a swimming pool for a couple of hrs. Dad sat by in a bali hut and read his Bible while the rest of us had fun in the swimming pool. We arrived home about 5pm .. Had baths, dinner then out to the meeting.
It was prayer meeting .. And it was encouraging to hear many brothers take part as well as the hearty "amen"s and singing ... That really sounded like everyone was singing!
Home and after some cake and nestea ... Put the kids to bed .. Managed to connect the ipad to the internet (wireless, that Julianne says it's the first thing that has accepted to connect to the wi-fi here at home! :)
Hence, today's update! Won't be back to wi-fi internet until sunday evening at my suegra's..
Friday 15/06
Friday 15/06
We got up in the morning, and after breakfast went with Dad and Fernelis and the boys up to the school run by the assembly.
We packed the car and left for Coro (where Julianne and the children live).
Made a couple of quick stops along the way the say hello to some believers who have their workshops alongside the highway.
Upon arriving in Coro, we stopped to buy some Chinese food for lunch and headed around to Julianne's to eat it.
Then Dad, Ferne and I with all the kids headed off to a swimming pool for a couple of hrs. It was fun and lovely especially as it had been soooo hot and humid ... So water and shade was great. The pools had several big cement toboggans/slides. BUT ... They had been painted just the previous day (unknown to us!) .. With oil based paint (according to the fellow Ferne spoke to, they hadn't had time to put the wax on as someone had paid to have a birthday party there!) hence, the kids ended up with white painted (and basically ruined) pants. I only went down once and still ended up with white spots on mine. It felt like you were rubbing off the wet sticky paint.
We headed home, had baths, dinner and headded out to the prayer meeting there in Coro.
Home, put the kids to bed .. Then wrote up some diary and talked with Julianne and Mum while Julianne did some sewing due for the next day. Mumheaded off to bed at some time, and I stayed on talking to my big sister until about 2am, when she was nearly finished her work.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Venezuela Wednesday 13/06
Wednesday
Early rise and even more so for my lovely mother-in-law who got up really early to make us all arepas to eat on our expedition for breakfast.
We left for Caracas.. A bit later than we had wanted but in the end it worked out quite good as we missed all the traffic jams that usually await you coming into Caracas! The boys slept all the way so that was great.
Once at La Bandera bus terminal,we took a taxi to the cable car entrance to El Avila, which is a huge national park mountain that runs alongside Caracas and on the other side you have Maiquetia (I think) and the coast.
It was just drizzling when we (our little Alcala family as well as tia Faride and Abuela) got there...
We took our cable car up to the mountain... And WOW.... You could see it way up in the mountains ... Where there is a huge big metal cross... BUT ... When we got to that mountain, that was only just the start! It went on and on and on! Higher and higher all the time! I think I heard that it is the longest telesferico/cable car in the world ( whereas Merida has the highest one in the world) ...
I don't know how long we were in it for .. But by the time we were heading up into the clouds/fog ... We were ready for it to arrive. It must have been at least 10 mins ride! We did get some spectacular photos of Caracas though.
Once up the top of the Avila, we went for walks along the cobblestone path/road along the verry top of the mountain ... Ate strawberries (grown locally up there) and cream, also ate palmeritas, dulce de leche ... And took lots of photos.
It is over 2000m above sea level and was impressive how all of a sudden a little breeze would vome along and you could so visibly see the fog moving across your path. Right up the top at the very end is a huge big hotel of about 20 floors that looks over Caracas.
We walked back down our path and the boys played on a pretty cool playground ... THEN ... We went into the ice-skating rink! Only Willians E, Michael and myself had a go, but I think the others on the side had even more fun watching us! (both Willians and Faride said they loved hearing my suegra laughing whilst watching us!!!)
We had 20 mins on there and wow, Michael stole the show! He just flew around as if it were on his inline blades on the verandah at home! Where there were soooooomany of us (especially teenagers from a highschool excursion) around the edge just holding on .. Dear swift little Michael enjoyed himself all over the middle! Willians did pretty good .. And me .. Well, I can truely relate to how slippery ice is now! Often it was nearly impossible to get your grip! I think I must be getting old! Just the same, we had fun!
Upon recovering from our skating, it was lunch time: cachapas with cheese, and hot toasted buns with chicken, ham and cheese, pernil .. With malta to drink and then hot chocolate.
We had been told it was only a 20 min walk to the next colonial village you could see spread all over the mountain down a brick cobblestone road, so off we set down this steep road!
Early rise and even more so for my lovely mother-in-law who got up really early to make us all arepas to eat on our expedition for breakfast.
We left for Caracas.. A bit later than we had wanted but in the end it worked out quite good as we missed all the traffic jams that usually await you coming into Caracas! The boys slept all the way so that was great.
Once at La Bandera bus terminal,we took a taxi to the cable car entrance to El Avila, which is a huge national park mountain that runs alongside Caracas and on the other side you have Maiquetia (I think) and the coast.
It was just drizzling when we (our little Alcala family as well as tia Faride and Abuela) got there...
We took our cable car up to the mountain... And WOW.... You could see it way up in the mountains ... Where there is a huge big metal cross... BUT ... When we got to that mountain, that was only just the start! It went on and on and on! Higher and higher all the time! I think I heard that it is the longest telesferico/cable car in the world ( whereas Merida has the highest one in the world) ...
I don't know how long we were in it for .. But by the time we were heading up into the clouds/fog ... We were ready for it to arrive. It must have been at least 10 mins ride! We did get some spectacular photos of Caracas though.
Once up the top of the Avila, we went for walks along the cobblestone path/road along the verry top of the mountain ... Ate strawberries (grown locally up there) and cream, also ate palmeritas, dulce de leche ... And took lots of photos.
It is over 2000m above sea level and was impressive how all of a sudden a little breeze would vome along and you could so visibly see the fog moving across your path. Right up the top at the very end is a huge big hotel of about 20 floors that looks over Caracas.
We walked back down our path and the boys played on a pretty cool playground ... THEN ... We went into the ice-skating rink! Only Willians E, Michael and myself had a go, but I think the others on the side had even more fun watching us! (both Willians and Faride said they loved hearing my suegra laughing whilst watching us!!!)
We had 20 mins on there and wow, Michael stole the show! He just flew around as if it were on his inline blades on the verandah at home! Where there were soooooomany of us (especially teenagers from a highschool excursion) around the edge just holding on .. Dear swift little Michael enjoyed himself all over the middle! Willians did pretty good .. And me .. Well, I can truely relate to how slippery ice is now! Often it was nearly impossible to get your grip! I think I must be getting old! Just the same, we had fun!
Upon recovering from our skating, it was lunch time: cachapas with cheese, and hot toasted buns with chicken, ham and cheese, pernil .. With malta to drink and then hot chocolate.
We had been told it was only a 20 min walk to the next colonial village you could see spread all over the mountain down a brick cobblestone road, so off we set down this steep road!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Venezuela - Monday Tuesday 11/06 - 12/06
Monday morning..
It was great to wake up and hear 2 of our boys laughing and having fun with their abuela and aunt!
As I heard during the day it would have been a very different story if it wasn't for those grandkids!
Breakfast was prepared with lots of love and hard work by abuela and Timothy (from his perch up on a big stool alongside the kitchen bench and stove!) ... Even Timothy made some arepas too!
During the morning we had Mum, Dad and Ferne pop in on their way to Valencia to get the air conditioning fixed then home to Mene. Tia Yamile and Tio Eduardo (Cucuta), tio Hernando and his granddaughter Sinai, tio Efrain with Hilcias his son (a dear primo!) with Karen his wife and little Gabriel who is Timothy's age (all from Maracay) came around in the morning and spent nearly all day here.
Some went out with my suegra to buy things for a huge big stew/soup. Faride, Oswaldo and tia Yamile took the boys to a small park just doors away from home. They had a ton of fun and even pushed their aunt on the merry-go-round ( like the ones in Manizales when we were kids). It was hot ... So we all drank lots of water. On coming home Michael played soccer in the front porch with tio Efrain!!! They had a ton of fun. T and Gabriel played with 1 talking in english and 1 in spanish. A couple of sisters from the meeting (mother and daughter) came also and shared lunch with us all.
After lunch the little Alcala family had a sleep (in our air con bedroom! We're spoilt!) several otheer came to visit whilst we slept and another cousin (Carolina) with her 2 daughters. I stayed home from the meeting as M had a temp .. Along with T and Oswaldo. Most of the family members all went to the prayer and ministry meeting as something special in memory of Nona.
It was late to bed talking and the boys loving their tio Oswaldo spoiling them with cartoons on his huge tv screen in his room! He even managed to change the language to english!!! ( they're making the most while it lasts!!!)
Tuesday... Michael woke up with a high temp and vomited his little breakfast that he ate. He had some medicine and was able to play a bit (soccer on abuela's front enclosed yard).. Complaining of sore throat and sore tummy (from lack of food!)
Willians went to get his cedula (id card) and came back with a new one within an hr!!! Free os charge!
We had a lovely long visit and catch up with Paul and Daph Chapman .. And they brought us some photos that we'd given them to bring over to the grandparents here!
After that we all enjoyed a really delicious lunch made by abuela and went for a quick rest.
In the afternoon, Carolina (prima) and her 2 daughters came and spent the afternoon with us.
We all went downtown and walked the mall where Nona used to sit and set up her stall to sell the fluffy teddies and animals and dolls that she had made.
From there we went to Chicha Felix... A place my dear husband often dreamt about! The chicha is sooooo good! Willians had 2 large cups, and W.E. and T had 1 1/2 cups each!! So many memories and Even more in the making!
Home from there as M was still looking sad. Primo Pablo, Lisneida his wife and 3 children came around as we were to go and buy hamburgers from Garfield... More memories, as well as most delicious hamburgers (McDonalds needs a few lessons!). Willians and Pablo ended up going and bringing them home... And right now are all watching Couragous on tio Oswaldo's screen.
It was great to wake up and hear 2 of our boys laughing and having fun with their abuela and aunt!
As I heard during the day it would have been a very different story if it wasn't for those grandkids!
Breakfast was prepared with lots of love and hard work by abuela and Timothy (from his perch up on a big stool alongside the kitchen bench and stove!) ... Even Timothy made some arepas too!
During the morning we had Mum, Dad and Ferne pop in on their way to Valencia to get the air conditioning fixed then home to Mene. Tia Yamile and Tio Eduardo (Cucuta), tio Hernando and his granddaughter Sinai, tio Efrain with Hilcias his son (a dear primo!) with Karen his wife and little Gabriel who is Timothy's age (all from Maracay) came around in the morning and spent nearly all day here.
Some went out with my suegra to buy things for a huge big stew/soup. Faride, Oswaldo and tia Yamile took the boys to a small park just doors away from home. They had a ton of fun and even pushed their aunt on the merry-go-round ( like the ones in Manizales when we were kids). It was hot ... So we all drank lots of water. On coming home Michael played soccer in the front porch with tio Efrain!!! They had a ton of fun. T and Gabriel played with 1 talking in english and 1 in spanish. A couple of sisters from the meeting (mother and daughter) came also and shared lunch with us all.
After lunch the little Alcala family had a sleep (in our air con bedroom! We're spoilt!) several otheer came to visit whilst we slept and another cousin (Carolina) with her 2 daughters. I stayed home from the meeting as M had a temp .. Along with T and Oswaldo. Most of the family members all went to the prayer and ministry meeting as something special in memory of Nona.
It was late to bed talking and the boys loving their tio Oswaldo spoiling them with cartoons on his huge tv screen in his room! He even managed to change the language to english!!! ( they're making the most while it lasts!!!)
Tuesday... Michael woke up with a high temp and vomited his little breakfast that he ate. He had some medicine and was able to play a bit (soccer on abuela's front enclosed yard).. Complaining of sore throat and sore tummy (from lack of food!)
Willians went to get his cedula (id card) and came back with a new one within an hr!!! Free os charge!
We had a lovely long visit and catch up with Paul and Daph Chapman .. And they brought us some photos that we'd given them to bring over to the grandparents here!
After that we all enjoyed a really delicious lunch made by abuela and went for a quick rest.
In the afternoon, Carolina (prima) and her 2 daughters came and spent the afternoon with us.
We all went downtown and walked the mall where Nona used to sit and set up her stall to sell the fluffy teddies and animals and dolls that she had made.
From there we went to Chicha Felix... A place my dear husband often dreamt about! The chicha is sooooo good! Willians had 2 large cups, and W.E. and T had 1 1/2 cups each!! So many memories and Even more in the making!
Home from there as M was still looking sad. Primo Pablo, Lisneida his wife and 3 children came around as we were to go and buy hamburgers from Garfield... More memories, as well as most delicious hamburgers (McDonalds needs a few lessons!). Willians and Pablo ended up going and bringing them home... And right now are all watching Couragous on tio Oswaldo's screen.
Venezuela Saturday - Sunday 09/06 - 10/06
Saturday 08/06/2012
My suegra slept here at home last night. Others stayed with the Nona so she could come home to rest as well as to see some more of her grandkids. [ Our 3 boys are my suegra's only grandkids and she hasn't seen them since Willians, now 8.5yrs, was 2.5yrs; Michael, now 6.5yrs, was 6 months; and she hadn't even met Timothy before! ]
The boys love their abuela very much as they have seen her many times on Skype .. And they also love the Grandpa and Grandma very much as well.
Saturday morning, my suegra left for the seguros/hospital about 9am or thereabouts. Mum, Dad and Ferne came on around and were a big help with lunch and mum helped me to hang up shirts whilst I organized our ports.
During the morning, a group of about 7 brothers and sisters (as well as a couple of children) came to say hello. They were all out together visiting different believers and some SS contacts, and so it was lovely to see them. Amongst the group were Esther de Maduro, Yenny de Maduro and 2 girls .. Ramon's widow, daughters and mother.
After lunch Dad, Mum and Ferne left for El Mene. Faride arrived home from the hospital in the afternoon, and we all sat down to talk for a while. Willians and I then took our boys to tia Miriam's where 2 primas had set up a small swimming pool in the back yard for their kids as well as our boys.
We were so thankful for the opportunity of having the boys looked after while we went up to the hospital to visit the abuela. While visiting hrs were on (5-6pm), another sister from the assembly went up to stay with the abuela while ,y suegra went home for a rest and shower..
Then after the visiting hrs we went back for the boys and then met up with my suegra, Faride and Berenice (another young sister who had often spent days and nights with the abuela helping out) at a huge big 3 storey shopping centrer for dinner. Yes, there were even shops open at 8pm! And we had to hunt for a table, too!
After dinner the girls went with my suegra back to the hospital, where she was going to take over for the night shift (they then came home) and we went on home.
I did some washing and as usual there was a lot of talking going on. We were still up whe. My suegra called about 1:30am asking us all to get down on our knees and pray as the Nona was having convulsions and another heatlh crisis.
Will be finished when i have a few more minutes...
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Home in Venezuela :D
Thursday 07/06 -- Friday 08/06
At present we are back home in Venezuela.. Nearly 8 years after we first left as a family.
We left Brisbane at 6:30am on Thursday 7/06. (a big thanks to Darren for getting us to the airport safe and sound). Had to stop at Sydney, N Zeland then again in Buenos Aires,Argentina. We stayed the night there with Dayana and Guille and their 2 lovley little girls.
Dayana studied with Willians at the university in Caracas (when they were 16!!!! That sounds a long time ago!) and we hadn't seen them since 2003, so it was great to catch up on some talking!! The boys loved playing with Lena and Dana (6 & 3) and loved the break from the flights and planes. Guille took us to the airport the next morning early to catch our flight to venezuela. Was a flying trip of up to 160km/hr along that highway!! Thankfully we made it in 1 piece. It was 3 degrees C at the airport that morning.
We were very blessed with a lot of spare seats on that flight to Venez, and all stretched over the total of 10seats as well as floor space and were able to sleep 3-4hrs so that was great.
Mum, Dad and Ferne were waiting for us at the airport ... And so we headed off to Maracay asap. The Lord was good and where there had been HUGE traffic jams between Maiquetia and Caracas due to a huge hole in one lane of the road and roadworks, they had opened another lane from the opposite direction and dad happened to be in that lane so we drove straight past the huge queues of traffic.
We arrived straight to the Seguros (clinic) where abuela (or Nona as our boys knew her ... They call their g/ma abuela) was arriving at 5:30pm. Visiting hrs were from 5-6pm! We went in and mum and dad kept the boys outside as no kids are allowed in hospitals here unless they are patients! Nona looked just as beautiful as ever..and as if sleeping peacefully. When willians spoke to her and kissed her, she did move her feet. Just a few days before she had some type of "lesion cerebral" and the drs said she'd lost her sight as well as speach. She had lost her hearing some 8yrs ago.
Even whilst there we were able to see abuela Gloria, Faride, and a dozen or 2 primos, primas,tios, tias as well as other believers. We left there after 8pm to come on home to my suegras and 2 others of the family/believers stayed the night with the Nona so my suegra could come home to rest and be with her grandkids!
At present we are back home in Venezuela.. Nearly 8 years after we first left as a family.
We left Brisbane at 6:30am on Thursday 7/06. (a big thanks to Darren for getting us to the airport safe and sound). Had to stop at Sydney, N Zeland then again in Buenos Aires,Argentina. We stayed the night there with Dayana and Guille and their 2 lovley little girls.
Dayana studied with Willians at the university in Caracas (when they were 16!!!! That sounds a long time ago!) and we hadn't seen them since 2003, so it was great to catch up on some talking!! The boys loved playing with Lena and Dana (6 & 3) and loved the break from the flights and planes. Guille took us to the airport the next morning early to catch our flight to venezuela. Was a flying trip of up to 160km/hr along that highway!! Thankfully we made it in 1 piece. It was 3 degrees C at the airport that morning.
We were very blessed with a lot of spare seats on that flight to Venez, and all stretched over the total of 10seats as well as floor space and were able to sleep 3-4hrs so that was great.
Mum, Dad and Ferne were waiting for us at the airport ... And so we headed off to Maracay asap. The Lord was good and where there had been HUGE traffic jams between Maiquetia and Caracas due to a huge hole in one lane of the road and roadworks, they had opened another lane from the opposite direction and dad happened to be in that lane so we drove straight past the huge queues of traffic.
We arrived straight to the Seguros (clinic) where abuela (or Nona as our boys knew her ... They call their g/ma abuela) was arriving at 5:30pm. Visiting hrs were from 5-6pm! We went in and mum and dad kept the boys outside as no kids are allowed in hospitals here unless they are patients! Nona looked just as beautiful as ever..and as if sleeping peacefully. When willians spoke to her and kissed her, she did move her feet. Just a few days before she had some type of "lesion cerebral" and the drs said she'd lost her sight as well as speach. She had lost her hearing some 8yrs ago.
Even whilst there we were able to see abuela Gloria, Faride, and a dozen or 2 primos, primas,tios, tias as well as other believers. We left there after 8pm to come on home to my suegras and 2 others of the family/believers stayed the night with the Nona so my suegra could come home to rest and be with her grandkids!
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