I've had a week in Margarita and it totally rocks, I've got everything i want here (except ppl i love from back home of course) I'm living the typical foreign exchange student life...going to the cinema, going bowling, visiting all the tourist attractions and i love it...I'm speaking terrible English and totally forgetting how to spell everything, I've only been hanging out with German peopl who speak really bad English!!but my Spanish is coming along...slowly but getting there.ive had such a fun time this week all I've been doing is living it up and relaxing Venezuelan style. went to a really nice beach on Thursday for the day, with HUGE waves, was awesome, had an amazing lunch...man they must have the best food here ever, everything tastes amazing.,...still in shock coming from Africa i think.

went out to a really nice bar with huge bean bags right on the beach, stayed for hours and hours, was a really nice place there. I'm back into a school routine now, i get up, have a coffee with Santiago, have class, and do whatever, its weird getting back to a school routine but must be even harder for all the other students who are 32 - 53! 3 new people arrived today and guess where their from GERMANY!! wo-frickin-ho.... all i hear is Spanish around me and German when im with the students. its ok though, i´d rather have that than all English people i guess but one or two would be nice...or just anyone that speaks English fluently.

we went to santiagos for a few drinks on Friday night and woke up extremely early Saturday to get a catamaran to Coche---another island nearby. was ok, we rented jet skis...i was petrified...mom was always scared of jet skis and now shes scare mongered me i think, but it was fun, the food was included...it was soo good.sooo much food! i tell ya for the past 2 months I've been eating 3 meals a day every day...being in a host family for a long time will make anyone as big as a house. the trip was fun, they had extremely loud crappy disco music playing on the way back and everyone got up and was dancing, i was reading but couldn't quite keep my concentration while a middle aged women wearing a g'string was dancing right in front of me!!! lol

after that we went for coffee...im turning into a caffeine adict again...i went two months without a cup of tea and now im on coffee, but its so good you´ve gotta drink coffee here. then went to hooters and then bowling, hadn't bowled in years, was so fun, they asked for my name to put on the score board and when we got to out lane, the screen said...santiago, sven and Hey...so from no on they call me Hey. i should just change my name to something ending in a...all foreign people can pronounce those names.

sunday was a pretty interesting day...it was electection day for the people of Venezuela to vote if they wanted Hugo Chavez the president to change the laws which would basically make Venezuela a communist country. it was a huge deal, since ive been here thats what everyones been talking about (From what i can understand anyways) all the cares are spraypainted with big No or Si signs on them, everyones been protesting for or against it in the streets and fireworks go off no stop. its been really hectic. so on sunday EVERYTHING was shut, no malls, no bars, no booze for 24 hours, so we just went to the beach and it was great, the beach bars were still open probably in protest like everything else! and everyone stayed home having their own parties, had one two many beers and it was so strange how everyone was anticipated the result, was a big day in Venezuelan history, im so glad i could had that experience, Today was really fun cas the vote was lost so most of the people were celebrating, there was a parade through the strees, which felt like Carnival, about 100 cars with No sprayd on them, came down the road, honking their horns, buses packed with people drinking beer, people hanging out of the windows blowing horns and sipping beer in between, girls standing out of the sun roofs of the cars in bakinis waving giant venezulan flags, it was awesome!! well i better be off now so adios!! xxxxxxxxxxxx