The story of Pablo José Story · installations and exhibitions: LSYTSDA Sala Alterarte
Position · 0:00 / 10:07 SubtitlesOff ES EN GL Transcript 0:00 My name is Pablo José Varela. 0:04 I come from Venezuela, from Mérida state. 0:10 I came here at 36, my age now. 0:14 I've been here for three months and twenty days, 0:18 here in Spain. 0:20 It was hard for me to leave Venezuela and come 0:22 to Spain, because I have my dad, my mum, 0:25 who are still alive, and my brothers and sisters. 0:27 It was hard to leave them alone. Not 0:32 so much alone, but… how can I 0:37 put it? To be apart from them, because 0:40 I've always lived with them. In all my 36 0:43 years I'd never left, until now, 0:47 when I came to Spain. 0:52 Because of the situation in Venezuela. 0:57 I was given this opportunity to come 1:02 to Spain, and I came. I'm getting 1:06 used to the time difference and everything. 1:10 You have to get used to things and 1:13 learn how they work here. I came 1:16 to work. 1:16 And it's going well. 1:17 Yes, three months. I arrived 1:21 on the first of February. 1:25 When I left my home in 1:28 Mérida, I travelled to Caracas. 1:32 From Caracas airport I travelled 1:37 to Cartagena, and from Cartagena 1:42 I travelled to Spain. It wasn't all in 1:46 one day; there were connections: from Mérida 1:51 to Caracas, from Caracas to Cartagena and from Cartagena to Spain. 1:55 First and foremost, you know what the situation in Venezuela is like. 1:58 You worked, but it wasn't enough for anything. 2:03 My mum and dad are older now, 2:07 and we have to help them. They've given 2:10 us what they could; now it's our turn. 2:12 It wasn't an overnight 2:15 decision, just saying: “I'm leaving.” 2:19 I thought about it for about a 2:22 month: “Shall I go? Shall I stay?” 2:25 The day came to leave for Spain and I spoke 2:29 to my mum and dad: I still asked their permission. 2:34 At 36, I asked 2:37 their permission. And they said: 2:40 “Go and see what things are like over there, try your luck.” 2:46 I bought the tickets and came. 2:50 My intention, what I had in mind, 2:54 was to come and work and help them. Everything changes, because imagine: 2:59 all your friends, your family, everything is back there. And here I 3:04 am new: three months and a 3:07 few days. But it's going well. 3:10 Here I don't understand much of how 3:14 people speak. I still find it 3:18 hard, but I'm getting used to being 3:22 here, because I've been treated well. 3:26 Everything has been wonderful, excellent. 3:30 As I say, I've been here for just over three months, so I'm getting used 3:36 to Spain little by little. It's all good. 3:40 I'd never left Venezuela. Never. There, 3:45 in Venezuela, I was a trader and drove 3:49 a lorry from Mérida to Caracas: that was the 3:52 furthest I went, within Venezuela. Mérida to Caracas and Caracas to Mérida. 3:57 Another country, no, not until I 4:01 came to Spain now. I haven't 4:05 travelled anywhere else, only to Spain. 4:09 When speaking 4:12 to people… 4:16 And you don't understand anything, you know? My 4:20 language is Spanish. Here, the way people speak 4:24 is different. It's hard. Sometimes 4:27 I don't understand anything and 4:30 I ask them to repeat it in Spanish. 4:33 But it's all good, I've been treated 4:37 well. Getting used to things every 4:41 day, but it's good, great. 4:45 I've only just arrived, 4:49 and I'm waiting for 4:53 my papers to become valid, because I've already done the paperwork. My work papers 4:57 become valid in September. And as 5:00 they give you permission to 5:03 travel to Venezuela, that's what I plan to 5:07 do when everything is sorted out and I can 5:10 go from Spain to Venezuela, and then come back here, to Spain. 5:16 Visit my family and return to 5:20 Spain. In the little time 5:24 I've been here, I've liked it. Yes, I have. As I say, 5:30 when I have the chance to travel from Spain to Venezuela, I will, 5:35 for my family, especially my dad and 5:39 mum. Visit them and return to Spain. 5:43 I came here and I'm doing 5:46 well. Because back in Venezuela, 5:50 things aren't good right now. I 5:53 don't regret coming. The only thing 5:56 is that I want to go back to 5:59 Venezuela for a visit, to see my 6:02 dad and my family. But 6:06 I don't regret coming, because 6:10 there's no work there, nothing to 6:13 do at the moment. And if 6:17 you do work, it's not enough: if you can afford one thing, you can't afford another. 6:22 That's another reason I decided to 6:25 come. I'll tell you straight: 6:29 if things were good there, I wouldn't have come. 6:35 But no, the situation 6:38 there is tough, very tough. 6:44 And I was given the chance to come 6:48 to Spain, because I wasn't going to come 6:51 just like that, on my own. They gave me the 6:55 opportunity, opened their doors to me here and also 6:59 supported me. I wasn't going to 7:02 leave Venezuela on my own, because 7:06 I didn't have family or anyone I knew 7:09 here. They opened their doors, and that's 7:12 when I decided to come. 7:14 It was the opportunity of having people here in Spain to welcome me. 7:20 As we say in Venezuela, I arrived with the bed already made. 7:25 When I arrived, they already 7:28 had the flat rented, everything. 7:31 My wife, who's here with me, 7:35 is much older than I am. 7:39 I'm 36 and she's 50. 7:44 I've been living with her for fifteen years. 7:50 She has two daughters who are Spanish. 7:53 Their father is Spanish and they live here too. 7:58 She was already here. 8:00 She'd come about eight months… 8:04 Seven months before me. 8:09 That's another reason I came, because her family was here. 8:13 So I came. 8:15 Each of them has 8:20 her husband and lives separately. 8:25 Here in the same area, but each in her own flat. I live separately with 8:30 my wife. 8:30 They lived in Venezuela. They're Spanish 8:34 because their father is Spanish, 8:37 but they were born in Venezuela, they're from Venezuela. 8:41 I've only been here a short time, three months. 8:46 And I've only been working for a little while. 8:52 As we say in Venezuela, I'm 8:55 catching my breath now, because 8:58 I came here, but 9:02 I owe money in Venezuela. 9:06 I have to save up and 9:09 pay it back. Just because I've come 9:13 here doesn't mean I won't pay. I have 9:16 to work to settle what I owe. 9:19 I'm working now, although I haven't 9:24 been doing it for long. 9:28 I've been treated well here, it's 9:33 all been lovely. I don't regret coming. 9:39 Getting used to things, 9:42 learning better things every day. 9:45 People looking at me 9:49 badly here? Nothing like that. 9:54 Not at all. 9:55 People have treated me nicely, and in the 9:57 little time I've been here, I've liked it. 