A Hurricane Vacation

One hundred degrees Fahrenheit and 100% humidity one day and ridiculous winds, rain and crashing waves the next. The weather we experienced on our Florida vacation was extreme to the max. Okay, not quite THE max, but pretty darn close.

Going to Florida as a kid, I got used to the muggy air, then the chill of the a/c cranked to eleven when I went inside. It was exciting to experience different weather and see different plant and animal life in a different part of the continent - yet still watch Fraggle Rock at the same time because we never left our time zone.

When Suz and I went to Florida in August, we experienced hurricane Fay, then scorching days until hurricane Gustav ran past and smacked us around.

Between the vendors on the pier, the coast guard hovering overhead and a school of dolphins partying with the swimmers, crowded Clearwater beach was always exciting. But when Gustav started coming closer, things got more dazzling. I crouched on the beach for nearly 20 minutes before I captured 1.21 gigawatts of electricity, yep, a bolt of lightning coming down from the sky. Thankfully the DeLorean was nowhere in the vicinity and remains safely in 2008.

A trip to St. Petersburg gave us a real thrill when we watched 30 foot waves crash higher than the palm trees lining our flooded parking lot. Even from 200 feet away the mist wrapped its salty hands around my camera lens.

I managed only to smear the lens with my salt-covered shirt and resorted to licking the lens clean, much to Suz's disgust.

For most island nations and the coastline of the U.S., hurricanes are devatstating and a horror to flee from. But when you're just getting the fringes, it makes for some exciting times and some interesting photos.

Venezuela is Socialist? Whaaa?

Our resort, LagunaMar, featured a fairly common form of entertainment each night. After the sun set behind the mountains, dancers and comedians would take the stage, a plywood & particleboard masterpiece, and squeeze laughter and smiles from the audience.

One night they shouted to the audience only in Spanish.

Upon hearing "Benezuela!" the Venezuelans erupted in cheers. The Columbians took their turn when "Columbia!" was shouted. And, as Chile, Argentina, Brazil, U.K. and Canada echoed across the stage, each corresponding nationality cheered for their country. Even Germany was mentioned, to the joy of two.

The United States, where half of my family lives, was never mentioned. And during our stay we didn’t come across any Americans. But Suz and I did meet a couple from Venezuela, on a 3-day vacation from Caracas. We learned a lot from them, including the astonishing price of gas. At 2 cents per litre, they filled their tank for less than $2.00 U.S, and drove 3 hours to the ferry which took them to the resort. Gas in Venezuela isn’t taxed, and is among the cheapest things they can possibly purchase.

So what’s the deal with Venezuela and the States? Why were there no American tourists? Why wasn’t the U.S. even acknowleged at our resort? It’s no secret that Bush hates Chavez and vice versa, but are flights from the U.S. actually restricted from entering Venezuela?

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Bush was unable to supply enough oil for his own country, prompting Chavez to swoop in on his golden oil barrel and donate in the neighbourhood of one million barrels. It’s been said that the only reason Bush accepted Venezuela’s offer was because they already had a network of Venezuelan-owned distributors in place: Citgo.

Yet, despite this act of kindness in a time of devastation, Bush has put Venezuela on his blacklist of countries not cooperating with the war on drugs. The two are not related, unless you consider Bush’s double standard when it comes to Venezuela.

The U.S. relies heavily on Venezuelan oil, but at the same time tries to de-legitimize Venezuela’s government due to their close ties with socialst countries like North Korea and Cuba. It’s really too bad, because Cuba isn’t a threat to the U.S.

Of course, that’s debatable.

Bush’s administration tries so hard to protect their country from terrorists, but can’t protect them very well from hurricanes, as evidenced by the Katrina fiasco.

Hurricane Charley caused only 4 deaths in Cuba, yet was responsible for 30 deaths in the States. Wilma caused only 4 deaths in Cuba, but 36 in the States. And Ivan was responsible for a mere 3 deaths in Venezuela, zero in Cuba, and 54 in the States.

During our ‘orientation’ on our second day, a fellow Canadian asked our Venezuelan guide whether or not Venezuela was socialist. He replied, "we are leaning towards that direction… but we should not talk politics," then nervously laughed, and went on to the next question.