The End of 2020 and Everything it Stole from Us

2020 is almost over. That is a statement of relief to most of us, with a glimmer of hope at the end. Some lost great and profound things this year. For others, they survived just by the skin of their teeth. For me, it was luckily only frustrating and scary. However, but the fact that I got married this year (despite having cancelled my big wedding, but lets not go there) made this year have one very great reminder. This was year of reflection and introspection for me and my (and those close to my) generation. 

The year begin with talks of this new virus. Nobody paid much attention to it. After all, isn't there always something popping up in the news? Didn't Ebola happen like a few years ago and we survived just fine? Once March came around and borders started closing and "stay at home orders" started taking shape, the world froze. Most people I knew were frozen scared, nobody traveled, people were hoarding toilet paper (yeah-- remember that?). As months went on and summer approached, we got a glimpse of "hope," people started gathering at parks. Little outdoor kickbacks started popping up, even clubs started to reopen (with food options, and seated of course). But cities found loopholes to allowing people have fun again. I took advantage of it for things like outdoor dining. Heck, we all did. 

Then, things got worse again, and man, countries didn't skip a beat when deciding to close its borders to Americans. I was not surprised. Once businesses closed back up I noticed my friends taking advantage of things like camping, hiking, traveling to Mexico, Las Vegas, Palm Springs. They were trying to find a way to escape the suffocation of restrictions, more than the virus itself. The suffocation felt like a hand gripping tighter and tighter around our necks, so I couldn't blame them. I summoned the courage to schedule a trip to Solvang, CA (as you probably saw on my Instagram page). I cracked. I couldn't take being in isolation any longer. I had not taken a trip since I got engaged in October of 2018. Two years without traveling for someone who loves to do so, is like removing the blood from one's veins. I booked a trip in a place that was low with cases, that had lots of outdoor things to do, and seemed safe. My husband and I had a blast. We drank wine outdoors, we ate out, walked around, went to the park, it was lovely. 

Suddenly, and almost as if I was waiting for it to happen, I started hearing about friends returning from their travels sick with COVID-19. As if by a domino effect, I started hearing about how those "kick backs" caused 3 of my friends to get infected. And suddenly, everything froze again. It felt like everyone around me was getting sick and I regressed to fear and frustration. Its agonizing to follow so many travel pages social media pages and wonder "how are all of these people all over the world still traveling?" I just don't get it, or maybe I do get it, but I'm horrifyingly jealous.

I'm not sure what will come in the following year. But I fear that borders will remain closed to us for a long time. Next year I predict American travelers will resort to staying within the US for a while, or hop on over to Mexico, until the world is ready for us. I have had a pending trip to England and Peru that I have hopes I could embark on as soon as I can get inoculated. As cringy as it sounds, only time will tell. How have you been coping with being confined to your home? Or have you broken free and traveled anyway? 

2020 is over, but the end is not near.

Los Angeles: A Snapshot

Upon researching for topics for my blog, I read an advice column that said "start small and talk about what you know. Talk about your hometown." Well, Los Angeles is one of the biggest and most well-known cities in the globe. It was a bit intimidating to tackle that task. But hey, I was born here so I think I can do it a small justice in my own way.

Home of the Dodgers, ever-growing Latino communities, gangsta rap, Hollywood, city most known for food trucks in the country, and longtime sunny weather. Los Angels is a place millions of people visit every year (yes, I looked it up). I have lived here 99% of my entire life and I can definitely say this place is a monster of a city with many intricate and complex sides to it. There is so much to cover for one post. I guess I have to start somewhere. I don't claim to know everything nor will I talk about everything. For someone who is visiting this lovely city for a short time, I can assure you that the amount of time will most likely not be enough to scratch the surface. My fiance didn't grow up in this country and he knows way more things about Los Angeles than I do. That happens a lot. People who grew up here don't always go to the beach as much as someone who is visiting. I hear: the "what? you never go to the beach? I would be here every day"-speech a lot.

LA (because its not common for people to call it "Los Angeles"), as a child, was a place where I: a) lived b) went to school and c) had fun theme parks my family took me to from time to time. You don't think much of it as a kid. As you get older you realize how much people would give an arm and a leg to come here. As years went by it became the place where most of my favorite bands (in the early 00's) came to perform. Now as an adult, it is a whale of a place with too many cars and oh so many food places to try, venues, events, and other things that I can never seem to catch up with (no matter how many vacation days I take). This city is not quiet. It is impossible to get bored here. It is difficult to save money here because I feel there is always an event or concert I want to go to (damn you concert ticket processing fees). 

Gentrification and the cost of living is skyrocketing, even in areas that people are hesitant to live in. Many people are moving away and it makes me wonder how that will make the flavor of LA change. I have met people who move to this city from out of state and are shocked that it is not entirely what they had pictured in their minds. This is the place showbiz-hungry people and immigrant families come to make it big. There are so many hungry, hungry hippos with the same dreams. Competition is tough. We have about 4 million people living in this city alone. That's a lot of traffic and a lot dreams. Tip for the tourist: don't even think about trying to get to Santa Monica beach with your family from downtown LA at 5:00pm on a weekday. It is no surprise to me when I have heard that people's dreams become deflated as soon as they land in LAX and walk out a couple of miles to the outskirts of Inglewood (via Century Blvd). Let's just say its not Beverly Hills. I grew up in this area (with planes swooshing over my house like a baby mobile) and on my drive to work everyday I would see ladies of the night outside of hotels at 6:00am smoking cigarettes, rubbing elbows with Swedish backpackers who are attempting to read their maps to get to Hollywood. That was always the strangest sight to see. But many people when they travel (if they're on a budget) aim for the least expensive places: near the airport. I know this because I have done it when I travel to places unknown and paid dearly.

LA is beautiful  and grimy at the same time. To me, it is broken down in the following zones. You have the lower income cities where many of the base families live (and the last of the affordable housing exists). Then you have the places where the "middle class" live (e.g. Culver City, Brentwood). You have the rich and famous (Beverly Hills, Bel Air). You have beach towns (Long Beach, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach). Finally you have the trendy and hip areas (Silver Lake, downtown LA, etc). With the way things are going in Los Angeles, only the wealthy will survive. I met a person at work with a family income of $100,000 who said they were barely able to pay their mortgage and survive. Well, damn.

Food. This is a big one where I will tread lightly. I do not consider myself a foodie by any means. I have friends that eat out almost every day (shout out to Louie T.). I wish I could, too. I don't eat out a lot although there are an infinite amount of good and curious places to eat. If you want to eat food from a particular country, I'm pretty sure LA has either a restaurant, hole in the wall, street vendor, or truck for it. Food trucks are a staple of this city. I heard a joke once on a TV show that said that restaurants don't exist here, and we all live off of food trucks for all 3 meals. Aside from that, you can also find a good "street dog" (hot dog, usually wrapped in bacon) anywhere you go after most events. Ahhhh, the smell of the "street dog" at 2:00 am is incomparable. Depending on the level of inebriation at this point, the sharp and instant whiff of the "street dog" cart will either feel like heaven on earth, or make you want to find the nearest restroom and purge all of your sins for that night.

This is a small general glimpse of what LA is from my eyes, but there will probably be many more related posts later. There are just so many areas to cover!
 If you have ideas on what specific things you want me to cover (tips, places to visit, etc, let me know in a comment below!).

Nighttime snapshot of DTLA March 2019