By the time I got to Villa de Leyva, Colombia, I did it with great enthusiasm. I left my country due to economic problems, services and lack of work. Villa de Leyva is a small town, very touristy and with a very different climate from my city. With my knowledge of English at the intermediate level, I decided to look for a job to practice the language and earn money, of course.
When we arrived at the farm, we found that they were about to plant a field of onions, and we would have a lot of work to do there. I didn't know anything about sowing, but as I always say: If they teach me, I learn quickly and what I want most is to work.
They began to teach us and I, like a sponge, understood everything well and quickly. They flattered me by saying: How quickly Mrs. Isabel learns.
The work of harvesting onions is very hard, for those who come from working in an office, with air conditioning and typing on a computer and answering the phone, it is the strongest for what can happen.
To pull the onions from the ground, you start on your knees, but the truth is that I ended up lying (literally) on the ground to pull the onions. The next day the muscle pain is horrible. With 2 Paracetamol in the morning and a breakfast I was ready for day 2 of the job.
So I got to the 5th day of work, so you have to put the onions neatly in their sack. The big ones towards the mesh of the jacket so that the pretty ones can be seen, the not so big ones in the middle part. Then you have to weigh 50 kilos each bag, and then get on the truck to take it to the market for sale. The women do not do the work of loading the bags onto the truck, but you have to be there on the ground to remove the few that are buried.
When the work was finished, I spoke with the lady who had given us the job so that she could recommend me to a family home to do the toilets, but she told me that she could not recommend someone and that that person would look bad, since she had been told that VENEZUELANS DON'T LIKE WORKING and that later I would leave her in a bad way.
I was very upset by the comment, I kindly said to him: I think it was clear that we do like to work, and that is what I want to do WORK.
He told me: The truth is that it seemed to me that they are not lazy and that they learn quickly. If I know of something, I will let you know.
So time went by and I never got a recommendation from the lady. On my own I went up to town and got a job in a restaurant, from 9 am to 10 pm. Until the Pandemic fell and the entire town closed its doors. Many were unemployed and many entrepreneurs closed their businesses because they could not pay rent and employees without receiving income.
This is my second entry to the @hivecrossculture contest made by the friend @starstrings01 with this topic as interesting and broad as cultural stereotypes.
Traducción al Español:
Para cuando llegué a Villa de Leyva, Colombia, lo hice con mucho entusiasmo. Salí de mi país por problemas económicos, de servicios y la falta de trabajo. Villa de Leyva es un pueblo pequeño, muy turístico y con un clima muy distinto al de mi ciudad. Con mi conocimiento de Inglés al nivel intermedio, me propuse buscar un trabajo para practicar el idioma y ganar dinero, por supuesto.
Cuando llegamos a la granja nos encontramos con que estaban a punto de sacar una siembra de cebollas, que allí tendríamos mucho trabajo por hacer. Yo no sabía nada sobre siembras, pero como siempre digo: Si me enseñan yo aprendo rápido y lo que más quiero es trabajar.
Nos comenzaron a enseñar y yo, como una esponja, entendía todo bien y rápido. Me halagaban diciéndome: Que rápido aprende señora Isabel.
El trabajo de cosechar cebollas es muy fuerte, para el que viene de trabajar en una oficina, con aire acondicionado y escribir en una computadora y atender el teléfono, es lo más fuerte por lo que pueda pasar.
Para arrancar las cebollas del suelo se comienza arrodillada, pero la verdad es que yo terminaba acostada (literalmente) en el terreno para arrancar las cebollas. Al día siguiente el dolor muscular es horrible. Con 2 Paracetamol en la mañana y un desayuno ya estaba lista para el día 2 de la faena.
Así llegué al 5to día de trabajo, entonces hay que meter las cebollas ordenadamente en su saco. Las grandes hacia la malla del saco para que se vean las bonitas, las no tan grandes en la parte de en medio. Luego hay que pesar, de 50 kilos cada saco, para luego subir al camión para llevarlo al mercado a la venta. Las mujeres no hacemos el trabajo de cargar los sacos al camión, pero hay que estar allí en el terreno para sacar las pocas que quedan enterradas.
Cuando el trabajo se terminó hablé con la señora que nos había dado el trabajo para que me recomendara con alguna casa de familia para hacer los aseos, pero me dijo que ella no podía recomendar a alguien y que esa persona le quedara mal, ya que a ella le habían dicho que A LOS VENEZOLANOS NO LES GUSTA TRABAJAR y que luego yo la dejara en mal a ella.
Me molesté mucho por el comentario, amablemente le dije: Yo creo que quedó claro que sí nos gusta trabajar, y eso es lo que yo quiero hacer TRABAJAR.
Me dijo: La verdad es que me ha parecido que no son haraganes y que aprenden rápido. Si se de algo, yo le aviso.
Así pasó el tiempo y nunca conseguí una recomendación de la señora. Por mi cuenta subí al pueblo y conseguí trabajo en un restaurante, con horario de 9 am a 10 pm. Hasta que cayó la Pandemia y todo el pueblo cerró sus puertas. Muchos se quedaron sin empleo y muchos empresarios cerraron sus negocios porque no podían pagar alquiler y empleados sin estar recibiendo ingresos.
Esta es mi segunda entrada al concurso de @hivecrossculture que realiza el amigo @starstrings01 con este tema tan interesante y amplio como es los estereotipos culturales.
People with different stereotype about other tribes or country. I hope you proved to them that you aren't lazy in your work. Only a few can just be lazy while they had to generalized it.
I can see your love for work and how hard-working you are. One-day your hard work will reward you greatly.
Thanks for your words friend @princessbusayo, I think I made it very clear that we are not lazy, but stereotypes are difficult to erase in people's heads.
From the picture, it's an evidence that not everyone from venezuela is lazy. You're actually hardworking. I know how tough harvesting onions can be, well done
Thank you @dwixer . It is very uncomfortable to know what others think of you, not being true
Yeah, most times
Unfortunately these are things locals often say, and it makes them feel better about themselves. My family and I are migrants here in Suriname, and the locals like to blame all their problems on the Guyanese, Haitians, and Cubans, and Brazilians. However, if these 4 groups of people left the country, the economy would come to a grinding halt, although it kind of already has.
When my family and I were having tough times in Ecuador, it was Venezuelans that reached out to us, not the locals.
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How good it is to read that, it makes me very happy as a Venezuelan that I am. I thought that we were the only ones who had xenophobia, but I see that it is the same with all migrants. We suffer a lot when we are not in our country.
Wow, you are a very hardworking woman. It must have really pained when you heard Venezuelans do not like working.
I felt really bad when they told me it to my face, but I think I showed them that it was not like that.
Good that you showed them it is not what they think...