My Beautiful Barinas

My Beautiful Barinas, the beautiful things I'll always remember.

Hello reader friends. In the last few days, I have been nostalgic for the city of my childhood and adult life. I have been nostalgic to see my siblings, nephews and especially my youngest son, who is 32 years old, and my two grandchildren. I miss the eastern beaches. From my house, I could see the sea, hear the waves at night, smell the characteristic aroma of the sea. How I miss those sunsets with a colorful sky.  It has been more than four years since I enjoyed my family and the beautiful beaches of the state of Anzoátegui, in the east of Venezuela.

But today I am not going to remember the state of Anzoátegui. I have been living in Barinas for 11 years. It is a Venezuelan state located in the west of the country. Before I lived in the eastern part of Venezuela, in a state called Anzoátegui, I lived in front of the sea. I came to Barinas for two reasons, the first one, after my divorce, I wanted to start over, in every sense. I wanted to change my lifestyle. So in those days, I was offered a good full-time job opportunity in Barinas. That was my second reason for moving. A good opportunity to start over, new job, new city. God heard my prayers. I didn't think twice. I packed my bags. I packed my luggage and my computer in my truck, and I set out on an adventure. By road, driving my truck from Anzoátegui to Barinas, to give you an idea of the distance between the two states, it was 640 kilometers traveled in more than 11 hours, because I made stops to eat and go to the bathroom.

In Barinas, I had no family. I spent the first 18 months alone, working full time. Then my eldest son, who is an engineer, came to Barinas to work here in the same company. And I was his boss. The first thing I told him when he came to the office was not to call me mom... hahaha.  

My work contract was supposed to be for one year only, but then they renewed it for two more years. After working for three years, I had concluded my obligations with the company in 2013. I had to return to my hometown in Anzoátegui. I thought about it a lot, I did not want to go back to what I had been doing before, and I stayed. They kept renewing my son's contract until they gave him a permanent position in the company.  I also stayed in Barinas because I didn't want to leave my son alone.  

But I still fell in love with Barinas. Its people, the people of Barinas, are kind, enterprising, consistent with me. I am in the capital city of the state, which has the same name, that is to say, I am in Barinas, the capital of Barinas state.

Barinas is recognized as the cattle capital of the nation.  You, my reader friends, would delight in eating the best carne en brasa in Venezuela and the world. How tasty it is to eat carne en brasa, with llanero cheese. A delight. And with papelón water.

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 It is a llanero state where typical customs of the area are highlighted, they are very traditional in their fairs and festivals, and music with his four, harp and maracas, with his joropo as typical dance. I have never danced joropo llanero (the traditional dance here), my thing is salsa and merengue. The handicrafts and the llanero and international gastronomy are also outstanding, a delight!

Barinas has a great river, the Santo Domingo, which crosses it for 220 kilometers, is born in the lagoon of Mucubaji, in Merida, and flows into the Apure River. When the people from Barinas are on vacation or on weekends, they take the whole family to the river. The Santo Domingo is full of people, it looks like a beach of people. But with the pandemic, the number of people visiting the river has dropped. I have never bathed in that river. I am faithful to my eastern beaches.

I remember with nostalgia the first three years in Barinas. For my work, I had to go to a town called La Luz, an hour and a half's drive from the city. I used to travel that route in a company transport. I traveled it from Monday to Friday, every day of the week for three years. I crossed plains, I was delighted with so much natural beauty, seeing farms producing cheese and milk, seeing so many cattle. Seeing cattle grazing on the vast plains was the best to me. I drove through a farm that cultivated sunflower plants. You can't imagine seeing an immense plain of sunflowers, as far as the eye could see, it was like seeing a sea, but of sunflowers. I don't want to say it, but now all that is lost. There are few cattle left, and the sea of sunflowers no longer exists. Everything is left in my mind, in my memories. This Venezuelan government destroyed everything. That is all I will say so as not to cry with sadness. Today I will only remember how it was before, my beautiful Barnas.

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Thanks again to my dear sponsors and my people who always follow me. To all of you, thank you for sharing with joy the memories in my beautiful Barinas.