¿Que vaina es esa?

Today I will be spending time with a great aunt and her prodigious brood, and after lunch we will climb the mountain Avila (renamed "Warairarepano" by President Chavez in recognition of the mountain's original indian inhabitants) which is about the size of Katahdin. Atop the mountain runs a cable car that leads to the Humboldt Hotel, a formally bocsh and expensive place that has since fallen into disrepair. I can imagine coming as an oil-worker in decades past, how such a place would feel, nestled 4,000M above the ocean. Back then it was a country easily exploited. Back then, oil workers would commandeer the double-decker buses used for public transit and drive them around the city of Maracaibo (This is true). They would party from bar to bar drinking until a band of criminals would rob them blind, sending them home without money. As they walked home, I imagine they patted each other on the back in a conciliatory fashion, saying "Well, it was a pretty fucking good time, wasn't it!?"

A good time indeed.

These, however, are not the days of my Grandfather where ones exploits are not measured in venereal diseases. Instead, being from the United States gives me little advantage here. If I want to make money, I need to work as a teacher. If I want to remain in the Country I need to travel to Colombia by bus every three months. If I want to know a woman, I need to do more than flash a couple american bills across her line of vision (though dollars are in very high demand and this actually may be the case).

Frase del Día: There is a word used in venezuela that deserves some attention: Vaina. It is the most common word I have encountered here besides cola, which means "line" (especially a line of traffic). "√aina" means the "scabbard" (like medieval sword case scabbard) or pea pod, but its uses are best described as universal.

Here are some examples

What's wrong? = What in the Peapod happened?

Don't annoy me = Drop the Peapod!

What is this? = What kind of Peapod is this?

my personal favorite:

This person is doing something rather strange = What a strange Peapod this person is stuck inside!