Still in Venezuela and trying to escape.

Well a little bit about my classmates:
Last week I had Jessica, Nigel and Louis. Louis is 8 and can windsurf better than all of us and even offers us advice. Sometimes you just want to hate him but you cant because he is a really sweet kid. Jessica has been 2 weeks here. It has been her first attempt at learning windsurfing. She is trying it out as she has been going with Dan for the last 6 months and he is a windsurf addict so she thought might as well join in or have to sit on the beach for the restof my life whipe he is having a ball. Bless her but she picked probably the worst 2 weeks here. The wind has been howling and the waves are nearly big enough to surf on. Nigel, who is a year old than I but shares the same birthday, stopped windsurfing about 15 years ago when he first tried to use a harness and had a near death experiece. I so empathised. But his 2 best friends, the parents of little Louis above pursuaded him to try again. I hate him too. He has got the beach start before me and started on a lighter board before me. But I will catchup... I just have to sneak in an extra weeks windsurfing... That should do the trick.
Patricia and I started to hang out with this couple called Dave and Sarah. So we have had dinner with them a few nights. They are the loveliest couple, really interesting and they make dinner times fly by. They have been together nearly 18 years and still look like they only met last year and are very much in love but in a cool not in your face way. Richard and Tara then came along too. Again a very lovely couple, 5 years together but so happy with each other. Richard keeps us amused. He is in the navy and plays rugby, so is just this big lad but in a gentle way. Enough said. He pulls these faces and when he tells a story, he is just so funny. Tara banters, raises her eyebrows and is a good compliment to him. They brought a few others from their class (Carolyn and Darren and 2 others...), so the group mushroomed to 10. We all swapped sick stories as we have all had either vomiting, diarhoea or both. AT LEAST ONCE...
Friday 11April
The days have flown by.
This morning the wind was no so good, so these 2 Polish chaps (Tom a Polish windsurf pro here in Margarita for a few months practicing and his friend Adam) decided that plan B was required so went out and bought 2 bottles of rum and some coke and ice. At 9l30 in the morning, everone declined their offers of a drink. At 3pm they were pleasantly and funnily drink. They then went to bed and we didnt see them again until Saturday. They peaked too soon and missed all of the fun.

Dominic and Detta, invited everyone again to their Penthouse suite for drinks. I drank only a little but then we all went to the bbq at Gabys. The food was great and we all tucked into the rum and coke. I normally dont drink this but as I had a few orange liquers earlier, I took some. Dinner was fun. HAd a laugh with some and deep discussions with others. I am so prone to those. Met this guy called Tim, who has only one arm but can beat the pance off most of the 2 armed guys on the pool table. He is part Welsh and English but came here 2 years ago to meet a friend and just stayed. He loves it here and doesnt want to leave. Later, Nigel and I contined the chat we had started last week about how he goes with barbie dolls and then wonders why the relationship ends after a weekend, when he takes them on a sailing holiday in cramped conditions. I guess there was no where to put those Manolos (and no Esteban this has nothing to do with manolito). I think he said I was nice and easy going but then the rum and coke kicked in and the rest is rather a haze. But I had various chats with people. One of which was with Ollie, the rather cute manager of the windsurf centre. I remember how it started, as he had a bad year with lots of things happening in his personal life and then we got on to something else and I just went on my soapbox for apparently quite a few minutes. Charlie and Sarah were behind laughing themselves silly, as Ollie started to struggle to understand me and tried not to laugh at the others , as I got more animated and apparently I just got faster and my cork accent came out quite strongly and he couldnt follow anymore. Of course as I dont really drink coffee and never really drink fizzy drinks, I was completely hyper on the caffiene and the sugar and of course the alcohol. oops.
NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE!
Sat12April
Went to bed at 2 and woke up at 6am. I was still drunk. Good no hangover. I tried for 5 hours to go back to sleep but the caffiene was kicking in like crazy. Not a hope. My brain was going hell for leather on the thought machine. So about 11, I got up and got some food and chilled out with the others, suffering hangovers or waiting for the wind to pick up at the windsurf centre. Still no hangover... Great. I guess I drank so little alcohol over the last while, that a litte makes me drunk but drank too little for a hangover. Thank god.
For the first time really poor wind. But I eventually went out and had a really good day. I have sorted my beach starts. And my tacking has much improved. Maybe some more rum and coke....

We all went to dinner and then came back to the centre for the big party, Ollie had prepared and invited most of the village to a party for Bubble who is leaving tomorrow and one of the other girls whose birthday was today. There were quite a few people. Mostly instructors and a few guests, and some of the locals too. There were also a few weirdos. Patricia had been talking to one of the Venezuelan instructors and this guy just comes up and says he wants to talk to her. She just said well I am talking to someone already. Then he came back again and just hovered and tried again.
Well then this little guy about 5 inches smaller than I, starts to hover near me and tries to get eye contact. He just stood really close, I just discreetly ignored it and focused more on those in front of me. But I watched him and he did it to all the girls at the party. It was so funny to watch the girls exchange glances with each other, as they wondered who the hell was this weirdo. Anyway at one stage he came back and Patricia and I had been talking to Mel and one or 2 other Venezuelan girls. Mel is just a hoot. So she grabs this guy Tom (The Polish windsurf pro) as he was passing and places him directly between her and the weirdo. He sort of doesnt understand what is happening as he is a bit the worse for wear, having drunk a lot of rum and coke. dodgy stuff that rum and coke. But he is so sweet just goes along with it and Mel says you are such a lovely boy and he says yes I am a lovely boy then a few minutes he asks what am I again. I am a lovely boy. So he kept repeating I am a lovely boy. He is such a doll and kept coming back to be told it as he was so chuffed about it and Mel was just sooo funny. Mel then grabs Philippe (who happens to be a Canadian windsurf pro and a really nice chap too) and places him directly between her and the weirdo as well. and of course tells him he is a lovely boy. He caught on or was more corpos mentos and just joined in the fun. We all then went to Las Pirates, the local club. It was then that Charlie told me about me last night.
Bubble, had been given these mad sunglasses and a sandbucket that some of the French instructors had filled with beer and red bull. Later the bucket was replenished with rum and coke. Apparently it ran dry at one stage, and everyone just topped up the bucket wth what ever they were drinking, wine, beer, rum and coke.... At 5am, Charlie found Bubble in the middle of the road, still with his sandbucket, saying no no to this girl and Charlie asked what was he doing and he said he was waiting to be knocked down. So Charlie in his drunken wisdom took Bubble home.
Patricia and I had left at 2, as she had to finish packing before leaving at 7am to fly out.

Sunday 13, today was very subdued. I was wrecked tired after having 2 late nights in a row. I didnt bother windsurfing, as there was no wind for a lot of the day and anyway I wanted to hang out with those that were leaving for a while.
Later we had happy hour at 6 or so, at the windsurf centre and everyone had rum and coke. Except for Charlie and I. We both had had enough. Most of the others had actually gone home early the previous nights. Eveyone went to dinner and we all went home at about 9.30. but dinner was fun, as recounted the tales from the past few weeks and other escapades.

Monday 14April
Still here. I have been waiting since 9am and it is now 4pm. The emergency card has still not arrived.