A pirate's life for me…

I remember distinctly being scolded by my best friend's mother for trying to buy a pirated DVD while on a trip with her family to New York City. I must have been about 14 years old, and for the life of me, I couldn't understand what I had done that was so wrong.

She told me that the DVD I found in there would most likely be blank and that I would have wasted my money. I somehow trusted the man on the street corner selling me a DVD of a movie that was still in theaters. I relished in the idea that only I would be able to watch a movie at home, that everyone else would still have to watch in movie theaters. 

I was reminded of this memory today in Venezuela while attending my French class (Yes, I'm taking a French class while in Venezuela… it's a bit confusing, I know). One of my classmates said that he had the original copy of a French movie that my professor had mentioned. My professor stopped and looked at the student in shock. "You have the original copy? Did you buy it here…. in Venezuela??" 

He answered yes to both questions, 

and the rest of the class seemed to hold their breathe for a brief moment in unified disbelief. 

This shock may seem strange, but in Venezuela, pirated copies of movies are the norm. In fact, it is much more common to find a movie in its pirated form than to ever get your hands on the original version. 

You will find pirated versions sold in stores, just as you would find the original version in a store in the States. Though one girl pointed out, that buying the pirated version in a store is preferable to the street corner because you can return the DVD if it does not work.

So while my trust of the man selling DVDs on a street corner may seem strange, in another part of the world…. distrust might seem stranger.

In my next post, I hope to talk about driving in Caracas. Another subject, where rules seem almost made to be broken.