I´ve arrived!

Hola!

Here I am in Venezuela, after a very long flight.. well two and a half flights actually. Got up at 4 am (!!) on Monday and caught a flight to Frankfurt at 7, so I saw the lovely sunrise. Once in Frankfurt I had to hang about for a few hours, admiring the Christmas decorations already there (crazy Germans) before getting my flight to Porlamar. We actually had to wait for about 15 minutes on the runway with the engines running because the plane had received too much fuel and it had to be burned off. Very strange! The seats were quite small and a had a large German sitting next to me so the flight wasn´t too comfortable, especially as he kept leaning over me to look out of the window :s Quite a dull flight, but with the help of Sudoku the time passed more quickly!

After about 10 hours we stopped off at Tobago, which was actually very cloudy and wet. Just as the sun set, we set off for just 45 minutes more before arriving on the island. A long queue for immigration and a long way for my luggage later, Irene was there waiting for me, along with some people from the vet clinic to give me a lift there. Asd it was dark I didn´t see much, but I was so exhausted I didn´t care!

Irene and I are staying in a very small appartment at the clinic, with a Spanish vet, Joselyn, who has been there for about 5 months. A room for us to sleep in, with a small kitchen and a bathroom, which I made use of very quickly, had a shower and went to sleep!

Today I spent my first day at the clinic. Irene showed me around - as well as treating animals that are brought in by their owners, they also treat stray animals found on the street, and have an animal shelter where they try to rehome the strays. I have to say, I was pretty shocked when I saw it. The hygiene is terrible, and the animals are not looked after very well. Irene (and me now) have to always check if the animals have food and water and a clean cage because sometimes the other vets and carers don´t check. It´s very sad. Also during the operationa NOTHING is sterile! The surgeons at the university would have a heart attack if they saw it! The instruments are washed but not sterilised, and we only wear non-sterile gloves. All the animals get a big shot of antibiotics, and that´s it.

Onto the good things - I got to help with some operations already. Irene and I castrated a dog together (one ball each!) and we also sterilised a dog and a cat. So we´re doing good work! We also did a lot of other small jobs, but of course the operations is why I´m here. Apart from us and Joselyn, there´s a local vet, Franklin, here, who´s a nice guy and seems pleased with us. And some assistants and guys that look after the animals. Everyone´s very friendly.

So far I haven´t seen much of the town, the internet cafe where I´m sitting now is literally 1 minute from the clinic, so it´s not a long walk. But I´m sure I´ll see more of it soon. And it´s very hot here! About 28 degrees, and humid. It rains apparently occasionally because the rainy season has just started, but I don´t think I´ll mind! We also only have cold running water at the clinic, including the shower, but it´s so hot that in the evening it´s ok, although it´s a bit chilly in the mornings. Usually only hotels have hot water here.

I´ll write more soon when I have the time, but so far I´m enjoying it! It´s very strange to be here, completely different to anywhere I´ve ever been before, and I´m really looking forward to seeing more of it. Oh yes, if you click on the ´Landkaart´ on the right you can see a map of Venezuela. Isla de Margraita isn´t marked on it, it´s so tiny, so I had to guess. Aruba´s there though so it must be a good map!

Bye!