Ep08 From Power Outages to Plant Power: Astrid’s Journey from Venezuela to a Greener Life in the U.S.

In this heartfelt and honest episode of From Where to Here, Alexandra sits down with Astrid, a tropical plant expert from Mérida, Venezuela, now thriving in Birmingham with Vivatia Plant Care Services and Botanical Workshop. Astrid shares her moving journey of resilience — from growing up under a dictatorship marked by frequent power outages to grieving the deep friendships and community she left behind.

Amid stories of cultural shifts and workplace adaptations, Astrid opens up about the joys and struggles of adjusting to life in the U.S. — all while discovering, with humor and self-awareness, that she might just be a hippie at heart. This episode is a rich blend of vulnerability, culture, greenery, and the kind of candid storytelling that stays with you.

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🔗 Links & How to Connect with Astrid Jerez
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📍 Get in Touch with Astrid:
- Vivatia Plant Care Services and Botanical Workshop: https://www.instagram.com/vivatiaplants/ & https://www.vivatiaplants.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/astridajerez/

📍Resources:
- https://www.domestika.org/en for online courses

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Sponsor Feature: Red Cat Coffee House
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This episode is brought to you by Red Cat Coffee House and their Landmark Series Coffees. You can find the coffee blends online at https://theredcatcoffeehouse.com/shop/ at your Red Cat locations, or at your local Piggly Wiggly.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:14 Tropical Plants and Mérida’s Caribbean Debate
• 6:59 Vivid Memories and Life Under Dictatorship
• 12:30 Partying with Her Older Sister and Building a Strong Bond
• 15:20 Distance, Connection, and Long-Distance Bonds
• 19:48 Power Outages and Venezuelan Warmth
• 26:25 Adapting to the U.S. from Venezuela
• 30:00 Facing Workplace Challenges
• 33:21 Deportation Fears & Visa Juggling
• 36:25 My Dad Disappeared Overnight
• 42:14 Saving Lives Without Tools
• 47:31 Venezuelan Roots, U.S. Soil
• 53:39 Feels Like Jail—I Can’t Leave
• 1:00:17 Truth, Dare or Debunk
• 1:15:00 El Pesebre: More Than Decor
• 1:21:58 Bullying as Humor
• 1:24:34 Pastelitos, Plantains & Pride
• 1:29:29 Bonding in the Fuel Line

Transcript

0:00

hi I'm Alexandra Lloyd a French Canadian who's called Birmingham Alabama home since 2,017 welcome to from where to here the podcast that celebrates the rich diversity of languages cultures and the stories that connect us all each month I'll sit down with inspiring guests from different backgrounds to explore their cultures languages and tackle some fun in our truth there or debunk segment whether you're a language enthusiast a culture lover or just curious about the world you're in the right place let's dive into your next favorite cultural adventure from where to here is independently produced by me crafted with curiosity culture and a little bit of coffee today I'm joined by someone whose passion for plants is truly inspiring Astrid Herres is the resident plant expert at Vividia Plant Care Services a Birmingham based business dedicated to helping people enjoy thriving indoor plants without the stress of upkeep with over a decade of experience in tropical plant care Astrid has a deep knowledge of how to nurture lush vibrant greenery originally from mérida Venezuela she moved to the US in 2021 bringing her expertise and enthusiasm to plant lovers here I'm very excited to dive into her journey her best plant care tips and why she believes anyone can cultivate a green thumb welcome Astrid hello there thanks so much for joining me today thank you for the invitation I think this is my first formal podcast okay well which is great absolutely I'm very happy to have you on we were talking plants a little earlier cause I do love my plants even though I don't think I really take such good care of them I mean they look pretty good right now they're alive um my husband is a big helper with plants too he he actually waters them he reminds me nice and he will do it more I think than I actually well we appreciate that like that is not common at all and um I wanna learn more especially tropical plants I have a personal affinity with tropical plants good and I'm curious to hear where that comes from for you let let's just go and and maybe you you share that with us cause absolutely so tropical plants I it's weird cause some people from Venezuela do not consider Merida which is the city where I'm from part of the Caribbean so it's not like a tropical city I do not agree with that of course I'm part of the Caribbean or people from the Andes is part of the Caribbean as well anyways um we have a different plant world in our city pretty similar most of these plants can thrive over there but of course they are not native if that makes sense so we have our traditional plants which a lot of them are cactuses and succulents actually like our traditional flower or plant is the frailejon I don't know how to say that in English but it's a beautiful succulent that only thrives in cold weather so some of succulents and cacti are considered tropical plants but this one only thrives in cold weather so it's just crazy you know that is strange I know um beautiful by the way they grow really slow but they they are really old plant there are really old plants in Merida that can be like 30 years old and they can be like my height is it the only place that they live in these these thrive I will say in the Andes Mountains mostly but they will not be common in like other cold areas'cause even though it's cold I will always say that it's different from here or other colds I have experiment before like in this country in general and you said it can be as tall as you yes hahaha they're crazy big and they're like fuzzy so when you're hiking they're really cool to see and like touch and experiment with them so for those who can't see us right now um are you saying like 5 5 5 2 5 2 yeah okay even taller but that means that the plant is older and older wow so or do they live forever I don't know if that's a fair question to ask interesting I I would love to know that I I will think uh huh but forever is relative as well so yeah just weird it's really sad cause of course Venezuela being a really problematic country and people don't really take care of its nature of course there are a lot of activism and besides that but from a government perspective they could care less you know I see and when you say you mention I think the plant is not native or you mention something about being native or not being native so if it's not native then what does that mean it comes from another country native plants will mean that pollinators of that area let's say bees and butterflies and all these little guys that help us thrive um they they will be more healthy consuming the native plants from that area correct but when they are not native plants the problem is that plant can be an invader like just take up so much space and start cutting off space from other plants that are native from that region that's why it's so hard and so um bad when people travel with plants without being conscious about it of course it's illegal pretty much but um or you need a lot of permits but you shouldn't do it if you are not an expert on it I see I see there are plants that are already in the US that you can travel around with but of course you need to be careful right um even when I was coming here I had like a seed necklace and I was like oh I'm worried if they're gonna let me in with this necklace I mean if you're gonna check my stuff yeah of course they don't they don't care they're not really looking for that kind of stuff when you're traveling from another country but it's just it can be dangerous you know so she travel by plane mostly is that what you're saying yeah through TSA and um so you had a seed necklace yes like so made of little seeds oh you made that no no it's just like artisan work definitely oh wow so you you could literally use these seeds and plant and get not really they're already preserved and like painted and coated like okay okay they are gone so you are safe I introduce you saying you're from Venezuela what are some of the most vivid memories from your childhood in Venezuela whether it was traditions daily life or just any special moment that shape who you are today or I think or that you think it shaped the way you are today you know absolutely it's hard when you come from a country with a dictator government and of course I don't want to get too dark in here and like super sad but it's a reality like I don't think I had a normal teenager years the opposite is completely different and I still enjoy it so much um I think I was privileged to be honest pretty privileged but my day today wasn't oh you know normal and just get an ice cream and that's it it was pretty closed like I need to be in my house most of the time cause there there was war going on outside and it was dangerous for you or there wasn't electricity you know and it was I remember in 2,019 we spent a whole week without power in a country in a whole country and you will say like oh whatever you don't have like signal you cannot watch TikTok but it's like well there are not power in hospitals so there's people actually pretty in a pretty bad situation right now all the food was rotted so you couldn't buy groceries or you couldn't go to the supermarket you couldn't get gas and travel somewhere else it's just chaotic so some of my most vivid memories was covid for many people too many people for different reason but and I was like OK I'm ready for this cause I've been in my home the whole time and finally this is not a government issue is more like a worldwide issue um but on the positive side I used to be with my friends a lot I think I was with my friends every single hour of my day I used to live in this small village it was called Campo Claro which means like clear field it's so weird translating words but we were pretty close to each other it was a huge community of people and we were together all the time even we have like our own economy going on in some way it was it's really weird to explain but on the right what do you mean by that your own economy you were kind of growing your own vegetables and selling them kind of or there was it also my city and this is important to highlight it is a University City so there most of the people there was a professional like a teacher at the university or a student over there so there were a lot of people creating like their own shampoo and like soap and selling it and they were creating that at home so I remember there was a season of my life that I was just consuming these products from my neighbors yeah so I would not say like vegetables cause it wasn't that big but definitely like a small products like that or like cheese um they were pretty local like literally neighbor local and I really miss that too oh yeah if it's handmade by your neighbor I mean food gifts by neighbors are the best I know and we are we really on quarantine time on quarantine moment pretty sad cause most of the neighbors were gone at by that time they emigrated to another country and they left their land by themselves so the neighbors that we were still there we planted a lot of things so they have a lot of things I never planned at that time I was really young and thinking about other things in life I guess yeah but I steal a lot of food from them I was like I want hibiscus I'm getting hibiscus here I want Rosemary I'm getting it here and well it was a community we it's not really stealing if you think about it it's sharing okay uh huh um so it was pretty it was pretty I I miss my friends a lot and I think that was my biggest shock coming here and being by yourself most of the time can you tell us how old were you so you were born in Merida Venezuela yes and no so I used to live in a smaller town from Merida called Tovar in Tovar used to be pretty small we only have one street light in the whole town it was like a super mini town I cannot explain but um I live over there until I was 10 years old and we kept traveling to Tobar until I was like 13 cause my parents they are both doctors and they have a lot of um patients over there to attend but after I was 10 we live we moved to that big city that was still super small compared to other cities in even Venezuela um and we lived there until I was 19 that I moved here so your teenage years you were that's kind of those moments it seems like that were maybe stronger more vivid and yeah I remember from the town um I my my parents had this rule like I had an older sister and they were like you cannot go out without your little sister so I was partying at 4 like at 9 years old just going with my 14 year old sister to parties and all that I was having the best time of my life OK um it was crazy and now I look back and I'm like what are what you were thinking about that doesn't make sense yeah I enjoy it though at least cause can you imagine being dragged down by your oldest sister because you have to go to places and you don't wanna go that would have been a cool little sister you were yeah obviously and she was a cool old sister but um a good memory I would think we walk a lot it was a small town like you could literally walk it back and forth all day long and this this was I was like 8 or 9 when I Learned how to use public transportation with my sister of course um but we walk a lot and it's a small town so everyone was outside you could find literally everyone by just walking there um so it was pretty cool too I enjoyed my days there that's great are you still close to your sister super close um she's living in Argentina right now she moved when I was 15 she was nineteen and she traveled a lot she went to Canada she lived over there six months then United States then Argentina um and I saw her once since then on 2021 that is when I moved here although we haven't seen each other physically our love for each other just has grown so much like we are closer than ever if that makes sense what do you think it's due to is what what what do you think is the reason that your bond has remained so strong despite the distance well I think for once emigrating was like something that connects us even more cause it was like now I can feel what you felt all those years to what you said emigrating oh like moving to the US yes like like just click being an adult and like hey you're an adult you've been an adult since you were 19 I've been an adult since I was 19 as well so having all these memories and or or like all these lifehood experiences and like discovering the world separate from each other is the way we connect it sounds crazy but it's like oh this happened to me today and she's like well this happened to me today and I think if I have a problem I will call her first she's like yes my sister hahaha how do you like to communicate with each other and I'm asking that because I think a lot of times you know distance can create some type of separation with people and I mean they say even friendship obviously family members but you know it's it's still like a close relationship that um whether you're related by blood or not um I'm a believer that effort needs to be put in the relationship absolutely and sometimes distance might bring you apart and some people rather communicate by like Facetime you know where you see the person other times it's just text because it's more convenient I know I do a lot of audio messages I love them well um do you have a preferred method of communication or does it vary how so I have different opinions in what you say cause I think when you emigrate automatically all your friends are like cacti plants you know like you can explain this for you can neglect them oh absolutely like you don't need to talk to them every day you don't need to talk to them every week my best friend I haven't talked to her since December but she's there you know and we love each other and she just sent me like a voice note that we record when we were like 16 years old and it's like we're still there but we are not there if that's yeah but you left it you pick you're able to pick back or pick back pick back on where you left it absolutely um and of course life just changes and with my sister we communicate a lot through WhatsApp um I have some American friends they ask me why you use WhatsApp and I'm like well we don't have iPhones in Venezuela and around the world like it's a more inclusive like phone inclusive platform so we talk through there and I think we message a lot for like common things she uses my bank account cause she lives in Argentina so she cannot anyways it's legal OK there's there's hahaha it's completely but what do you hahaha well because there's regulation there's restrictions well to own a bank account she's a tattoo artist so a lot of people paid her pay her through Paypal but for some reason she couldn't connect her Wells Fargo with her Paypal so she uses my Paypal and my Wells Fargo account so I'm like okay whatever I will not charge commission for this maybe in another time haha um but we do video calls and it's not like a 20 minute video call it needs to be like a two hour video call where we go through all our traumas and childhood childhood experiences and all that we definitely talk a lot to reminisce the past yeah the memories and and also the present you know like I'm not the same she used to I'm not the same I used to be she's not either um and everything is changing so much every day you know and so we just I'm sorry I'm sorry there are some deers over there oh yes uh they come are they real every day yes they are they were looking at me and I was like are these statues yeah that's crazy they're so cool okay I'll go there I need to make sure I do a close up on your face hahaha they're I mean we have at least 10 deers like tiny ones over there and I was like if you have a statues good for you but they're creepy hahaha yes our neighbor actually feeds them dry corn so they make sure to come every day about at around that time yeah they look good they look cute you mentioned that there are some you know strong memories from your childhood both in the the first city that you lived in and then in Merida were there any traditions that you still carry with you today that maybe you have with your sisters or any members of your family or even your friends uh when you live there I think when I I have some of my neighborhood friends living in the US and literally when we see each other it's like we're still in Venezuela you know just with money and like going to the beach in here so you didn't have money in the bag and now you're like we were teenagers just asking money to our parents like we didn't have money at all um yeah so that's cool like American experience um but I have a lot of good memories and most of them come from where we didn't have power when we didn't have power we just go out and talk to each other literally until the power comes back and we're talking that we spend like eight hours without electricity and during those eight hours we will talk about everything everything play volleyball just play like card games like we will we would just be on the streets like whatever but home um and although it wasn't a it wasn't like intentional I really enjoyed it but literally when the power just lights up it was like okay goodbye I have stuff to do see you tomorrow sure and that was fun haha it's weird it's weird come like transforming bad memories or frustrating memories into good ones but it is they're really good so two things that I'm curious one is how often would that happen every day every day you lose power yeah back in Venice I mean they they will be months that they were generous and maybe will be like a whole month with just two hours a day but they were seasons that will be like 12 hours and you will get the the power back for three hours and then gone for 12 more hours was this done on purpose is that what you're saying absolutely and what was the reason do you do you know are you able to expand on that as far as how that would work and what was the intent I mean first off if you if we get like scientific of course they never invest in like good power machines for the whole country or they never feed all this like water reserves and all that they never did any sort of maintenance or secondly for controlling people just control them control what they do control what they don't do and of course that keeps you away from information if you think about it if you spend 12 hours without access getting access to information that makes you an ignorant somehow and that's why they want you they don't want you to know the reality they don't want you to criticize what's happening and they just transform that abnormality into normality cause imagine someone like me living 20 years with that problem that is my reality I was here like oh my goodness when is gonna be the time that the light goes off oh never haha um so pretty much that and there will be more political explanations about it I know it happens the same on Cuba they don't get lied for many many hours and it's just the same strategy they do under this communism socialism um dictatorships and who was in power at that time during your time in Venezuela so there were two presidents um Chavez I need to drink water Chavez was the president until 2,012 or 13 um and then Maduro Maduro until now and Maduro was the vice president Chavez vice president so when he died he keep the same thing and same so same party got elected then because he was the vice president of that same party yes but Venezuela is not a democratic place sure sure sure like it it right now it's just a reflection of of that today's episode is brought to you by Red Cat Coffee House and their landmark series coffees as a cat lover I could not resist but introduce you specifically to this blend called Light Rails it features a cat on the label but not only that each blend features a landmark is inspired by a landmark of the city this one is inspired by our vibrant Rainbow Tunnel downtown and it has sweet fruits and mixed berries you can find the landmark series including blends like Iron Works Full Steam Ahead Alabama Audubon and John's Valley Trail either online at REDCAT locations or your local Biggley Wiggley it's coffee with a story and even with a feline charm on January 28 there was this big voting process where clearly the opposition won but the government said like okay I couldn't care less good for you like we're gonna still here and they're gonna do all the all the bad stuff just to stay in in the power there's there's a lot to do about it but there's not really a lot to do unless I don't know more war more death my other question was so I was asking you more about traditions so does that mean that you are re living the situation of not having power here to just bring back the memories no no um I would say regular traditions will be the way we talk to each other and the way we interact with each other like I feel Latino American people is really touchy good and bad way of course but we really touch each other a lot when we say hi we like cheek to cheek kiss each other hug each other and then hi how are you and same to say goodbye so let's say if there are 25 people in the party you need to do that for 25 people okay um and that is a tradition I still doing with my Latino American folks and more specifically Venezuelan folks cause I know Mexico has a different way to approach greetings or goodbyes haha is it one or two kisses one kiss one kiss okay hello and for you is it do you kiss on the cheek or is it just in the air cause like let's say French air yeah it's the air too OK cause I get that ask a lot actually and I'm like well I don't know let me think about it I know it's just the air it doesn't make sense it's not like I bet of course if there's a guy like flirting with you he would kiss your cheek you know what I mean hello yes yes yup could you take us back to the beginning of your journey and share what it was like to transition to life in the US from Venezuela for someone that you know may have lived their whole life in the US doesn't know what it's like to live in Venezuela what was it like for you to come here that transition if we go back and you said 2021 2021 okay I moved on February and I literally turned 20 when I came here so it was the same week um it was horrible hahaha it was horrible in all senses I think when you are in those situations your body doesn't really makes the difference by being chased by a tiger or being an immigrant in another country'cause it's the same fear you feel so your body and your mind isn't like supervivance uh huh is that a word there what what what is it say it again like survivance oh survivor it OK so your body and mind is in survivor mode like yup I'm not thinking I'm not analyzing I'm not questioning I'm just doing it that's it so I spent my first year being a server and more than oh being an immigrant whatever it was turning into an adult from one day to another like I used to be daddy can I have money oh there you go and here was like no you gotta work and you gotta work a lot and I came with this mentality of not staying here of course and I ended up staying but I was just like focused on working like I didn't have time for nothing but work and I was working like 12 hours a day seven days a week like I cannot explain how much what were you doing for work when you first arrived I was a server it was a Tetsuma's restaurant and I was a server there it was amazing cause I did a lot of money haha money that now I'm thankful for and but but it was too much it was such a big restaurant I walk a lot I started having problems with my feet like it was mentally and physically a lot and then I got a job as in a marketing agency it was more like an in internship and that I needed to do for my university studies that I graduate last year congrats Yay um so I I thought like oh this is the job of my dreams you know corporate America it's gonna be great everything but I also thought it about the oh now I can make friends side of it and I couldn't really it was really hard I I I didn't enjoy that experience to make new friends first yeah cause it was pretty difference like I was looking at all these girls like oh my daddy paid for my college and gave me a car and we are going to Paris next month and it's like okay all my friends are dying back in my country like I cannot be happy for you I'm sorry you can relate and I was and I was having this bad feelings for them instead of being like happy that there's privileged people in this world I was going through that transition at that moment yeah um after that experience I started on real estate and I was being surrounded more of adult people and also a lot of immigrants and I felt a little bit more um I like to them but it it was still hard like trying to fit in in a world that you were not made of cause I'm a hippie like what I was doing there it doesn't make sense so it was hard hard in always and language was a huge problem like you have no idea and a lot of bullying or maybe like discrimination in that side cause it's not like oh I know she knows it's like she not she cannot communicate properly I'm not gonna hire her which is totally fine but so was it your impression or did someone did an employer tell you that they will not tell you with exact words but you feel it like yeah there are words that they're there are attitudes that talk more than words so what happened in that moment so I remember or like in a specific situation there was I don't know if I should say this but I'm gonna tell it OK there was two realtors and one of them they were a team so one of them wanted to hire me she is Latina we had a we have a great relationship nowadays but her partner was really problematic and she was like no I don't I do not want to hire her and I'm pretty sure that was because I was Hispanic or other problems at the end of this I worked with this other realtor and indirectly with her for like 8 months and in those eight months I never had a position with her with the other realtor my realtor and I we love each other it was awesome time we were like chatting and laughing and all that and the other one was jealous you know so it was it was complicated a complicated situation I think people trying to take advantage of you and not really paying what you deserve and I think we all need to go through that season of your life so you can learn what is your value as a professional and as an employee cause you're a hard worker we are really hard workers we came here knowing that we need to work a lot to get the things we do so people take advantage of it that's my whole point yeah I'm curious you you brought up some great points and obviously a transition like that is not easy how did your sense of identity shift when you found yourself in America and were there any surprises things you didn't expect coming here where do I begin yeah um so my sense of identity I think it was so hard finding myself in another language like in Spanish I'm so funny like I love making people laugh and I think you're funny in English yeah but that took me four years okay okay um but that was my frustration like I cannot make jokes I don't understand their jokes like her sense of humor is not the same and I connect with a lot of people by humor and comedy so it was really hard and also no making like deep connections because of a language barrier I after a lot of time I think I am finding myself in another language and now I can make people laugh and that is beautiful'cause finally um and what was your other question well how uh what if there were any surprises surprises so I think this last two years is when I've been out of the fear zone and more in like okay now this is my reality and it's gonna be my reality for a long time so what's happening with everything going on right now I'm not gonna say names but it's horrible hahaha can you explain a little bit yes I think the first three months of this year I have never felt so anxious in my entire life because I literally thought we were all gonna be deported and like sent to our homes again and you will say like oh you just go back home and that's it no I could literally go to jail because my country is under a dictator and he's not gonna take me for like oh welcome to your country no you are you are a traitor so you're going to jail because you left Venezuela and I asked for asylum here so I'm literally saying oh it's dangerous over there I cannot come back just for clarification when you ask for asylum what does that mean and what does that involve what does that mean so I have many legal processes going on sorry now it's time to yeah get comfortable haha we're comfy here I might do the same here oh yeah I love it I'll join you yeah cause these these chairs are actually really nice to criss cross applesauce I know I love it this is one of the most comfortable positions for me I agree same when I work um I guess I was about to say at my office but when yeah when I work at my desk this is the position that wins over and without shoes like you cannot do this with shoes like I'm sorry yeah employers but you need to get used to this um so I have different um legal processes going on the first one and the one where my partner is and why we decide to stay here is the TPS is a temporary protected status that President Biden allow for Venezuelans pretty much when you come here you ask for that program cause you your country is not in conditions to have people anymore or have you anymore so we applied through that program and it was accepted and all that and at the beginning of this year they say that they we will not renew our work permits or anything and that was really hard cause we bought a house I have a business like I built my life and people say like oh but it was a temporary protected status but it's like OK but temporary how much four years is a lifetime people have children in four years so thank goodness they they like this program is still going and we are safe for now but things can change every single day so it's just hard and when you ask for asylum basically means that you and your family are in danger and you need a story to tell the about why you are in danger it's not like oh I'm just asylum because I don't want to come back no like you really need a you really need to tell something or justify so my dad used to be a hospital direct director and you can imagine you literally need to be in contact with the government a lot of time and a lot of problems in the hospital going on but the most recent problem we had and was one of the main reasons we came here there was this German a journalist going to Venezuela and he got dengue which is a mosquito sickness and we are using the tick huh is it the tick no when you get a tick uh huh is it that what that mosquito it's called a tick like the white leg mosquito I don't know but it gives you a a disease where you can no longer eat certain type of food well there are many um sickness going on with mosquitoes like every year there was a new pandemic because of mosquitoes in Venezuela cause it's tropical country so this I mean we are used to it like a fever is not a problem for us or all this big problems cause you can get really bad but this guy got it and he couldn't go to the hospital not for insurance problems cause health is free in Venezuela paid through taxes not or not really I mean it's free but there's no resources like okay the doctor is free and it's like okay you need to take this pill but we don't have it and the whole country doesn't have it either so hmm that's it's free yeah okay um so this guy got this sickness and my dad helped him privately and like attend him and all that and this guy was put into jail and was a political it was retained politically and strategically but anyways literally EL7 which is like a scary people in Venezuela scary entity the group mm hmm OK they call my dad like hey you help this guy why and they took my dad I remember that they um I didn't knew anything about my dad the whole day my mom wasn't in the country at that time my sister either it was just the two of us and that was really weird my dad is the person that always have has his phone with him and one of his colleagues called me like hey no very good news he it's been retained I don't know what's gonna happen but I just wanted to let you know and I was like holy shit yeah how old were you at that time I was 18 it was really recent okay and I was like Jesus this is gonna be bad like they could murder him and just throw him anywhere and we will never know about him anymore hopefully they released him like the same day or next day I don't really remember and he was okay but we were under their watch just by helping a journalist what did they want well the journalist was against the government and he just wanted to showcase all the atrocities that were happening in Venezuela obviously so anyone that helped him in some way will be down with him too what about the group why did they took your dad they are with the government and they I don't know what the name means I would love to there are many entities in Venezuela that are like part of their National Guard but not good people they are not really with it with the people they are with the government sure so they pretend to be with the people though a really bad try I must say cause they are horrible um so yeah so you know then they're with the government they're they're not playing absolutely I mean anyone any any entity that is supposed to take care of the people is not taking care of the people at all they are with the government they have arms and they are not defending the people they are defending the government are you allowed to bear arms as a citizen in Venezuela curious good question and that was one of our fears when my dad was took cause at some point in Venezuela you could have arms of course you can you need to do like this attempt and all these things and you have your little license yeah but then when this new government started they stop allowing that license so you couldn't have arms um it's strategic right yeah so my dad has his his arms and when he called me when he was released he was like go and hide them cause if they discover that they can literally arrest me or something bad can happen does that mean you buy them on the black market uh is that how you call that absolutely he didn't because they were old arms but definitely people do or even the government gives arms to like civils just to like be camouflage with the people I see if that makes sense I see interesting yeah everything is haha um that's very interesting all that you're saying I I don't think I was aware of that I I know very little about Venezuela so it's interesting to hear a little bit more about the functioning of it as a country and you know what it's like to live there you mentioned your parents both parents working in the medical field yeah how then do you do your job if you don't have resources how do you access also drugs if they're needed for a patient like how does that work with your nails like I literally think Venezuelan doctors are the best doctors in the world cause being a good doctor is not having all the resources in the world is doing a lot with no resources and they were literally do like surgeries without power without resources without nothing and that's pretty crazy I remember my mom at some point in Venezuela if you were pregnant and you wanted to get give birth you will need to bring like a whole list of supplies that you will need to bring to the hospital in order to have your procedure done plus gas in a bottle'cause if the power goes off there was like a little power machine that was fed by gas to keep the light running and you will need to be in charge of bringing that gas to make the machine work oh wow hahaha the patient yeah so um what kind of medicine do your parents do my mom is a gynecologist and obstetrician and my dad is an internist what does that do the internist it's like a the pediatrician of the adult so it's like everything but nothing specifically but if you have like a heart problem you will need to go with him so he can examine everything and not only the heart if that makes sense okay okay that's scary to give birth in those conditions oh yeah or really any type of procedure well even in this conditions here yeah it's scary hahaha let's not talk about it okay let's we're not yet into the segment would you if this is would you rather have a procedure or give birth or fill the blank right one of these procedure um I guess is it considered a procedure unless you do um giving birth I don't know if I can call that a procedure I know I know right but a medical intervention of some sort that's maybe like would you rather do it in the US or in Venezuela good question cause I would love to have it done by my mom I don't care where just my mom um cause I have like everything covered you know my dad can do like some stitches if I'm my dad my mom can they're actually my doctors here too like I'm a mom let's go to the bathroom check something underneath like it it is what it is convenient I don't trust anyone else hahaha and and I have a lot of people like Venezuelan people complaining that their obstetrician or gynecologist don't even touch them and it's like how you're gonna know there's something wrong if you don't go down there and check it for yourself you know is it typical in Venezuela cause I mean no here when you say they don't touch them I mean they need to use um you know they need to go in there and yeah they need to do I mean with gloves and and yeah yeah of course like we we could have gloves oh sorry and coming back to supplies mm hmm so every part of the country work differently we literally took the resources where we could get them so my state is really close to Colombia like you can go to Colombia through cars or even walking um my state is not really close like to go walking but there were some parts that you could so a lot of things were coming from Colombia literally most of the of Colombia's economy was happening in that in that um border cause Colombia wasn't feeding Colombia anymore he was feeding Colombia and Venezuela so all the food all the medical supplies everything and of course kind of bad cause the prices were really high and there's people that just cannot afford it so only privileged people can get access to it but they were other other parts like my partner their family is from Brazil sorry from an area that is close to Brazil and their economy is completely different their economy is based in gold so you were going you were going to the market with gold powder like oh give me whatever pack of chips and they will count the grams of gold and give you the product interesting crazy and they will get most of their supplies from Brazil or surrounded countries and then they resell that gold to American countries maybe I have no clue I would love to know that but Northern American let's say country let's say they all the gold mines are in this state which is Bolivar in Amazonas oh so they get all the gold there and all their economy is based on that and of course that they export a lot of gold through the country and the world that's interesting I'm curious given the strong cultural ties you have to your home country do you feel like this has shaped your approach to how you care for plants a lot um to be honest I used to love cacti and succulents in Venezuela they were my babies like I had I had this huge collection I it was insane I was sick about cacti and succulents but I never pay attention to tropical plants or any sort of any other plant not even veggies herbs or anything do I regret a lot cause it's like it was the perfect weather like everything could thrive over there but when I moved here I was like I need to come back to my happy place and my safe place so I started experimenting with other house and of course they were all dying cause it's not the same weather it's not the same condition nothing at all so I was like learning from scratch how to take care of house plants how to keep them alive how this works and I started reading books a lot of TikTok a lot of YouTube um in courses and classes and I was like okay this is I've been doing all of this like instinctively but not really with research and data sure until now so what kind of uh classes have you taken where would you how did you hear about it do you have someone that kind of guide you through or did you find these by yourself I think it was more like kill the plant and learn what happened you know like oh if I put this plant here what happens oh it dies or oh or at least in Venezuela like a little um leaf for my succulent fail and then there was a whole new plant coming out of it why like it was super experimenting and then I was like okay it will be easier if I read a little bit but anyways um there there there's not a structure that I did for this it was more like learning what I needed at that time there are a lot of good books I can recommend maybe we can leave them yeah down absolutely um but there is a platform called Domestica Domestic um they offer a lot of courses of any type like herbalism or marketing or photography or concrete that I also work with concrete and I think that most of my brand has been built in this course platform cause you learn a lot and you buy the course the specific one you want it's pretty cool very nice and is this all online uh huh very cool we've been talking about tropical plants it makes me think about island life and if you let's say let's just hypothetically okay there's three things you can bring on an island what do you bring with you I hate this questions cause I'm gonna get to like survival you know so a knife and then food yeah whatever but if we're living do you actually bring a plant or what I'm just curious and if so which one if you think about it there are gonna be plants in the island potentially and they're gonna be coconuts probably yeah for cocoa plants and I will be happy with cocoa plants my whole life so probably a knife just to open them up and drink the water haha um I will probably bring a book maybe about plants but maybe about saline plants so I can know about them and also or maybe a book about sea life what are selling plants I I just invented this but it's like plants that live in salty water or like yeah yeah salt areas yeah Celine is that how it's called you said you made that up I just made that up okay hahaha I think you say that but I understood I thought that's what I just want to make sure yeah I think I learn English most of the time guessing what I'm saying a lot of words that are similar yeah haha cause yes cause there are so many words that are similar they are similar for sure what was the third thing oh the third thing probably a lot of medical supplies yeah I'm a doctor's child yeah so yeah literally I was opening my my medicine cabinet and I was like my goodness no one needs this much medicine like my mom just gives me medicine every time she sees me like it's her comfort zone you know like I know my baby is healthy or has like medicine if anything happens totally so good totally it's good you you it's interesting because you it seems like you that caring aspect of them oh yeah you you took it but now you're giving back to plants yeah my you care for plants and they care for humans and I think my mom gave me a lot of plant love as well cause she used to have a huge collection of orchids her thing was orchids purely and literally I don't know why they were living and thriving so much my mom never pay attention to them but it was crazy cause every time she was like down or something they will bloom and not like one bloom it was like it was like a house full of blooms all over it was beautiful and I Learned that they really hear you you know and now same is happening to me with my plants when I'm down they will bloom or my orchid bloom this year on my birthday week coincidence I don't think so you were down on your birthday week it's always a mixed feeling now cause I'm getting older I know I'm only 24 but I'm getting older and it's like I don't know where I'm going I know where I'm where I came from but sometimes I don't know where I'm going if that makes sense is that so it's it's giving you anxiety to think about well I try not to think about it cause anxiety is with me all day long I think not having a citizenship here is a big part of my anxiety just because I'm a I'm in jail I cannot leave the country I cannot travel the world or no other places and this was the first place I came so which is great it's a wonderful place I know it has problems as any other country really bad problems um but it's still a good place to be somehow or I tried to convince myself about it did you get to pick the country you were coming to when you submit your asylum so you it's not like oh I wanna you know sure it's I came here so I'm asking asylum here but if you go to Canada you can ask asylum there but they are just so many differences like I have my cousin she went to Canada and in 6 years with an asylum she became a citizen this year I've been here 4 years and I don't see anything happening in the horizon for the next 5 years if we can say so yeah that's an interesting place to be you're you're kind of stuck in the middle maybe it it's also removing a piece of you that can say yes I belong even though you do belong but you will never belong you will always be the immigrant that is here I hate when I'm here and I'm talking to a customer and the first thing they ask is oh where are you from and it's like I'm not talking where I'm from you are just noticing my face my hair and my accent so you never pay attention to anything I said but thinking where I'm from and then you say Venezuela and they are like and where is that and it's like what the fuck you ask don't ask I think it's like bad behavior like I used to be super friendly about it like oh so nice thank you for noticing like whatever but now I'm like stop it it's unrespectful it's unrespectful yeah what do you think is the better approach don't ask I'm a person like anyone else no no but um better approach cause you said that was like the bet the first thing maybe that you get asked and and yeah it's kind of like no maybe getting to know you exactly like I don't mind if it's in like a friendly conversation like I'm I'm meeting you you are asking that's completely normal like let's be real that's normal but if you are being in a customer service area and you are just talking to a customer or to a stranger and the fifth question they ask is that sometimes they don't do it in a friendly way mm hmm and it's just like mmm yeah I don't I don't like it I'm not asking you where are you from and you're probably not from here either and I feel like that question or or that comment comes back often and my reaction to or when I think about this scenario I know the person doesn't mean it that way I know but but it's kind of you want to be you want to be asked questions around about other things like you wanna get like a conversation like others would have because it often is about that one thing exactly that OK maybe that's what my face says haha but I wanna be known for other things or I wanna I wanna get I want you to get curious about the the the quality of the service that I'm offering or yeah or it's like I'm not coming from Canada that can be a little bit less problematic so I say oh I'm from Venezuela and people answer oh so cool and it's like what's cool about it I don't have you read the news like it doesn't make sense like I'm not gonna I'm not gonna fight and so there's kind of a lack of education but it's like I don't know how to react either it's like oh how cool that you've been under a dictator your entire life and most of your friends are around the world like sure so many things there there's more stories behind it there's a there's a weight that's tied and it's still if there is a I will talk about Latino America I don't know about the rest of the world but if there's a Hispanic in here it's not because oh it's the US how fun it's because we are breaking our backs working hard every day to have a better future for us and our family and if you disrespect that in any way you get mad cause you're tired you know being underpaid not having rights oh that's where and that that's a good I think transition to our truth there and debunk segment what are some of the rights that you don't have as a person of not being a citizen you you know you ask for asylum where where does that how does that fit into the world how we know it today so if you ask me that this question a few years ago I will say like oh there's no difference I just cannot leave the country and that's it because we all pay or insurance we all pay or taxes we all pay the same things right but literally I don't have rights right now because all my rights can be removed by a single law right now they can say you know what no more asylum cases are gonna be processed you need to leave your leave the country and okay I have a house like how can I sell it literally I have family putting their children under the custody of an American citizen cause if they have to leave the country the children is an American citizen but you're not and they are not Venezuelan so they cannot go to Venezuela when people ask me I've been five years with my partner and they are like when are you having children and I'm like when I have a passport somewhere that I feel safe I cannot have children like this so even your children born in America would not get the American citizenship they are trying to remove that right now but for now they can but if I get deported they need to stay here so then yeah you separate from them it's really bad now I'm blessed about having a work permit and a Social Security number but many of my friends they've been here for years and generations like and cousins whatever and none of them have rights cause they came when they were like 3 years old are you allowed to vote no of course no but I pay my taxes sure still and I help the economy and all that but I cannot vote that is a good point let's do the game now yeah let's go what would you like to do truth dare or debunk first and I can explain I can explain real quick so for each round you'll choose either truth dare or debunk uh truth where you share surprising cultural fact a dare like teaching us a phrase in your native language which is by the way ha ha coño de LA Madre ha ha I understood that ha ha ha ha Spanish yes or a debunk where you clarify a common stereotype about your culture let's start with um there what would you like to teach us so the first word will be arrecho Arrecho is a really complicated word in our language cause it can means a lot of things it can mean that you are brave it can mean that you are mad you're really mad like oh my it's not like oh mad no it's like I'm gonna hit someone or it could be you are powerful she's such a great woman you know so many things in what context would you use it let's say she is a Richard because she bought her own house so she's so a Richard like she she did it she made it or he is a richo he's gonna kill him like run'cause he's coming for you he's mad mm hmm he's super mad you know something interesting in Venezuela we we joke a lot about killing I know this is a weird word but I'm like oh Lord Lord I'm gonna kill him but we we don't really mean it at all it's just a joke and here I use it in my language too and I was like no I'm they're gonna send me to a psychiatrist here cause you cannot say those things um but it now cultural differences yeah but now I realize like it's really powerful even when you say it in Spanish or English like we shouldn't say that but anyways um arrecho would you say it's specific to Venezuela in Venezuela you say that more than like let's say would you say that to a Mexican friend I think it's a oh arrecho uh huh it's only Venezuelan OK OK only Venezuelan cool love that another one truth or dare debunk hmm truth what's a surprising cultural fact about your culture something that you hear a lot about that we hear a lot about that's actually true I don't know if this is all Latino America but in Venezuela we love to party a lot or reunite it starts at 9 years old yeah literally I got drunk my first time when I was 13 oh wow like drunk and that is crazy if you think about it like it's young it really young and I was I I was always the youngest of all my group friends so at this moment of my life I don't wanna drink alcohol anymore so like pros and cons but we love partying a lot we party for everything and it's not like oh a children's party no like after 7 the children's party is gonna be an adult party and all the kids need to sleep or find something to do like we just party a lot and I say this because when everyone was immigrating from Venezuela there was a lot of goodbye parties and of course it was like sad depending on the person but it was just an excuse to just go and drink and of course celebrate the person but just get drunk and talk yeah what does it look like a Venezuela like a party uh huh depends on of the age of course I was really young so my is there a lot of dancing we dance a lot um most of my neighbors and I were in like salsa classes so every time we were reunited we would do it was like casino salsa dance which is a dance that you do in a circle so you are rotating partners so it was like a big circle of people dancing and rotating their partners but in a duo exactly like 1 to 1 but 1 to 1 but rotate so you change partner so one person keep changing and the other stay stationary exactly the man stay stationary and the men and the women rotate so it will it was dancing a lot and of course her dance is not like no it's like shake booty dance you know so a lot of that a lot like I think it's very sexy I love absolutely I love it I used to study in a only nuns in Catholic girls school oh really nice my whole life entire life in Venezuela mm hmm with only women and nuns but when the nuns or the teachers were not in the classroom we were twerk and like practice you know like teach me that how you did it we have like videos of like 20 girls like twerking and learning how to twerk iconic honestly oh wow best years of my life so far so funny a lot of dancing um a lot of drinking they love drinking like drinking culture is a lot I think here people have like weed culture and like other substance and over there I think alcohol was so normalized that even kids I remember as a kid drinking like a whole glass of whiskey thinking it was like orange juice cause I was tired and like sweat and my dad had it there and instead of them freaking out they were like laughing like hahaha it tastes bad you know like hahaha dumb and no one cares no one really cares oh wow interesting yeah and you're saying sweaty'cause it's so hot um yeah or you were dancing we are always in movement and talking a lot and also playing like the bottle game and kissing with everyone oh okay as a teenager or as a teenager or adult as a adult I wasn't in those parties okay but also I think most of the parties were friendly with children there was drinking and alcohol and all of this but there was always children at least in like adult parties and there was always a space for them too so that's something cool so do people just sleep over if they drink so much or absolutely yeah OK yeah I remember having huge sleepovers even for my birthday like 10 people stay in my place like it was just so normal they always making an appearance now I really wanted you to do a debunk something that people assume is true but it's actually not there is no racism in Venezuela and this is like even a common misconception I I used to have like when I came here I was like oh racial problems that's only America you know or oh Canada or whatever and then I met this girl she's one of my best friends here she's Ori and she's a black Venezuelan girl and she was like look I'm not gonna punch you cause I respect you but you need to learn a lot and first off I think a lot of people is privilege for being white in Venezuela and that's terrible and privilege in ways that oh if a white person has a motorcycle oh he's rich but if a dark person has a motorcycle is a criminal I think Venezuela doesn't have the common African American dark tone is many other tones but they're still black and there are a lot of problems around it not problems but racial problems let's say all women need to do like keratin on their hair cause having curly hair is not allowed or is not pretty and any beauty pageant is gonna be ban like no this is this is not a standard yeah they don't they don't include that in the beauty standard oh absolutely no um or if they have it they are not gonna win hahaha um also like oh you need to improve your race like you can you need to date white people to improve your race when I move here my parents were like oh you need to date a white guy or an American guy to improve your race and I'm like are you kidding me like it first it's not gonna happen cause no but it's just crazy and third I remember this little cousin she was born and her dad was black and she was black and all my aunts were reunited around the crib like oh she's gonna get lighter you know like give it some time she's gonna get lighter and it's like no it's not and she's a beautiful beautiful woman now she's so big just crazy um but things like that that they are normalized maybe we don't have there are different problems of course if you notice people that dark people or like black people in Venezuela are the ones on the poorest places too so it's still like a government problem that they don't have the opportunities of having good schools good educations fair salaries and a fair life and of course because of that they can take the bad route yeah I'm glad you're able to shed some light on that because especially if you've never been you don't know what it's like a lot of people normalize in Venezuela like we call each other Hola mi Negro which means like hello my black and that is normal that is like love that could be expressed by love and because of that principle they say oh there's no racism in Venezuela cause I can call him Hola mi Negro and he's not offended by that and it's like okay but all your other attitudes say that you're a racist cause if that guy starts if you're dating your white girl then no you need to improve your race so you will tell that Hola mi Negro to oh yeah it's super normal okay like I have a lot of friends that I will say mi Negro how are you it's been a long time whatever does that friend call you like that too no okay just cause when you're actually is but it's a it's a love but there is a loving way a lot of people like my dad used to call me like me Negra and it's like that come on like like I'm not offended by any chance but it's an offense for them that you're telling a white person or me Negra just because you're a little bit darker like white darker if that makes sense and it's like no that is not correct light brown light brown yeah correct were there any other aspects of your culture that you wanna debunk just wanna make sure I give you that opportunity with all the situation in Venezuela there was a lot of immigrants that went to a lot of countries there are a lot of Venezuelans in Colombia Argentina Chile United States all around the world like all my friends are around the world and there's people that didn't have opportunities if you are born and raised in a really complicated country where you literally need to fight because of food and you emigrate that are those are the behaviors you're taking with you I'm not justifying criminals at all cause there's bad people just because they're they wanna be bad but now we're all being categorize under that principle like all you're all criminals most of the Venezuelans in the United States we're talking about more than 60% they are professionals with university degrees and that that was one of the big reasons why TPS is a still running in the country because they realized well if you compare Venezuelan criminality versus Americans criminality is so low the Venezuelan one that it just doesn't make sense you are trying to push them out of the country so it's just feel bad when people point at you just for where you're from and not for who you are so now I'm saying like oh I'm from whatever Argentina as in give me whatever other country this is too much no do you wanna do one more yep a truth or a dare let's do a dare we're gonna say chevere chevere I've heard that one chevere I like it chevere means good everything that is good in life not not literally this but oh the food was chevere your chevere which is like friendly um or it can be the weather is chevere everything is chevere you know like in Spanish how would that sound what you just said like a whole sentence yeah um I'm gonna talk super Venezuelan okay Marico Ella era superchévere íbamos a LA Plaza Nos comíamos unos helados y chévere Marico estábamos ahí OK can you translate it now yeah yeah I mean oh another thing we in Venezuela we say Marico Marico means to mean in another countries gay but we never mean it in like a gay way it's like bro like hey bro how are you hey sis how are you when I came here I was calling all my Mexican friends Marico Epale Marico and they were like and I was like if you get offended yeah that's your problem I'm gonna keep saying Mariko until the day I die because I love it but we use it a lot like start a sentence Mariko finish a sentence Mariko everywhere so you have to do that in order for it to be Venezuelan yeah OK OK so it's kind of part of I'll use my generation yeah my generation is like that so I said Mariko do you remember what you said yeah um she's really chivalry cause we were in in the downtown eating ice cream and we had such a great time love it that's something love it more or less thank you thank you for that now let's jump to the kind of last segment that I have I wanna talk a little bit about culture religion I know we touched a little bit on politics but kind of like how that ties into your own beliefs can you paint a picture of what daily life was like for you growing up in Merida Venezuela what were some of the most important customs or tradition you celebrated I feel really bad with my ancestors cause I don't celebrate many of them you don't I don't and especially cause my parents are not from Merida either my mom is from Colombia and my dad is from Nicaragua so they adopt those traditions but they were not given some of them oh and another thing it's really curious when I tell to my other Venezuelan friends like oh this traditions and they're like what are you talking about that is pretty niche anyways and married that we do the para dura which is holiday tradition is after Christmas time it's usually between January and February 15 or 14 um and we celebrate Jesus life of course but it's a ritual just to wow I need to get deeper here okay so in Venezuela we do this called El Pesebre El Pesebre is having Jesus Maria and Baby Jesus like the figures and like a whole setup for them super decorated people use like tiny houses tiny sheets and like other figures and we believe in los Tres Reyes magos I don't know how this is known in English but it's this three guys that went to Jesus and gave like all this yeah the gold the whatever the the I don't know how you call them in English actually I don't know but there's always those three men that fall the three men so we have the three men if you know your if you know the story my mom is so disappointed right now I forgot everything but but okay we have this whole setup that some houses can take like a whole room just dedicated to this almost like an altar during the paradura we sing a lot and it's in order to remove the preservative from the house so we celebrate the stolen kid which is like a house has stole baby Jesus and we need to go and find where baby Jesus is when you translate this tradition it doesn't really make sense but I promise it makes sense and of course it's an excuse to reunite eat we have some traditional food going on we have um bizcochuelo which is like a piece of cake but made with it's an specific flavor OK it's uh huh it's really good but it's dry like a dry muffin kind of um and the second one we have and this is more Colombian oriented it wasn't an old the Andes area it is um LA Novena del niño jesús which is nine days before Jesus was born that we pray and we do a lot of singing and we reunite of course and eat and drink um important it finished on the 24th but it's like an instructor like you have like three prayers you need to say and then there's like a lecture of the day and it's the same every year but it's nine days before Jesus was born so every year growing up that's something that was very important to do yeah yeah my mom and you still do it sometimes my mom will literally call me to do it um and another pretty common is Saint week Semana Santa it is it happened right now like two weeks ago it happens during your Easter week it's like our Easter but pretty much a lot of church stuff like a lot I remember it's the whole week every day is a different thing to do but some that I can remember one was going to seven churches you need to visit seven temples and just admire what they do they do like beautiful setups and like traditions around it and all that second they do seven foods seven meals in one day for me different places too no and your house but you do like seven plates they just wanted to eat honestly that's my that's my excuse why 7 7 I don't know I don't know good question sorry mom um and the last I think it was on Saint Friday and at least in my church or the church I used to go they did like a whole procession of how Jesus Christ was sent away like when they crucify him and all that they did like a whole theater thing walk around the town with Jesus taking the how you call it the cross the cross oh it's the same word okay so he was taking the cross there was people dressed up there was a Maria there was people of the town crying for him like it was and people paid promises and some of them will walk on their knees or walk on their feet and it was a whole tradition is it still going on interesting you know the closest thing that we did growing up and I feel like I need to share that cause I was recently talking to my mom about it right is to go in a mountain before the sunrise okay to get holy water from the mountain but that's beautiful there is no Jesus and it's like we we wake up in the middle of the night half asleep and uh and just like walk up the mountain yeah and just walk up the mountain oh that's beautiful and my mom was telling me how much she misses doing that so you're saying that your mom you know is reminding you I bet she wants to keep the tradition alive absolutely and and it's hard cause now she goes to church and the priest speaks in in English and there's a translator but of course the American priest is not saying the jokes you wanna hear or the lecture or maybe the lesson you wanna hear so it's been a little frustrating for her finding her faith in a new country where does she lives now here oh she does yeah okay they both they both live here and she couldn't find a church that is Hispanic so they call it Hispanic but there's a translator the priest is not Hispanic if that makes sense really mm hmm there are a few but they can be like far away from where she lives or not on their on her area so it's hard you know I see like let's say travel an hour just to go to church and tell that to my dad that he doesn't like any of that so yeah can you drive me and yeah yeah that that's understandable yeah hmm I meant to ask you cause you talked a lot about humor yes what in your opinion what's your type of humor it's hard cause a lot of Venezuelan humor is based on bullying the other person yeah you need to have a hard shell in Venezuela which is like I mean let's talk about the funny part and the good part cause of course there are dark times and can be bullying and really bad and I'm not justifying it but I think at this point of my life I'll learn how to bully happily that makes sense like making fun of another person behavior but without having them offended um and that is really hard so I only do it with my Hispanic friends of course um but I think that's our humor based like on each other it's hard I appreciate the honesty and yeah you think about it it's hard and and even like growing up you need to build a lot of character cause they will criticize anything like your hair your teeth your eyes your and God forbid you have an imperfection let's say like a birthmark on your face or whatever a bad nose bad sorry not bad nose but like uncommon nose they're gonna yeah that that's gonna be your sub name literally oh wow really bad really bad you need to to not take anything personal well some of them did and and I think that now I will be like now I can decide to who talk to I didn't suffer any hard bullying mm hmm I think I was privileged in that way but you you were still part of it forget about it we were all victims oh Venezuelan humor I guess if it's common and that's what is accepted socially it makes it easier to just fall into it yeah and and I just think we were but it can still hurt but then possibly yeah like you mean well I mean like you mentioned we were just all a bunch of insecure people mm hmm trying to fit in a world that's often that too huh um if you get criticized by people about certain things it's often times their own insecurities that they're just putting on you no and I and I remember the like the friend that bullies the more or humor the more about the others he was the most insecure excuse like the most what insecure it will be a fact totally what are some of the food music or festivals from Venezuela that you think everyone should experience to truly understand the culture I think you will need to the the person who's listening will need to do a little bit of research cause every single area has a different tradition or festival when you say festival I just think about like Coachella you know and it's like we don't have anything like that we don't have anything produced we have something really local really significant most of the time related to religion for example in Margarita which is like an island from Venezuela pretty beautiful they commemorate this virgin every state has like a different virgin that they pray to or pray for and all the people on their boats like commemorate her in like a boat procession you know so let's say there are thousands of thousands of boats with their virgin and just going around the sea commemorating her so anyways you will need to decide which one but food wise a lot a lot you need to try arepas of course it's like a is like a dough fill it with meat or ham and cheese or literally anything this could be breakfast um lunch time or dinner time it doesn't matter in my region the most common thing is pastelito which is have you tried empanadas somewhere yes okay pastelitos are they small cake they are small but no cake no like sweet pastel I thought it was cake in Spanish yes pastel but these are not sweet something else to confuse is his like Spanish learners not everything is so what are pastelitos pastelitos are like a circle dough it's more like a croissant dough similar to it no flaky yes exactly and they are filled with there are two main or more traditional from my region which is ground beef and rice or cheese and potato so they boil the potato like a smash it and put cheese on it I haven't tried pastelitos like they were over there cause a lot of Venezuelans are doing food and selling them but they are not from Merida and you cannot sell me a pastelito if you are not from Merida so yeah we eat a lot of plantain sweet plantain yes with cheese oh how yeah how are they consume you just pour cheese on top of it or so oh many ways you can fry them you can bake them but the most common and easy one is like uh boil them and just put like butter and cheese on top what kind of cheese um hmm I miss my cheese yeah I do too I miss my cheese so much cheese is such a thing that varies per region and there's so many such a large variety it's just yeah so what what kind of cheese what what is the type of cheese it is like queso fresco which is like the Mexican version of it but we call it queso semi duro like semi hard cheese does it is it a strong or no mild it's like a super light flavor it's like the most basic type of cheese you can make it's literally just milk with vinegar it breaks down and you just strain it like yeah um you strain it uh huh so cause there's liquid exactly and that is your cheese that's all you need nice it's good it's so good something to try yes oh and and there are many there are ayacas empanadas tequeños tequeños is my one of my favorites it's like God forbid me but it's like a mozzarella stick which is not but um instead of that crust which is terrible it is like a dough so they literally manually involve the cheese and then fry I see so it's not the breaded crumbs like we know in America no yeah it's like crusty but soft perfect wow and we can find that in Merida yes yes that this is more like an appetizer yeah you're gonna find it on kids parties or like weddings mm hmm and all kind of kind of produce parties like if you're reunited with your friends you're not gonna find it but um birthday parties are probably do you buy them or you homemade you can homemade them but they're a lot of work like there's not a machine that can make at the Kenya they're manually done it's a lot of work okay I see going back to you talking about the political activities going on in Venezuela having grown up in Venezuela under a dictatorship how did the political landscape affect your daily life and your view of the world now that you think about it in every single aspect of my life is still being a problem a problem for good and for bad I think I already talked about the bad things I think on the bad side there was time that there wasn't food that my mom was trading surgeries for a piece of bread literally or for like a sack of food so it's really hard when you sit in a perspective right now it's really hard when your activity with your friends is going to make gas line for 9 days cause that's the only way you can guess get gas on your car by doing a line of 9 days and that is just a single tank a line of my when you say a line like going to the gas station and staying there on your car for 9 days just to get gas in your car how do you you sleep in your car and you walk back home get changed someone will go in exchange with you like your cousin or whatever or you will be friends with the one that is in front of you and it's like okay you go I'll stay I'll take care of your car like partnership and friendship when you think about all the abnormalities it makes you be aware of everything sometimes I complain about things that is like OK but in this moment of my life I didn't have any of this so I think that makes me so unattached from material things I think that if tomorrow I need to leave I I wouldn't bring anything with me literally all I have from Venezuela right now is like a couple sweaters and like a notebook that my best friend gave me everything else is just memories like there's nothing to do about it and what I think that I suffer the most in here is not having my friends or my support chain you know cause it wasn't just oh my group of friends it was like a whole community that was with me the whole time um supporting me and my family or my family for supporting them and of course then seeing a lot of friends being hurt by the government like having all these national guards going against them and like hurting them really bad and then bringing them to our place and trying to fix them some way with no resources is really hard and I'm glad they are alive at least because there were some that they were not um I didn't you lost friends I didn't lost friends at least no super close but they're all around the world and I think I will never see most of them again so in some way it's a grief that we all carry like we just watch each other on Instagram and it's like congratulations but it will never be the same so in some way I lost all of them or most of them on the bright side I think we are so happy people like it's impressive we were like on misery with no food with no light with no water no nothing and we were just making jokes and playing cards like whatever um we always find the funny way and the bright way on every situation but being here I think sometimes it's a lonely life and can be depressing for someone that is used to have a lot of people around them so yes well it seems like you still have your support system yeah in a way it's just my look a little different than what it used to be absolutely would you say you're more grateful of what you have look I think I'm so privileged like when I tell all these stories to someone that had a more common normal life it's like wow you've been through a lot and it's like I was privileged I always had food my mom never told me like no you cannot have that piece of bread I have friends that I went to their house and they never offer me dinner not because they didn't want to but because they have the ration for the people that was living there if I give you a plate I will not eat tomorrow and that never happened in my family and that is like a lot but I know that that was a lot because of my parents like they work their back off to give us everything but I also remember I never I don't know so many normal things like whatever just go and get an ice cream that wasn't normal like no one had the money to actually go and get an ice cream you know is it possible to have a a good life in Venezuela cause I mean it sounds like you know your parents have this had decent jobs they were able to support you and your sister and make a living somehow yeah right despite all the challenges could someone have a good life in Venezuela or is it too hard relative cause I see a lot of friends over there that always have money they were families from with money and there are cities with money like Caracas which is the capital my goodness I see people there that they go and have a dinner for like $100 and it's like how you can pay I I don't even do that here and this is my salary you know um but then there are other cities that is just awful so it's that reality that doesn't make sense like yeah of course you can have a beautiful life in a normal life but it's people that always had the privilege like building yourself up from scratch is so hard you you cannot make it is it a difference here then yeah absolutely I think in four years I built an empire honestly like that that will probably happen over will have happened over there cause it's the way I am like I will have never stopped and I I will do it I don't care where I am I will do it but it would not have been easy or I will probably go and find resources somewhere else the US and then come back but by yourself it's really hard in there I hope you're proud of yourself I sometimes I'm not sometimes I'm like I'm doing nothing you know and it's like bro give yourself a break and I think that's a good a continuation to my one of my few next questions but this one especially is how did you stay hopeful and strong through all of that and do you think your bringing helped you adjust to life in the US you know when I ask you are you grateful it seems to me that you are grateful I don't know if it's more than before but going through that how did you stay strong and hopeful so I think my youngest years when I was in Venezuela I think everything was because of my parents like I I never work like I work because I wanted to and cause I genuinely like working but not for necessity and I move here because I wanted to and not for necessity sure um but honestly I think the way I've been so resilient is because I haven't think about it when you think about it when you analyze when you whatever you don't make it you just question yourself so much and sometimes I just do things that I don't think I'm doing and then two years later it's like my goodness I did that and I know it sounds weird but it's the way my mind works like of course I have a purpose I have an intention but it's not like oh you know you can do it you I'm really hard on myself I wish people can be in my mind one day they will be depressed cause I'm like no no ma'am and but then I'm like yeah you deserve everything let's go to Sephora um so it's like those two completely different people but also finding I think I haven't give enough enough benefit to my partner I think being with such a good partner is a great way of growing spiritually mentally economically physically in all ways I think juror and I make such an amazing couple in all ways and I'm I'm just mad to him today so I haven't mentioned it too much so I asked him can you bring clothes to my to the to my workplace cause I didn't bring anything for today and he answered like 10 minutes before closing like oh I fell asleep I'm sorry and I'm like dude come on I was asking for a lot but anyways um finding a good partner is key I I think so I don't it doesn't care which sexual orientation you find your partner but someone that supports you and goes through that and I also think he was my neighbor I don't know if I mentioned this but Gerard was my front door neighbor so we literally see each other since I was 10 years old we know each other so well we've been friends for a long time and we just couple up on during quarantine and I I didn't have expectations let me tell you that I was like oh whatever this is gonna be so much fun for a while and then it's been five years we have our amazing furry beautiful children we have two dogs one cat that's a lot and it's like wow if it wasn't for him and big part eh I wouldn't I wouldn't have this we wouldn't have this yeah you're you're building that empire together yeah totally what do you like the most about him oh my goodness I don't know what to answer I think Gerard is my peace in my storm cause he's the thinker I'm the doer he's always like analyzing he's the one like if we're gonna do a house project he's gonna measure do a mock up everything I'm just gonna drill the hole and mess up the whole wall like I don't care so I think we are the perfect the perfect match for each other um but I also love and admire his patience he's so patience all the time and not only with me like I noticed with my mom with his family with kids with I'm like go and he's like give it their time and it's like we don't have time so yeah that kind of people he has a more calming energy too super calming energy yeah I love that I love that for you well I need that otherwise imagine terrible I wanted to ask cause you mentioned you grew up in the religious household were there ever times where when you felt your own beliefs didn't quite align with what your family expected of you and if so how did you handle that is it still a fight cause at this point of my life I do a lot of traditions just to make my mom happy or maybe to reconnect with my inner child in some way but of course growing up in a nuns Catholic only girls at school makes you question a lot of things and especially in a crisis um country like Venezuela like the nuns always had like a good house good cars food on their table and it's like okay but look at the rest of the world you're asking for money and where is it going like all these things and it's okay everyone is looking for their living they were they were working too but I wasn't connecting with what they were saying so when I was in high school I was really problematic because of that problematic I will respond to them or confront them and imagine my mom being like super Catholic going to this problem situations but I think with time when you grow you earn your parents respect but as they respect you you need to respect them and you know what is worth it fighting with your mom or making her believe whatever or maybe just be okay for an hour and then come back home and complain if that makes her happy happy mom happy life honestly like whatever and and this is these are things that are not threatening me or anything but I know there are other religions or other traditions that are a little bit more complicated to accept and that's totally fine but for you it has been the way to kind of get the peace yes or my mom is starting to learn how life is going for example my sister is lesbian and that doesn't happen in Catholic life so she's like if my daughter is happy I'm happy and it's like thank you mom that is not part of your religion you're praying for so she she is really rigid but she's flexible if that makes sense how about your dad did he oh he doesn't care OK yeah he's like I think because of him it's because we question even because he doesn't believe a lot but um he always accept us the way we are he even likes that we have a criticize speech in the like oh like you have a good critical thinking exactly yeah he he likes that and I think he even teaches that how how did he teach that to you and your sister well he he's not from Venezuela so I think a lot of his childhood and his life has been completely different to a traditional Venezuelan man but I think all also having only girls in his life makes him more sensitive and more open and I also think my dad has never been a traditional dad he's not like a sports dad or whatever he was like have you heard Taylor Swift last album and I was like dad okay sure haha um he's not gay by the way don't don't put that in there he's gonna be offended but um he always stitches that the government wasn't right all the situations that were happening and also being at school and at least listening to me when I complain about something that is a huge step and not trying just to say something and try to make it that way very supportive super supportive he's my cheerleader I swear that's awesome that's awesome now it's time for From Here to you where we answer your questions so today's question for our guest comes from any okay and her question is which plant is the most venerated legendary in the traditions of Venezuela I'm gonna mention two big plants that are really important in our culture and our country the first is the cacao tree which you get the chocolate chocolate and everything and if you think about all the Indians of course they did a lot of rituals with it um not only in an edible way but also it's a tint like a color and it's just really difficult to get so I will say cacao is a big part of Venezuelan culture on the plant side and the second one I just think this one is one of my favorites I mentioned the frailejon which is pretty Merida base but the third one will be El Araguaney Araguaney it is a tree but in may or around this time of the year it blooms and it's a huge tree I will I I don't even know how many feet tall but the biggest tree you can imagine full of jello flowers of what jello flowers jello flowers yeah like flowers jello color oh I don't know what what color is that yellow yellow oh yellow yellow come on oh oh oh are you racist or what hahaha oh yeah like yellow color beautiful okay um but it's huge and of course the most beautiful part is when they fail to the ground so you have like all this rock full of flowers and um they're they're all around the the country so my city is a Mountain City so you can look at the mountains full of yellow spots going on um and pretty similar to it is the apamate which is a a pink flower instead of yellow very nice thank you Annie for your question as we wrap up what message would you like to share with our listeners about embracing cultural differences especially in the context of your own journey from Venezuela to the United States hmm haha OK first I will say if someone is asking is if someone is answering your questions also be also have boundaries if you are getting too personal maybe that person wants to share and be vulnerable but it's hard for them too so respect their boundaries and if you're gonna ask all those questions it's because you're gonna suffer with me and like be into it and it's not like to feel good about yourself because that happens a lot it's like oh poor girl but my life was perfect and it's like okay have a to have a little bit of empathy for yeah what you're sharing exactly we're humans yeah um about emigrating let me tell you something this is not the first time you're gonna emigrate in your life you're gonna emigrate a lot of times in your life even from another state even when you're going to another town town you're a completely a stranger and it's hard but I think emigrating means growth and now that I moved to another country I would not like to stay here forever cause it's like oh my goodness if there's this much imagine all the other much that I haven't even think about so that would be amazing whenever ah that's that's an interesting perspective where would you go next oh I would love to go to Brazil cause my friend most of my friends here are Brazilians and surprisingly we are over Brazil and I never heard about them I never I was never interested in their language their culture or anything and now that I'm here it's like oh my goodness I wanna go over there so bad cause it's another country that I feel we're so alike our culture our traditions behaviors party way mm hmm um so yeah I wanna go to Brazil in Argentina I like Argentina yeah now where can our listeners learn more about your story and your work with plants or connect with you as you continue your journey in the US or in Brazil or somewhere else well I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has support me in my way I think big part of it is my plant family house plant collective I work over there I'm the manager so if it wasn't for them I think I wouldn't find myself in this country so thank you everyone and now I have my own business which is Vivacia Plants I do a lot of botanical art plant care services and a lot of other things and I just thank everyone that has buy something for me or follow me on Instagram cause that is an immigrant journey that I'm having and it helps me find myself a little bit more you can find me on Instagram at vivacia plants my website w w w dot vivacious plants.com um my personal Instagram at astrid a dress these are all great links we'll make sure to add all of the all of them in the show notes um so people can connect with you perfect your story is really a great reminder of how strong we are as humans um I think you showed us that today and thank you for sharing your journey thank you with me with us if that resonated with you make sure to also follow from where to here pause on all the social and share with a friend if you think that can help someone Astrid thanks for your time thanks for being so fun thanks for making me laugh really appreciate our time together well I appreciate you having this platforms too I think it's the first time I openly talk about my history I try to avoid the bad things or the sad things but I think we once in a while it's good to remember where we're coming from and just have fun life is just once make money but also be happy in the process don't lose yourself have a lot of cats and dogs no children for now that's it love it thanks Ashton thank you thank you for tuning in to from where to here if you enjoyed this episode be sure to hit subscribe leave a review and share it with someone who loves discovering new cultures follow us on Instagram at from where to hear pod for exclusive updates behind the scenes moments and a peek at upcoming guests until next time keep learning keep connecting and keep celebrating the beauty of languages and cultures adiós