Monday Musings: I took the week off...

Last week was pretty crazy so I took the week off from blogging and how I have missed you all! I've done all sorts of fun things and cried with the Italy fans when we were eliminated from the World Cup Tournament but we will RISE AGAIN!!! Beyond that, I've been hanging out with my little girls and having a blast!

I have the fun task of taking them to music classes and bringing them home, helping them out with their homework and such things...last week we had a long weekend and I spent it watching movies with them, playing, going to concerts and participating in their grandmother's birthday party!

We watched Nanny McPhee (I confess I had not seen it and think it is very cute), 17 Again and several episodes of Phineas and Ferb on youtube! So, needless to say, I am LOVING my life in Caracas! It's absolutely wonderful! This afternoon I get to meet with Maestro Yevgeny Bushkov from Russia before he goes into rehearsals for this Wednesday's presentation of the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela), it is their 80th Anniversary celebration this year and there have been scores of wonderful concerts and presentations! On June 20th I went to the ballet with the girls, they presented Carmen which was just awesome and gorgeous! Here is my fave photo which I snapped from the event:

Please visit my Perez Liscano Photography page on facebook to view more photos of the spectacular event! It's such a joy to be able to share such things with you! Anyway, I must get going, got some more things to do but wanted to share these things with you!

Cheers!

Fantastic Friday: Just another day in Caracas...

Oh the joys of a Friday! It's nice when you've been paid and have some money to spend and most of my money went to much needed things like: shampoo, conditioner, baño de crema (which is a deep conditioner), lotions, soap and other such things. For next week I'll stock up on other things and some more soap but in the meantime I think what I bought today was sufficient.

I took Andrea to music class today as well and afterward treated her to some ice cream at Mc Donald's! She really enjoyed that and I am glad she did. She's such a cute kid! My one treat for myself today was a really beautiful fan I bought which called my eye when I was taking Andrea to music class, I bought it from an informal street vendor (there are plenty to be had here in Caracas) and I love it! It's black with gorgeous fuscia sequins and embroidery.

What's next on my list of things to do you ask? Tonight: watch "Because I Said So", tomorrow: clean my room and possibly go to the National Art Gallery or go catch a play at the old Ateneo Theatre, Sunday: it's Father's Day and I hope to talk to my father a bit but will be attending Maria Alejandra's choir concert and later that afternoon taking the girls to see the ballet production of "Carmen". That is my weekend in a nutshell! Hope you have a fantabulous weekend too!

Cheers!

Conscious Shopping Wednesday: Local Artisans

Living in Caracas has opened my eyes to wonderful new possibilities as well as wonderful new markets! I love to shop! It is part of who I am and it is inevitably engrained in me but I am not a "mall shopper" or even much of a "department store" shopper (although I love the very chic Beco here). I am most definitely a boutique and artisan craft shopper. I LOVE boutiques and things made by hand and in Caracas there is no shortage of boutiques of all kinds.
On Sunday, May 3rd I had the great priviledge of attending a market/bazaar I had discovered a couple of years ago in one of my previous extended stays here in Caracas. The bazaar is called El Tarantín and is a great place to get to know local artisans from all over Caracas and Venezuela. Artisans and vendors showcase their goods and one can shop under the open air market of the Municipal Market of Chacao (one of Caracas' many municipal sectors, sort of like a burrough) for all sorts of great things.

There were so many wonderful things and I just have to share a few of the photos with you all:

The atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was having a great time browsing and shopping and I believe that for the next event I will definitely be taking some more cash to get some other goodies! I made one purchase, a set of flower barrettes for my niece Alyssa:

The event was a huge success and I was able to meet Liliana Saenz, one of the organizers, who had given me permission to photograph the event for this blog. I cannot wait to bring you the future events that are hosted! Liliana was most helpful and all the vendors were really nice about being photographed. There are tons more photos you can check out on my photography page on facebook, Perez Liscano Photography in the Arts and Culture Caracas album. Anyway, I will be trying to write more and more about these cultural events and all that jazz!

I love life here!

Cheers!

Tuesday Tutorials: Make it your own!

I can't believe it is already June! Yikes! Where has time gone? For me it has been a whirlwind ride of teaching and going to cultural events lately! I've been so busy that when I get home I am too tired or too spent to even think about writing a post but here I am back again from the woodwork!
I've been working on making this room here my own (not an easy task since there are so many useless things lying around here that I am trying to figure out what to do with) and have commenced by decorating one side of the shelf for me to enjoy and look at!

If you read my post in April about collage making, then you will recognize the first piece on my shelf-side collage. I used that collage as a starting point for this particular decoration piece:

What else did I use, you ask? Well, I have an ever growing collection of postcards and trinkets people send me so I started to use them as the basis for my collage. Among the ones pictured are a postcard from Socks for Happy People, a postcard my parents brought me from Lima, Peru, and a few little cards from Paris my friend Martina sent me! I am a very visual person and having a bland room is not my idea of fun!

In order to not harm the shelf nor harm the pieces I am using I decided to use mounting tape to get them up there. It peels off fairly easily when I want to change something around and is less annoying than regular scotch tape.

Thank God for creativity and ingenuity! It's the little things in life that inspire me most! Have a bright and cheerful day! What decorating plans do you have for this summer? I'd love to know!

Cheers!

Fantastic Friday: Rain, rain and more rain!

It rained pretty much all day today! I did some laundry early in the morning and thank God that was dry but I didn't have such luck with my second load! After placing it out to dry I went to get a couple of things at the panaderia and to meet up with a friend and voila! It stared pouring down rain! My clothes was, of course, soaked and since it rained all day since it is still up there wet and I will probably have to take it down early tomorrow morning, bring it here and put it through the rinse cycle once more...oh well!

Other than that, I had a pretty busy day running about here and there, taking my little friend Maria Alejandra to and from ballet to music class! We had fun at the end, despite the rainfall! I got an Italia bracelet to be decked out in World Cup gear and fervor (that's my team) and Maria Alejandra was happy because she is also a fan of Italy! After that we got ice cream sundae's at McDonald's and headed back to the building! Here are some shots we took today:

Maria and I show off our bracelets...

Maria and I at McD's!

Ahhhh...sundaes!

Maria enjoying her sundae...

Life... ♥

Hello friends! It's been a while since I last wrote! Life has been whizzing by and somehow I got caught up in the moments. Today I just want to share a little bit of what I am enjoying these days....

Catching up with old friends on Monday...

Received a letter from a friend in Germany on Wednesday...

Aren't the German postage stamps lovely?

The postcard my friend sent me....

and the little tour/travel cards from Paris she included as a token...

Today I played around with the cam and different shelf shots...

my tea/candy jar...brought this from the US with me...

...and of course, CHOCOLATE! I bought these two today.

I've also been updating some photography on my Perez Liscano Photography facebook page. I added an album called {a rose is a rose} and it has some beautiful shots! Check it out and if you're on facebook and like what you see become a fan as well! I've also added a few things to the Mes Petites Creations facebook fan page as well! Other than all that I've been teaching my little students English and hanging out with my Grandma.

Cheers!

Tuesday Tutorials: Food-torial! Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey Sandwich

I love peanut butter and bananas! So today I wanted to share with you a tutorial about making some really yummy and peanuty snacks. Here is the list of ingredients in pictorial form:

Wheat + Oatmeal Bread

One banana...

The goodness of Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter....

and honey...lots of honey...

This bread is one of the best healthy breads in all of Caracas... I love it!

So, on to the assembly:

Spread some peanut butter goodness on both slices of bread (this is an open faced sandwich).

After spreading all that good peanut butter, slice the banana and place it directly on top of the covered slices of delicious bread...oh, la, la! Finally, drizzle some amazing fresh honey over the bananas, letting it drip onto the peanut butter and voila! The finished product is below in all it's glory!

Bon apetit!