6.10pm, Sunday June 14, MS's ...the famous Spanish all-nighter

I just woke up an hour ago, me of the mango-swollen eyes. MS, C, S and I went dancing last night. We left MS's at 1.o0am, and the club above the beach closed at 3am. We danced outside. MS is a much better dancer than me and I shall reiterate that it is hot, hot, hot. I much prefer South American club music to the stuff I try to dance to in Melbourne. This music is more Caribbean and there is a popular genre of music called Reggaeton, which is a mix of West African, Latin American and rap. I loved dancing to this fast, upbeat music, but was repeatedly told that if I ccould understand the lyrics I would hate it. The lyrics come from the rap part of the mix: sex and violence.

After we left the club, MS drove us to Playa el Agua, where we drank light beers, sitting on a step overlooking the beach. We dropped C and S home and, while I dozed in the car, MS drove us to a spot high above the beach to watch the sunrise. We watched the black sky become blue, the pink ball of yellow sun rising from a whirl of cloud, like something from outerspace, to highlight the dancing woman and coiled cloud forms until it was a distinct ball and too bright to look at.


sunrise on Margarita

In the new brightness of the morning we drove around looking for breakfast. A hard ask at 6.30am on a Sunday morning. We finally found an early-morning outdoor empanada stand. I ate an empanada and an arepa and drank a cup of passionfruit juice. When we got home I was so tired, I just wanted to sleep. But then MS took his shirt off and I caught sight of his necklace with a spiral-patterned ivory-coloured disk hanging from a leather thong. He put on The Wall Live in Berlin CD.

Dinner at T's is all the activity we managed to fit into Saturday evening. J, T's young boarder, cooked us a nice pasta sauce with champignons. I talked to him about Chavez. He is not a fan and believes the country has gone downhill because of Chavez. He admits to being from a wealthy family and believes socialism is utopian. He thinks Venezuelans like to show off their wealth and spend money on things such as digital television and Tommy Hilfiger clothes - rather than on a proper house - and everone is always out to con someone. Venezuelans buy and sell but don't produce.

J dislikes Chavez's educational programs because the missions teach all of high school in two months or train up doctors in two years. Doctors in public hospitals aren't properly trained and those with the brains and education (and money) leave the country. It is difficult for Venezuelans to leave the country. It takes a lot of paperwork - or a lot of money. This too is a plan of Chavez's. Venezuelans don't pay taxes; there's no history of it or of government services, and there is no IRS, only an agency that goes after businesses, has little power and is bribable.

MS doesn't like Chavez because of his militarism. He is undertandably afraid of what could happen if Chavez controls a trained military and has 'the people' behind him as well.

A question, then. How do countries change? Can Chavez make people change? Is giving the people the tools to change enough? Do people use them? Is it possible for a govenrment to give the people more than just tools? Is that government's job?