venezuela possibilities
as some of you might have read previously, i’m planning a trip to Venezuela this december. I’m gonna go there for several months and try to see what’s goin on in terms of grassroots groups pressuring the government to continue its revolutionary trend, and to learn spanish more thoroughly.
Today i was quite encouraged when i happened to run into an acquaintance at the public library. I suspect some readers already know Anton, and may or may not know that he just got back to town after attending the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students that just happened in Venezuela last week. We chatted briefly, and i mentioned that i was going in december, and he said that he’s hoping to go back in december. So, it seems as though i’ll have someone to chum around with while i’m there, and perhaps someone to practice spanish with before we go.
anton also mentioned that the World Social Forum for 2006 will be happening in Caracas in January. I actually didn’t know this at all when i decided to go, but it’s a big bonus. I’ve wanted to attend one of these events for years, but never done it. It’s pretty exciting that i’ll have a month to get immersed in spanish before it happens, too. There’ll be a lot of people there who speak a lot of different languages, but with English and Spanish i should be able to talk with most of them.
Before i go, i’d like to find some more organizations and people to contact. Someone suggested that there was a vancouver “bolivarian circle” that i could contact, who might have some good advice and contacts down there. I’m also going to contact the indy-news site Aporrea about meeting up with them, and maybe offering to do some linux work if they need it.
anyway, it’s time for me to get the ball rolling on this, and get back into practicing spanish. Now I’m more excited than ever, and quite eager to chat more with Anton and see how he’s doing with the stack of spanish books he took out of the library ;).
Ride hard, ride free
August 26th, 2005 at 13:19 pm
I know some of the apporea folks, especially folks related to linux, and they are definately interested in having folks come and work with them… send me an email and i’ll connect you up. You should know that apporea is very pro-chavez and many of them are trots… not to say anything bad about their work, it’s just their politcs are distinctly different from that which floats around in indymedia ciricles.
The circle A anarchist types hate apporea and think things will backfire against them if the chavistas ever are able to drive out the right wing….
September 28th, 2005 at 18:29 pm
Nice stuff dude! Particularly enjoyed the ridin comments of your bikerides and the zombie thing. i’m also anarchically inclined, tho i.d. myself as a “spanarchist” (preferring self-theory), and a cyclist. See my site for a few of my own adventures by bike (while articulating ideas deeper than what is usual). For instance, i did a month-long ride here in WA (u.s.) where i wore variations of far-out regalias while spouting messages that one doesn’t see everyday:
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2005/08/247526.shtml