Theology 2 in Venezuela #13

(By Alan Paul Eilen)

Days 9 & 10 (July 24 & 25, 2007)

Well, that was a short nights sleep; I was up before the roosters. The reasons for this trip was to see the “Gran Sabana”, as well as to cross the border into Brazil, so as to buy some cross or crucifixes for some rosaries that the people of the parish are making. In fact, Fr. Schaeffer said that they are giving each of up a Rosary and Spanish edition of the Bible for a gift – wow! That’s very generous of them. Although, it doesn’t surprise me, everyone has been very hospitable toward us. In addition to the seminarians and Miguel and his two boys (Miguelito and Raphael) Mary (UST Student) and Juanny and Luz (2nd driver) joined us for the 8-12 hour trip – depending on the number of bathroom, waterfalls, food, or checkpoints we would stop at. Foolishly, I decided to ride in the back of the pickup for 45 minutes later that morning. I hadn’t put on any sunscreen and since the sun is quite intense at times down here, not surprisingly, I was a little red-faced, along with my arms. I felt it during the night and will have to take precautions (sunscreen, hat, umbrella) for the next couple days. Besides that, some of the roads and twists and turns and checkpoints were a little annoying. Once we got to the “Gran Sabana”, which took about 6-8 hours, the ride was more enjoyable. The ‘GS’ is basically a large and beautiful valley between the hills of Venezuela and goes on for about 140 miles. We saw a really cool waterfalls about ¾ of the way down – don’t ask me the name, but it was pretty cool. The other great thing about going south was that the temperature dropped about 10-15 degrees.

The guards or officials at the various checkpoints and gas stations were generally bored and not interested in looking us over too much, although at a few this wasn’t the case. Oftentimes, they commented on the Chino, who was riding with us (Stephen) or about the beer in the cooler. Once we got to the end of the ‘GS’ and the city of San Elena, some (Miguel and his two boys and Juanny and Jonathan and Michael) crossed the border into Brazil to buys some items. Those who didn’t have the ‘Yellow Fever’ shot and the yellow card indicating this were not allowed to go, unless you wanted to hang down there for 10 more days – no thanks! We found a decent hotel that night; had a late supper of ham and cheese sandwiches, etc. and hit the sack. I got up early to pray and to see some of the beautiful scenery before the sun got too hot. The ride back today amidst stopping at two waterfalls was long. We didn’t arrive back at our home base until about 9:30 PM. It was great to make the trip – even Omar Guanchez says that he has never been there – but nice to be back. 12-14 hour trips in a car are not as enjoyable as they were, say, 20 or 30 years ago. Miguel and Luz were troopers though – they were the one’s who drove – God reward them! The only downer of the trip was that we weren’t able to get to Mass on either Tuesday or Wednesday.