Leave Venezuela in time of blackouts

I think some know the situation in Venezuela, I say some because I know that Venezuela is not the center of the universe, and therefore there are people who do not even know where it is. Many of those who read me, feel and suffer the situation from the outside, a few believe they know what is happening, they make judgments when they have never entered Venezuela, and I am sure they could not survive in the conditions in which it is, to others we have had to live it in all the senses, psychological, political, economic, emotional.

So, I guess they wonder why it is the title, because I had to leave Venezuela, this I decided together with my husband when the first blackout occurred, we last at least 42 hours without electric service, without water, without being able to buy nothing to feed us, surviving what was in the fridge so that it would not rot.

I assure you that living there is a psychological game, it is an attack on emotional stability, it is not so simple to exist - I say exist because there you do not live, you survive- in a place where paranoia is common. Paranoia when you leave day or night, paranoia when you go to work and you don't know if you will arrive or if you will be able to return home, paranoia when you have 12 mouths to feed and only one source of income (mine) - thank God I had one opportunity many don't have - and it helped keep my head afloat even when my body was sunken.

After being a geography professional, with privileges that many did not have, I never imagined that I would end up surviving purely as a freelancer. Re-exploiting my skills as a tutor, writer and more than once as a poet.

Imagine, feeding 12 mouths, working remotely requiring a constant Internet and electricity service to be able to produce and BOOM - National Blackout-, I ask you what would happen if the lives of many people depended on you, and such a failure occurs, that You cannot do absolutely anything, fear, uncertainty invades you and you begin to wonder if they are going to do without your services, because something must be clear, who should have a remote employee who for weeks remains incommunicado, and it has failed to produce.

The difficulties that are traversed in such a situation are immeasurable, be aware if everyone has water to drink and bathe, if they have eaten at least twice a day, have to carry bottles of 30 liters up the stairs to an 14 floor, or 12 (in my parents' house), think about what you can eat and do not get hurt in 48 hours, find out you need an emergency medicine and that you can not buy it even if you have how, and pray to God that nothing happens and to hold until the light comes and you can buy, they have no idea, I assure you of what it is to live in that situation.

The game is to wear, I think it is a conditioning, to continue removing freedoms, so began the service of drinking water, at first one day failed, then two, then three, they are 5 years in which only enjoy the service of drinking water once a week. With this I do not seek to victimize myself, but I simply give you a little sketch of what it is to live in Venezuela, when you lack the most basic, and yet you get up every day, you are waiting to serve others and yourself - cooking, washing, cleaning, because I am also a housewife - you work from 14 to 16 hours - sometimes more -, and deliver work well done and quality.

To try to maintain the income, not to lose the opportunity that they have given me and to continue surviving. My husband and I decided that it was time to leave, with a few savings and with the great help that part of the family gives us today, we took our bags to head to a better course. Yes, making the decision was easy, the difficult thing came later when the government announced that the national electricity system continues with failures and that the restoration of electricity service will be partial.

OK, I thought this would be something simple like packing up and leaving, but when I made a to-do list, I realized that the days before the trip I needed to do some work ahead of time, in order to deliver something that would imply My boss, who even in such a disastrous situation, was still steadfast and determined not to lose his job. We had the great help of a cousin of my husband, who offered to find the tickets and pay for them with his credit card, and upon arrival we would refund the payment.

Passages were obtained in a not very well-known airline, for Tuesday 19 of March, only to a week and a half of the first great blackout. To our surprise, the airline decides to re-program for the electrical faults and the flight was passed for the 2 day in April. During the week of the 17 in March I followed the intermittent fault where I lived, however, in my mother's house it was a little more stable, because it was in the center of the city, therefore, I notified her that we would pass the week at home to be able to advance work.

We were from Monday 18, everything went normally, I worked more than ever to be able to advance everything, only to have minimal details, and just the day I finish uploading one of the last files, the second blackout occurs on March 26, That day they went looking for us because we had the work teams, when I arrived at my house, and I climbed the 14 floors up the stairs I broke down, I entered in a panic, my hands were shaking, I had low tension, I felt terrible. 50 hours passed, until finally the electricity service returned, that day I decided to start packing, I said that I should take advantage of all the possible hours of light, because I did not know until what time I could enjoy it.

One of the most difficult things is to put 30 years in 23 kilos, 30 years of memories and clothes -especially the latest-, I took out at least 8 bags of clothes to give away, I knew that there were many people who I would like and that could be a help between so much need. Two hours after starting to pack 4 PM, the light went out, and arrived at the 1 AM, my husband woke up like a zombie, and he told me that he would stay awake for a while - to enjoy the light - I did not feel like it You're welcome and I kept sleeping.

Packing was an act of bravery. Sometimes you have to be cold. 

Then I saw how much it fit in my suitcase and the empty closet, Maya, my dog ​​looked at me from behind the lock of her face. I couldn't take it anymore and I started crying.

At mid-morning, we went to the grandparents' house, gave them some things and said goodbye, discreetly opened the fridge, and they only had a piece of old cheese, six eggs and ice, that image was something that broke my heart, there they We asked that they had eaten those days, and they told us - quiet daughter, the neighbors are pending, they made us a pot of beans, that we ate with arepa, and the other days an egg for the two with grated cheese-.

They are things that you would never want to hear, but what happens, however much you are aware, you always have to be prepared for something else. It's a situation where you feel like the game of Survivor, you have to be prepared if you eat, or you do not eat or maybe you're lucky and you get immunity - you spend the day smooth, without complications - but those are one in a million.

The following days, they went to the bank, buying medicines, water, filling bags and containers of water soda with salt, so that they keep more cold if the light goes back on and they do not have how to refrigerate the food. Three days before we left, we had some blood tests, my mother, my father, my husband, my brother and I, and to vary another surprise - my brother, father and mother diagnosed with severe anemia -, something else in the what to think Now I have to spend more money so they can buy more protein, because what I send is not enough, we start taking measures and I buy them tomato and guava trees - at least to have where to start.

We went back home, and my husband began to pack his suitcase, everything without problems, without setbacks, until I received a call from a friend, who told me I had to be at the airport until a day before, because the check in it was being done manually, taking care of the power failures - since one of the electric plates at the airport had been burned, and the other was working at half a machine - to complete as my father would say.

In the end, we decided to go down to the airport on Tuesday at the 2 AM, to avoid any kind of setback, we arrived at the 4 AM, and the airline staff arrived at the 9 AM, we were first in line, we passed on our turn and just after the check-in, they tell me that the light went off in Caracas and that it was pending.

We beat the situation, the next was the review, they took everything out of my suitcase, in Venezuela the guards look for any excuse to check and get money, I passed my review, and sealed the exit in migration. We located the boarding gate and began to look for what to eat, we arrived at a place of arepas and when they passed the card they debited the amount from my account, but the point did not register it, so the money was left in limbo and we did not eat.

At 12: 45 PM the plane arrived, one more relief, but, started a movement of guards again, - another revision- this time they touched me to the genitals, they passed the suitcase by the machine and this time they did not ask me to open again. We are still waiting for the flight, we board the 2: 40 PM, with 20 minutes of delay, and on the plane everything was a bit of tranquility. We reached the first stop after 11 flight hours - Istanbul - one of the most complicated airports I've ever met, it's crazy the excess of people, the discriminative hatred - something of macho culture - but in the end the 5 wait times passed relatively quickly.

We boarded the plane again late, 20 more minutes, we would arrive at the destination at 4 PM, in the end we arrived at 5:30 PM. An air of tranquility was already felt, we landed and in my mind I just thanked God for having given me the opportunity that many do not have, I thanked Venezuela for training me, thanks to my family for loving me and my boss for understanding a situation, that Although it was not his problem, he was pending and willing to support me.

When I arrived at my new home, I changed some problems for others, due to the lack of electricity, I had to work with the lights off to avoid the high cost of electric service, for a destroyed transport system an efficient but expensive transport service arrived - each metro ticket costs 2 euros, a multi-journey ticket for the tram is 70 euros and a taxi trip can cost between 9 and 20 euros depending on the distance-.

Make an exit like this, it's not a luxury that everyone can give. I must admit it. However going out into a different context does not change your life immediately; especially since there is a trauma that takes time to recover from.

A large part of Venezuelans got used to living without paying for services, or paying a very small amount, given the magnitude of maintaining a public transport system, a National electrical system, and many other things. What brought all this as a consequence, because now in Venezuela lives on the basis of rationing of electricity and drinking water, lack of transportation, shortage of medicines, inflation, health services in subhuman conditions, among others Many things you can see, just by placing "Venezuela" in the Internet search engine and reading each and every one of those news.

On the other hand, those who do not know or do not want to know what happens in Venezuela do not blame them, those who suffer from afar I extend a hug and advice: humility and work above all, although we feel pain, sadness or nostalgia, we must keep going, to those who are still there, I can only tell you that faith is the only thing that is needed to continue.

Thanks for your patience, on a topic that comes out of the space geofumadas. I close a chapter after 2,044 words, which represent part of my report - for my boss - of the last two weeks of work.

Touch continue forward.