Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Nos vamos a Nueva York
Back when I was in college (only a couple of years ago), my primas from the Chi used to call me and tell me they were planning a trip to Nueva York for some reason or another. So when the time came, I would board the train or the Chinatown bus in Philly(it was $10 roundtrip) to NYC. I would go visit and they would treat me to food and drink. My Chi primas are the best. Well-educated with good jobs, opinionated, can dance, cook, are very pretty, can drink till the cows come home, and are the best at Spanglish (it's the new cool language of us americanized latinos).
We would go about town making fools of ourselves, shopping the crap out of Chinatown fakery, eat pizza, and make out with random strangers (okay, it wasn't me but my Cousin Vero's friend who shall name nameless because I forgot her name). We would imagine what it would be like to be rich and famous, like Sex and the City, and have wonderful clothes and great bars to go to. But then we would decide that sometimes a girl needs some good old Tequila's and Chicas (it's on the Southside of Chicago).
Well one nice day while in la Nueva York (about 30 degrees) we decided that we should go to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty was closed because of a security bonanza after 9/11 so we decided to take the ferry to Ellis Island and go learn about some history. So the last time I was there they had this exhibit where you can type in what country your family is from and it will show when it populated the US and what areas. Of course, I go straight for Mexico since I consider myself more Mexicana then potorra and bam! you have see it all. However, my smart ass self was not impressed. I made some joke to my cousins, not thinking there were other people in this world listening. I said "Well our family didn't come in this way, they drove in from Mexico and probably stopped for aguasfrescas at the corner in Rosita before they kept going and had tacos in Piedras Negras before arriving to Eagle Pass and then drove to Austin (who would have known?) and made their way to Chi-town." And that's where the fun really began. My tales of my immigrant family in the Chi and their acclimation to American life. Then mix my own personal tales of growing up with only a daddy and it just keeps getting more interesting.
You should totally check out the Ellis Island link. None other to make me happy since I just learned how to make a link. It's free to sign up and free to browse. Who doesn't love free in the red, white, and blue.
We would go about town making fools of ourselves, shopping the crap out of Chinatown fakery, eat pizza, and make out with random strangers (okay, it wasn't me but my Cousin Vero's friend who shall name nameless because I forgot her name). We would imagine what it would be like to be rich and famous, like Sex and the City, and have wonderful clothes and great bars to go to. But then we would decide that sometimes a girl needs some good old Tequila's and Chicas (it's on the Southside of Chicago).
Well one nice day while in la Nueva York (about 30 degrees) we decided that we should go to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty was closed because of a security bonanza after 9/11 so we decided to take the ferry to Ellis Island and go learn about some history. So the last time I was there they had this exhibit where you can type in what country your family is from and it will show when it populated the US and what areas. Of course, I go straight for Mexico since I consider myself more Mexicana then potorra and bam! you have see it all. However, my smart ass self was not impressed. I made some joke to my cousins, not thinking there were other people in this world listening. I said "Well our family didn't come in this way, they drove in from Mexico and probably stopped for aguasfrescas at the corner in Rosita before they kept going and had tacos in Piedras Negras before arriving to Eagle Pass and then drove to Austin (who would have known?) and made their way to Chi-town." And that's where the fun really began. My tales of my immigrant family in the Chi and their acclimation to American life. Then mix my own personal tales of growing up with only a daddy and it just keeps getting more interesting.
You should totally check out the Ellis Island link. None other to make me happy since I just learned how to make a link. It's free to sign up and free to browse. Who doesn't love free in the red, white, and blue.
// posted by Mexirican @ 8:37 PM 
