The journey

What an excitement! I get to travel far again! I love it! I love every single part of it: I love passing through the luggage control, I absolutely adore the moment of taking off, I adore the feeling of the unknown. More than anything I love when I have a longer flight ahead of me. Unfortunately this time I was so tired after not sleeping the previous three nights that I completely crashed at the moment I sat down onboard. I got to Paris in an eye flash. With only 45min to change the gates I lost the most precious gift for my kind Venezuelan host – a big jar of nutella. Of course I had a choice to eat it at the spot but I don´t think this would make it any less unfortunate. I expected loads of sexy Latin co-travelers around on the flight Paris-Caracas. To my disappointment I was surrounded by the Chinese people with dirty fingernails. Apparently the illegal working class of Venezuela – I was told by a handsome, half Venezuelan – half Italian, gentleman who luckily sat next to me. We had a nice chat about life and Venezuela, however he was surprised how many of the practicalities I´m already aware of. With over 30 movies to choose from and a little screen in front of my seat it was barely impossible for me to sleep. So I didn´t. We got to Caracas with a delay of 1,5h. I got a bit stressed when I found myself in the immigration hall: will they let me in? will my suitcase still wait for me when I get out of the immigration? The big immigration hall reminded me of my first trip to the States. However there was no eye check nor finger print sample and the officers at the windows were wearing regular T-shirts and not the official uniforms. Of course when I travel some unexplained situation always happens at some point. This time my passport did not get recognized as valid and real by the system of immigration. Three officers had to think for a moment whether to let me in or not. After a few moments of tension and my faster heartbeat one of the officers shrugged his shoulders and waved at me to pass. So I did. I entered Venezuela.

My suitcase was luckily still waiting for me in the hall, amongst other suitcases abandoned in the middle of a huge space. I still had to put it through the luggage control but this part was extremely easy as the short dark Latin guy grabbed my bags and put them on the rail repeating to me ´que bella!´ with a huge smile. As soon as I got out with my bags Esmeraldo noticed me from a distance. It wasn´t a huge challenge since I was pretty much one of very few tall and blond girls there. We walked to the national flight´s part of the airport to take the flight Caracas-Maturin. I got impressed by the stain glass in million colors from the ground to the roof of the hall. I also got hit by the air conditioning which apparently exists everywhere. The next flight was 5h delayed. In those hours I got to discover a bit the Venezuelan openness and lack of barriers. I experienced the ´toilet chats´ with the other female co-travelers.  A few people smiled at me, one lady asked where do I come from and another one asked to borrow my sweatshirt because she was cold – the air conditioned airport is not so pleasurable for a few hours in the night. I was also amazed how the airline service reacted to the complaints about the delay – we got juice and tickets for food at the pizza corner. Therefore my first dinner in Venezuela was pizza and orange juice at the airport. I don´t remember well the moment of getting on board, neither the flight itself. It might be because I was basically falling asleep while standing. The overall result is that I got safe and sound to my temporary home in Venezuela, Maturin at 1:30am local time, 2:00am Boston time, 8:00am Polish time.