I wanted to post something different this time around: A show-reel of pics from my homeland!

[Quise publicar algo distinto esta vez: ¡Una sucesión de imágenes de mi tierra!] {More content in Spanish coming up later!}

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Hi guys! Summer is over, winter is almost here (for some, at least), and here is a curious succession of photos: most of these were taken with an angle, most of them display bright landscapes to the South of the City of Caracas, Venezuela, where I live... Some display flowers, some others roads, and many of them vegetation and green fields and trees... Most of them contrast greatly with the weather in the Northern Hemisphere right now!

All of them I gift to you now, wishing you warm thoughts and feelings during this winter, with the hopes that you guys may want to come visit my homeland some day! Hopefully when this Socialist nightmare is over, and we are back on our feet, being the Venezuelans we have always been: PROUD, PROSPEROUS, and PRODUCTIVE!

(By the way, congratulations to the Republicans and President Donald Trump's supporters: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Senate is ours! The House the Dems may hold, for now, but America will be made great again, and with her, Nations that stand on the side of democracy and freedom around the World, notwithstanding where the regimes that rule them stand...)

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This is how my home looks in the morning, radiant! And below is a shot from some roads above, in the mountain.

A landscape from the edge of the hill --perfection! (That IS a rather young mango tree to the right, and some Eucalypti to the left)

LIGHT! And then some of the rich homes from the area 💁‍♀️ 💁‍♂️

A dark road bordering a bamboo grove in a neighborhood called 'El Volcán' (or "The Volcano", kind of creepy), followed by some pine-trees below, basking in the light of the Sun all year long... 😎

Artistic me, haha, I thought this pic looked cool; the bamboo grove looks in an okay position, but those power lines definitely SHOULD run parallel to the ground. xD Below you can observe some Trinidadian flowers and a little bridge just outside my Uni.

Quick note: all of these are without filters, using natural light only and the photographic capacities my iPhone 4S still boasts.

I must say here that I am looking forward to changing the way I used to post; multiple entries per post, as if dividing it all to make it less tedious! I understand now that's not how things work here on Steemit, or at least I think I understand. I will not be doing that anymore; I'll post whole posts for the length they each must have, and hope they get attention and votes at least for lengthiness!

Also, up there is a photo of a traffic light right at the entrance of my Alma Mater: Simon Bolivar University, one of the best here in the capital, and truly a second home to me, a lot of friends of mine who are like family to me, and a bunch of brothers and sisters in the Lord also. :D Below you will see lots of pics from within, from its beautiful gardens (modeled after the style of Japanese and English gardens) and some of its inner roads; luckily for me, my University is still close-by to the place where I live, which is El Hatillo Municipality, and it still catalogues as the Southern Mountains of the City of Caracas! Below you can see the little road that runs just outside my Uni, and then a close-up of some big-ass trees by the side of it🤣

Below is a little series of some pics from the fence on the outer perimeter; they all look alike, I know! But they show the display of light and warmth I've always felt, since I was a little boy, when passing by... 😌🙏 (Forever thankful to the Lord for allowing me in here!)

Next, the entrance to the campus proper, and a little glimpse of what we call "Calle Inglesa", or 'Abbey Road'! (transit laws in Venezuela are American-like, but this iconic road, which basically belongs to the Central Library and loops the entrance to the exit, breaks that law a bit while we have some naming-fun.

Above is Abbey Road, and then a walkway out of the gardens and into the Library, along with some filters I decided to apply --just for fun.

The Sun's out! Ahem...--this nice and beautiful bonsai tree right next to the Library was planted by none-other than "his holiness" (that's what they call him anyways) the Dalai Lama, on a visit he made to our beloved campus some years ago...

As you can see there's plenty of palm trees and what we call "Chaguaramos" (a kind of gigantic beach-style coconut tree without the coconuts and much more straight and elegant xD) ...Ah! These beautiful gardens! Even I want to be there; it's close to midnight here, and the place where I live (a range of mountains in the end) gets quite cold at night...

The pic above deserves a little footer of its own; that statue (which looks kind of crappy in the image --apologies! Dang, I'll have to post more pics later!) represents Simon Bolivar, the Hispanic American hero of war... I myself don't like the guy much, but he is kind of worshiped among many blind-folded (idolaters) Venezuelans... Besides, here he is not dressed for war, but for school! That's right, this is the ONLY STATUE World-wide that displays him as an academic --which he obviously was, because he was high in the aristocratic society of XIX century Caracas, and even had private teachers of his own that reportedly took his oath at Mount Palatine in Rome as he swore not to give rest to his soul or sword until the Americas were free... The only minor detail of course, which we are not told in History class, is that Spain was being occupied by Napoleon Bonaparte's French Empire at the moment, so technically he swore to defeat France, not the Spanish Monarchy and Crown, which by the way were stalwartly defended by a true hero: "the Generalissimo" (or Greatest, Most Great General), Francisco de Miranda.

Above are a view of the forests and pine-trees right above the statue of Simon Bolivar, as well as some blossoming Trinidadian flowers (which have been trimmed right now, sadly) and a pic with extra-exposure of a most-luminous sidewalk going out from the campus.

Did I mention this is also a National Park? Oh yeah, I usually forget --I spend far too much time within!-- but this place is open to the general public on weekends... Now, the last two are among my favourites from this whole reel; one is kind of enigmatic, transmits a sort of accomplice-like feeling, while the other is outright radiant and dashing. If you agree, tell me below!

This sign is right at the exit; below that gigantic Eucalyptus and in front of that weird-looking red flowered bush, it reads: "Tazon Exit, Baruta Exit, House of the Student, Pavilions (practice-oriented warehouses), House of the Professor". Now, Tazon translates as Bowl, because there's a huge downward slope down that road! It's one of the main entrances to Caracas, but not much recommended because of too many traffic accidents... Baruta is a town on the outskirts, named so after a famous Amerindian War-chief, who was in turn named so after a local flower... yeah, kind of corny.

Well, it's time to say goodbye and farewell to Simon Bolivar University! Back to my place!

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This is another of my faves! The Sun-shafts and that great pine tree (reminds me of a sequoia) make me look at this in awe.

Above are 2 funny shots at: a mailbox (it literally reads "letters") and then another one of the rich homes in the area! (Looks like a hacienda if you ask me, and those are banana trees right below the slope). Now, the last one right here on top also deserves more than a little footnote-love: this is the landscape I've seen since I was a child, and it really makes me fall in love again with this mountain and all the blessings my God has granted me: there's great hardship in my country, yet me and my home are well-supplied; there's smog and decease in the city's atmosphere, yet we've been blessed with the purest air I can imagine! The Sun shines down on us but does not burn our skin (I am pale as a paper, I should really take some sun-baths xD) OKAY! Moving on!

Well folks, that's it for now. If you liked some of the pics please comment which one(s), and if you enjoyed watching this whole show-reel please upvote me and let me know you like this kind of content so I can fetch you guys some more pics and continue showing you what a wonderful land this is! :D In all honesty we just need to get rid of Maduro and the thugs that have kidnapped us, afterwards our God-willing it all will be nicer, with much more investment confidence and people coming over to meet the magic of our mountains, our beaches, our plains and rain-forests... Our Venezuela! 🙌✝️🇻🇪