Tag: recuerdos

FAQs: JungleBoah is Going Back to the Jungle!

What?: After spending most of my adult life in Southern California, I’m moving back to my native Venezuela. Specifically, here. I came to SoCal after being awarded an academic scholarship by the government of Venezuela. After finishing my BS-ICS at the University of California, Irvine, I went back to Venezuela to get employment in the … Continue reading “FAQs: JungleBoah is Going Back to the Jungle!”

What?: After spending most of my adult life in Southern California, I’m moving back to my native Venezuela. Specifically, here. I came to SoCal after being awarded an academic scholarship by the government of Venezuela. After finishing my BS-ICS at the University of California, Irvine, I went back to Venezuela to get employment in the field as agreed. Unable to find employment, I returned to SoCal where I had already fallen in love with beautiful Mik. We married and I worked for a couple of companies before founding Intra Automation Software & Systems Inc. providing hardware, software and programming services to interested parties in the business field. I was lucky to spend most of my adult life in a great marriage that produced two outstanding human beings: our children, Xavier and Sasha

When?: ASAP, most likely before the end of this month of July.

Why?: One of my favorite casual eateries is the Lost Pier Cafe at Aliso Beach. If you ever visited this beach, you probably remember that it was home to one of the most unusual and beautiful piers in SoCal (It was square and had to be torn down because of structural damages). What you probably don’t know, is that there is a trail that ends in Marina Hills in beautiful Laguna Niguel where I resided for several years with Mik and where our children grew up in a beautiful home I was able to afford; The truth is that everything in SoCal reminds me of what I have lost! I don’t want to become an old man ruminating of what I have LOST!

• Will I return to the US and SoCal? Most likely not, only in the event of a business obligation.

• Do I expect family and friends to visit me? Most resoundingly yes! Although Venezuela has been saddled with a brutal socialist dictatorship for the last 27 years, things are quickly changing and it can only be for the better. Margarita Island happened to be a regular stop for many Caribbean cruises and is home to an international airport.

•  I also want to provide as much love and affection to my mother while living together for as long as she wants (and who I know reciprocates the sentiments, very much). Of course, I have several family and friends in Venezuela and a half-sister in Margarita Island that will help me with some of the logistics of my move. My move wouldn’t be possible without the love, affection, emotional and financial support of my sister-cousin Anabella and my wonderful son Xavier.

It’s time to write not just the last chapter of my life but an all-together new book and I need a change of scenery to accomplish that.

𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍; 𝑨𝒍𝒐𝒉𝒂!

🎶 ¡¿Canciones Navideñas?!

Cantadas por uno de mis hermanos apureños hace muchas lunas:

                                                    

Los Tres Reyes Magos
vienen en gandola
porque a los camellos
le pesan las patas…     
En las Navidadess    
y en el Año Nuevo
al Niño Jesús  
le maman el gallo…
Yo no quiero hallaca
yo no quiero yuca
pues yo lo quiero es
que me den pollo…

    

🙏 I’m Thankful Because…

…my extraordinary parents gave me and my sister excellent DNA to pass along to future generations, along with great love and values that have served me well throughout my life.

..I grew up in a small town in Venezuela, with my beautiful sister, where I learned to forge long standing relationships with family and friends.

…my strong spirit and imagination that comes from a maternal Spanish ancestry as my mother’s family chose Venezuela when my grandfather was exiled during the Spanish Civil War. I keep in touch with my maternal relatives (godmother-aunt and first-cousins) on a daily basis.

…I won a Venezuelan academic scholarship that allowed me to study Information and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine and that would define my adult life as a ‘Californio’,

…I still keep in touch with my high school friends (In Venezuela the professors come to your classroom and one gets to know a good part of 40 classmates fairly well during crucial teenage years); We have a WhatsApp group and post all kinds of stuff on a daily basis.

…I achieved two great adventure feats in my youth with some of my best friends: Climbing the most difficult peak in my country, Pico Humboldt (snow in the tropics where the Andes begin) and crossing the Pacific Ocean on a racing sailing boat from Hawaii to California.

…I was fortunate to have several beautiful girlfriends prior to my marriage, many of whom I still keep in touch with.

…I have great friendships with my UC Irvine College Buddies; We didn’t take any classes together but know each other because most of us were in sports teams. We have kept our friendships throughout all these years and even though we are scattered all over the US, we keep a daily SMS thread and have an ABT (All Boys Trip) once a year were we proceed to mostly make fun of each other for several days of great camaraderie.

…I had an idyllic marriage for 37 years to beautiful Mik (alas now my  ex-wife) that brought into existence two outstanding human beings:  My techy-artist son Xavier and my bona fide model daughter Sasha.

…I had my own software development and computer business (Intra Automation) a few years after college and during the computing heydays.

…I am still alive after suffering a catastrophic skiing misfortune that almost cost me my life and left me severely handicapped. I wouldn’t be alive without the love and attention of my ex-wife Mik and the support of family, friends and complete strangers.

…I am able to maintain a good standard of living and a rewarding professional life, even though I live alone, because of all the help from my caregivers and assistants.

…even with my disability and my mature age, I once again have found what makes life worth living: Romantic Love.

Courtesy of https://www.vecteezy.com/free-png/yin-yang

𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍; 𝑨𝒍𝒐𝒉𝒂!

💞 Bellaka is 30!

Sri & Sasha

Her nickname is a play of words in Spanish: Bella which she undoubtedly is! And Bella-ka (proper spelling is Bellaca) meaning deceitful which she was as a teenager, especially to her parents. The fact of the matter is that Sasha has grown even more beautiful and is always concerned for the well-being of family and friends. I don’t think that her teenage nickname applies anymore. I’ll have to come up with a better one; it will undoubtedly be based on bella!

Her age and the fact that one of my celebrity crushes is making ads for insomnia products has got me feeling pretty old.

By the way, she’s turning 31 tomorrow!

𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡; 𝘼𝙡𝙤𝙝𝙖!

Picture disclaimer: No child was hurt during this antiquated but effective tooth removal procedure and the adult was obviously having lots of fun.

Carlitones

Así llamó a mi querido primo-hermano Carlos; Su padre, mi tío Carlos, lo llama Carlitos como también lo hace su madre Titi (hermana de mi madre y mi tía-madrina); Para añadir a la confusión, su primer hijo también se llama Carlos y lo llamamos Carlitos (o también le llamamos Chez); Pero yo llamo a mi primo-hermano como siempre lo llamé desde niño: Carlitones. Porque aunque era tres años menor que yo, siempre fue más apuesto, nadaba más rápido, era más arriesgado y por supuesto esquiaba mucho mejor que yo. Fue Campeón Nacional de Esquí Acuático con tan solo doce años.

Mi papel, como primo mayor, fue siempre protegerlo cuando estaba presente pero al final no lo pude hacer; No porque no estaba presente sino porque es el inescapable destino de todos: Lamentablemente, Carlitones ya no está con nosotros; Ha partido a otro plano.

Una de las cosas que siempre admiré de Carlitones es que sabía que tenía una vida privilegiada, la cual compartía cuando era posible; Desde una entrada a un concierto o un viaje a Chuspa, con bellas sifrinas, en su vehículo 4×4. Su forma de ser podría ser calificada como “El Hedonista Mecánico” —Asi lo titulé en un escrito de mi último viaje a Venezuela—

En realidad su actitud laissez faire lo ha debido ser un gran jefe inspirando responsabilidad y crecimiento personal. Pudiera no ser muy aparente pero fue también la forma como crio a sus dos hijos Chez y Alejo, productos del gran amor de su vida, una bella mujer que lo acompañó en las buenas y en las malas, hasta el final de sus días: La Gallega.

En una de sus visitas a California fuimos a esquiar en nieve, a uno de mis lugares favoritos: Squaw Valley en Lake Tahoe. Fue una de las actividades en que fui comparable con él porque fui adicto a esquiar en nieve. Nunca tuvimos la oportunidad de esquiar en Las Leñas, Argentina como lo habíamos planificado antes de mi skiing misfortune. C’est la vie!

Hace cuatro años fue la última vez que nos vimos, cuando me visitó con mi otro primo-hermano Juanin en mi actual residencia en el Sur de California. Hizo una parrillada espectacular y como sobró mucha comida, la compartió con un sortario grupo que estaba jugando cartas en la piscina de mi residencia. Tanto él como Juanin estaban usando trajes de baño tipo Speedo que en California solo lo usan los maricones (o los nadadores de competencia), resultando en situaciónes muy divertidas.

También fuimos a mi oficina y a almorzar en el muelle más bonito del Sur de California: San Clemente. Logré que mis primos usaran mis camisas de trabajo, las cuáles les quedaron grandes pero resultamos vernos muy cómicos y por supuesto también muy guapos.

Como decía nuestro tio Juan: —Al cual nunca lo vi leyendo una Biblia o visitando a una iglesia (excepto por un bautizo, una comunión o un matrimonio)—

Amaos los unos a los otros.

Juan 13:34-35 —
¡QEPD querido primo-hermano Carlitones!