Caracas, in a nutshell

While the U.S. Delta aircraft lands,

moving toward Simon Bolivar Airport,

humidity assaults me like my own tropical country;

people like Venezolanos and other walks of life,

emerge on the horizon with smiles and thanksgiving.

Beyond my wildest imagination,

there's parallelism in the Caribbean experience.

Food, history, literature, and even human struggles

abound with stories and gospel cries.

Roads are narrow, long and winding,

but with leafy trees giving green and delight.

Up in the hills, houses could be seen piling up

like matches or the Italian presepio background.

Traffic congestion as an everyday expectation

roads seem to be like a moving parking lot;

converging at the center or passing through the light.

It's a common reality, a great deal of acceptance.

People's religiosity draws me to think back in my own land.

It's a wealth of life that champions relationship with God.

there's depth and meaning in their strong ties to faith,

another perspective, insight and moment to highlight.

Some refractions of their past as people who struggled a lot;

migration experience shows how they wrestle with life.

Being uprooted and strangers in their newfound land,

their dreams come to fulfillment through human sacrifice.

I see how commitment and focusing can make a difference.

amid the travails, disappointments, and sorrows in life.

It's an engaging pattern that brings me to look into

where faith and hope can be needed to be able to persevere.

In a nutshell, Venezolanos too have their own share to be human.