Tuesday 17 July 2012

Touch down in Caracas, Venezuela

Well, after approximately 48 hours of travelling (including a 12 hour stop over in Buenos Aires) we finally touched down in the buzzing city of Caracas in Venezuela (South America)! Feeling pretty exhausted and slightly overwhelmed by the craziness of this incredibly unique city, but could not be more excited to be here.

We were finally reunited with our bags (they were checked all the way through to Caracas from Sydney, so we were without them in Buenos Aires) and arrived to meet the warm faces of our delegation leader, William and translator, Daviana at Caracas airport.  After a delicous coffee (and this is coming from  a non-coffee drinker) and a chat about the days to come, we jumped in a cab to take  us to our hotel, which William has told us is on the cusp of the divide between the wealthier Venezuelan community and those living in Barrios (large slum areas).  We apparently, however, are not to call these areas Barrios and they are instead referred to as 'communities'.  The current President, Hugo Charvez, is implementing some incredible efforts to improve the conditions in these communities (in addition to the land and agrarian reforms working to establish food sovereignty in Venezuela), through his 'Socialist Revolution'.  Some of these efforts include; building millions of homes for people in 'community' areas, improving access for existing communities in mountainous areas, by significantly lowering the cost of the cable car built to access these areas and providing pensions for elderly citizens (just to name a few).  Some ambitious goals have been set and I will talk about these efforts in more detail over the coming days as I learn more.  Needless to say, we are experiencing the real Venezuela.

It's a city full of character, noise, bussell and smells so completely different to the world I live in.  I must say it is quite refreshingly different, but it is certainly a place to keep your witts about you (don't worry mum and dad we are being very careful!).  There is a significant amount of poverty in the area and whilst I don't feel threatened or intimidated walking around, we have been advised not to take our valuables out and about with us - hence not all that many photos just yet!

There is hardly any english spoken in Caracas and my sense this is going to be the case across Venezuela.  So needless to say we are all very thankful to have William and Daviana who are native spanish speakers.  Courtney and I are trying as best we can to brush up on our espanol pronto, as I'm sure everyone is getting very sick of the 'blank faces.... followed by "lo siento, no entiendo.... hablo muy poco espanol...." generally followed by more blank faces!!  Although I am sure we will get better as the weeks go on (I certainly hope so!!), I am seriously reconsidering doing the intensive spanish course in Argentina, particularly in preparation for the Camino in Spain.  (Side note:  If I could give anyone considering travelling to South America, hook yourself up with some basic spanish conversation skills - it will make your life SO much easier!)

The food so far is delicous and made from simple ingredients; corn, cheese (SO much cheese), eggs and various meats, but it is all incredibly rich!  There are some fresh fruit and vegetables sold by street vendors, but I must admit I had expected to see more.  My guess is that this is all still evolving with the new food production and distribution system being established here (more to come on this later).

Not surprisingly we have sampled all the 'typical' and unique Venzuelan dishes such as 'Cachapas'; which are essentially two (large) corn style pancakes with a thick (and when I say thick, I'm talking 1-1.5cm thick) of soft cheese melted in the middle,  which is also the same size as the pancake in circumference. The other dish found widely are 'Arepas'; which are sort of like a tortilla burger that are either jammed packed with either cheese, or meat or meat AND cheese.... are we sensing a theme here people?  Hehe... they are insanely filling and completely delicious and I have already sampled multiple :-)  will try and get some pix of these over the coming days.

Last night we met the majority of the other delegates and I have to say we have some pretty amazing people on the trip, from all different backgrounds and perspectives, which has already brought a real richness to the experienence.  I am looking forward to hopefully sharing more about some of the incredible things they are either involved in or initiating too.

It is day two of the delegation and I cannot tell you how much we have done, seen and learnt in such a short period of time.  We have received a number of presentations from some really prominant individuals and organisations who are coordinating the 'Socialist Agricultural Movement' over here, and today we visited one of the 21,000 urban organic agricultural projects which are up and running in Venezuela.  The Socialist Revolution which is being drivin by Charvez here, whereby the government is supporting and giving power back to the Venezuelan community is, quite frankly, unprecidented from what I can tell. I am finding myself learning so much more than just food system transformation, I am seeing first hand a country transitioning (and all the challenges which come with it) from a capitalist to socialist society and economy.

We actually could not be here at a more exciting time, as the presidential election is in full swing.  There is propaganda everywhere; for both Hugo Charvez and his opposition, Henrique Capriles, who defines himself as a 'centre-left follower of the business-friendly by socially-conscious Brazilian economic model'.  I have to say, there is an overwhelming amount of support for Charvez and his Socialist Revolution and infact, most people here are not even entertaining the idea that Charvez won't be re-elected in October.

I have to admit, there is just so much information to digest and because I am being introduced to some political and economic concepts which are completely foreign to me, I am feeling a little overwhelmed as to how I'll write about it all.  It may take me a little longer than expected, particularly with the jammed packed days we are having (generally 8am - 8pm on the road), but I'll get as much as I can up over the coming days (and weeks) and it would be great to get some of your thoughts on what is happening here.

I'm thinking the next blog entry will be an overview of what is happening here in Venezuela on a political scale, to put the transformation of the food system into a bit more context.  I must say, whilst Australia, and many other capitalist economies around the world are less likely to transition into the kind of socialist economy seen here in Venezuela, I think there are some really key learnings coming from the experiences here.  Particularly in regards to the government support and priortisation of food and agriculture.  Something, I think our food system (as well as other food systems around the world) could learn and benefit from.  Food for thought to say the least.

Anyway I could write for ages, but I'll leave it here.  Thanks for reading and I look forward to any feedback or comments you might have.


Friday 13 July 2012

The night before (or morning of) the start of my food safari around the world

Well, it is here - 1:20 am on 14 July 2012 - the day I start my big trip across 4 continents!  I must say I am deliriously tired (and may regret writing my first post at 1:20am in the morning!!) but I have been telling everyone this blog is on its way for weeks and I'm excited to say it's officially up and running!

I still haven't packed (yep, exactly 14 hours till I need to be at the airport and not a thing in my backpack!) nothing like a dash to the finish line but I know I'll get there!  Courtney and I fly out 6:30pm tomorrow and touch down in Caracus, Venezuela at 1:30pm on Sunday, 15 July (VE day/time)... which I think is approximately 2:30am Monday, 16 July (Sydney time).

I could not be more excited about this first leg of the trip and think it's a brilliant way to jump straight into this big food safari around the world!  Not sure how much internet connection I'm going to have over the next few days, but as soon as I do, I'll post up some pix and info from all we find in Venezuela :-)

Adios mi amigos... hasta luego!!

Jo