Melting Pot or Chunky Soup

With the Olympics getting into full gear I was reminded of one of the first questions I get when I tell New Yorkers I just moved here. “Where are you from?” My answer is usually “Austin “, or “Texas” or “Originally from San Antonio”. This is usually followed by a strange look and a repeating of the question. Then i respond with ” Queens , Astoria” This is again followed by another look and a further more vigorous repeating of the question with the addition of ” What country? ” .Now for those of you from Texas reading this …the rest of the world refuses to acknowledge that we are a country.
Neither my mom or dad are originally from Mexico and I have never even set foot in the country so I would never have thought to identify myself as being from Mexico. As a result this question continues to baffle me and I continue to say Texas. I may begin to say Texican though. My wife and I have been asked if we were Philipino , Mexican , Asian , Puerto Rican and Dominican amongst other things. If the people asking think you are one of them you get a bit better service , a bit bigger serving of food , and an overall friendlier atmosphere at that moment. So it goes without saying that in the past year and a half I have been Philipino, Mexican , Asian, Puerto Rican, and Dominican.

New York is often called the Big Melting Pot but I have discovered it’s more like the Big Bowl of Chunky Soup. People from all over the world live here but they don’t really make huge efforts to “melt” into anything. If anything they tend to look for others from their homelands and settle into those areas, thus creating Little China , Little Italy , Little Russia , Little Egypt , Little Greece , Little India , Little England and so many others . Maybe its the familiarity of someone speaking the language they grew up with and being with others of similar paths but it seems instead of really embracing a melting pot they are taking the chunky soup approach to america. Just like a nice Caldo ( pretty much chunky soup to you non-Texicans) with its multiple types of vegetables and meat the New New York is multiple nationalities not melted together but all separate and adding their own flavor to the bowl creating something wonderful. But to truly appreciate it you have to try to get a spoon full of all the ingredients to truly get the greatness of it all. There is still mistrust and an “us versus them ” mentality that’s out there and as a result people tend to just stay in their neighborhoods and never really experience any “melting”

New Yorkers even originally from New York tend to just stay in their neighborhood and miss out on the greatness that they have at their fingertips. I had a co-worker that lives in Long Island but works with me in Manhattan and a few months ago he decided to walk from work to Penn Station to catch a train home. Now that walk takes you down 5th Avenue and passed Times Square so it’s a walk I love to do. Well the next day he comes in and tells me that he hadn’t walked down those streets in about 15 years and that there was this one area that had all these crazy huge LED displays with video and lights. He was talking about Times Square. A born and bred New Yorker did not recognize Times Square.

Unfortunately I have a lot of other stories like this from co-workers and friends who stare at me in awe when I tell them about their own city and all the things it has to offer. So just remember It’s great to root for your home country during the Olympics and but don’t forget afterwards to get a taste of it all the ingredients next time you have some soup… And if your like me wash it down with a can or two of Big Red.. Mmmm Big Red

Central Park – One park to rule them all

When I told my friends I was moving to New York I heard everything from ” You know that’s where the aliens are going to go and blow us up first at right?” (well at least I won’t have to deal with all the politics of an invasion).” You will get mugged within a month” (which didn’t happen, knock on wood), and” It’s just buildings, you’re going to miss all the trees and nature of Texas.” This is a common misconception about New York and about Texas. Yes, Texas has trees but a lot of it is just undeveloped land that really isn’t a fun place to play in.New York is actually much more rural once you get out of New York City into the rest of the state..but I digress.

Yes Central Park really does have everything …even Unicorns.

There is truly something magical about Central Park. And I am not just referring to the fact that apparently unicorns live there. My first day in New York was all about the awe of the amazing lights and sounds of New York City, the man-made wonder that is Manhattan. My second day however was all about the peace and beauty of what nature had already placed in my new wonderland. A place called Central Park.

I haven’t gone into it too much yet but New York can be a tough town if you’re not quite ready for it. It can make you question your sanity at times but at the heart of the city when nothing seems to be going your way there is Central Park. It’s a calming touchstone that reminds us of the city’s amazing ability to inspire in the midst of chaos. It is a respite from the madness of New York City.

Central Park is a part of all of our collective unconscious. It is both familiar and mysterious. It makes you question how a place so perfect in appearance can even exist in nature much less in the middle of this urban jungle and why more cities don’t create parks like this. It made me redefine what I felt a park should be.

There are some jaded New Yorkers who don’t like Central Park just because they feel it is a tourist spot, but a closer look lets you peek into the perfect blend of all the types of New Yorkers and yes even tourist. You see people like me in suits on the weekdays walking through the park going home or a Tango dance class happening or Big Bird collecting money from tourist for a picture with the large feathered friend and you see people relaxing and taking naps in the park. I have to say taking a nap in the park is one of the best naps ever!! These is something about the soft lush grass in the park that is like a soft perfectly cushy bed.

A marathon is a daunting task and what better place to finish one than in Central Park

In addition to the great napping possibilites , There are people running and biking on the trails at all hours of the day and while I don’t know that I will experience it first hand I can only imagine the feeling of crossing the finish line of the New York City Marathon. I do however know the feeling of riding my bike with about 30,000 of my closest friends through Central Park ( we will save that story for another blog)

It truly is a wonderland

One of the other amazing things about the park is the amount of art dispersed around the park. A favorite is an Alice In Wonderland sculpture that seems perfectly fitted for a place so magical. It brings out the kid in everyone who see’s it as young and old climb it and take a picture of it. There is the beautiful yet tragic Imagine mosaic at Strawberry Fields in honor of the late great John Lennon. The Mosiac seems to have new flowers placed on it everyday by people who want to honor is legacy just a block from where he was sadly killed .

Strawberry Fields is real 🙂

While not what you would normally consider a piece of art the Bow Bridge has always held a very romantic spot in my heart. The first time I saw it in person was on a cold rainy day which somehow seemed to add to the beauty and romance of it.

Bow Bridge- Always pictureque

Then there is Poet’s Walk with it’s statues of poets and authors such as William Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott mixed in with the most amazing trees that serve to create a cathedral like pathway to my favorite area Bethesda Terrace with the Angel of the Waters fountain.

Poets Walk in the fall

Poets Walk in the Winter

Poet’s Walk in the Spring-Summer

Bethesda Terrace

The staircase down to the fountain leads you to an gorgeous open room with beautiful ceiling art work that helps create an amazing acoustics . Next you pass through some columns that frame the fountain and the water. Their is something about the first time you walk down there and see the Angel with with her arms stretched out that just seems to welcome and cleanse. In the summer and spring the water flows gracefully out giving off a cool breeze to refresh on the hottest of New York days. In the fall they fill the fountain with pumpkins for the best pumpkin patch you can imagine. In the winter the fountain is becomes filled with snow and serves as a make shift arena for epic snowfights ( more about that in my upcoming winter blog ).

This is my view every morning when I get off the train to work.

One of the best things about the park for me is that I get to see the park everyday when I go to work since it is where I get off to go to work and catch the train back home. On those rough work days I always know that at the end of the day the park will be there for me to remind me of the beauty of NYC and that a bad day in New York is still a day in New York and for me that always makes it a great day.

What is your Central Park? Is it the park that was near your home growing up ? Or a place you went on vacation?

8 million and 1

They say New York is a city filled with 8 million stories. Here is mine.

My first day in NYC is in April 2009. It’s a cold (by Texas standards) and rainy day in New York City. By any normal standard not a recipe for a great first impression of a city. But this is not any other city. This is New York City . There is something about the way water and rain actually make the city glisten like moonlight on a river.  It’s amazing. It mesmerizes and captivates. It dares you to not fall in love.

The Iridium Jazz Club

As a kid somehow the cars my mom and dad had always seemed to only have an AM radio. As a result ,  I listened to a lot of Les Paul  in the car with my Dad (who passed in 2001) when I was younger. Les Paul invented the solid body electric guitar that helped bring about the rock and roll sound we all know and love. He was an amazing guitar player as well. So when we decided that I would (still reluctantly) be going to New York with my wife for her work trip one of the conditions was that we would get tickets to go see Les Paul who at the time was  94 years old. The second condition was that we would see a Broadway show of my choice. We arrived at the Iridium a famous jazz club that Les Paul had been playing at every monday with his trio for years. He had just gotten out of the hospital and we were watching his first show back. The club only holds maybe 75 people and we were insanely close to the stage. Given that he was just ill and was 94 I wasn’t expecting much but I thought it would be nice to be able to do something I knew my Dad would have loved to have done. I will say that Les Paul put on the most amazing performance I have ever seen by a guitarist and was an amazing storyteller. His storytelling and humor reminded me of my Dad and I was in awe. After the show I got to get his autograph and spend time talking to him and telling him about how my dad and I would drive in the car and listen to him on the AM radio. All those years I hated having to listen to AM but now i was able to share that memory with man who changed music forever.  It was like I was able to bring a piece of my Dad . It was one of his last shows. 4 months later the world lost Les Paul at the age of 94.

This was my first New York moment. I wanted to move.. I wanted to have these moments again and again. It was special.. it was unique. It was something I never knew I wanted until it happened. I wanted…I needed to move to New York.

The Power of Positive Thinking

By the time my wife and I were back in Austin we made up our minds to try to move. We told everyone we were moving. Well, I told everyone we were moving . My wife thought I was crazy. Strangely enough I found a MTA Metro Card ( New York’s Transportation system for trains and buses ) while walking across the Congress Street Bridge shortly after we got back. The expiration date on it was October 31st 2010. I showed it to her and told her that I guaranteed we would be living in New York before that card expired. Again she thought I was crazy.   She wanted to go, but at the moment there was nothing in the sights. That changed October 21st 2009. I saw a posting for an opening for my company in NYC. I called my HR department and told them I would be open for the right opportunity. They said they would be in contact. An hour later they called to set up a phone interview. It went well enough that on November 18th 2009 I was flown to Philly to meet and interview for the job. Two minutes in I was told the job was mine but that he wanted to meet me first. The position wouldn’t start until Jan 2011. I negotiated to arrive October 26th 2010 , 5 days before my self imposed deadline of October 31st.

Oh and as for the second condition, the Broadway play we saw that first trip to NYC was Rock Of Ages which uses nothing but old hairband music( a much better muscial than the film) It’s about two people moving to the big city to find their dreams only to realize that sometimes dreams find you.  I cried at the end and have cried at subsequent viewings of it, not because it was sad but because in that first viewing in 2009 I knew that my dream had found me and one of the last lines captured it all…

” Sometimes the dreams you come in with may not be the dreams you leave with …but hey they still rock “

Texan? New Yorker?

” Why did ya’ll move to New York? ” ..”Where are youse guys from “..”Who moves from Texas to New York”  Three different questions ..Two using different regional dialects and the last one always said with the same shake of the head and the obligatory  “these guys don’t know what they are doing” look whenever I answer.

First lets tackle the who.  I am a 36 year old born and bred Texican ( born in Texas with famliy roots in Mexico)  who with the exception of a 6 month stay in California when I was about 6 years old have lived my whole life in Texas in every major city in Texas .South San Antonio born and raised on the playground is where I spent most of my days .Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool…sorry about that accidentally started channeling Will Smith. When I was in 2nd grade I lived in Houston for a year  , In 6th grade I lived  Dallas for a year then back to San Antonio where I have spent a total of 25 years of my life  and finally Austin for 7 years before moving up to NYC. Basically every major city in Texas ( sorry El Paso and the panhadle..No one in Texas really counts you guys).

It is my view that there are 5 types of Texans.

The Lifers. Texans that are just so grounded to Texas whether through family and friends or career that they would never consider moving out of state. I think a majority of Texans fall into this type. The Lifers also have a fringe group that feel Texas should be its own country..no seriously…not like “yeah we are great we should be our own country ..haha ..pass me a Lone Star beer” .  I am talking “Yeah we need to be our own country!!! Let’s storm the capital…but first pass me a Lone Star beer ”  Beer is kind of a big thing in Texas.

The Dreamers .Texans that want to get out to pursue some dream life or college and career that they think being in Texas will keep them from achieving to its fullest. Some succeed and some don’t but Texas usually has such a big attachment that a lot of these Dreamers still keep Texas in their heart and if they make it big they usually end up having a house in Texas or making Texas a big part of their lives still like Dan Rather, Eva Longoria , LBJ , Michelle Beadle (a San Antonio girl formerly of ESPN and now of NBC Sports, check her out she cracks me up and is a total Spurs homer ) . Side Note : George W. Bush was born in Connecticut so stop blaming Texas for that guy.

The Outsiders. Those that move from another far out land like the planet California to invade and buy up all our land for their McMansions and leave us with nothing left but Bingo halls …hmmm Now I get why my Native American friends  laugh and say at least they pay for the land when I complain about the Cali people. If the traffic is really bad we blame California. If the cost of a house goes up we blame California. Basically until In and Out Burger opens up all over Texas we will continue to blame California for everything. Ok even after that we will blame them. I mean have you seen those Mc Mansions!!

The Drifters. Those that want to move but find that the state is just too damn big and no matter how far they drive they are still in Texas and end up living all over the state at one point or another. Texas is blessed to have some of the least exciting collection of states surrounding it. We have New Mexico (It’s enchanting for the first week or two but after that its just another state between me and Las Vegas)  to the west , Louisiana (all the heat of Texas and the added bonus of unbearable humidity)  to the East and Arkansas and Oklahoma ( I think the majority of the panhandle is filled with these people. Once they realize that if they continue they end up in Oklahoma and Arkansas they decide to just stay). to the North.

The Accidental Expatriates. And then there are those who by chance find a place in the world that gives them everything they never knew they wanted and then some. Why would anyone ever leave a state with our family and friends?? A state with no earthquakes, no blizzards, no tsunamis, no volcanoes…basically a place that God has decided to not mess with too much other than the occasional heat waves to which he gave us some air-conditioning to help deal with and an occasional flash flood to remind the people that refuse to read the signs, that driving a car into the water is not such a good idea. It’s hard to explain until it hits you. For some it could be the East Coast (Boston, New York, D.C , Conneticut)  for others West Coast (California , Washington, New Mexico, Las Vegas)  or maybe some random place like Canada or Montana. You just never know until you get to that special place that seems made just for you as soon as you step foot there.  A wave washes over you. It seems at one moment  strange and different but also comfortable and familiar. It feels like home. And this is where I fall in.

I never thought I would leave Texas but a few people in my life who had lived on the east coast had told me that I would love it. I always laughed it off and would say it’s way too cold or way to expensive. My wife would even talk about wanting to visit NYC for a vacation to which I always said it was too expensive and dangerous. My compromise with her was to take her to Vegas every December and stay at the New York New York Hotel and Casino. I mean they had a miniature skyline , a mini Statue of Libery , a mini Brooklyn Bridge, a Nathan’s Hot Dog place and if you’ve ever been to Vegas you know there are plenty of people that seem like they are straight out of Jersey Shores.

In April 2009 my wife was scheduled to attend a conference in NYC. Her job at The University of Texas was paying for her entire stay. She asked if I wanted to come and basically all we would have to pay was for my meals and a single plane ticket. I said why not and we went about booking the trip. Still reluctant we set about booking my airfare and extending our stay so we would have a few days before the conference to look around and explore the city. My wife was so excited. I was glad we were going to finally get the “New York ” thing out of the way.

Little did I know how that trip would unfold and forever change my life. Next time I will go over that trip and the aftermath that finally led me from Texas to New York.