KEEP WALKING

You can't find an unwaxed floor in Caracas.I didn't think about it until Mark (from Margarita's Mark & Jill duo) said something in the airport. Today in the metro I noticed the 2nd maintenence worker this week waxing the floors by the train platform. And metros, well metros here are a whole different world from the rest of Caracas, a whole different world all together. Upon entering there are garbage bins to put any food or drink that you may have because it's not accepted underground. Everything is pristine. No rodents, no bums, no garbage. Exiting is a reality check- the heat (& rain), slaps you in the face. Vendors are there to sell you umbrellas, books, lottery tickets, quarts-- or rather pints of oil. There is the less fortunate asking for money, the smell of the hot dog stand (there are a couple on every block), the traffic's constant hornage, and people everywhere walking at a pretty good pace. But the pace sometimes just stops, they have no problem stopping in the most inopportune places and putting a hitch in everyone elses flow. It bothers me, but no one else seems to mind. On the bus people will bring food and drink, disregarding the signs saying not to do so. I believe their way of following the rules on the sign is to not leave garbage on the bus. They don't bat an eye when throwing out an empty 2 liter soda bottle or a grocery bag with garbage. Anything goes out the window. It's disgusting. There are 4 counties in the city each with a different "mayor" that allocate funds differently. Only 2 of them put effort into maintenence and security. I looked across the street towards Chacaito and saw someone sweeping up the leaves and dirt from the curb. There was nothing else to clean in some areas so they were painting the curbs yellow but across the street where I was, in Sabana Grande, the street was full of old shoes, papers flying everywhere, cans, rum bottles, bums in cardboard, skewed half open garbage bags surrounding me. But the metro- that's clean.


whoa!!! I almost forgot about the daily t-shirt mumbo jumbo: neon green on yellow- WOT YOU LOOKIN AT?