Hello from sunny VZ. As you can see from this photo, I am having a great time. I have been here for a week-- mostly in the state of Lara in and around the city of Sanare. Lara is west of Caracas and is a great foil to the complete insanity of Caracas.

Actually, that is probably not fair to Caracas. I stayed with two very lovely people from the Communal Councils in the heart of Caracas and I met some incredible activists who are working overtime to organize in their community. In a place where, had I been alone, I would have felt pretty vulnerable and ubergringo-like, I was treated with incredible respect and kindness.

The democratic process in VZ is amazing, contrary to what you might have seen on the TV. The constitutional reforms are being hotly debated everywhere, but largely peacefully. I told many Venezuelans that we could learn a lot in the US about democratic action and participation from them. This delighted my cab driver this morning. Well, it was that statement combined with a bottle of Sanare cactus juice/rum that I gave him. I could not take on the plane and who better to gift it to than the man who held my life in his hands in the nutty traffic of early morn Caracas?. ¡VIVA!

The mountain city of Sanare is an amazing place with an incredible capacity for making one feel welcome. The growers there are totally intruiged with the possibility of linking up with folks in Madison. We discussed many possible projects and I fully expect this relationship to develop into something very cool.

In the spirit of the blog cliffhanger tradition I will write more upon my return to arctic Wisconsin.