Before it gets dark

My country is slowly dying. At this point the whole world knows it, and we, the civilians are watching it die.

I want to speak for my entire generation and say, that it has been a disgusting pleasure to watch our country burn in flames of hatred and division, along with our precious future here, as we turned into young adults.  This past 17 years have been a real life lesson for us and our families, and an every-day challenge to survive, that’s for sure. If anyone asks me what effects has this experience had on myself, I would tell them that undoubtedly living all this has moulded me, it has become a part of who I am -whether I like it or not-, it has defined my way of understanding the world, and of course, it has made me develop a series of tactical moves to help me solve the problems that may appear in life. -Tough life, tough skin.

It was not enough for God to put me in a country where I didn’t really fit in, oh no, it had to be also a hostile environment, a place where, as I grew older, made me ask myself what was I doing there? In time, I learned to rejoice when I found other strangers to this society, individuals like me that live within but at the same time, without the Venezuelan chaos.

Nevertheless, I believe that it was destiny –or God’s will, if you prefer- that put me in this exact spot in the world and asked me to live in such conditions of time and space. And I know that some sort of positive result will come from it, like from everything else. -Until now, it has been friendship, love, and tons and tons of inspiration that I have extracted from the rich Venezuelan soil, and I will do my best to prevent that from going to waste.

In this strange unpredictable country of ours, hundreds and thousands of politicians, economists, analysts, scientists, priests and even common men have dared to predict the end of our nation as we know it: the Venezuelan apocalypse, the end of an era, the falling and uprising of governments, etc. But it has never really happened –at least not entirely.- Like I said in the beginning of this article, the death of my country –of any country, I think- is a slow process -painful and hard to watch.

So it seems that the mysteries of a new prediction lie ahead of us, today: rumor has it that the entire country may shut down by the end of the month. How does that “shutting down” thing actually work? Frankly, I don’t really know, -and let’s hope that I don’t find out.

But just in case, before it definitely gets dark in our country, I thought that it may be a good idea to remember how beautiful this land is under the light of our immensely generous tropical sun…

Coincidentally, this time of year is surely one of the most beautiful ones to behold in Venezuela, since it is our spring! All the trees in every corner of the cities and on the sides of every road or highway blossom into this amazing stains of vivid colors like yellow, orange, purple, magenta, red, baby pink...! The temperature numbers are extremely high and heavy on the working citizens, but nature rewards us with beautiful sunsets at the end of each day. The fruits taste fresher, and the coffee smells stronger. And then, usually at the beginning of May, there’s that wonderful smell: the smell of the rain falling pure and fresh over the naked soil... oh, the glorious loud, exuberant, tropical rain, how much we need you right now!
And because I know that the mountains could be greener, and that the faces could be happier… as the last act of faith of this present day, -and because I don’t want to see the darkness reign over this land-, I pray to God and his mercy, so that he can save us from this last terrible prediction, and prevent our country form shutting down by making it rain. 

-Because hoping for a miracle is all that we have left.