When we graduated from preschool we learned three songs to sing for our parents. One in English, one in Hebrew and one in Spanish. To be completely honest, I barely remember the songs we sang in English and Hebrew, but I will never forget that we learned "Venezuela."
It was hard to understand the lyrics when you are a six-year-old who just wants to go to lunch break and play with marbles or Pokemon cards, but as I grew older I realized that song is more than just some random words. It was the unofficial Venezuelan anthem, a song that can make anyone cry and a song that unifies the country.
My school and community always made a good job trying to merge our Jewish heritage and our Venezuelan culture. We were raised as Jewtinos, always loving the country that bit by bit got destroyed. We would have Israeli Dancing classes and learn "Venezuela" see a Manduco dance on Kineret (our yearly Israeli Dance Festival) and promote the values of leadership that Venezuela needed. In high school, we were encouraged to register to vote and fight for our country.
The day of our high school graduation we all cried. It was indeed the end of an era, of 14+ years of friendship and memories. Most of us cried because we knew that the majority of us were going to study on another place. Boston, Panama, Hertzlya, Miami, Philadelphia and more cities around the globe. We knew that we were not going to see El Avila wherever we were, eat a greasy Empanada with Malta for breakfast every day, or hear people calling you "jefe," "gorda," "pana," or any other pet name when they see you walk around.
Being away from Venezuela is hard, but we think about our country a lot, or at least I do. I think how destroyed everything is, how dangerous it is to go out at night, and how hard it is to find food in the supermarket. I think how beautiful the beaches are, how breath-taking the tepuys in Gran Sabana are, and how majestic El Avila is. I think how scared I get every time my parents go out with their friends, how scared I was every time I went out during the weeks I was in Venezuela during the summer, and how empty the streets are.
I have mixed feelings about Venezuela, but my love for the country that was -and still is- home is unconditional. Knowing that I can't live there now because I am building a bright future in another country doesn't mean that I don't love Venezuela with all my heart. I know that I am not the only Venezuelan who feels this way and that I am not the only one who teared up when I heard Victor Munoz's new song. It shows how every Venezuelan feels, the love we have for out country and the sadness of its division.
When I heard it for the first time (and I have to say I've been listening to it on repeat mode for the past hour) I thought how Venezuela is the country that gave me so many opportunities and the country I am proud of no matter what. I thought how badly I want to go back and have a future there. How desperately I want Venezuela to blossom and go back to the amazing country that received my grandparents, that shaped me into the person I am now and the place that I will call home no matter where I am.
