Venice, East & West / Venecia, Este y Oeste

Venice canals, Venice, Italy (1960) (English text follows below). Esta foto de mi joven mamá, captura un momento en su paso por Venecia, allá por el año de 1960. Era un viaje que eventualmente la llevaría a su nueva vida en la otra Venecia, la “Pequeña Venecia”, ese país al norte de Suramérica. La foto es simbólica porque Venecia (Italia) es una ciudad que mira hacia al Este y al Oeste al mismo tiempo, una verdadera encrucijada de caminos marinos.  Atrás quedaba el mundo conocido y comfortable de Alepo, Siria, con la familia y amigas de toda su vida, el kibbe nayyeh, la calidez del idioma árabe y la arquitectura milenaria de uno de los sitios culturalmente más ricos del mundo.  Adelante, un mundo novedoso e intrigante, próspero y ebullente, una nueva familia y amigas, reina pepiadas y cachapas, boleros para bailar, playas incomparables, más kibbe nayyeh, Raúl Amundaray,  el hermoso idioma Castellano y las bellas noches de Maiquetía. En la cabeza de una inmigrante caben dos y hasta tres mundos e igual número de idiomas. Nomás por eso merecen una gran admiración. Esta linda imágen en blanco y negro, en formato de diapositiva, fué tomada por mi papá*

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This picture of my young mother captures a moment during her brief stay in Venice back in 1960. She was in a middle of a trip that would eventually take her to a new life in the other Venice, “Little Venice” (Venezuela) that tropical country in the northern part of South America. She had just left behind the known and comfortable world of Aleppo, Syria, all her family and life-long friends, the tasty kibbe nayyeh, the warmth of the arabic mother tongue, the awe inspiring architecture of one the culturally richest cities in the world. In front of her, a new and intriguing world, prosperous and vibrant, a new family and new friends, countless “arepas” and “cachapas”, Caribbean boleros for dancing nites, exotic beaches, even more kibbe nayyeh, soap operas, the magnificence of the Spanish language and the beautiful nights of Maiquetía. See, in the head of an immigrant, two or three culturally different worlds can co-exist; not to mention the two or three languages. Only for that, they deserve great admiration. This lovely black and white picture on slide film was taken by my own dad*

Author: Constantino

A Chemical Engineer born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. He has worked for the oil refining industry in threes countries under different capacities. With photography and writing as hobbies, he has traveled the world (and has still to settle somewhere). Loves movies, Latin Jazz, black coffee and red wine... Kampai! View all posts by Constantino