The second worst place in California after Bakersfield, is Rodeo... Hands Down!!
Sorry if this may offend some of you, specially if you live in Bakersfield, but you should be satisfied with the fact that the town where my parents live in, Rodeo, holds high rank in inhabitable cities to live in the Bay Area. I live here....
My parents bought this house exactly a year ago, in order to 'invest' money in real estate instead of renting. Another great factor in acquiring this piece of property is it's symbolic meaning to an immigrant. Owning a home = success in the US.
I should congratulate my mother in the house itself. In addition to being a new home, my mother's great sense in color coordination accompanied with her modern interior decoration of the house.. it looks amazing inside and out.
BUT.. this town has left a bitter taste in my mouth. To start off with, the town is extremely worn down. It used to be a stop for ships, and now it has train tracks, a Safeway that lacks in good groceries and customer service and a Salvation Army...
That doesn't bother me, what pisses me off was the call that I got from my mother last Friday telling me that we have been robbed. They left a complete mess; They flipped our mattresses, went though our personal stuff (looked through my undergarments)... just a complete mess. I hope that these people are satisfied with the person they see when they wake up in the morning. I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the eye.
They left with some cash, some accessories and the most tackiest shoes that I have ever bought... that should tell give an inclination to the type of people that did this.
So, that is not the whole reason why I am livid. Aside form having a perfectly horrible day, I come home to find that the sewer had exploded and inundated our downstairs bathroom with bathroom garbage (to put it lightly). Yes, to top of this 'magnificent' day, I had to smell human secretion in my house.
I don't know what else to expect this year, thank god it's almost over and I don't even want to imagine what could possibly happen to us in the coming year living here.
(On the positive note, I got my first DVD's from Netflix today, so at least I can calm down before going to sleep :) )
Making FUN times in LA...
I recently came back from a weekend trip to good old LA. My company was offering to pay for all employees plus a guest for our annual holiday party. The hotel and flights were taken care of, so what do I do with this offer??? Invite more people, of course!Dana and Ale drove down on Friday and I met up with Tati at Oakland Airport. Flight was good, and Dana with Ale were waiting for us at LAX. That same night was the night of the party. Since I could only take one guest, Tati and I got ready and headed for a open bar night.. I have no idea how much alcohol I consumed that night, and If I never thought that I could possibly be an alcoholic, well after this weekend, I became one (this worries me).Tid bits about the party was the good food, everyone looking their best, free bar, picture key chains..(one which Ale decided to steal when trying to crash), drunken co-workers, very drunken co-workers, lady falling on her ass on the dance floor and people taking pictures of her, free bar, sneaking Adam in, free bar and convincing male co-workers to come to West Hollywood (The Abbey = gay bar).So.. after that everything was pretty blurry, and the following day I had the worst hang over of my life. The next day consisted of walking around 3rd St., napping, sushi dinner with free shots, the Abbey, Mickey's, iCandy and back to The Abbey again...With that being said... I have decided one thing. LA in the winter is the best, just for a weekend.Being a San Francisco girl, a truly devoted person to loving every aspect of this great city, for some reason I had the best time in LA.. making me think twice about the lifestyle there.These are some 'survival tips' for all the people that decide to make a weekend trip. - You are going to LA.. so expect drinks to be expensive.
- Be nice to people. I think that people in LA frequently encounter assholes, so when a nice person comes around, you will benefit from it. In this trip we got free shots, discount on drinks, free water and a most unexpected peep show/'I can pick up $5 bill with my butt-cheeks' act from a go-go boy. Not my cup of tea, BUT some really enjoy this.
- Going to gay bars or gay districts is for both the straight and gay. Point in case, there is someone for everyone. When going to these gay bars as frequently as I do... having great gay friends, I have seen that there are many attractive males and females. For women, I believe that it is a sort of a relief to visit these places. No one gets hit-on/or rubbed on by nasty men trying to get their 'mack on'... if you will. The beautiful men are usually gay, which serves as eye-candy, but there is also a unknown occurrence (This occurring in both LA and San Francisco).. there is at least one beautiful straight bar tender. In LA there was Marcus (Abbey), and in San Francisco there is Andrew (BOC)
- Do not rely in the cab system down there. Most people have cars,and unfortunately, cabs with their lights turned on don't stop for you unless you throw your body on the road to make yourself clearly visible. Save yourself the trouble and either call a cab company, or have reliable car there.. it saves you the trouble on trying to have a great night.
- Last but not least, weather is better there. Not saying that San Francisco has the worst weather.... it tops Chicago & Seattle .. to name some based on my preference. This weekend I hear it was rainy there, we all encountered the sun hitting our faces while watching the sunset in Santa Monica. :)
When coming back, I had to deal with the news that my house got broken into. Nothing major stolen but some money my mom saved up, her purse (birthday present from me), some jewelry and the ugliest/tackiest shoes I had... makes me think about the person who stole it.. good riddance!
Pictures will be posted soon.. my camera is being fixed. I guess the burglars picked the worst day to steal...HA!!
Interesting Week...
This week I celebrated my 24th birthday..... yes, 24... and almost 25. My friends tell me that the best birthday is the 30th. Being that when one finally reaches that age, one is supposedly 'stable'.
So it was the day of my birthday, and before going to work I was about to have a nervous break down. I had misplaced my keys and looked for them for about half an hour. They ended up being in my purse the whole time... so typical for me to do.
But, all started getting better when I received a call from my aunt and grandmother in Peru. The whole day went smooth, and the most unexpected people wished me a happy birthday. Then I was off to drinks with the co-workers at 4pm (took our 15 min. break and hit up the EZ5 around the corner), then came back just in time to leave and forget my cake in the office refrigerator. Fortunately, Jose was nice enough to bring it to Powell Street where Tatiana was waiting for him... (They had never met each other until then.. so you can imagine).
So.. then we were off to the Supper Club in San Francisco. This restaurant that serves food in beds, has people dressed in drag, a very flexible person wearing a 'glob-like' suite who was scaring the crap out of people with it's unhuman contortions, a lady doing acrobatics with a long piece of cloth hanging from the ceiling (my favorite act), and a $60 fee... my friends must like me a whole lot for spending at least that amount. In all, my birthday was fun. I wanted to post pictures, but since my camera is out of commission, my friends were nice enough to play my annoying role of 'photographer' for the night. And I use the term 'annoying' since I probably take the most incriminating pictures of all my friends.
Now I am off to pack for the weekend. It is my company's annual Holiday Party in LA, where I will be bringing Tatiana so she can also indulge on free food and alcohol. Ale and Dana will be meeting us down there. They will be driving down in style.. can't imagine any other way, and the weekend awaits us. Wish me luck.
Who are you?
Yes, I speak Spanish... I celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December at midnight... I love to dance and most of my family lives in South America.
But.. I look like a regular 'American' ..
The trouble arises here, because my ethnicity is regularly questioned. Just because I look a certain way, it doesn't mean that I am not Latino. I have to argue my way and prove myself almost every time I encounter a.... "You say you are Peruvian.. but why how come you are white?". These questions do not come from a certain group of people, but Hispanics also ask me this.. A LOT.
Being Latino means a lot of things to me. Although I look a certain way, in my heart I know where I came from. I have seen all aspects of Peru. I have been to Cusco, the ghettos in Lima (called 'invasiones' or 'pueblo joven'), shopped at the common market (yes, the ones where the whole chickens and cow legs hang), attended a Catholic school, learn all the dances to the songs that are popular or 'de moda' and visited the little town in la selva (or jungle of Northern Peru) where my family came from (A town that my great grandmother lived in, the small city where my grandparents fell in love that had no electricity, a central square and people played soccer barefoot and swam in the river for fun).
So.. yes, I am proud to be who I am and will always be. In all, I am also an American, but I come from the southern hemisphere of the Americas. It does not mean that I have to look a certain way, because the beauty of being Latino (as a good friend once told me) is that we all come in different shapes, color and sizes.
The lesson here is this:
If you ever come close to someone who speaks Spanish, and for some reason does not 'look the part' ... PLEASE don't ask them why the look the way they do, and don't stare at them as if they were a freak show. Just be aware that your comments, as harmless as they may be, they can be taken the wrong way.. and you may be subjected to a history lesson on South American immigration. If the latter one happens, then you may have come across me.
My First Post!
This is very exciting! Hello! My name is Maria and I am a 24 year old in the San Francisco, Bay Area. In short, I was born and raised in Lima - Peru. Have been here since the age of 9, and want to become a lawyer when I grow up. :)I came to the decision to have my own blog as type of tangible testimony of my life so that family and friends (near and far) can see the steps that I take in my life.I have decided to post my ideas, feelings, ocasions and ocurrences that make-up my life. Now coming to the age of 24, and still struggling to figure out who I am.I welcome all of you to share your thoughts or random comments that you may have.. this is my space as well as yours...
