Alo Presidente!

i'm so glad that i talked to a few fellow travellers prior to embarking on my trip to merida, venezuela. one would think that you'd be able to get local currency out of their ATM machines at the market rate like 99% of places that you travel... well you'd be thinking incorrectly if you thought that was the case in venezuela. thanks to el presidente chavez the official exchange rate gives you 4 bolivars per USD while the cash starved black market pays around 8. i spent the afternoon getting some extra USD so as to not support the crazy regime. i'll provide a full report on how socialism has helped the population and will try to steer clear of starting any revolutions or getting locked up for espionage.