My LA

Word Count: 393
Joaquin Bacon 18
This is the Place….
Here I am. Right here. I’m at this desk, in this class called Life 101. I live I San Fernando and as I think about what this place have done for me. I realize for this narrative I can’t talk much about L.A. I have been there and experienced the glorious China town and Alvero Street. I have seen the true face of Hollywood at night when the homeless talk to someone that is not there. Where Spiderman and power rangers are real and where the night is illuminated with the McDonald signs and cop cars, chasing the suspect down the street. But I cannot say much more than that for L.A. Because you see my heart, mind, and Life lie with San Fernando Valley. This magnificent and dirty yet clean city has given me memories and a relationship that is hard to understand unless you actually live here. From the tagging of San Fer and the “enemies” tagging of Pacoima or PJ Boys or Sylmar, these are what surrounded the bus stations and liquor stores and motels. And as you walk further you can here ranchero (Mexican music) music being blasted down the streets by hardcore Cholos who have been tatted with their colors. You can also see the countless shops for a young girl’s transformation into a young woman, her quincenera. This is the place where cops are not concerned with a broken light to meet their quota but or distracted with the gangs, the drug dealers at the pink motel, by the dump they call a trailer park, and that same motel where prostitutes meet for their “customers.” This is the place where you will get hit up by a gang for the clothes you are wearing and for how short you hair is, which has really happened to me. This is the place where you can buy and smell the delicacy or tacos de pescado or pollo from almost every corner stand. Where the food is more than just a dish to satisfy the stomach but the smell and taste of a dignified culture from someone who is trying to earn a living and is probably illegal, but no one cares to call and tell. This is the place called San Fernando and this is where I live. This is what I see as my safe home of 14 years.