I work as a philosophy professor in a University in the west of Venezuela, in Maracaibo, which is the second city of that country.
Besides working there, sometimes I work in other universities in two or three other universities, sometimes in this city, sometimes in other two cities of my country. Mostly I try to work in public universities, but I have also worked in one or two Catholic Universities.
I've always worked, at least in the last twenty years, in Philosophy, in graduate courses. Mostly I try to work with my field of research, which is Arabic Philosophy and Islamology. Sometimes I have worked with metaphysics, Heidegger's thought, and studies on Philosophy and Literature. Also, I have worked a lot in Philosophy of religion, though I have not published much in that subject. I don't publish much in any subject.
Besides that, I work as a tenor saxophonist in a Jazz quartet, and also I manage a firm that makes inspection of ships. This last job has enabled me to survive through years of revolution. My earnings as a musician is less than four dollars a month, but the salary as professor is hardly above that, though I am in the top category in that office (tenured and in the highest rank). I earn in the universities about five dollars a month.
Is a pretty practical way to die slowly a not beautiful death.
Happily, the work with the firm I run as CEO and president of my firm assigns me a salary of about 12 dollars a month, so I am not dying of hunger, and even can help many others who are much worse than me. That is: those who still manage to cling to this country and not emigrate. But we are the lasts. Most disciples and colleagues have gone away, to Colombia, Chile, Spain, Panama, Canada, etc.
Sometimes I feel as maybe some jews felt in Germany, staying in that country after 1933... Sometimes I think "I should pack a few things and go the hell out of here", but then, I decide to stay. Maybe I am a masochist. I don't know.
