touchdown in caracas

had a smooth flight into caracas via atlanta. sat next to a woman whose husband recently died, but they had been married for 63 years. can't imagine that.

when we landed in caracas, the first thing that struck me was how similar most international airports are, and this was no exception. tgi fridays, subway and a whole bunch of chain stores, and some huge video screen with music videos playing on it. the second thing i noticed was that the largest group of non-venezuelans seemed to be chinese businessmen, they seemed to be everywhere. i was very curious what they were up to, but didn't have time to figure it out. the third thing i noticed was that there was the absolute minimum government/official presence at the airport. customs was quick and indifferent, and that was it. the last time i returned to the u.s. from abroad we waited in lines for hours and were under constant surveillance, with countless checkpoints and armed guards. but of course there are not nearly as many people trying to get into venezuela as there are the u.s. similar to mexico, the last time i drove over the border into mexico, the customs posts were abandoned and everyone just drives straight on through.

then piled into the van and to the hotel for checkin, beer and food. fell asleep to the familiar sound of most foreign cities, with odd vehicle/motorbike horns and a sustained buzzing of people and activity. exhausted, excited.