I embarked on an improvised journey, it happened when I least expected it, but I was ready (well, a little) for this opportunity and I didn't want to waste it. This had been my dream, my guiding light, and my goal for several years.

I have so many mixed feelings. I've cried in every place and with every person I've missed. I'm not afraid to be vulnerable. These days have been like a band-aid for my soul.

I'm very excited to write to you about my experience during my temporary stay in Venezuela, and with this, I'm launching a new series of posts I'll be writing about, recounting, and describing my time in Venezuela.

I want you to ask me all the questions you want about what it's like to survive in Venezuela and I can answer each one of them in the next post.

My experience so far has been somewhat confusing, and at the same time, things have happened that I expected. I've experienced the fear of being extorted by agents of the National Guard and other similar organizations. Why? Because when they know you're from abroad, they think you're carrying a lot of money, and nothing could be further from the truth. They can find or create any excuse to get something in return. Thank goodness and the universe, the only guard who tried to get money from me didn't succeed. He started by asking me why I was carrying suitcases, followed by asking if my daughter was born abroad.

The price of things and their strange payment methods. On the border with Colombia, they accept Colombian pesos, dollars, and bolivares. However, they only accept bolivares if you pay the equivalent in Colombian pesos. If you use dollars, they convert them from bolivares to pesos, and finally to dollars. At least that's what I understood. They have a very different exchange rate than in the center of the country. If we're talking about the entire national territory, they have two types of dollar exchange rates: one is the BCV Bolivars, which is the official rate, and the parallel Bolivars (which are higher than the official rate). However, they don't only accept dollars, but also euros—yes, euros. In the time I've been here, I've only been out to eat once. When it was time to pay, my family asked what the exchange rate was, and the girl very kindly said, "The BCV euro." My face of surprise and confusion wasn't normal, and the menu had prices listed in dollars.

Of course, if you make a suggestion or recommendation about Bitcoin, they tell you things like it's a scam or that it's too complicated. The joke tells itself. I want to emphasize that this has been my experience so far; I still have many places and businesses to visit.

There will be state gubernatorial elections in May. I've seen few campaigns, and the results are predictable. There's nothing to say about it; it's more of the same.

I felt a bit sad seeing so many businesses and shops closed for good and buildings that look abandoned, and even stranger is that out of 10 abandoned businesses there is one in the middle that is totally new and huge, as if it were living in an alternate reality of what is happening around it.

For example, this abandoned dealership.

Along the way I took some photos, it was nice to see these landscapes again and the sun rising over the plain.

Drinking coffee in typical roadside restaurants with that particular smell of the plains and many trees around, especially mango trees

Along the way there is never a shortage of people who go out every day to work selling their products.

There is also no shortage of soldiers who stop every bus and every truck.

It feels good to write again, thanks for reading.