I was born and raised in a lower middle class Venezuelan family where both parents worked to get things: food, house, car, clothes. Both mom and dad had dreams that they fulfilled according to the amount of money that came into their accounts: “We will go on vacation to Margarita, buy some new furniture, change the kitchen, decorate the house, change the car,” they would say, and for them, those acquisitions not only gave them joy but also a certain status.

So after I graduated and started working, I began to acquire things that “according to me” I wanted and needed: clothes, shoes, books, art and fashion objects. I also started to travel and go to those places I had never been to before. At the same time, I did a master's degree in Literature in another city, to which I had to travel weekly. All these things happened thanks to my work and the amount of money that came into my account, which was not much, but enough to give me some “treats”.

My family also instilled in me the idea of saving, so I also saved. I must say that the way I used to get around was not public transportation, but cabs, and I spent a “small fortune” on them. One day, when I had to go to the terminal at 4 a.m. to be able to travel to my master's degree, the cab driver did not arrive and my father, who at that time had a van, had to take me. The detail was the conversation we had that day: Dad thought it was necessary for me to have a car.

I remember thinking all that week about what my father had said and I came to the conclusion that I did need one. So I began the process of looking for one. I went to several agencies at that time and I remember that the prices of the cars exceeded my savings and that I did not want to “get into debt” with any bank or anyone else (my dad had told me that he could lend me money if I needed it).

One day I was leaving work when my brother-in-law told me that someone was selling a Toyota Yaris. All the cars my dad had owned were Toyotas, so I thought it was great and went to see it. The car was in good condition: air conditioning, brasswork, engine, box, sound and best of all, it was within my financial means. So I went to the bank, wrote a cashier's check and bought my blue Yaris: my first and only car.

In this part I must confess that although I learned to drive, it was more comfortable for me to give the car to my brother or my brother-in-law to pass for me. Likewise, I never dared to travel with the Yaris because the streets of Venezuela are not the safest. Also, if I went to a party or a night celebration, my mother begged me to leave the car at home, because she was afraid that something bad could happen to me, since I have visual problems.

Anyway, that's how I had my car, for 3 years, which I used from time to time and always with great caution. Then came the economic crisis in my country and it became very expensive to maintain a car, so I decided to sell it. My father told me at that time: “What happens is that you never fell in love with the auto. How is it to lend the auto? Nobody lends their auto. That car was good”, he claimed to me as if the relationship between a person and his car was a relationship of affection. And maybe that's true. Maybe I only bought that car because my father told me I needed it and not because I really wanted it. And as in a relationship, if you no longer feel comfortable, even if you don't want to, you should end the relationship and that's how I ended up with my first and only car: the blue Yaris.