La Guaria, Venezuela, December 2023

Christmas 2023 Newsletter to family and friends:

Dear Friends,
 
I imagine many of us are busy preparing for Christmas or winter season holidays. Most of us are gearing up for New Year’s Eve too. Given this, it is the most certainly a good time for some winter cheer, an update, and some wishes from me!
 
I am writing from Caracas. You may remember in August; I arrived in Venezuela to take over on my duties as ECHO’s expert for the operations in the country.
 
Like many other years, also, 2023 spoilt me with opportunities of travels, adventures but at times forced me to pause to reflect what was happening around me. I started my 2023 in Panama City, a little tired after having travelled for a mission to Chile (where I was visiting projects aiming at helping (mostly) Venezuelan refugees and asylum seekers), I decided to have some quiet time, knowing that soon after I would be travelling to Brussels for my medical check-up. On the New Year’s Day, I met some of my Colombian and Venezuelan friends. We had a walk on the city’s sea promenade called ‘Cinta Costera’ and then had a lunch while chatting away and catching up on each other’s latest dealings and adventures.
 
Soon after I was on the plane, travelling to Brussels. It was a very short visit to do my obligatory medical tests and checks. Even if the visit was brief, I managed to call on some colleagues and friends, and had a proper stroll on parts of the city’s old town. While walking I got lost, and accidentally ventured out to the slightly more rundown part of the city. It was full of smaller tea houses, barber shops, hammams and vibrant shops run by Afghan, Moroccan and Indian/Pakistani owners. I enjoyed the colours and exotic smells. Somehow, the place made me think of Tahir and I became a little sad that he could not be there with me.
 
Literally 48 hours after arriving to Brussels, I was already leaving, on the way to Krakow, where I was about to join Mum and the rest of the family for my winter holiday. We had a great time together hanging out between Nowy Sacz, beautiful Krynica and Szczawnica as well as various villages in the Tatras. Together with my Mum’s friend, who is also our neighbour in Nowy Sacz (Pani Kurzejowa), we managed to go for a trip to Bardejov in Slovakia. The day was filled with laughter, good food and some wine 😉.
 
To escape the cold, Mum and I decided to spend a week in Cyprus. We chose Paphos in the western part of the island to become our base. Going to Cyprus was a great idea. The temperature was very pleasant. It was warm, but as it was January, we did not suffer from the heat. We travelled around the island quite extensively, including Nicosia, which I liked a lot, however I felt I needed more time to explore it better. Nevertheless, my absolute favourites were small villages around Paphos and the archaeological excavations of Kourion. Mum, on the other hand, enjoyed the beaches, especially those around the site where the mythical Aphrodite was born from the ocean’s waves. We both enjoyed the old town of Limassol, too. As you can imagine, I was sad leaving the country. I appreciated the people and loved its wonderful European, Asian and African influences.
 
Landing in Krakow after the Ryanair flight from Paphos was brutal. Poland welcomed us with snow and sub-zero temperatures. As we drove from the airport home, we decided to treat ourselves for a warm highlander’s soup, called ‘kwasnica’ (sour cabbage) in the ‘Karczma’, our favourite wooden roadside inn. While eating, we watched the snowflakes fall through the windows and enjoyed the cosy interiors.  
 
After returning from Cyprus I stayed a few days more with Mum and my brother’s family before returning to Panama City. Although the weather did not encourage any outdoor activities, we enjoyed it thoroughly by spending lots of time together. The obvious highlight was an evening concert in a wooden hut in the mountains around Szczawnica (with mould wine) and a shopping/sightseeing trip to Krakow with Mum and Pani Kurzejowa.
 
I started my journey to Panama City with a flight from Warsaw to Miami. The idea was to have a short stopover in Miami, since I did not know it, and thought it was a good idea to take an opportunity to explore a new place. After arriving to the airport, I took a cab, which brought me to my guesthouse, in the surroundings of the South Beach. While in the city, I walked for hours admiring handsome Art Deco architecture, which I liked very much. My absolute favourite however was a visit to ‘Little Havana’, a vibrant neighbourhood filled with colours, Caribbean flavours, drinks and music. I tried making sure that I ventured out from the main tourist street, which was a very good way to see a bit of the less ‘post-card’ reality of communities, less affluent and appearing to struggle to make their ends meet. I ended up in a small bar, where soon I found myself chatting with two Cuban waitresses/bar attendants (both in their 60-ies). The hour was young, and hence not busy, so we had a chance to get to know each other a bit. They loved a fact that I was from Poland and spoke Spanish with them so and so that they offered me a free glass of wine. I particularly enjoyed their childhood stories from the suburbs of Santa Clara in central part of the country.
 
One of the requirements to carry out my duties is being able to operate in environments, which are referred to as ‘hostile’. To prepare us well to protect the communities we work for, as well as keep ourselves safe, we regularly need to participate in a security training, which is known as ‘HEAT’ (Hostile Environment Awareness Training). As my HEAT credentials were about to expire, I needed to renew them urgently. A good opportunity to do so appeared at the end of February, as one of such courses was being arranged in Medellin. After completing the administrative forms, together with dozen or so other participants, I found myself tucked in a training centre in the foothills of northern Colombia. The instruction covers a variety of topics, ranging from use of communication equipment, through dealings with explosives and mines; advanced first aid techniques; to strengthening of skills helping to survive a sexual assault or kidnapping. This was not my first HEAT, and I thought I was prepared for it well. It was a wrong assumption. This time around, I found the exercise to be particularly harsh. I got slightly injured during the kidnapping practice (nothing serious) and my spectacles got destroyed in the process as well. Also, I got a little traumatised with the kidnapping/sexual assault exercise. All looked too real and woke up some of my past experiences’ demons, which I tried to forget so hardly. You can imagine, I was glad, when we arrived to the end of the exercise and were allowed to socialise with the participants, who all happened to be lovely people.
 
Before finishing my posting in Panama in July, my duties took me to various humanitarian missions: Gran Chaco on the border between Paraguay and Brazil (floods), eastern and western Venezuela (fact finding missions, preparing me for taking over my duties in the country) and northern Mexico and southern Texas in the USA (migration crisis). All three trips were very different and dealt with very distinct problems contributing to people’s suffering. Despite this, there were some common denominators which appeared obvious to me: the reasons of crises always related to sorts of chauvinism, prejudices, racism, mind boggling imbalances of wealth distribution, corruption, power grabbing… but then, I also witnessed people’s amazing ability to unite and help one another in the most genius ways, kindness, or dedication, professionalism, empathy and at times nearly heroic bravery of hundreds of individuals who happened to live through these crises either as victims or aid workers of all sorts. Although not today, I will write down some of these experiences in sort of memorial, as these stories deserve to be shared.
 
In between the missions, I managed to travel to Europe for Easter, visiting Obidos, but also having travelling to explore Riga, as well as parts of northern Lithuania and western Estonia. My experience with the Baltic States made me fall in love in this part of Europe. The short trip was not enough to discover the place properly but gave me some basic insights to the region and lots of motivation to go back to learn more. Riga is an absolute jewel, the Baltic coast of Estonia is picturesque and unbelievably romantic, while Lithuania charmed me with its greenery.
 
As the middle of the year approached, I found myself packing and preparing for a big move from Panama to Venezuela. The process made me tired… getting rid of the car, packing, filling out hundreds of forms were tiring. Despite all of it, I was excited and motivated that I was moving to the country that I have dreamt about for such a long time: Venezuela.
 
Between the two deployments, I went to Poland again for a visit to Mum, Pawel (my brother) and his family. The family break wouldn’t be complete without some exciting adventure. As far as my memory goes, I dreamt of taking Mum to Africa, but for various reasons, this had never worked out. This made me sad, as the continent is so excitedly rich and interesting, and I thought it was important for Mum to see it. Things were about to change though, as we managed to arrange for a 10 days trip to northern Madagascar! The journey to Nosy Be was quick and easy, as we took a direct flight from Warsaw. I was thrilled to see Mum excited. To be honest, I might have been as excited myself: to be able to visit a new place, but also to introduce Mum to my favourite part of the world. We landed at the airport early in the morning. After a somehow chaotic immigration procedure, we were on a local bus travelling to our guest house. The colours, smells, beautiful chaos that somehow made so much sense, baobabs, noise… all of it seemed to have been making wonders from the first second in the country. Mum was smiling and I was so happy! I will probably never forget this first 2 hours in the country. It was one of the more beautiful experiences of my life. Being able to share such special moments with your Mum is such a blessing! In fact, the whole trip was amazing. We made sure that we did not stay on beaches and in the hotel, but instead went to local markets and villages. We also befriended a Malagasy family. They were kind to invite us to their home, which was such a great gift, as we managed to have a chance to peep into their daily routines. Moussa and Veronica turned out to be the sweetest couple, looking after us during the whole stay. What is even more previous is that we continue to be in touch to this day. I hope that one day, we will be able to repay their hospitality by showing them our favourite places in southern Poland.
 
To give all my adventures justice, I should mention that at the end of November/beginning of November, I also had a chance to travel around Dubrovnik, Mostar and Kotar (Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro respectively). I travelled solo and engaged in discovering these three cities breathtaking architecture and learning about the troubled history of the region. The Balkans gave me a lesson on the communities trying to live with one another in peace again, after being at odds and disagreements. I was encouraged to see that most are so keenly trying to build bridges and learn from the pains of the recent war. Humbling.
 
My trip to Europe was even more special as my friend and colleague, Taheeni, whom I worked with in Bangkok and who helped me to look after Tahir tremendously, joined me for a short visit in Obidos. We had a great time together and I was thrilled to show her my favourite places in my Portuguese home.
 
Today, I am sitting in my Caracas apartment, thinking of this amazing year, five months after moving here. The work here is challenging, but this was expected, and I appreciate it. I do love the country… I keep on saying to everyone that Venezuela is my love at the first sight. It is a diverse and beautiful place, but it is mostly the country’s people that made the trick for me. I feel good among Venezuelans, and I am looking forward to living my new adventures and experiences. I also hope I will be able to share them with friends and family. Would love to have a chance to have Tahir and Amna (his wife) visiting, and of course, I would be over the moon, if Mum came over as well.
 
In the meanwhile, as I prepare for the holidays, I am thinking of you all and wondering how you are. I look forward to receiving news from you. At the same time, I am wishing you all a blessed holiday, full of happiness, cheer, and fun. Please stay well and rest!
 
Happy, happy holidays, and Happy New Year.
 
Your friend, Roman
 
PS1: Tahir with Amna are well and happy in Toronto, and are sending you all their best seasonal greetings as well!
 
PS2: In case, you would like to peep in at some of the pictures, here is a link to my galleries: https://www.romanmajcher.eu/blog-2/files/a84015e1320a5f0da8209020fe166e01-100.html.