Venezuela Getaway

This weekend we had a stellar time crossing over the border to Venezuela.  We left Boa Vista Friday afternoon and drove two hours up breathtaking, windy roads to the Brazilian boarder town of Pacaraima.  Friday night we stayed with a missionary couple that we recently met and had a relaxing and encouraging time with them.  It was just fun to get out of Boa Vista and get up to the cooler mountain climate for a change of pace and speak in English!  Pacaraima is incredibly small!  It almost had a mountain village feel to it.  The couple, Eric and Donna, had tons of fun stories to share.  They have 8 kids and several grandkids who live in the US. 

The next day in Venezuela was an adventure!  The culture was surprisingly different than in Brazil and the fact that the government controls many of the industries had an impact on life.  For example, the government controls many of the food industries, which resulted in the entire city being out of milk, flour, coffee, sugar, and other products.  Gas is also run by the government which meant there was only 1 gas station in the whole town.  The good news is gas is SUPER cheap (compared to Brazil especially!)  It was less than $1 per gallon, where in Brazil it is over $6!  So TONS of cars and trucks come from Brazil to Venezuela to fill up.  Many Brazilians even make a living of coming over to Venezuela in trucks with enormous modified gas tanks to fill up on gas to resell illegally in Brazil.  And they just keep getting in the line over and over all day!  So as you can imagine, the lines are SOOOOO long!  You have to wait across the street in a parking lot to even get called over to the gas station.  In the parking lot, there were people walking around selling snacks to people waiting in line.  We came at a good time and were like the 8th car in the diesel line (the gas line had 198 cars in it....really!  The cars were numbered!).  But it still took us almost an hour to get gas since people come with such huge gas tanks.   

Here is the diesel waiting lot

Finally filling up!

Since many of the items in the stores in Venezuela were in short supply, it was pretty wild to go shopping.  It felt like black Friday, except people were diving for packages of laundry soap :)  Almost everything was cheaper in Venezuela than in Brazil so we stocked up on diapers and bleach and spaghetti.

But what was really fun was finding a lot of items we miss from the US that we can't get in Brazil.  Cans of mushrooms, packs of oreos, Heinz ketchup, and boxes of name brand cereal (corn flakes, raisin bran) for cheap!!  There was also a bakery that had lots of pastries like ones Jeyson misses from Ecuador...and donuts!  It was tons of fun just discovering everything.  There were tons of shops we didn't have time to go in and a Chinese restaurant!  But our new friends have made us feel welcome to return, so we definitely plan to!  It was just so much fun to get out of this tiny tiny town and feel refreshed by the cooler climate, kind new friends, and many layers of cultural fun and food!  Definitely a winner weekend!  I am loving living on the border of different countries!