Category: Family Journal

An archive of our family’s daily life.

Andy’s Final Empanada Run

billkralovec

Andy’s Final Run, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Pictured above is my brother Andy at Empanadas La Negra. He left yesterday afternoon for the USA, but before he said goodbye to Venezuela, he had to get a final “empanada.” The empanada is a popular Venezuelan breakfast food. It is not as popular as the “arepa” which is unique to Venezuela.

The empanada is in the shape of a half circle. It is a corn flour dough wrapped around a variety of fillings. At this particular place, there are 16 different types of fillings. Andy’s favorites are chicken and ham & cheese. There are also meat, fish, spinach, etc. The delicious aspect of the empanada and the reason they are so popular with Venezuelans is they are deep fried in oil. They are a cholesterol raiser! In fresh empanadas, the bag which they are placed, is soaked in excess oil from the flour.

Empanadas La Negra is named after the head chef, “La Negra.” She is a Venezuelan of African descent that is proud of her shop. It is located near the entrance road to the school on the main highway leading out of Anaco. It is a five minute walk from Andy’s house and many mornings he would visit for his daily dosis of grease. The restaurant is very popular with Venezuelans working in the area. There are always oil field workers dressed in their company’s jump suits inside. To accompany an empanada, La Negra offers coffee, soda pop, or malta.

Andy is quite popular wtih the serving ladies. The woman above asked Andy to take her to the USA with him. Andy politely refused the offer, but gave her a big hug and a smile, before he headed out the door with his greasy bag of empanadas.

Family Weekend Journal May 24-25, 2008

billkralovec

Ocean, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Friday night I took Sebey and Owen to the dentist. There was a big thunderstorm that knocked out power for a while. I think finally the rainy season has arrived to Anaco.
Saturday we were invited to spend the day on a friend’s boat. Rolando & Minerva wanted to thank us for our work with their sons, Samuel and Jose. We had a great day in the Mochima National Park, and Owen and Oliver were loving the fact that a boat had a bed. Ocean also enjoyed the speed of the boat and is shown above as we go through the canals of El Morro. They even took us out for lunch at Plaza Mayor. Very cool to pull up on the boat and go to a restaurant.
Sunday was my birthday and I spent the day exactly how I wanted- with my family. We played hide-and-seek and Nadia and I went for a run together. I even got a nap in!
Final week of school – very busy.

Owen Graduates from Kindergarten

billkralovec

Owens Graduation Speech, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We had a nice ceremony on Friday morning at the school. The Kindergarten “graduated” to first grade. It is a big moment for them and their parents as it marks the end of early childhood. Next year they will be in the elementary school. All the students read a prepared graduation speech and received their diplomas. Many proud parents were taking video and photos. Above is Owen’s speech. He is a bit sad in leaving his friends. We plan to re-enroll him in kindergarten next year at his new school due to his young age.

Andy Getting Stitches

billkralovec

Andy Getting Stitches, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

This morning Escuela Anaco PE teacher Andrew Kralovec collided with a student during a soccer game. Both were going for a header and the student’s forehead ripped a gash into the forehead of Mr. Kralovec. He bled profusely, but valiantly made it to the office and we drove to the nearby clinic to get stitches. He ended up getting 4 stitches and despite a bit of nausea, he came out feeling okay. Being the dedicated educator he is, he came back and taught his third period chemistry class!

The other student is doing well without any injury. The emergency room visit cost us $40 and the prescription antibiotic was another $5.

You can click on the video above to watch a bit of surgery and Andy describing the play. I also put up some other photos of the incident.

Weekend Family Journal – May 17-18, 2008

billkralovec

Mama and Oliver, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Friday night we hosted my nephew Sebastian’s sixth birthday party. His birthday is actually in June, but since he is leaving before then, he wanted to have a party with his friends. The theme was Harry Potter and Ale invited my brother Andy to perform some science magic tricks. Ale made the nice HP banners and all the kids had magic wands (stick with glitter on the end), etc. We had an efficient birthday party and had everyone out by two hours. Most Venezuelan parties drag on and on, with big delays between games, pinata, and cake. After cleaning up, we all passed out from exhaustion. Saturday we cleaned the house and did some yard work. Ale and I worked on the yearbook in the afternoon. I also played some baseball with the kids while Nadia got her hair done. Saturday evening our good Venezuelan friends Alex and Belkis and son Alexcito came over and invited us out to dinner. We went to the Bungaloo Restaurant in Anaco and had a very nice dinner. We had another nice bottle of Mendoza, Argentina wine-I find the wine from there is all good, especially the Malbec grape variety. It was great because the kids could play with the bean bags and seats in the restaurant while we sat and had a good meal.

Sunday morning we took the kids to the Parque Ballenas for a bike ride. After we completed the one kilometer loop around the track, we took some photos. Above we are trying to get Oliver to pose for a nice photo-impossible! Mom then cooked us some croissant egg sandwiches. We then went out with the Fernandez family again to a Chinese restaurant in town. I got a nice nap in the afternoon. Nadia and I ran around the campus at night and the boys played with Uncle Andy while collecting mangos. Overall, another great weekend with the family.

Ocean’s First Time In Swing

billkralovec

Ocean First Time In Swing, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Tuesday I was left with Ocean and Oliver when Nadia was out doing errands with the rest of the family. We went for a stroll around the campus. Oliver rode his blue bike with my help and Ocean was in her stroller. We stopped to pick mangos and I put Ocean in one of the swings in the play ground. It was her first time in a real swing and she was laughing. She was also a bit scared. She is so cute and cuddly!

That is one of the nicest things we like about our time at Escuela Anaco-the fact that we live on campus and have a large area for the kids to play. We have plenty of space here, with two playgrounds, trees to climb, green areas to explore, the gymnasium, etc.

Ocean & Oliver

Family Weekend Journal May 10-11, 2008

billkralovec

Nadia & Ocean, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Friday evening and Saturday were devoted to softball. See previous post. Sunday, Mothers’ Day, we spent at home. In the morning we took Nadia to Mangos for breakfast. The breakfast was not that great, and Owen spilled his watermelon juice, and Oliver was insoportable. But we were together and that is what counts. Afterwards we went for a drive around the city and just north of it. All three kids fell asleep and we could relax for awhile. Quite nice and that was my Mothers Day gift. Nadia and Ale took the kids to a movie in the afternoon while I spent the day with Ocean. She is so adorable! I made her peaches and rice and fed her and took her out for a walk. In the evening, I pushed the boys on the swings while Nadia ran and then she took the kids in and I ran. Very nice to have the camp to ourselves.

Nadia is pictured with our daughter Ocean. They are behind our house on the campus of Escuela Anaco. Ocean has a mana in her hair.

Happy Mothers Day Nadia!

Mothers Day At Escuela Anaco

billkralovec

Owen and Mom at the Breakfast, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Owen made a card for Nadia. It was a portrait that Nadia thought was very funny as well as the line in the sentences to the right, “My mom used to do long jump.” Owen also appeared in a video and had a cute message for Mom. Oliver’s day care made flowers with his picture on.

After the presentation, Owen and Mom had a nice breakfast of Mango’s pastelitos and yogurt. Mom thought it was a nice morning.

Ale & Sebey

Moving Day

billkralovec

Moving Van, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Yesterday personnel from Mudanzas Internacionales Global CA came by our home and packed our personal possessions we are shipping to Belgrade. In reading the fine print, we saw that we had 3 cubic meters and after several calculations, found out that is 1.4 m x 1.4 m x 1.4 m. Which is not a lot. We decided to stay close to the limit and we left behind our Christmas tree. Everything else went on and the house is a bit barren now. We are living on the bare essentials until we depart Venezuela on June 10th. We were scrambling most of the morning with the requirements of photocopies of passports, detailed inventories with monetary value, and coordinating with Gordana and Aleksandar in Serbia. The boxes will now go to Caracas where they will be measured and weighed. ISB kindly offered to pick up and store our possessions when they arrive in late May / early June. Pictured above is the moving van outside of our home.

Family Weekend Journal May 1-4, 2008

billkralovec

Wrestling, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Owen and Sebey are shown above wrestling at the beach. We went up to Puerto La Cruz for the afternoon and played on the beach near the Punta Palma Hotel. It was a great day with me and the boys! Fortunately, it was overcast which allowed the fair-skinned boys to spend a lot of time outside. We also walked around the marina and they enjoyed climbing across the docks to the breakwater. We identified jelly fish, feather duster worms, coral, and crabs.

We had a long weekend due to Labor Day falling on a Thursday. Wednesday night we had Oliver’s birthday party. We spent much time this weekend packing up our personal belongings for shipping to Serbia. We are not clutter people, but it is amazing the amount of stuff one collects over a few years. Phillip Katzmann, my replacement, came in on Thursday afternoon so we went and picked him up. Friday morning was spent briefing him. There was more packing on Friday evening and all day Saturday. It was extremely hot Saturday, and so we had a the swimming pool filled and we spent time in the back yard. Owen and Sebey are taking swimming lessons and I see their improvement already. Oliver is being potty trained right now and he had a successful weekend with a few slip ups. Ocean is getting more cognizant of her surroundings. She is fascinated with colors, textures, shapes. She will spend 15 minutes, exploring any object you give her.

We are heading into our final month in Anaco. It will be a busy end of the school year.

Oliver In Pool