Yesterday marked the 89th day of my stay in Venezuela. My tourist visa expires after 90 days. There were a few options for me. 1. I could have gotten a working visa, which would have meant a 30% pay cut due to taxes and and other bullshit thats comparable to whats taken out of an American paycheck. 2. I could have paid for an extention, which would have cost me 300 B.s.F. ($47) plus proof of a plane ticket back to the United States ($700). Lucky for me there was a thrid option; corruption,with one low cost of 300 B.s.F. Through a friend of a friend of a friend, I managed to find someone on the inside (imigration official) who had a ¨stamping business.¨ One stamp says you have left the country and the second says you have come back. We had an arangment to meet this morning at the airport. It is important to know that what I did was extremely illegal. Extremely. The day goes as follows:
9:00AM. An Italian friend picks me up from my house to drive me to the airport.
9:10AM. A stop at the bakery for a pastery and expresso.
9:20AM. Its raining really hard. This isnt really an important fact, but I thought it would help paint a better picture.
9:50 We arrive at the airport. I text my contact. ¨buenas dias Sinor Jose. Yo soy aqui.¨-good morning sir jose, i am here. (at a specific spot in the airport.)
10:00 AM Still no answer. I am now on my second cigarette. Getting nervous..
10:15AM Cigarette number 4. There are millitary personel everywhere and there is a millitary truck that is doing loops in the parking lot and each time they pass, the flick on the siren. Im extremely nervous at this point. Where the hell is this guy, Im thinking.
10:18AM ..the time is going veeeery slow.
10:25AM My Italian friend calls my contact. Aparently he didnt get my text because he said (in spanish) oh you are here? ill be right out.
10:30AM I meet my contact and hand him my passport with payment.
10:45AM He comes back with my passport. 1 stamp says I left Venezuela 11-22-10 and the other says I came back on 11-24-2010. My reentry papers say that I came from Frankfurt.
The weather in Frankfurt was lovely.
Photo shoot at Play El Caribe. For those of you wondering, mainly my mother, yes..I do eat. As a matter of fact, the last two meals Ive eaten were both hamburgers and one of the burgers came with egg, ham, and baccon. That aside..Kelly is awesome! Shes one of my students and is a real estate/insurance broker/super hot. That was a long day and night of partying. Still awaiting for the rest of the pictures. I think one of them includes me kissing a fish..
