The Best of Venezuela

I have written a lot about Venezuela´s challenges and problems, so since today marks the unofficial beginning of Carnaval, I thought now would be a good time to devote some space to highlighting some of its people´s best qualities, just as I did for Patricia earlier. As an aside, Carnaval here reminds me a bit of my days playing American Legion baseball. Then everyone on my team liked to play the game ¨spit your wad of dip on an unsuspecting soul´s cleats when they´re not looking¨ which is terrific fun for those that don´t use dip. Here Carnaval is quite a bit like Halloween. Kids dress up and older ones throw water balloons and eggs at unsuspecting passer-bys. Patricia got nailed yesterday and I managed to maintain a stern expression of disapproval when she arrived home. But I won´t be laughing if I get my turn and there wouldn´t be much I could do about it. Anyway, without further ado, here is a list of the top six characteristics of the country.

6. Taste in Humor
El Universal, the newspaper I read here every day, carries Calvin and Hobbes in its comics section.



5. The Weather
In the two months I have spent in Venezuela, I don´t think the temperature has dropped below 70. Nor in Caracas has it risen above 87 or so. That´s pretty much how it goes in the capital city year round. Summer is a few degrees warmer, but not much. That means no need for air conditioning (just open the windows) or heating. We get just enough rain to keep everything green, which means brief showers once or twice a week (though during the rainy season storms and flooding do occur). In the Andes it gets ¨cold¨ (60s mostly), though in the Mérida region a few of the mountain peaks actually get snow, the only place in the country to do so. In Zulia it gets quite hot, in the low 90s when I was there recently and up to 110 in the summer. Just to rub it in more, beaches are beautiful and plentiful and the water is comfortably swimmable, even for me, year-round. Just something to think about while many of you put up with freezing cold and shoveling snow.

4. Choosing the Right Law to Obey
Venezuelans are not a particularly orderly or law-society. In fact, they don´t really follow any of their own laws, whether they be related to traffic, housing, or politics. But for whatever reason one law is followed without exception and without question: the ban on smoking indoors in public spaces. The bill enacting the law was passed in February of last year and enforcement began in May. With almost 10 months of compliance already completed, we must be at some kind of record. I have no idea why this one manages to command universal respect, but I am certainly not complaining.

3. ¨Ya No Aguanto Más¨ no se escucha aquí (¨I can´t take it anymore¨ is something you don´t hear here
There is a saying here that if anyone but Venezuelans lived in Venezuela, a civil war would have erupted many years ago. That is both a sad and a proud statement, and I think to a large degree it is true. Venezuelans soporta (tolerate, put up with) an unbelievable amount of inconvenience, danger, fear, and general unpleasantries on a daily basis. They wait in traffic for hours (average speed during commuter hours in the Caracas region on HIGHWAYS is 15 km/hour), in lines for hours more (just a trip to the bank usually means waiting an hour), face the risk of robbery and violence basically everywhere they go, deal with a political system too broken to describe, etc., etc., etc. And while they may complain about many things, in general they find a way to deal with everything and get on with their lives. I can´t imagine too many people I know from the U.S. (including possibly myself) putting up with such difficulties indefinitely. On one level I think Venezuelans could stand to be a little more demanding of change and willing to confront their issues, but that´s easy for me to say as someone who can leave at any time. But mostly I find it admirable how resilient they are in the face of adversity.

2. Nice Folks
Venezuelans are about as warm and friendly a people as you will find. While it is not always the easiest thing in the world to meet new people here (for example people rarely go out to a bar to socialize with new people or join clubs or teams where you might naturally expect to make new friends as do many in the U.S.), once you do strike up a conversation with them they are extremely welcoming. I have been invited to people´s houses and to meet their friends and family within 15 minutes of meeting someone. Friends offer to cook a meal, buy a juice or a coffee, or just sit and talk for about as long as you´d like.

Despite some news reports, anti-Americanism is practically non-existent here if you don´t listen to President Chávez. On the contrary when people find out you´re from the U.S. the most common reactions are joy, ¨let me tell you about my trip to Miami and/or Disney World,¨ and, ¨let me introduce you to my daughter/niece/friend,¨ usually in that order. And once you do make a connection, they follow up with you and try to continue the relationship, not just assuming that it was a one-time pleasantry. All in all it´s a pretty welcoming place for a foreigner like me to visit.

1. Color Blind
Everyone has their prejudices, and Venezuelans are no exception, but one of the most remarkable aspects of society here is people´s almost complete disregard for the significance of race. People of all hues and colors mix freely and without comment. There really aren´t any racial distinctions made, though roughly people can be described as blanco (white), mestizo (mixed), and negro (black). The great majority fall into the middle category to some degree or another. Marriages between couples of different colors are the norm, and it is really cool to see a husband and wife with several children, each of whom is a different color from the others. In fact it is usually impossible for me to tell who is brother and sister, because it is just as likely that their skin will look nothing alike.

Racial epithets for the most part do not exist. My sportswriter friend has darker skin than most but in the U.S. he would certainly be recognized as ¨Latino¨ immediately. Here most of his friends call him ¨El Negro¨ or ¨Negrito¨ which is not in the least bit derogatory, though I still can´t manage to say it myself. Poorer neighborhoods in Caracas probably have a slightly higher proportion of darker skinned folks than richer neighborhoods, but it is not by a large margin and there is no segregation of the sort that you find in most American cities. The coastal areas of Venezuela have a higher proportion of darker skinned populations than the interior, but again there are no racially homogeneous areas and that is almost entirely due to its proximity to the Caribbean and the immigration that has caused. It is true that there is a very low population of indigenous peoples here, but those that do live here do not seem to suffer much discrimination (though those from Peru and Ecuador do).

Anyway it really is striking and pleasing to walk around Caracas and see such a racially diverse group of people. I have been to places such as Chile where it appears as though everyone is the same mixed-race in a sort of vision of what the world might look like once everyone has inter-married and there is truly only one human race, but I have never seen anywhere with such effortless and plentiful mixing. And I think that´s a pretty great thing.