How to exchange without taking an airplane
This is my senior year, we haven’t had our formal graduation yet, but we are out of class. Senior year it’s a year where you are supposed to do everything you couldn’t or didn’t do during past years of school. This is also the moment to spend more time with the people you have seen for an entire lifetime, every single day, from 7am to 1pm for about 15 years.
The education program in Venezuela is different than the US. We complete each school year with the same class. So yes, I have studied all my life with the same 30 people; though, this year we had an extra student join us. Her name was Nia.
She did not speak Spanish at all. She was quiet; with a very low voice that we could barely hear what she tried to say. I still welcomed her to her new school, tried to make her feel comfortable, and feel like she could count on me.
To give a very brief description of the environment in this country, we could start by saying Venezuelans are noisy, loud, and demonstrate body language that is very enthusiastic when they speak. We have always been characterized by our personality. In general, Latinos are very welcoming. We are also known for being jokers; for example, whenever we pass through a risky political situation, which is actually common now, all we do is make a joke about it. I’d say it is a defense mechanism. “Reír para no llorar” (Laugh not to mourn)
My friend, Nia, spent a year in a small city in Venezuela; Puerto la Cruz, 19107km (11872 miles) away from her home, Bandung (Indonesia).
As I said, Nia was a very quiet person, but apparently that’s how people behave in Indonesia. For example, we once went to a McDonalds and I couldn’t hear what she was telling me. Apparently in Indonesia it’s disrespectful to speak loud in public, so they whisper. I never got used to her speaking quietly and most of the time I would answer almost yelling.
Indonesians don’t party very often. Instead, Nia was used to going to a cafeteria every single day after school; which it’s kind of unsafe to do here. In Venezuela people party a lot. I think the only thing we care about is who brings the drinks and where we are going to meet. Then we can improvise a party.
They don’t give too much attention to the news, or politics in their country. If something occurs, I think they wouldn’t even notice. Instead, most Venezuelans are into politics. The past decade has been quite tough, and it has become the first subject around the table. Even kids can analyze and comment about the proper operations or malfunctions of our government. I think this is very positive, because kids grow up knowing that there are others things happening around them, and even when they can’t see issues directly, they still know things are happening.
Nia is Muslim. She wears a “Hijab”, (which look amazingly pretty I must say). Of course she didn’t eat pork, smoke or get drunk. Contrary to what we thought, she can actually ingest alcohol; therefore she can toast, or have a glass of wine when she wants.
She started going to our parties and having fun. She did not know what Reggaeton, Salsa, or Merengue were, so we tried to teach her, and she has actually improved moving those hips! It was hard for her at first because obviously they aren’t used to these genres.
We became close friends, and she introduced me to her friends in Indonesia.
The language was always an issue. I realized Spanish is a very complicated language and even harder to explain. We do have rules, but for most of the rules we just have to memorize them. For example, learning when to write “V” or “B”,”C” or “S” is difficult. The worst thing for her was the “H”, which in Spanish is silent. (According to Nia, this is “completely unnecessary”). Besides this, she spoke “Bahasa”, a language that doesn’t have Future or Past tenses, Masculineor Feminine pronouns, or verb conjugations. For example, in order to tell a story you would have to say something such as: “Yesterday, I am at Paola’s house. It very cool, later we be watching American Idol.” Strange, right?
I personally think it was hard for her to adapt, and I understand why. She came across the world and was supposed to change most of her behaviors, learn a new language completely different to what she was used to, and submerge herself into a society where you can’t let up anytime, where most of the people are “faultfinders”, where the political tension becomes part of you, and more importantly, where everyone knows where they stand.
“Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente”
We were different. We are still very different, but it wasn’t an issue.
She taught us lots of things. Even though it was very different we could understand and support each other. She is a very good friend with a very bright soul. She was very kind and humble. I am very pleased to have known her and spend time with her. Now she’s back in Indonesia, going back to whispering, to the spicy food and the cafeterias; but now she carries within herself something that no one could ever take away from her: the experience of being part of us, and definitely lots of stories to tell.
Nia, never forget us. Always remember that you have left friends on the other side of the world who will always welcome you with open arms. You left a family, Juan and Harold, who are very sad that you had to leave and they are still very thankful to have had the opportunity to spend time and care for you. Nia, I am going to ask you to always look back and remember everything you experienced here, every bad word we taught you and every story we shared. Make Arepas for breakfast, wax your eyebrows, speak Spanish to your friends, wear makeup, yell in public, be dramatic, say hello to strangers in the street.
Be strong, be confident and most importantly, be happy. Sounds cliché, but I’m lucky to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to. Thank you for being my friend, thank you for all the things you taught me, for all the experiences, and I hope we get to meet again, here in Venezuela.