This is me writing from the computing area of the festival barracks. I am trying to take it all in. The funny thing about being here is there are so many different kinds of people that it is almost impossible to feel out of place. There is a aura of vibrant energy that surrounds this place. Like a school where everyone wants to learn or help.
As we got off the plane I was still feeling the unreality of being in Latin America. We got off the plae at 8pm and then there was the wait. Every hour some one announced the time incredulously as it streached into the next mornings night. Annabelle was recruited to help people get their credential. I sat and talked to Julie, Q and Adam. Q is a woman I met at WOW cafe when I performed there last summer. Adam I know from Shane another friend and Julia I used to see. Q and Adam are both in the YCL. We tried to keep each other entertained. We were given what our our completo. It was two boxes containing fruit, candy, a sandwich and a sweet desert. The sandwiched was bread and cheese from vegitarians and ham for the meat eaters. This was when I knew that it would be the same food day after day. They packaged so neatly in plastic containers. After a while when we had oficially been here around 6 hours. The giddiness started to set in. The young people of the delegation played music on various instruments and jumped to the beat of drums and chants. We finally got our credentials at 2am. Then we went outside to the buses. They reminded me of the country buses in Jamaica. Not to big with windows wide open to catch the air flying by. When we finally got on the road the similarities didn´t end there. The smells and the hillsides. The fast and furious driving of the bus driver. Our ride was scored with sentimental spanish music. The barracks are located in the province of miranda. The bus got lost a couple of times during the 90 minute ride to the barracks. Backing down the steep and narrow road with the Venezuelan police who rode with us providing navigational help. I couldn´t sleep on the way because my eyes were peeled back as wide as they could go to take what I could in. I am having trouble really processing what I have done coming out here. I havent been to the city proper and because of that I don´t feel like I have really seen Caracas. The festival will not properly begin until tomorrow. I suppose I will receive a schedule of events. I want to see the gay bars and the beach.