i miss

As many of you know Ray got out of the Army officially in February and took a job in Rochester, NY. Skippy and I just joined him two weeks ago. After a rough few days that included packing up his house, taking his first airplane trip and having boxes piled high all around a very tiny new house, Skippy is adjusted to his new place and thrilled with it. He has lots of squirrels in his yard and had a few rabbits that have decided they will find a new yard to play in after meeting him. He's got a great view of the street from the back of the couch and his mom works from home so he's got full time company. What more could a dog want?

People keep asking what I think of it and I keep saying it's ok, which it is. I've moved around a bit in my adult life and never stayed more than 5 years in a place. I have lots of nostalgia for Austin right now, but keep trying to remind myself that I had the same feeling 5 years ago for Quito so it must just be part of the process.

This nostalgia has been revved up by reading Texas monthly, which we still get in Rochester. Last month they did a series of articles about what it means to be a Texan. I have no idea what it means or if I'm one or not, but I miss it. I miss the normal things like my friends and my old routines. I desperately miss the bigness of Texas, the huge summer storms and the smell of your car when you get in it after it's been sitting in the Texas summer heat. Oddly enough though, I am also experiencing more than a little bit of culture shock up here. I may be having delayed culture shock from leaving my beloved Quito 5 years ago. I love Latin America, even the annoying and utterly ridiculous inexplicably stuff about it. Texas is Latin America in lots of ways, even though lots and lots of Texans do not want to acknowledge that and think building a huge fence along the border is a good idea, while I feel secure in saying that Rochester is not. I've seem a few Puerto Ricans at Walmart (I needed an air conditioner at 9:30 PM, we can discuss the fact I was shopping at Walmart later). There are no Spanish channels on T.V. or radio, no Mexican/Latin American supermarkets, very little Spanish spoken anywhere, hardly any brown people at all in fact (not met a single Mexicano yet), and no decent Tex-Mex or just plan Mex food. Seriously Rochester is whiter than rural Wisconsin where I grew up. White people own Mexican restaurants up here, thus the awful food situation. In lots of ways I fit in a whole lot better with brown people than white people so without any I don't know what to do.

Perhaps I should be grateful for Texas acting as a bridge between full Latin America and full white mainstream "American" society for me. For now, I just miss it terribly and all the things that make me feel normal.