Hello dear steemians,

I want to start this post by asking you: have you ever felt in danger inside of your own house? If the answer is no, I’m really happy you haven’t and I hope you never do. However, if your answer was yes, dear friend… I know by experience, it is from the worst feelings one can experience during their lifetime.

Caracas, Venezuela. The beautiful city that had so much to offer to foreigners coming to this rich country during the fast development that occurred between the 50s and the 70s. The land that was once called the Paris of Latin America because of its big cultural scene, now it’s being buried in tons and tons of misery… How did we get here?

http://ve.globedia.com/imagenes/noticias/2012/2/19/turismo-en-caracas_2_1098951.jpg

In the next paragraphs, I’ll guide you through the day of a young student trying to get with his life without getting robbed, kidnapped, injured or even killed. As most of Venezuelans do, your day starts around 4 am. There is a saying that goes “Al que madruga Dios lo ayuda”, which literally means, whom get up early god will help. That’s basically our everyday motto to get along with having to get everything ready, including the meals preparation for the day, before heading the streets. You get dressed in your most humble clothes and secure everything inside of your backpack and off you go!

Outside of your house, around 5 am, is where you can expect anything to happen. You try to walk to the bus stop or subway station as if you weren’t afraid, hoping someone doesn’t come from the back to try to rob you. You try to speed up the pace a bit, holding onto your backpack and making sure no one strange looking is following you, and you finally get to the metro… however, your day is still starting, you still have to get to school. Already inside the subway, you wear your backpack to the front and you use the last ticket you had left. A lot of people are in your way, everyone is trying to assure they get in the next metro that comes. There is pushing, touching, squeezing, and all your trying to do is not pushing the little kid that’s next to you. You see, during rush hour there are no rules and no one is treated specially. After waiting for 30min and letting go three metros because you couldn’t fit, after being pushed by the mass of people, you get in by force. At least you’re on your way now.

_______________________________________

I'll leave it up to here and continue in another post tomorrow :) Thank you for reading and if you have any suggestions please leave them bellow, I'm really interested in reading what you think about this topic.

I decided to share what my everyday life is like to help bring awareness about what's happenning in my country, so I appreciate a lot your interest in this topic.

Until soon and best wishes,

Ana