If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
When I was a child, I had it very clear. Whenever someone asked me, especially in school assignments, where I wanted to live, I didn't hesitate and always answered: on the moon. Not on Mars or another planet, I wanted to live on the moon. The moon was a trampoline or a big mattress where people jumped, or so it seemed to me when I saw Neil Armstrong jumping on the desolate lunar surface, and it was so far away, but at the same time so close, or so I thought, that they could see me and I could see the people from above.
Now that I am an adult, I spent the whole weekend wondering which country I would like to live in and it was really difficult to select just one place. After giving the matter a lot of thought, I have decided to cut to the chase and say what would be the characteristics that the ideal place would have to have to make it my home.
Before going on to list these characteristics, I must say that I live in a country where more than 8 million inhabitants have had to migrate for political, but also economic and social reasons, and that I do not escape from these conditions, so obviously I have thought, many times, to leave my country: Venezuela. Likewise, although I have traveled almost the entire Venezuelan territory, I have only traveled twice outside my country, so I have very little reference and information of the best places in the world. That said, let's begin to see what those conditions are.
First of all, it must be a city near the sea. The sea is part of my humanity. The seascape relaxes me, makes me produce tons of serotonin, which affects my mood, my skin color, my joy. As I always say: my batteries are recharged and powered by solar energy. So, if it is because of this, there are many countries, which have the sea as a background landscape, such as Spain, Australia, Aruba, Portugal, Greece, Philippines.
Ok, I know, I know, I know. If it is for the previous condition, the list is long, so we are going to decant it with another condition: I would like to speak Spanish or a language that is easy to learn. I don't want to be isolated and have limitations to express myself with neighbors, with people. My friends who have already left the country have told me how “cumbersome” life can be in another place if you don't speak the language. So with this, the list is getting smaller.
Another condition is that it be a “small” place, where people know each other, that there be a market of fresh seafood, where people meet; a bar where everyone is friends; a café where you can watch the evenings, read a book and watch the people go by, with their light dresses and dark glasses. Let the first means of getting from one place to another be walking and bicycles. That the environment is not polluted and that every house can have gardens, where to harvest basil for pestos, laurel for meat and even good herb for Saturday mojitos.
Obviously I would like that place, where I will live the last years of my life, to be economically, socially and politically stable. And if not, that the place itself is above all those things. I have seen cities get ahead, even though the country to which they belong is in a dark pit.
And finally, a legacy where the health care system works. At this point in life, it is “better to have health centers in optimal conditions and not need it, than to need it and not have it”.
Anyway, it is no secret that Venezuelans, at this moment, are at a historic crossroads: many of us are waiting for January 2025 to think about leaving or staying. I hope that when I have to leave my country and my loved ones, it will be because the life I have dreamed of awaits me on the other side of the world, that my family can visit me whenever they want, that I can review the pros and cons of the place, and not because I have to flee.
The images are from my personal gallery and the text was translated with Deepl
This is my participation this week for our great friend @ericvancewalton's initiative: Memoir monday. If you want to participate, here's the link to the invitation post.
