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A Waste of Talent. My Venezuelan Friend has to Leave.
It was always his intention to not live in Venezuela while Maduro is in power. At an age now where he should have had the world at his feet, he has suffered another setback.
Things had been going well since he arrived in the US. For a few months he worked trimming trees around Miami, then he scored a job with an electrical company.
Things were going well, he was enjoying the work, the job offered him the potential of becoming a licensed electrician. Last month he was looking at buying a car, and, he had attracted the attention of a girl, with whom he had become good friends with.
Now, he is back to square one, back to where he was when he was 19. A time when he and I would go to the park and teach each other our native language.
A time when he had the ideals of a young person, the dream of becoming a doctor, of solving life’s mysteries.
Faced with the problem of getting into a Colombian university, or finding a regular job in Colombia, which is hard enough for Colombians, let alone a refugee, he kept a positive attitude.
Evenings would see him at a food stand making Arepas. After work he would open the “Anki” app on his phone and teach himself Japanese.
