Merida

10.05.11.

I arrived in this city yesterday. Its a small city of 400 000 inhabitants. most of which are students. Did really inmteresting stuff here too. To start with, I live up in the hills, in the country side. View is fantastic.



Cool things I did here in less than 24 hours, most of it is experiencing student life in an extra socialist country:

- went to a union cinema that cost 1BsF for a ticket, You never know which film its going to be, but apparently, its always interesting. This time, it was a french film. Josiane Balasko was speaking spanish. "Le Herison." Strongly recommended. There were two electricity cuts in the city during the film. The organisors went out to find an electric generator to finish playing the film

- Introduced to an old lady of 90 years old, who livesin a century old house in the country. We had a good chat about her fascinating life as a religious missionary in the venezuelian jungle.



- assisted a university seminar of a very fameous philosopher called José Manuel Briceño Guerrero, from Universidad Los Andes de Merida. HE masters something like 20 different languages, including amndarin, hebrew, latin, persian etc... During the seminar, he spoke to me in absolutely all the languages I can speak, and he speaks them all really well. Topic of the 4 hour course was a poem by Goethe. Erlkonig, which will certainly remind William and Christopher of the years spent with Madame Couloumie.

- Ate lunch at the student union. HEre in Venezuela, not only is education COMPLETELY free for everyone, but food at the uni restaurant is free as well. And since everybody here is so good at making the most of the system, they all eat two or three servings!