I can’t remember the last time that I was so excited to come home for a visit. Don’t get me wrong, I always appreciate an Albuquerque stopover, but they are always so short, sweet and scheduled that I hardly have time to really take it all in. Generally, I am flying in on a Friday afternoon to complete an extensive list of errands, visits, and parties, only to leave forty-two hours later and dive back into a pile of school books or work emails. This time felt different. As we sped down I-25 through Bernalillo, I was overtaken with a happiness about Burque that I hadn’t felt in years. As we fly past the sign “City of Albuquerque, Population 521,999,” I grow a smile on my face – it almost represents a devious smirk.
Five days in this desert void that you people call home. A tiny little snow globe of places and people that you can only find here. We took a loop of the city yesterday, so I could check out the changes, and show Jarvis some of my favorites. I made several observations….
First – Endless blocks of strip malls and storefronts line extremely long linear roads. Shops appear abandoned as their stucco paint peels from the side of the door frame and dried grasses break through and crack the asphalt parking lots. Sections of town appear cast off, neglected and ghetto, while others receive constant facelifts, influx of new restaurants, shops, street lights and park benches. Complete dichotomy.
Second – This town has a deficient number of pedestrians. There are cars everywhere. In all fairness, considering the underprovided public transportation system, the complete lack of bike lanes, and the ninety-eight degree temperatures cooking the cement lined city, it is no wonder that people opt out of alternate means of transportation. But still, WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE?!?!?
Third – New Mexico food is the best, bottom line. We ate breakfast at Layola’s on Central and Washington and my sopapilla stuffed with beans and green was orgasmic. Jarvis had an Indian taco Christmas style and we both left with overflowing bellies as we ate entirely too quickly. Additionally, shit here is fuckin’ cheep. Pardon my emphasis, but after braving the expensive lifestyle of San Francisco, it’s shocking for two of us to eat such a plethora of food for eighteen dollars and forty-two cents. We went to the grocery store the other day and bought enough food to BBQ for four hungry adults – the total was thirty-four dollars. When we left San Francisco, we filled up at a relatively cheep gas station for $3.86 a gallon…here, you pay $2.64. Ridicules……but I digress.
Forth – New Mexico breeds a very unique type of character. Hard working, family oriented, Spanish accent speaking, friendly, yet gangster, all rolled into one burrito, smothered in chile and served with a side of chicharones. So one of a kind is the human breed here, and the second I step foot into the dry red soils of this great state I feel myself starting to rekindle the distinctive personality traits.
Fifth – At the end of the day, when the sun sets on this valley town, nothing else matters aside from the magnificence that envelops this little badland town. Your sunsets are incomparable to any I have ever witnessed, your warm nights and summer breezes ease the day’s troubles, and your purple mountains majesties.
Five days in the desert void that you people call home…and I’m loving every second of it.
Five days in this desert void that you people call home. A tiny little snow globe of places and people that you can only find here. We took a loop of the city yesterday, so I could check out the changes, and show Jarvis some of my favorites. I made several observations….
First – Endless blocks of strip malls and storefronts line extremely long linear roads. Shops appear abandoned as their stucco paint peels from the side of the door frame and dried grasses break through and crack the asphalt parking lots. Sections of town appear cast off, neglected and ghetto, while others receive constant facelifts, influx of new restaurants, shops, street lights and park benches. Complete dichotomy.
Second – This town has a deficient number of pedestrians. There are cars everywhere. In all fairness, considering the underprovided public transportation system, the complete lack of bike lanes, and the ninety-eight degree temperatures cooking the cement lined city, it is no wonder that people opt out of alternate means of transportation. But still, WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE?!?!?
Third – New Mexico food is the best, bottom line. We ate breakfast at Layola’s on Central and Washington and my sopapilla stuffed with beans and green was orgasmic. Jarvis had an Indian taco Christmas style and we both left with overflowing bellies as we ate entirely too quickly. Additionally, shit here is fuckin’ cheep. Pardon my emphasis, but after braving the expensive lifestyle of San Francisco, it’s shocking for two of us to eat such a plethora of food for eighteen dollars and forty-two cents. We went to the grocery store the other day and bought enough food to BBQ for four hungry adults – the total was thirty-four dollars. When we left San Francisco, we filled up at a relatively cheep gas station for $3.86 a gallon…here, you pay $2.64. Ridicules……but I digress.
Forth – New Mexico breeds a very unique type of character. Hard working, family oriented, Spanish accent speaking, friendly, yet gangster, all rolled into one burrito, smothered in chile and served with a side of chicharones. So one of a kind is the human breed here, and the second I step foot into the dry red soils of this great state I feel myself starting to rekindle the distinctive personality traits.
Fifth – At the end of the day, when the sun sets on this valley town, nothing else matters aside from the magnificence that envelops this little badland town. Your sunsets are incomparable to any I have ever witnessed, your warm nights and summer breezes ease the day’s troubles, and your purple mountains majesties.
Five days in the desert void that you people call home…and I’m loving every second of it.
Burque! Nostalgia and the now colliding. The re-experience of home. AWESOME read.
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