6/13 - arrived in Carora

We just stopped driving after 2 days. I have a bunch of photos I want to upload, but haven´t had a reliable internet connection AND my pics at the same time ... or Clif is in a manic hurry.


But here´s a sample of Franco driving on the freeway. Yes, they are selling stuff on the freeway!

Seems like we race all around, and then wait. It´s the combo of US style and Venezuela style. People don´t rush much here. It´s amazing to watch people get in a line here... they just hang out, waiting patiently. It´s not like NY or anything!!

Much more stuff to write, but we´re racing off to do some filming today -- or at least, that´s the plan. Exciting!

This place blows me away. When I get home, I´m going to sweep my floor 20x!! But then I´ll lay down on my bed and relax in a whole different way...

People here call N.Americans ´gringos´ and say we´re from Gringolandia! It´s interesting. They do seem to have a fairly accurate view of what´s up in the USA, but they are very curious about Obama. So are we... Who knows what will happen with that guy? Anyone???

But there´s a different style of talking here, and there are many ´radical revolutionary´ types. One of the strangest parts of this trip was talking w/a bunch of people and finding myself on the ´right´, at least in the sense of how I see change and pacing.
Some people want to make radical changes NOW and perhaps haven´t fully thought out the consequences.
There are a lot of folks here that want an alternative to Capitalism, so far I´ve heard it called ´economy of solidarity´ or similar, but I am not sure what that looks like ... and I´m not sure Venezuelans do either. But socialism is fine by me, and I´m all for protecting the people at the lowest rungs of society from hunger, illness, and abusive landlords.

One of Clif´s goals with his film is to test his theory that sustainable agricultures (in particular ´agro-ecology´) can co-exist with capitalism, an unsustaible economic system. I think that capitalism isn´t horrible (am I really saying this???) if it is modified, to cap large incomes and to require protection of people and environments.
But even then I´m not sure if it´s sustainable.

Another humorous note -- everywhere we go, there is litter. Clif and I discussed it. We have a culture where we protect the environment and don´t litter ... but when you really think about it, the USA dumps its trash in other countries! So I personally feel uncomfortable discussing it too much... Funny the weak footing of the environmental ´green movement´in the USA. But then again, it´s a start, right?