Love ended up making me a migrant, yes, but not because a prince rescued me. The truth is that my plans to flee Venezuela began in 2016, a year after graduating with a degree in Political and Administrative Sciences. I say “to flee” because I was a prisoner of the country’s situation: inhuman suspensions of electricity service (in Maracaibo where the heat is hellish), long queues to buy food, excessive inflation, the shortage of gasoline, crime, and the worst of all, the repression executed by the government against protesters when we went out on the streets to demand freedom and justice.
Back in 2016, I remember that I planned to go to Chile or Argentina because many friends had gone to those countries and lived a comfortable life. I confess that I love being surrounded by friends. All my friends are successful in their own way, as success is subjective. I define it as a mix between happiness and tranquility, having sufficient resources, whether a lot or little, whatever is enough for each one.
At that time I found a new passion more powerful than working in politics: Fit Combat, a fitness discipline that fuses combat techniques with music, resulting in a highly dynamic and fun physical activity. By November of that year, I got a certificate as an official Fit Combat instructor and started teaching classes in the best gyms of the city. I felt very good about myself, in my classes I forgot about the situation in the country, I had a job outside the family business, I was at my best. I think my thing has always been to bring joy to people, that’s why it felt so good.
I spent all of 2017 teaching Fit Combat classes and the topic of leaving the country had run out of place in my mind until July, the month of the plebiscite. On July 16, opposition leaders called a national plebiscite to massively reject the establishment of a Chavista National Constituent Assembly, the purpose of which was to subtract power from the opposition National Assembly and add power to the dictatorial presidential system.
Military repression in that month was terrible, they had already killed Adrián Duque in May for protesting, he died in the arms of my boyfriend at the time, a paramedic who did an extremely heroic work. In the plebiscite we organized a huge group of people of all ages to take part in the elections in the area where I lived, Los Olivos.
During the following days, important protests took place in the whole country and the area where I lived was a focus of arrests and attacks by the National Guard. My house became a refuge when the military were after us. There, the idea of leaving the country flickered in my head again. I fought as hard as I could from within, and for that, I extend my respects to those who continue to fight with determination inside and outside of Venezuela.
A year later I fled Venezuela, this is when love came in and made me a migrant because I left the country with the paramedic. The destination was the United States, we both had visas, family, and friends in the north. Also, for me, this destination was a thousand times better than those that were in my head in 2016. Not a joke, just a fact. Initially, I would live in Sarasota, Florida, but the place and my energies did not meet.
That’s why I went to Dallas to live with my older sister and her husband, I grew up there financially but I didn’t feel totally comfortable. I paid for my services, and my expenses in the house, but I did not own anything. I started my adventure in Houston in November 2018 and here I stayed, I managed to have my own apartment, I paid for my first car and I paid all my debts. By this time my love affair with the paramedic was over, although we are still friends, and we even got to live together for a while.
My first job in Houston in a fancy restaurant in the city lasted 6 months; my task was to clean and tidy the tables, also to clean bathrooms at the end of the night. There I cleaned a bathroom for the first time. I didn’t even do it at home. Of course, I left them cleaner than the bathroom in the commercial of the MAS toilet cleaner, it was the best part of the night because I locked myself up to clean while listening to Olga Tañón’s mix.
I remember a senior manager came in once and asked who had cleaned the bathroom because he couldn’t find a trace of dust. It was me, my love. Whatever your job is, you must be the best at it. because that says a lot about you. I faced some bad experiences and they were all with Central American people, it sounds crazy, but I got along better with Americans, despite the difference in languages and cultures. Central Americans marked a certain type of rivalry. I will always be grateful for my days in the restaurant. I was able to practice my poor English, lose fear, meet new people, their cultures, but above all give my best.
This is how a new job opportunity came into my life where I would earn twice my previous salary, doing what I like the most: traveling. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Sagittarius, but when the word “travel” comes out my eyes shine. This is how I got to visit several cities in Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. The job consisted of demolishing and cleaning towns affected by tropical storms or fires, and I took advantage of the working hours to make all my colleagues laugh. The job was like a party. We demolished, we played games, we cleaned up, we danced, but we successfully completed our duties.
Everything changed when COVID-19 arrived. The rate of infections in the United States aimed to surpass the figures of China and Italy and that is what happened. Thank God and the Universe, so far I have not caught the virus. I was intense with the biosecurity measures, but this was not the case of my roommates on those business trips, they took it very lightly. I was worried about the virus and at the same time, I got tired of traveling so much, because yes, although I am a Sagittarius I got tired of traveling. There comes a time when what you miss the most are the four walls of your room, those that give life to your privacy.
I made the decision to stay home in May 2020 and start working making grocery shopping deliveries and this has been quite a ride. I earned the same as on construction projects, some weeks less, other weeks more. The truth is that you learn from everything, I have learned to compare prices between different supermarkets, to pay attention to the nutritional table (thank you Sascha Fitness!), when I need something I already know which aisle it is in, and so on. I have started to feel love for this.
Although I can’t imagine being a shopper for the rest of my life, I enjoy it for the moment because it gives me the freedom to travel elsewhere and work wherever I am. I don’t have to report to an office or maybe a grumpy boss.
I don’t know what life has in store for me, but I do know that I will obtain my US citizenship in a few years. I plan to travel outside the continent for the first time and perhaps fall in love with Europe. I miss Maracaibo a lot, my house, my grandmother and my best friend, but I know that soon I will have them here, in my new home.
The destination where I am going does not scare me, nor does it fill me with uncertainty because I know where I come from. I honestly cannot imagine a life in Latin America, no offense, I love being Latino, and having this Caribbean flavor … From this identity of mine, I will continue to give my best wherever I am, to those who join me and accompany me in my best and worst moments.
I want to do other things, too many things. Many people tell me that I was born for entertainment, comedy, and dancing. I think this is the new phase that is about to begin in my life, I am taking the first steps. Not because of what people tell me, it’s because I have felt it since I was little, but this is not an easy task growing up in a macho household where those artistic virtues are not promoted. It is never too late to do what you want if you feel love and passion for what is inside of you waiting to be exploited. Today I feel confident. I know what I want and I don’t fear criticism. There’s only one life, why should I care about what other people say?
Being a migrant has not been as hard for me as it has been for others; I miss certain things, but I am grateful for many others. I have almost all my family in this country, old friends, new friends. Maybe I even love being a migrant for the very reason that I love to travel; Ever since I was in school, I have seen myself as an ambassador of the world.
The truth is that we do not belong to anyone or anything. Your nationality does not define you, culture sculpts you, but multiculturalism is where we can really meet and evolve, within the framework of diversity. We forge the path with our own personal decisions. Therefore, always try to do everything with love. Love drives you, self-love, mutual love. Here or in The Falklands, wherever you are reading me from or in Jupiter, love saves you.
Translated by: Pascual Díaz
