I love my Venezuela! Norelly 7th meeting

November 20^th Meeting – 7^th meeting

I was running a little late from a delay in my class right before our meeting.  But Norelly was sitting in the regular spot waiting for me with a smile as usual.  She was one of those no complaints and no worries people. I apologized to her for being late and she smiled again.  Her smile reminded me of the smile of a laughing Buddha statue I had in my home in India.

We spoke about a couple of very interesting things in our meeting this week.  I guess this was some kind of a country appreciation week.  It started out when I asked Norelly to share something interesting about her Venezuela.  There was an immediate smile on her face and she sat up erect to start her soapbox speech on her country.  She told me about Venezuela’s natural beauty. She started off by telling me about the deserts present there and how beautiful their sand’s color and texture were. I interrupted her to explain why different sands have different colors.  She then told me that her sister has a bottle filled with the different sands of Venezuela in a showcase at her house.  Norelly then told me that they had the Angel Falls in Venezuela.  Of course they do!  She then described how magical the flight tour over the falls was for her.  She loved it and told me she would love to go there again. Norelly told me that her friend once told her that the best beaches in Hawaii look like regular ones in Venezuela.

But I guess I judged Venezuela too soon.  Norelly then wanted to balance my view of Venezuela.  She then told me about the not so good things happening in Venezuela.  The first thing she spoke was about robbery.  She told me about a time when she was walking on a street with her phone when a robber, in broad daylight, approached her and threatened to stab her if she didn’t hand her watch to him.  Norelly, scared because he had a knife, gave him the watch and saw him run away.  She then noticed a cop standing in the vicinity but instead of approaching him for help, she quietly left to her house because the cops are not so willing to help.  Norelly told me how cops molest innocent women when they approach for help. Norelly also told me about the high crime rates in the freeways.   

 Because there is high traffic during work hours, the freeways are clogged and the robbers take advantage of this and steal things from the stranded cars. Corruption goes to a whole new level with the illegal tax evading system.  Norelly tells me Venezuelans have two options.  They either pay the taxes to the government or they pay a lower illegal tax evading fee to the government officials for them to keep.  People usually pay the tax officials the lower amount which leads to an empty Venezuelan treasury.  It’s this selfishness of people that leaves Venezuela in the dust in today’s constantly growing world Norelly tells me.

I had mixed feelings about our conversation that day.  I don’t think there is a balance between the good and the bad Norelly told me.  In my opinion, robbing and molestation of innocent people does not balance out with natural beauty.  The bad clearly outweighs the good from what I can interpret.  But in all this, Norelly says, “I love my Venezuela! I don’t care what others think about it.” It’s very true.  You can never grow to dislike the nation whose spirit runs in your blood.  I find this true as I always tear up when I hear my national anthem.