The Long Way Home

     When anyone asks me to describe my hometown (Mcallen/Edinburg) I like to say that it's a small city. "Not a small town," I stress as if that were some type of insult(We're the People's Front of Judea not the Judean People's Front!).* However sometimes I think of how much better it would be if the McAllen-Edinburg area were a small town. Friendly neighbors who knew who the best babysitters were and sidewalk availability so that kids could safely walk to school, among other places. It's kind of sad that we depend on cars so much to get us, basically, everywhere.
     People have wondered how I was able to adapt to New York City life and NYU's lack of community but the truth is that there wasn't much of a community back home either(at least, that's how I felt).There definitely were your group of friends at school and the people you met at your job but outside of that there really wasn't anything connecting the rest of the Rio Grande Valley. I was lucky enough to have a strong group of friends but even with us it seemed hard to keep in touch after 4:00 on weekdays. Where could we go to hang out? As much as I loved(and still enjoy) hanging out at a friend's house, there was only so much we could do at each other's homes. Even the best traditions, no matter how great, can become routine and boring. This was always our problem and I have a feeling that we weren't the only ones who felt it.
      It makes me wonder why the valley can't be as socially active as NYC. Is it that we can't afford a nice park? Why can't we have sidewalks or good public transportation? And why won't anyone open a nice hang-out spot for teens besides the mall? The closest thing we have is Moonbeans Coffee which is unfortunately not large enough to fit the growing number of teens who really need to get out more. Is our problem really all about money? I'm not entirely convinced about that but it definitely is a factor (I mean, I highly doubt that our poverty levels are just a coincidence). And, of course, the less money you have, the harder it is to get mom and dad to do anything for you (Democrats and Republicans are the parents, you decide which is which).
        I recently learned that McAllen is the square dance capital of the world. Admittedly, after I read this I was cracking up for about five minutes. When I finally got it out of my system I thought, "How did I not know about this?" I took this as yet the latest evidence that there isn't a big sense of connection and therefore not a lot of communication between us.You may think I'm crazy or lying when I say I feel safer in New York than I do back home (is the idea really that outrageous?). The reason being that I know I'm not alone there. People will always be there to fill the sidewalks and keep you company in the middle of the night(not that I've ever been out and about in the middle of the night). So really, as long as I don't do anything stupid like walk down some dark alley or take off with a strange man, I don't think I have that much to fear. The valley, on the other hand, can get pretty creepy and with the devastation affecting our neighbors across the river, it doesn't look like the valley will be getting safer any time soon. Now more than ever it's important that we keep kids out of trouble by providing places where they can have good, clean (using this term pretty loosely) fun. I feel like there's so much that needs to be done to improve the quality of life in the valley.
       I wanted to be in New York because I wanted to do something significant with my life. I then realized that there were so many people who flocked to the city to do the same thing. How could I stand out among six million people? If I wanted to make a difference for people, then why not make it in a place that really needs it? A place that is seen as one of the most impoverished in the country and as one of the least brainy in the country (according to portfolio.com). My friends and I sometimes joke about how bad the valley is but it's a real problem that I would like to address. I don't know how yet but writing about it seems like an OK start. Who knows, maybe someone will read this and decide to take action. If only.


*Reference to Monty Python's "Life of Brian"

Has Rio Grande Valley Growth Come to a Halt?

      This fall was the beginning of my sophomore year at New York University. Apart from the stress and the few nights that I broke down crying from it, things have been going adequately well up to this point. New York City seems as fast-paced as one can get and it is far removed from the redundant boredom one can face while growing up in the valley. I hate speaking ill of the place where I was born and raised but it’s not as if we all don’t know it, can’t feel it.
 

        Weekend after weekend and night after night I would ask friends, “What can we do tonight?” After a while of course, I merely asked out of habit because I knew the answer was always a definite and unequivocal “nothing”. Going to the movie theater was getting too expensive and apparently God liked to display his sense of humor in my bowling abilities so that was out too. Ultimately, I found myself roaming around Barnes & Noble on Saturday nights. That alone was sad but this past summer that I was home, I was unable to do even that because I no longer had a car in which to drive around.

       So how did we get here? Well, better yet, how did we get stuck here? Why is it that teens, especially broke teens like so many of us are, find themselves staring at the TV or the computer screen on a Saturday night. Sure, we could simply go to each other’s houses and hang out there but that isn’t enough to satisfy our hunger for socializing for the entirety of our adolescence. Where’s the connection to the rest of the valley? Why is it that most of us don’t feel comfortable going to a park or simply walking around? Looking around, I’m sure most of us find the answer to be obvious.

     Upon arriving in New York I instantly fell in love with walking. It wasn’t just that it was free as opposed $2.25 each way for the subway, it was that it was accepted. More than accepted, it was the custom. No one honked at me for walking like they did in the valley because here I was only one of millions of pedestrians. It’s wonderful and it’s an activity in itself. One Saturday afternoon I walked from Washington Square Park to Central Park which took me about two hours. It made for an enjoyable afternoon day and it made me feel like a true contributor to this glorious metropolis.

     My point is why is it so hard for the valley to be social? It seems as if we skipped a few steps; we can connect with everyone online yet we can’t seem to connect with the people within our own community on a three-dimensional level. Why has the valley been unable to break down the barriers and why do they seem stronger than ever?

      I want to keep this at a readable length so with that in mind I must end here. Don’t misunderstand me; it is not my intention to simply criticize our home. I do not pretend to hold the secrets of how to improve the valley (don’t expect “The Guide to Making the Rio Grande Valley Funner, and Then Some!” in bookstores near you). I pose these questions with sincerity and curiosity (just think of me as a bright-eyed seven year-old). In my next entry I hope to examine the possible answers to these questions (recession anyone?)and explain why, now that I’m only in the valley three months out of the year, these questions are prodding me and keep me tossing and turning in my sleep. Well, I’m in college now so I don’t sleep, but you get the idea.