Hello all. Long time no see. I've been
living it up while trying to write a book. It can be a bit challenging to party
all night and write all day, but I've giving it my best shot.
Since I've been in Mexico, a common
question (among the same 5 or so I always get) is if there are things I miss
from home. Sure, I miss my friends and family, but people want to know of other
more specific or material things I miss. I am slowly coming out of the
honeymoon phase I've been in with Mexico, and this is what I've been missing
lately.
1. Chicago radio stations. Not just the
hip-hop, which I miss greatly, but the diversity of music. I used to roll
through Chitown on 94 or 294 straight channel surfing, looking for new music
that hadn't made it to Milwaukee yet. I'd also listen for local artists in
Spanish and English. I am lucky enough to be in a more diverse part of Mexico,
musically speaking, but the radio kinda sucks. There's your typical Norteño
music, corridos, cumbia, and the dreaded banda (shivering as I type). There are
some English stations, but they're pretty bad. It's either pop, techno-ed out
pop a la gay bar style, hard rock from the 70s and 80s, and Hall and Oates.
Seriously, there is some bad 80s shit going on here on the radio. (and I might not have spelled Hall and Oates right, oops...) So, that's item one.
2. Next up—the traffic patterns. Let's just
say that there are traffic signs and signals, but people don't necessarily
follow them. It's survival of the fittest on the road. Luckily, I drive a big
car, so people move out of the way for me. I wrote a rap called Chaos En La
Calle that I'll bust for you some time. (That's 'chaos in the street' in
English, and I probably won't actually be rapping anytime soon.)
3. Black people. Man, I miss black people.
Not dark skinned Mexicans, but African Americans. I miss using my super greasy
slang. I miss soul food, and potlucks for any occasion. I miss the diversity of
America in general, but mostly I miss African American culture. (I thought my
red Pumas, red and white Puma T, and white leather hat were hella pimpin' last
night. Shit I shoulda taken pics! Sadly, no one saw how pimperific my hat was. Don't
get me started on my red Jordans that only Mexicans who've lived in the states
can appreciate...) To get even more specific, I miss black people in Milwaukee.
I miss Tunisia, and Nicole, Shaquita and Marilyn. I really miss all my COA
peeps, especially Mr. Goode. And I miss how you accepted the white girl, who
loves hip-hop
and doing things in a janky manner, into your folds.
4. Infrastructural organization. That's all
I'm going to say about that.
5. And last but not least, I miss my
hard-to-find hair products made for women with kinky curls and a sensitive
scalp. I write this with a bit of a rash
on my hair line from a new product I tried. I want no sulfates (allergic), no
parabens, no alcohol, and no fragrances in my products. Totally not finding
that shit here. In fact, let's just say that I'd like all my products to be dye
free. I'm not sure what's up with it, but everything is perfumed out here.
Laundry soap, fabric softener, dish soap, all purpose cleaners, face creams,
body creams, hair shit, and even just a bar of soap. Sure, we have that in the
States, but you can always find dye free products relatively easily. Here, not
so much. And for a lady who is the queen of hives, this is no bueno. *scratching at my braids*
