At the moment, I’m waiting in a restaurant, waiting until I get my response for my asylum request. Once I get my work visa and all of that, I will be able to start looking for any job related to my career as a journalist. But yeah, that’s pretty much what I’m doing so far.
2. How important in your identity is being Latino?
For me it’s very important because I couldn’t ever deny it [my identity]. The place where I come from, even if I spend years miles away from my country, I could never forget about my roots. The good things that we consider about being Latino, how warm and kind people are, and all of the wonderful things that we have in Latin America that make us a great and different people—that’s why all people that come from abroad like Latin America so much.
3. Is there something that you particularly value of your nationality or being Latino?
Yes. For me, I couldn’t say just one specific thing that I value. I value everything about being Latino, and especially about being from my country, Venezuela, which is considered one of the most amazing places in the world, with the kindest and warmest people. We’ve got amazing food, we’ve got all of the Miss Universes—the majority have been from Venezuela! So for me, there is nothing that I would trade for being Latino. Just the one part [that I would change] would be our current government, which has been the cause for why Venezuela is now the way that it is.
4. Have you been treated differently because of being Latino (in the workplace, in public settings…etc.)? If so, can you describe a situation?
Yes, I have been treated differently, especially for being Latino. People definitely treat you differently, especially here in this country, when you are not from here. In general—not speaking of any specific situation, speaking generally—yeah, I consider that here in this country people treat you way different. I have lived in other countries, and they treat others more politely. I think that people here think more about themselves than of helping any others.