I went to the Venezuelan version of The Federal Reserve Bank today. This place is so famous here it used to be on the currency. It is also a huge, hulking ode to the concrete fetish of 70's architecture - not unlike the Bank One building in Chicago, except that even the inside of this building is made of solid concrete. This must drive the computer network team insane. The architecture was certainly interesting, but the non-stop concrete is a bit off-puting, it certainly isn't easy to warm up to and snuggle with. As a sidenote - Caracas is probably the ultimate example of the concrete jungle: its not rare to see palm trees snuggling up against stories of gray, cracked concrete.
In any case, parts of the bank are open to the public, but not much. I went along with a person who knows people, and we got access to just about everything. I took a tour around the President's floor, and got to see some of the modern art in the Bank's collection. I met some functionaries, and got to marvel at their flashy jewelry. I saw some neat views of the city. I got a private tour of the book-stacks in the library. I'm all set for a tour of the Vault this Friday, which is only open to groups by appointment, and houses a book hand-written by Bolivar.
All in all, it was pretty interesting to get a peak around the building. My buddy informed me that the people who work there are among the most respected professionals in town, and that regardless of politics the bank continues to be a calm place to work. Ironically, the people we met inside the building had a little different take on matters. One high-ranking person, who was essentially demoted when a Chavista became his boss, had to bite his tongue before lashing out against the government. I began to empathize, till I found out later from another source that this person (to this day) only comes and goes to work by way of a chofuer. Another person lamented out loud the current state of affairs in the country, which is of course a roundabout way of criticizing the government. The people around didn't bat an eye, which signifies to me that there hasn't been a significant personnel change yet in the bank, because the folks that I'll generalize as "the old guard" are rarely sympathetic to Chavez. Keep in mind, as you read this, that both the left and right political parties that existed and ran the government for the last 50 years are now marginalized and fighting against Chavez for the reigns of national power.
As the impromptu tour continued, we met a retiring employee who spent 20 minutes giving us a palm-reading in the middle of her office. Apparently, I'm going to live for a long time, which is nice to know. She told me my weak point is my stomach, which is right - I think the food from my deli is making me sick as of late.
We finished up after a solid 4 hour turn at the Bank, promising to return for a tour of the vault this Friday. Pretty cool!
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