Three is my lucky number and today was the third day of me trying to access the internet. I went to the cyber and the look of my girlfriend said yes. The server was back, Facebook was back, the children were back, I was back, toilet paper was back at the supermarket on the main street and pasta was back at the supermarket underneath the cyber. I concentrated on my work but could not avoid to listen to the crowd several times screaming while they were waiting for pasta downstairs in an enormous queue.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.

I had a break for lunch and could have a quick look at the queue. The people were trying to avoid staying in the sun; they took turns between the family members, friends or neighbors and they had to buy drinks and food from the sales people. The news of the arrival of scarce products or food spread pretty early and queues started to line up in the morning before the respective supermarket even opened or even before the truck with the product or food had arrived.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.

When the truck arrived the crowd starts to get nervous and the shouting begins. As from a certain amount of people in the queue or maybe even out of personal interest the police or the military arrives and organizes the queue or the entrance of the respective store. In some cases the merchandise is going directly to the military base and is distributed from the soldiers. I had seen this already in Guiria in the center of the city. I had my delicious Colombian potato and walked back to the cyber.

I had a lot to catch up with and managed to upload three days or three posts onto the site. I was optimistic again about my cyber and wanted to upload three posts more tomorrow morning and then at lunchtime finally leave Tucacas. I had promised to visit the castle of Puerto Cabello and some of the beaches close to the town. I stayed at the cyber until the last minute and was the last to leave. They closed every day at 16:30, the shops at 17:00, the supermarket at 18:00 and only my bakery was open until 21:00. Everybody here is afraid of the dark. The dark calls the evil spirits, the thieves, the robbers, the assaulters and the assassins, all together what they call here the “delinquentes”. I had been warned so many times about the criminal spirit that is all over Venezuela. I had learned to be and move careful after eight years in Brazil.

I walked up and down the main street and I was starting to feel uncomfortable. I had been too long in this small 30.000 population city Tucacas and I had to move on. I had support from my economic consultant in my head, the money was running out and I had to get to the border. I entered the bakery to have a look and decided to have a pizza. The quality of the pizza was back and I had another one before I left for the hospital parking.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.