Independence Day

Almost coinciding with the United States' independence day, Venezuela's independence is mainly celebrated today.

On July 5th in 1811, after a brief revolutionary movement on the 11th of April the previous year, the declaration of independence was completed and signed, thus making Venezuela the first Latin American country to declare itself independent from Spain. At that point, the war against the Spanish government began, and it wasn't until about 10 years later (due to a decisive battle on July 24th, 1821) where Venezuela pretty much drove the Spanish out and finally ending the war for independence in 1823.

Celebration in Venezuela does not involve barbecues nor fireworks, though. It's mostly a military holiday where the armed forces march out on the streets. People get the day off, anyway, so it's a good time to rest.

The celebration of independence is also divided into the three dates mentioned above:

1. April 19th: Proclamation of the Independence of Venezuela
   
2. June 24th: The Battle of Carabobo
3. July 5th: Day of the Declaration of Independence

The Venezuelan Happy Birthday Song

My birthday was last week, and although my (American) friends sang a lovely rendition the traditional Happy Birthday song, Venezuela has an extended version called Ay Que Noche Tan Preciosa (Oh What a Precious Evening) prior to singing the American translation, which goes something like this:

Ay que noche tan preciosa, Esta noche de tu día, Todos llenos de alegría, En esta fecha natal. Tus mas intimos amigos, Esta noche te acompañan, Te saludan y desean, Un mundo de felicidad. Yo por mi parte deseo, Lleno de luz este dia, Todos llenos de alegría, En esta fecha natal. Y en esta luna plateada, Brinde su luz para ti, Yo ruego a Dios porque pases, Un cumpleaños feliz!

Oh what a beautiful evening, This evening of your day, Everyone's full of joy, In this natal date. Your more personal friends, Give you company this evening, They salute you and they wish you, A world of joy. On my behalf I wish you, Full of light on this day, All full of joy, In this natal date. And in this silver moon, Shares its light to you, And I beg God that you spend, A happy birthday!

And then, Happy Birthday To You translated, with the same melody:

Cumpleaños feliz, Te deseamos a ti, Cumpleaños, [TuNombreAqui], Cumpleaños feliz!

Happy birthday, We wish to you, (Happy) birthday, [YourNameHere], Happy birthday!

Oh, and by the way, Happy Birthday translated has no copyright bearing by the Warner corporation. So F.U. Warner, Patty Hill, and Mildred Hill! We can sing this song anywhere we please!

Bolívar Strong

As of today, the currency in Venezuela has changed. Well, it hasn't changed too much. The Bolívar, named after Venezuelan founding father Simon Bolívar, had to be simplified: One American Dollar used to be worth 2150 Bolivars (officially. Black market price is 4000 bolivars or more), but now the currency has been divided by a thousand and it has become the Bolivar Fuerte (Strong). So, now one American Dollar is worth 2.15 Strong Bolivars.

The slogan for this new kind of currency is "A Strong Economy, A Strong Bolivar, A Strong Country", but consider that everyone is going to be paid the exact same amount, everything is still going to cost exactly as inflated as it is, and everyone is going to be confused.

One interesting thing about the Bolivar Fuerte, though: The front side of the bills are VERTICAL:

Third Week Language Barrier

Tomorrow (the new year) will be exactly three weeks since I landed in Caracas, and tonight it was the first time I noticed that I'm starting to have trouble speaking in English. While my internal monologue remains Spanish-free, as soon as I start speaking my pronunciation comes off with a strong Venezuelan accent and the speed I speak is much, much slower like I have to translate everything from Spanish, followed by my internal monologue developing a thicker accent as well. It doesn't get better in Spanish, either, because when I speak it I still feel that I'm translating from English first.

I seriously need to call someone to test my English.

No Milk for You!

I woke up early this morning, and I wanted to eat something like cereal to calm my rumbling stomach, but there wasn't any milk in the fridge. It wasn't because my parents didn't buy milk, but because there is a general shortage of milk around these parts.

My sister tells me that if she drives by a convenience store or a bakery where there is a crowd of people, she stops whatever she is doing and goes there because she knows the crowd is for something like milk. She's seen women FIGHT over the milk, and due to limitations every family can only get two of whatever is available, anyway.

There are two types of milk in Venezuela. The most common one is powdered milk that comes in a tin can and one mixes it with water to make it liquid, typically used to mix with coffee and so forth. The other is liquid pasteurized milk that one can typically get from the cold dairy section in the supermarket; the kind that is used for cereal. Usually they're either whole milk or skim; none of that 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.25%, etc. that one sees in American supermarkets.

It's insane to think that milk has become pretty much a luxury here while at my own house back in Pittsburgh every one of my housemates drinks a different kind of milk, so typically we have two or more bottles in the fridge. And if the milk goes bad, we just get more milk.

I hope eggs and butter don't start disappearing, too.

In Venezuela, Again.

I just got back "home" for the holidays. It's been a year since I was here last, and I feel more confused than I thought. When I was flying from Caracas to Barcelona, where my family lives, I had to pay some flight tax and when the lady gave me some coins back I couldn't really do the math because I couldn't really think that those coins would add up to the 1000s.

Nothing seems to different, just a few new roads, but the usual mess seems about the same.

Don't cry, Chavez; you can't always get Yes for an asnwer. It's still a democracy, right?

The votes are in favor of No for the constitutional reform, but it's very close, perhaps too close: 51% to 49% to be exact. Chavez may have to step down in 2012, but I bet he has some dirty tricks under his sleeves left. We'll see what happens next year.

Sources: BBC, The New York Times, El Nacional (Spanish), El Tiempo (Spanish)

Referendum This Sunday

The polls for the referendum, which consists of the things discussed in my previous post, are happening this Sunday. Unfortunately, I'm too far away to do my vote, but I really hope there's enough sane people voting for it. I also hope that they don't rig the votes, but who knows what happens in such a unorganized country.

Today I saw USA Today, and there was an article about Chávez and the Referendum. When I moved to the United States ten years ago, most people had no clue that Venezuela was located in South America. Some people still don't today, but I do get a whole lot of "what's the deal with your president?". I guess Chavez is making Venezuela popular and known these days, but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.