Beginning of March

I am out by the beach because Caracas is very expensive and we were having no luck finding apartments. Everyone seems to be selling their buildings, the people with money do not have much faith in the future of the economy.
I am going to keep looking for places though, and perhaps I will find that Los Teques or another place will work just as well as Caracas when I am on the Global Exchange tour.

This area by the beach is totally strange. Around 1999 major landslides wiped out hundreds of houses in barrios on the hills, wealthy houses down closer to the beach, and roads. There is still a lot of work being done to repair roads and drainage ditches, and but hundreds of people were displaced from this area. There are many tall condo buildings for wealthy Caracaños, surounded by tall walls with sharp glass or barbed wire on top. These condos are mostly empty, except for small surges who arrive Friday and depart Sunday.

I have started my research on the history of Latin American women in social justice, which I had hoped would help me be more informed when I write about the current work of women in Venezuela. I think that the study will only really come alive for me after I start this Global tour and find a group to spend some time with after. It was so easy to write my last paper because it was based on the interview with the formerly landless community. I hope that this new subject will be even better.