5 of July – Venezuelan Picnic

By Jenny Bujosa / Translated into English by Alexandra Cruz Akirov

On July 3rd, just a couple of days before our Independence Day celebration, we had our traditional and anticipated picnic.

It was pleasant to see and feel all the people’s enthusiasm. Happy and joyful faces of children playing together as a family while parents chatted and exchanged information. The children showed their painted faces proudly; youth and adults playing together as best friends at the Gymkhana…

There was enough food for everyone, thank God. Everyone who showed up brought a dish to share. The solemn moment of our group picture with Graciela’s huge flag, for which took us around 15 min to get organized while we figured out how to fit everyone amidst laughter.

The new-comers were surprised and commented “We never thought there were so many Venezuelans here!”. All the introductions and networking taking place and the joy of people in this gathering… Jokes and anecdotes were not left out, of course.

However, the highlight of the day was all the help that the “Una mano por Venezuela” initiative was able to raise. We were able to collect essential medicines and the money for their shipping.

All of the experiences mentioned above are reflections of how Venezuelans are: people with a sense of solidarity, enthusiastic, joyful, and with a huge heart.

Venezuelans living in Vancouver can feel very thankful for this opportunity of getting together every year in this blessed land to enjoy our customs and our Venezuelan way of being.

Many thanks to all who came out! See you all next year!