How did your life change when you emigrated from Venezuela? - Interview

This was an interview on Twitter, with a friend, who did not allow me to say his name in this interview, since he prefers to keep his identity a secret. This interview started with simple questions, but after thinking about how strong your answers could be, I decided to turn it into an interview, to share it with you.

She is a friend who emigrated to Chile almost two years ago, and in all the time we have been talking, she had never asked "How did your life change?", But I was always curious, and I know that you are also curious about how life changes someone who leaves the country, although as you can imagine, not all people are going the same way, but we can have an idea.

Let's start.

• 1.-How has your quality of life changed?

It has improved considerably. Beyond leaving behind the economic instability, living in a country that, until now, is politically stable has freed me greatly from the stress I was carrying when I left Venezuela. Not having to live in the anxiety of "What will happen tomorrow?" It has given me enough time to focus on my personal goals: study, work, basically thinking about my dreams without being afraid that tomorrow they will no longer be available.

• 2.-What is the difference when you go out at night in the country where you live, when you went out at night in Venezuela?

The truth is that even living here I rarely go out at night, but in Venezuela I never did. Partly because I was younger and I panicked to go out on the street with the crime as it is there.

• 3.-How do you see your future now?

Quite clear, although despite everything now the only thing that I have clear is that I must work to pay for my studies and keep me obviously. The big difference between Venezuela and Chile (for a student, at least) is that to study it is necessary to work. Because although there is access to scholarships, they are not always obtained in the first years and education is expensive.

• 4.-In the country where you are, if the laws are complied with?

As in all countries there are offenders and ways to break the law. Here we also see delinquency, we must also be careful when going out and all those things, although not as much as in Venezuela. But all in all, here the laws are enforced. The uniformed are highly respected and social order is maintained.

• 5.-What is the difference in the market that you are doing in the current stay country that you were doing in Venezuela?

I already have almost a year and a half out of the country and, as I understand it, everything has gotten worse in these last semesters.
Therefore, you should bear in mind that my answer will be based on the 2016 data. The last time I made a market in Venezuela was in Caracas and it took almost a whole day, from 4 a.m, I get half of the things on my list and I return home around 10 p.m. with only half the list and spent double the money budgeted. Here the last time I made a market took about 30 minutes to finish, I left with everything I needed and I had money left over. I think that beyond giving an explanation, those two examples speak alone.

• 6.-What thing did you always want to do in Venezuela but you could not, what can you do now?

Buy books. It may sound vain, but it is my only hobby and in recent years the prices in Venezuela skyrocketed, including books. And it was impossible for me to read or eat and I think it is clear to all of us which option was the most sensible.

• 7.-What do you think would have been your life, if you had not emigrated?

The truth is I do not know, but the only thing I know is that I would continue studying at the UCV.

The current situation in my country causes me indescribable pain. Although it is true that I "abandoned" Venezuela that does not mean that I stop loving her or that I care less. I was born there and the people I love most live there. I owe that country from my accent to my way of thinking. But human beings have this sense of preservation that makes us flee from the places where we consider ourselves at risk. It's painful, to think that I'm leaving a university career because I'm coming to a foreign country to work and that, like me, many have left everything to start at 0 for fear that life will go away in an attempt to survive.