Untill that cash arrives, I'm stuck in the Hotel, which was unfortunate, since I had hoped to go to Merida, which is the part of the Andes in Venezuela.

I called CPSCU (my credit union in Aus) and had a good ol' chat to the girl there. First, she wanted my telephone access PIN, which I had never used, and had forgotten. She said she wasn't going to be able to do anything until I gave her that number, or came in to the branch to reset. I explained that this was going to be a problem, and proceeded to list in detail everything about myself in the hope of her trusting that I was me. I gave her my address,my phone, my old work phone - everything.

She believed me.

She was then able to clear part of the cheque that I was waiting on,which allowed me topay off the taxi driver. I was very gratefull. I asked her about my Internet banking, and she said she would reset my password tothe default, and when I confirmed what this would be, it was wrong! All this time I though it was my fault that internet banking wasn't working, and they had it wrong. Oh well.

Nov 29

I can't believe it. More problems with money. I went to use my AMX, and it was declined. Wait a minute, this is an American Express "dont leave home without it" magic cards. Whats more, it is a Corporate Card, I'm sure there is no problem with the credit limit, in fact, I reckon I could probably buy the hotel with it,let alone pay the bill.

I ring AMX. "Sorry sir, the card has been cancelled. It's has a note saying you have left the company".

Wow. I was not expecting this. Perhaps this is how Neles fires people. *grin* just kidding JY(*), if you reading this....

Dec 8

Left workearly today to catch a flight to Aruba "con mi dushi". The flight is very short - so short that as sson as you reach cruising altitude, youstart descending. We arrived, rented a very cool red Jeep. We then drove round and looked for a nice place tostay.We decided on the Aruba Grand Beach Resort.

A quick change of clothes,and we were on the beach, walking past the other resorts. We were walking past the Hyatt, which is an amaing building, with an even more amazing back-yard. The area behind the hotl (between it and the beach) is a collection of water falls, bars, palm trees, swan pools and resteraunts. We decided on the spur of themoment to have dinner in the outside resteraunt here.

The wine was a 96 Cab Sav fromspain, the meal "por mi" was stuffed local shrip "y mi dushi" had a seafood grill. Both were deservig of the surroundings. Joanny seemed to look even more beautifull in the candle light that night.

From here, we walked back to the hotel,but on the way, we were distracted by the sounds of the Cocoa bar, which is located on the hotel pier. Here, we drank Heinikien and Balashi (both local beers, well, kinda(*)). Here we played dominoes with the crew of the "Mi Dushi", a party boat. These guys sail all day, drink beer at night. What a life. I asked one of them how long he had been doing this, and he said 2 years. I also asked if he thought he would ever get sick of it, and he said "not yet". "Mi amor" was singing kareoke with the other guests (and the bar staff).

Another change of clothes, and off to Mambo Jambo.

Here, we danced and danced and danced. At about 3am, we left for another club, but it as closed, so we went to the hotel, and crashed.

Dec 10

Up and at em. We dressed in Aruba clothes - swimwear. Only. Took the top off the Jeep and drove around the island. Well, "mi amor" drove. Not me. What an experience. Her driving in incredible, and there something about it that made me nervous. Reallt nervous. Sometimes the radio, or a kiss would take priority for a terrifying moment, and these moments seemed to always during times or high speed or heavy traffic. More than once I actually yelped. If you know what a yelp is, you'll realise how silly it would sound.

She was not impressed with my yelping.

"But I am Maracucha this is how we drive in Maracaibo."
"Yes, but you not in Maracaibo now."
"Do you not trust that I am a good driver?" (sic)
"Of course I do." What else am I going to say there, sheesh.
"I dont drive any worse than the locals here in Aruba."
"Well, they stop at redlights."
"So do I."
"Well, you didn't just back there."
"Was there a red light back there?"
Prosecution rests.

Snorkling. Enough said. First time for me, and it .. is ... beautifull. Of course, people say that all the time, but really, unless you've done it, you haven't got a clue. I liked it somuch, I started diving deeper to see the fish and coral, and then my ear's almost exploded, soI stopped. If I can get this ear thing sorted, I'm trying SCUBA.

Joanny can't swim. So she went back in to get a life vest, and came back out and we went out futher. It just got better and better. We were taking pictures of each other and generally froliking about.

Well, just to make things interesting, the weather got nasty, and the swell picked up. I was feeling nervous, more because Joanny was not a strong swimmer than anything else, but one particularily strong wave sent we hurtling towards some coral, and I was, shall we say, anxious. But all is well thats end well, I managed to get myself and Joanny safely to the dock. Interestingly, when we finally took our heads out of the water, it was pouring rain! No injuries except a scraped ankle, and incredibly sore feet from the fins. Oh and I think I busted something inside my knee too.

We saw the natural rock bridge, formed by the sea, a old mining camp ruin, and some amazing sea action. It was like the sea thought that people were having just too much fun on this "land" thing, and was trying to smash it up with waves.

That night, we headed to Carlos and Charley, were most drinks were served in Yard glasses. Including cocktails. So 3 of those, and we were ready to dance again. Off to Mambo Jambo, then another place, then another place, then Carlos and Charleys again, then the beach........

Sunday. A lazy start with breakfast, then hit the beach. By now, I'm starting to accumulate a bit of a sunburn. Joanny of course wasn't, being brown and all. We went in search of fun, and found the "get dragged behind a speedboat in a rubber tube" sort. Wow, allot of fun. Joanny came off twice, and do you think its easy to get back in? No. I helped her in both times, and by the second time, I was stuffed.

Of to the airport after checking out. On the way, my brain experienced one of the first sober moments, and I realised that we might need departure tax. Damn, and we had effeciently spent all the cash we had. So, off to the bank machine. But remember, I have a busted knee, so nothing was in a hurry. Except that when checking the ticket, I learnt that the flight was 1 hour and 10 minutes earlier than we thought. But we cant rush anything - in fact we have to do everything slower.

The bags were too heavy for Joanny to carry, so we alternated between her dragging them, and we carrying them - but the pain this caused in my knee was enough to bring tears to my eyes. We made the flight, and got to Maracaibo - minus camera. Can you believe it? Its like being back in high school and leaving your bag on the train. Except this time, you cant go to the terminal and look in the list and found. This is a third world country. They don?t have a lost and found, because anything "lost" by a passenger is "found" by the cleaning staff. So someone in Maracaibo has my camera. I wonder if they developed the pictures? I hope they enjoy them, because I definitely would have.

All was not lost however, I put a new roll of film in the camera on Saturday afternoon, and we had an underwater camera, so we had 2 rolls of film still - which turned out nice. The rest you'll have to take my word for :)