Susanne Elizabeth Burgess de Acosta is coming soon!

Hi family and friends,

It’s time for another update. 

Before we left for Dinner

I want to start this blog by saying that the past 2 years have been great.  I have been blessed beyond belief and I am genuinely loving each and everyday of my life.  As I look back, and think about meeting Carlos, talking through the computer, traveling to Venezuela for the first time, being apart for long periods of time, etc. it definitely wasn’t always easy.  Our relationship truly is unique.  And, I think you will agree with me, long distance relationships aren’t easy!  But, through it all I’ve learned a lot – but more importantly put my trust in God.  God has really dealt with me over the past 2 years and opened my eyes to a lot of new things.  He’s blessed me in so many ways, and helped me mature in my faith.  For that, I will be forever greatful.  Having Carlos in my life is probably one of the greatest gifts he has given me.  As a little girl, I always imagined marrying a guy like Carlos, and as I went through some rebellious years in my life I began to think it would NEVER happen.  But, God blessed me!

And as of yesterday (April 23, 2009) I am engaged to be his wife.  I am the soon to be Susanne Elizabeth Burgess de Acosta. Here’s the story:

Carlos took me out to a really nice, romantic restaurant for dinner.  We had an awesome dinner, wine, etc.  it was very elegant.  We also had flowers and a candle on our table.  It was really nice and I was impressed.  We talked a lot over dinner about our relationship and the things we’ve gone through together (distance, being away from family, etc).  As our dessert came to the table, the waiter also put a small box in front of me.  I looked at the box, and then looked back at Carlos.  He had a really big smile on his face.  He told me that he had gotten me a special present and he would like for me to open the box.  So, as I was opening it, he asked me, “Will you marry me?”. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring.  Of course I said YESSSSSS!  The evening was really nice.  We got back to Carlos’ home and his family was waiting for us.  The neighbor brought over a bottle of champagne, and we all toasted to the engagement.

The most special part of all of this is the effort Carlos made to show me he loves me.  Here in Venezuela, it’s not really a HUGE tradition to give diamond rings, or make a huge deal about an engagement.  The U.S tends to overdo it a little bit with all the hoopla surrounding this.  Is getting engaged special?  Of course it is, but it’s important because two people have decided they want to share their life together….not diamond rings and “how did he propose?’.  To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I know its not a huge tradition here, and I didnt want to put any pressure on Carlos with that.  I am also not the type of girl to say, I want this ring, so when you propose make sure it’s that.  Although, for some people that works better.  So, I didnt pick out a ring, I didnt tell Carlos anything.  He made the night special!  Yes, he did get me a lovely diamond ring.  It fits with my personality perfectly.  I love it and I am thrilled to have it and will cherish wearing it for many years to come.  However, I dont want to make a big deal over this.  This is one thing that really bothers me about engagments and weddings.  The ring is beautiful; however the love we have for each other and the blessings God has given us far outweigh the worth of the “diamond” ring.  All in all, I would much rather tell you about the relationship Carlos and I share, the things we’ve learned over the past 2 years, and how God is the focus in our lives. 

I will keep everyone updated about our wedding plans.  Carlos and I are looking forward to the next few months here in Venezuela as we wait for his visa to be processed.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here together.  Carlos has taken great care of me and I am blessed that he asked me to be his wife.

Add a comment April 24, 2009

McDonald’s Band….really??

Hi friends,

So I’ve decided I definitely need to write more on my blog.  Somethings are truly amusing, but by the time I sit down to write here, I forget them all.  That’s why I decided to write, and write now!  There really are a lot of things here in Venezuela that truly SHOCK me.  For example, today Carlos and I were walking home for lunch (yes, we walk to work).  As we got close to one of the bigger intersections, I started to hear what sounded like drums.  At first I thought it must be someone playing loud music in there car (typical).  But as we walked closer, I figured out what it was.  It was a band – yup a good ole’ marching band.  They were in the median part of the street (here they have medians in the middle of the streets that you can walk on, they are big)  As we got closer and closer, I realized that the girls infront of the band were holding McDonald’s promotion posters.  What in the world?!?!  It was a marching band for McDonald’s.  Haha, hilarious.  They had on red and white (like typicaly High School band uniforms).  I asked Carlos about 3 times, is that band JUST for McDonald’s.  I think I asked him so many times, because I couldn’t believe his response – yes!  I guess they were parading around for some Big Mac’s!

Some other things that shock me (well not so much anymore) are the jugglers and mimes that do entertainment in the intersections of the streets.  It is VERY common to see them stand infront of the line of cars as their traffic signal is red.  They will do a short performance – some jugglers even use fire- and then after about 2 minutes, they will walk through the cars the get the coins/cash people give them out of the car.  We see them almost everyday, throughout the city.  I never have my camera with me; otherwise, I would post a picture.  (It’s not very safe to carry your nice/expensive digital camera out in the streets…it might get snatched).  The funniest thing was when we saw the Mime.  I mean, this man was dressed to the core.  White face, black around his eys, suit….and I think he even had a puppet.  When I first saw him standing on the street, it scared me.  I thought he was a devil worshipper or something….but then I realized has he starting walking (very stiff) infront of the cars, that he was giving a performance.  I also have seen two teenage boys and a teenagegirl do a cheerleading routine (at the end they threw the girl up the in air).  Man, what to earn a living, eh??

I wonder how well that would go over in Richmond??  Hmmm, maybe I should start practicing!

Love to all,

Susanne

Add a comment April 16, 2009

HOTTTT

Carlos in the church drama! (He was the badddd criminal)

With my best girls at church on Easter (Rosibel and Keila)

Since I’ve been here, its only rained about 5 times.  Imagine that!  Carlos says the hard rains will come in a few months, but so far, it will rain just about once a month (for only like 1 hour).  And since Carlos and I walk to the office everyday, we have been sweating a lot.  We walk to the office in the morning, walk back home for lunch, walk back to the office again, and walk back home at the end of the day.  It’s about a mile each way.  We are getting our exercise, thats for sure!  Today, as we were walking back from lunch, we walked past a military base (our typical route).  Sometimes they have the sprinklers going in the yard, and its been funny to see lately that even the iguanas are coming out of the trees to stand in the sprinklers.  Today, there were two really big ones just chilling in the water.  I guess they get hot too, haha!

So last week was Semana Santa (Holy Week).  It’s the week before Easter.  Most people have the whole week off for vacations, but EVERYONE has Thursday and Friday off.  But lucky me, I got to work! 🙂  It was a nice change though, the streets were quiet because everyone was either inside, or away at the beach.  They don’t really have any Easter traidtions here like we have back home.  Thats right….no Easter eggs, no Easter bunny, no Easter basket!  But, we did enjoy a nice church service, where Carlos played the role of the murderer they released, and instead crucified Jesus.  It was a cute drama!  After church, we came home and made lasagna and Carlos’ mom made us a treat – arroz con leche!  Yummy!  Overall it was a great Easter, but the best part is knowing all of my sins are forgiven!

This week we are back to the routine.  We have started Spanish classes in the evenings.  There is a girl from Holland that is living with me upstairs, in the home of Patricia.  I have been planning the lesson each day, and then Carlos makes sure we are saying the words correct or using the grammar in the right way.  It’s been fun, and I really enjoy preparing the lessons.  I feel like my Spanish has improved a lot; however, I’m not as fluent as I eventually want to me.  But, it doesn’t happen overnight, right?!?!

I hope everyone back home is doing well.  Keep in touch!

Love,

Susanne

Add a comment April 14, 2009

It’s been awhile

The beautiful beach in Curacao!

Wilemstad, Curacao - truly a unique little town!

Wow friends!  It has been awhile since writing here.  I apologize.  So much is going on, when I finally have the time to relax, all I want to do is RELAX!  Well, last month in Venezuela (February) there were some special elections in the country.  Their current president –  Hugo Chavez – is already in his second term as president.  The term will be finished in 2012 (they have long terms here).  Anyways, he has decided that he wants to be on the ballot again for a 3 term and decided to have an election and “allow” the people to vote for it.  He did this once in December 2007, and the votes were against him.  Since that time, he started to campaign really hard.  He set up “Political Areas” around the cities, and people could come in and listen to him speak or other government officials speak.  But basically, they paid people to come in……money is a great way to campaign!  There were also lots of gatherings and “pep-rallies” throughout the cities.  To be honest, it got on my nerves.  People would be out in the streets really late at night, playing music and speaking over a microphone!  Crazy!  Anyways, on February 15th, Chavez won the election and therefore he will be on the ballot again for the next term in 2012.  For me, it’s really sad.  He is an extreme Socialist Dictator, and this beautiful country is becoming more poor and more restricted each and everyday!

Also, I had to leave the country for the first time on March 13th.  I have to leave every 90 days in order to get my passport stamped.  I was able to go to Curacao (a small Dutch island) for the weekend.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I loved it a lot.  The people on the island speak English, Dutch, Spanish and their own language called Papimentu.  The beaches were beautiful and the people were very friendly.  I definitely suggest going there for vacation.  I will have to leave the country again in June, and we just confirmed our plans for the next trip.  Carlos and I will be going to Aruba to meet my mom and dad for the week!  We are sooooo very excited!

Things are still going great for me, and my spanish is improving everyday!  I still have a ways to go with that, but I hope over the next 9 months I will be a lot better.

Well, it’s time for lunch.  I hope to talk with everyone soon!

Add a comment March 27, 2009

Baseballll!!!!!

Hi friends,

Its time for another update. This is going to be about my favorite sport, baseball.  I am truly living in a country that LOVESSS baseball.  Imagine someone you know that is obsessed with the Yankees, or the Braves, or the Boston Red Sox, etc.  Well, even they would be put to shame here!  If you don’t like baseball here, you pretty much have a problem!  And not only do you like baseball, but you have a favorite team…..and you are a diehard fan! 

Living in the United States over the past few years, I started to see more and more latino players.  I always wondering what is was like for them back home.  HOw did they play, how were the games, how were the fans, etc.  Now I know!  The season just finished here with the championship series going all 7 games!  It was the Caracas Leones vs. the Maracay Tigres.  Yes, the Tigres are from the city I live in.  This is the team Martin  – who once lived with my family and now plays for the Atlanta Braves – plays for.  Everynight after work, all of the people either go home, or go to the mall-restaurant to watch the games.  Carlos and I were in the mall one night walking around, and all of a sudden I started to hear a rumbling noise.  I almost sounded like a train coming or an earthquake.  OH wait, the baseball game was on tv, and the Tigres just scored a run.  The noise I was hearing was from all the people cheering.  Man, I couldn’t believe it!

NOt only that, but kids play in the park, in the streets, in the small playgrounds in their apartment complexes.  NO, this isn’t with a nerf ball or a plastic bat…..they play FOR REAL!

Anyway, Friday night was the final game to determine the champion.  The game was delayed until 10pm because it was raining.  Everyone was getting a little anxious.  Finally the game started…..cheers could be heard all over the streets…coming out of people’s apartments.  Each team has a special chant they do, so its pretty cool!  Finally, the game was over.  I had fallen asleep, but I knew the Tigres won.  How did I know???  Because I was woke up by millions of firecrackers going off in the city and people parading in the streets with music.  This lasted until about 5am!  Talk about team spirit!  Now I know the latino players must be disappointed when they come to the U.S. and we are so quite!

1 comment February 1, 2009

Working out in Venezuela!

Hi friends,

Another week has passed, and its time for an update!  Everything is still going really well.  I feel like I have adjusted to just about everything, although somethings kinda frustrate me.  The people here are really laid back, and their sense of urgency….well, they don’t have a sense of urgency.  Church starts when everyone gets there….maybe 10, maybe 1030.  Sometimes it takes 10 minutes to get somewhere on the bus, and othertimes it takes 30.  I dont know if this is something I will ever get used to, but I just try to be patient.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Carlos and I go to the park to workout.  We typically meet another guy there, named Wes.  He is American too, and his wife lives here and goes to the same church as Carlos.  They are here until March and then they will return to the U.S.  As most of you know, I really enjoy working out, so this is something really important for me.  Here, you can’t really run in the streets, or neighbors, because well….its dangerous.  The traffic is crazy, and the cars will just run over you, haha!  So instead, we go to the park, so I can run around there.  They have a sidewalk.  We always go after work, and they have big street lights everywhere, so it doesn’t get dark.  But it’s kinda weird.  People go to the park to just hangout.  They will park their cars and sit in them and listen to music.  Or, the kids can rent motorcycles, powerwheels, skateboards to play on for a few mins.  They also have pickup baseball games or soccer games going on all over the place.  And also, there is lots of people selling food.  I mean, hamburgers, hotdogs, donuts, cookies, etc.  Its pretty hard when I am trying to run 2.5 miles and I smell all those wonderful things.  I just want to stop running and pigout, haha!  After we workout, we sometimes get a drink called Tizana.  Its probably one of the best drinks I have ever tasted.  It has al kinds of fruits in it, like bananas, canteloupe, watermelon, etc.  And then they have it in a special juice.  Man, its amazing!  I am going to learn the ingredients…and have it all the time back home.  It is really refreshing after a nice workout!

When we don’t go to workout, I try to walk as much as possible.  Well, we walk a lot anyways because we don’t have a car, but I will always tell Carlos, well let’s just walk there and not take the bus.  So this morning, we went to a Bible Study at the church office.  On the way home, I wanted to walk through the ¨centro¨because they have lots of little shops and things.  So then, we just decided to walk all the way home.  We were walking on the sidewalk, and we passed through a little park.  I looked in the grass, and I saw a HUGE iguana.  I was like, OH MY GOSHHH!  I haven’t seen squirels or anything here, but yup, there was an iguana.  I got Carlos to take some pictures.  See below.

Tomorrow we are finally heading to the beach with Carlos´dad and stepmom.  I will definitely write about that next week.

Love you all!

Add a comment January 17, 2009

First Week of Work

Hi friends and family,

It´s been about a week since I wrote, so I thought it was time for an update.  I successfully completed my first week of work.  Starting Monday, we rode the bus to the office everyday, and I worked there.  I will share an office with Carlos, and his boss has been kind enough to let me use their internet, international phones, etc.  Everything went really well without any major problems.  The biggest problem for me were the mosquitos in the office.  For some reason, they don’t like Carlos, but they LOVVVEEEE me.  My feet got eaten up by mosquitos because I was wearing sandals, with blue jeans.  I finally had to tell Carlos to buy me some mosquito lotion, and I think we will also get an ‘air freshener’ that kills mosquitos.  Once they are taken care of, I don’t anticipate having any other complaints.  Another thing I have to get use to is the silence in the office.  Whereas the streets are noisy, and I have a hard time sleeping at night (which by the way has gotten a lot better) the office is pretty quiet.  I am used to hearing the everyday noises of SAJ, so I know this will be an adjustment too.  And, although I am really far away, I still feel connected.  My friends are able to chat with me during work, and I am able to receive the emails to see what is going on in the office.  And most importantly, I have a job.  I am soooooo thankful during a time like this, to still have my job.  I have many friends that have recently lost their jobs, and I know all of you know people too.  Please be praying for all of them, it’s not an easy time!

On another note, I went to a baseball game last night (Saturday).  Gregor’s team came to play here against Martins team, so he left tickets for us.  Carlos and I went with his sister and her boyfriend.  Although Gregor wasn’t playing because he got hurt, we had a really good time.  The fans here are amazing.  They really put the American fans to shame!  They sing, chant, scream, and really get excited for their team.  The stadium was packed!  I was in heaven, haha!

I hope everyone back home is doing well.  If you get a chance, please send me an email, I would love to hear from you!  suthernsuz513@yahoo.com

Love you all!

Add a comment January 12, 2009

New Years 2009

Hi everyone,

Happy News Years!!  I hope everyone had a great time celebrating the start of the 2009.  I had quite an adventure.  We decided to travel to Caracas – the capital – and spend time with Carlos’ family.  This is where his mothers side of the family lives.  We went to the bus terminal about 1030am on the 31st, and got on a really nice bus.  It had high security with metal detectors, photos of each person, etc.  I felt really good about this, because Carlos said sometimes the bad guys will try to get on the other buses that aren’t as secure, and rob everyone.  This bus had AC and nice curtains to make it a comfortable trip without the sun blazing in our faces.  We arrived at the bus terminal in Caracas, and wow, it was really different.  There are soooooo many people there, and everyone was just moving at such a fast pace.  I didn’t feel quite as comfortable as I do in Maracay – the city Carlos lives in.  So, when we got to the terminal, we found a guy that would take us by taxi Carlos’ grandmas house.  As we waited for the taxi to come pick us up, we were really surprised to see that is was a really OLDDDDD car.  I was a little nervous about it, but we all crammed in and made it to his grandmas house without any problems.  Have I told you yet, they drive crazy here!!!  

So, we arrived to his grandmas house about 2pm, and she lives in a high-rise apartment complex.  It was a lot smaller than Carlos’ apartment, and sooo many people were there.  There was 3 Aunts, 2 Uncles, and what seemed like 100 cousins, haha!  WE all got together and ate, talked, danced, etc until the New Years arrived.  About 10pm, Carlos’ Aunt wanted to make an announcement.  Everyone gathered in the living room, and she had Carlos’ cousin Frank read something.  He speaks English, so he read this note to me in English.  It was really nice and basically said we want to welcome you to the family.  I have a video of it, and hope to download it.  It was really nice and made me feel special!  After that, they started chanting my name, because they wanted me to say a few words.  Geez, I was pretty embarrassed.  I didn’t quite know what to say, but I got up and just thanked them for welcoming me and making me feel like part of the family.  Next, Carlos spoke, then his sister, then his mom, then his grandma, etc.  This is a tradition they have.  They will each get up and share a few words about the family, and bless each other.

Finally, it was getting close to midnight.  We each got a few grapes to eat.  This is another tradition they have.  For each grape you eat, you have to make a wish.  We did that, and then had a champagne toast at midnight!  It was really fun!!  Fireworks starting going off all over the city.  Here, people will just shoot them out of their apartment windown, on the ground, etc.  Carlos’ grandma lives pretty high maybe like the 7th floor, so I was able to look out the window and see all the fireworks all over the city!  

By 2am, I was exhausted.  One of my biggest adjustments here, is sleeping.  They have so many noises on the streets, music, cars, etc that its hard for me to sleep.  Well…..this night was much worse.  They dont have noise violations or anything even close to that here.  All the neighbors were blaring their music and partying until about 8am in the morning.  Needless to say, I didn’t sleep at all.  I was in the room with Carlos’ Aunt and Cousin, and man……I basically stared at the ceiling all night! Every few minutes a loud firework would explode, and scare the bejeezers out of me.  

Overall, it was a pretty cool experience.  I got to meet his whole family and experience something new.  I hope everyone was able to share this New Year with the one’s they love!  Happy New Years to all!

Love you all!

1 comment January 2, 2009

Manicure-Pedicure in Venezuela!

Hi friends!

I know I have been writing a lot lately, but I just have so much to share.  Today was another new experience for me.  Carlos decided to take me to get a manicure-pedicure at the hair salon downstairs.  Imagine this, they weren’t Asian!!!  There was one lady in the hair salon that did nails.  Originally she told us to come at 330, so we went there at 330.  Then she told us to come back at 4.  Thankfully, Carlos’ apartment is right upstairs, so we could just walk back and forth.  We finally got back there at 4…..and we ended up waiting until 5 for her to do my nails.  Whew….they really have no concept of time here.  They just work at their own leisure….and however long it takes….well, thats how long it takes.  The hair salon was packed full of people.  Most of the girls go there to get their hair blow dryed and straightened.  They would sit in the chair for like an hour to do that.  I realized, I just dont have patience to look pretty like that.

Well, finally I was getting my nails and toes done.  The girls here really like to put sparkles on their nails, so I wanted to try it too.  By the way, Carlos sat with me the whole time and translated for me.  What a good boyfriend!  He gets brownie points for that.  So anyways, she took about 1 hour and 15 mins to do my nails.  They dont have the fancy chairs like we do.  She simply had one of those foot massagers you can put water in, and she would sit that under the table for my feet to soak while she did my nails.  I mean, she really spent a lot of time on me.  I asked Carlos how much it cost for all of it.  He said, $10.  Whatttttttt??????  Yeah, can you believe it?

Anyways, love you all!

Add a comment December 30, 2008

Trying to Dance

Hey friends!  It’s me again.  I’m finally figuring out how to work Carlos’ keyboard, because he has it set to type in Spanish.  Whew!  Anyways, everything is still going really great.  It’s been really nice to have these few days of vacation.  I’ve been really lazy, but also had some fun too.  On Friday, December 26th one of Carlos’ close friends got married.  They just held a civil ceremony at a nice restaurant for family and close friends.  I wore the dress from SAJ Christmas party, and Carlos looked pretty spiffy too.  We got there, and of course, I couldn’t understand anything.  It’s been a little frustrating, because I feel like an idiot.  I guess I am expecting to just wake up and know every word in Spanish.  But everyone keeps telling me, poco a poco, little by little.  I did learn at the civil wedding that they wear their wedding rings on their right hand instead of left.  However, me and Carlos decided when we get married, we will just do the left hand.  So, we had wine from Argentina for dinner.  And everytime I looked at my glass, it was still full.  I couldn’t believe it!  Slowly, I realized, I was laughing uncontrollably.  I went to the bathroom with Carlos’ sister, and we had a breakdown in there.  We were talking about how our wine just never went down, but we never saw the man come and fill it up again.  He was slick! 

After dinner, we all decided to go to a club.  Man, it was really nice.  It had white leather couches and seats.  We all sat in an area and had more wine and whiskey.  These people love whiskey…..what’s the deal???  And of course, they wanted to dance.  Dancing is in their blood.  They just all know how to do it.  There isn’t one single Venezuelan, or latin person for that matter, that can’t dance.  I was pretty embarrassed.  And, ya’ll know me….I’m not afraid to bust a move, but here….man…..my hips just don’t move like that.  Thankfully I had practiced with Carlos the night before, so I was able to just go out there and do it.  Carlos and I danced to a Merengue song.  Dancing to Merengue is much easier than salsa.  We danced for an hour or so, and then we all decided to go home.  The bride and groom were tired.

Other than that, we’ve gone to the mall, and hung out with a few friends.  I had a Spanish-English lesson with Carlos’ sister, nephew and niece.  They want to learn English and it actually helps me with my Spanish.  Starting in January, Carlos will only speak with me in Spanish.  Bye bye English, I will misss you!

One final thing, I still haven’t adjusted to the cold showers.  Everytime I go in there, my heart stops beating.  I always let out a scream, I just can’t handle it.  Hopefully I will adjust soon.  Be thankful for your hot water!

Love you all!

1 comment December 29, 2008