How Life Takes the Salt That's Left in the Sea
I'm back from Texas!! It was a really, really, REALLY LONG trip to get there and to get back, but it was all worth it -- rotten fruit smell in the car, random weather shifts, showerless days and all.
Have I ever mentioned how uncomfortable my mom's car is, especially when driving for long distances? Oh god, it's hell. But anyway, we went down to Brownsville, Texas to visit old friends and such. The first thing I noticed after getting out of the car that I'd been sitting in for endless hours was that it was suddenly 98 degrees outside...that was pretty shocking, seeing as how I've become accustomed to the Cincinnati weather being about 30 degrees less than that at this time of year.
The house we stayed in was pretty nice, but the neighborhood was terrible (I sound like I'm going to complain for the whole entry, but trust me, I'm not). Our neighbors seriously had like ten hounds that kept barking all night and wouldn't let anyone sleep. Of course, my main issue when we first got to Texas was to avoid any frogs (since they're known to run rampant in Brownsville for no apparent reason), but, surprisingly, I didn't see ANY the whole entire time. Maybe they all knew I was coming and decided to be nice after one of them traumatized me for life ten years ago...yep.
OOH, we ALMOST accidently went to Mexico 'cause, of course, we got lost when we got to Brownsville and almost turned into a street that led straight to the land of tacos and burritos, but there was a kind policeman there to stop us from getting there.
We stayed in Brownsville for a week and twice we went to a beach (a different one each day). The first beach is the one no one goes to 'cause the immigration officers decided to put a checkpoint before the entrance, so there were only like three other cars there besides ours. It was really cool to see that if we went any further to the left on the entrance of the beach, we would've been in Mexico. Anyway, I was afraid to go into the water at first, because when I was younger I always got a really scary infection after going into the ocean, so I was really afraid to go in there again. But I went in and nothing happened, so I don't know what was up with that. But whatever, I had lots of fun.
Speaking of Mexico, everyone in Brownsville speaks Spanish, which is pretty cool, 'cause I got to speak my native language MUCH more than I usually do here at home. More on that later.
Back to the beach thingy. The day after that, we went to a different, much more popular and hip beach. There were LOTS of people there, but it was really nice, since the sands were taken care of really well and the wind was blowing really nicely. In fact, this time I didn't go into the water at all. I just sat inside the truck with the doors open and sat there feeling the breeze -- it was really nice.
We planned to, but we didn't take many pictures in Texas. In fact, the only pictures we took were taken by me. The most touching pictures I took were when we stopped at a school, which I immediately recognized as my old kidergarten. I almost started to cry when I saw it, and I was disappointed that the gates weren't open. But the school looks just as it did when I went there, and it's still so beautiful, it really is.
I actually took a dramatized (haha) picture of myself in front of a really beautiful pink flower that doesn't grow up here in Ohio. I really loved that flower, so I wanted to take a picture next to it, and since no one would do it for me, I did it myself. I put it up as my main picture on myspace if you want to see it (http://www.myspace.com/reixminako).
We stopped at a friend's house in Houston on our way to and from Brownsville. The whole time, my sister Jennifer's dad (who lives in Houston) was trying to persuade my mom to come live in Houston and he kept pointing out all the good things about it, and he was absolutely right! He showed us the city and it's SO beautiful...Cincinnati literally looks like crap compared to it. Everything is so nice -- even the ghetto...hehe.
I think my mom was considering it for like 2 seconds, but, of course, what would we do in Houston after having made a living here in Cincinnati? I even agreed to that, as much as I hate Cincinnati. Houston is a really wonderful city, but it's a stranger to us and there's no way we'll just get up and leave our lives here and start over in another place.
Although, the whole time we spent in Brownsville, I really wished I lived in Texas for mainly one reason: the radio. That's right people, the radio. After being in Texas, I remembered how much the stations up here SUCK (to my likings, of course). All they play up here is rock music, whose lyrics are undecipherable through all those loud guitars and drums, and rap music, which I just dislike to the point of not wanting to explain to what extent.
In southern Texas, as I said, everyone pretty much speaks both Spanish and English. What I love about Texas is that the English radio stations play great music and have likeable announcers. The same goes for the Spanish stations, except for the fact that I LOVE Spanish music SO much. I was very happy to hear popular Spanish music being played on the radio when I came to Texas, that I literally started crying when the signal was lost as we left that wonderful state.
The music they play is AMAZING, all of it is. They don't play random songs that no one likes anymore (like they do here). And you know what the very FIRST song that I heard when I turned on the radio in Texas was? "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio" by SHAKIRA!!!
That's right, people, people in Texas are MAD about Shakira! On the radio station I listened to every single day they played Shakira at least once every ten or twenty minutes...They even played songs from her old cd's from back in 1996, 1998, and 2001. They were having a Shakira concert ticket giveaway on that station, but I didn't win, sadly :(
But, anyway, I heard a bunch of new songs on the radio that I really grew to love. They are:
- "Responde" by Diego
- "Este Amor" by RBD (and to think, I used to HATE that band)
- "Muneca de Trapo" by La Oreja de Van Gogh
- "Nina" by Reik
- "Este Corazon" by RBD
- "Noviembre Sin Ti" by Reik
- "Que Vida La Mia" by Reik
And SO MANY others (whose names I don't actually know, which is why I didn't list them...hehe). Also, most of Shakira's songs are pretty popular on that station (it's 101.5FM in Brownsville and North of Mexico, if anyone ever happens to go there), I kept hearing a lot of request for so many of her songs while I was there. I was so surprised when they played "Antologia" from her debut album...I was like "WHOA, I LOVE TEXAS".
The most popular song they played by Shakira was "Dia De Enero", which is a really heartfelt song she wrote for her boyfriend (aww). You people should listen to that song at least once, it's really pretty, even if you don't know what she's saying.
My trip to Texas was really memorable and emotional. We reunited with old friends whom we haven't seen in so long. My old school mates and I gaped at how much we've changed over the years. I cried when I saw the street and the house we used to live on. It was just a really wonderful experience that I'll remember for the rest of my life.
Dia De Enero - Shakira (translation)
I met you on a day in January,
With the moon hanging on my nose
And when I saw that you were sincere
I lost myself in your eyes
What a strange distraction
What a sweet feeling
And now that we're going about the world
Like Aeneas and Benitin
I found a few scratches
That people gave you here and there
But my mad love
Is your best doctor
I'll cure you your soul
And I'll leave you like new
And everything will pass
Soon you'll see the sun shining
You more than anyone deserve to be happy
Now you will see
How little by little
Your wounds will be healing
Now you will see
How the same life
Comes to take all the salt that's left in the sea
And if you were a stranger even in your own country
If I tell you "how do say?"
You then tell me "what do you say?"
And you cry full of emotions
When you hear your song
And even if you seem penniless with that sloppy walk
I know the reason that makes your heart ache
And that's why I wanted to write for you this song
Now you will see
How little by little
Your wounds will be healing
Now you will see
How the same life
Comes to take all the salt that's left in the sea....
Have I ever mentioned how uncomfortable my mom's car is, especially when driving for long distances? Oh god, it's hell. But anyway, we went down to Brownsville, Texas to visit old friends and such. The first thing I noticed after getting out of the car that I'd been sitting in for endless hours was that it was suddenly 98 degrees outside...that was pretty shocking, seeing as how I've become accustomed to the Cincinnati weather being about 30 degrees less than that at this time of year.
The house we stayed in was pretty nice, but the neighborhood was terrible (I sound like I'm going to complain for the whole entry, but trust me, I'm not). Our neighbors seriously had like ten hounds that kept barking all night and wouldn't let anyone sleep. Of course, my main issue when we first got to Texas was to avoid any frogs (since they're known to run rampant in Brownsville for no apparent reason), but, surprisingly, I didn't see ANY the whole entire time. Maybe they all knew I was coming and decided to be nice after one of them traumatized me for life ten years ago...yep.
OOH, we ALMOST accidently went to Mexico 'cause, of course, we got lost when we got to Brownsville and almost turned into a street that led straight to the land of tacos and burritos, but there was a kind policeman there to stop us from getting there.
We stayed in Brownsville for a week and twice we went to a beach (a different one each day). The first beach is the one no one goes to 'cause the immigration officers decided to put a checkpoint before the entrance, so there were only like three other cars there besides ours. It was really cool to see that if we went any further to the left on the entrance of the beach, we would've been in Mexico. Anyway, I was afraid to go into the water at first, because when I was younger I always got a really scary infection after going into the ocean, so I was really afraid to go in there again. But I went in and nothing happened, so I don't know what was up with that. But whatever, I had lots of fun.
Speaking of Mexico, everyone in Brownsville speaks Spanish, which is pretty cool, 'cause I got to speak my native language MUCH more than I usually do here at home. More on that later.
Back to the beach thingy. The day after that, we went to a different, much more popular and hip beach. There were LOTS of people there, but it was really nice, since the sands were taken care of really well and the wind was blowing really nicely. In fact, this time I didn't go into the water at all. I just sat inside the truck with the doors open and sat there feeling the breeze -- it was really nice.
We planned to, but we didn't take many pictures in Texas. In fact, the only pictures we took were taken by me. The most touching pictures I took were when we stopped at a school, which I immediately recognized as my old kidergarten. I almost started to cry when I saw it, and I was disappointed that the gates weren't open. But the school looks just as it did when I went there, and it's still so beautiful, it really is.
I actually took a dramatized (haha) picture of myself in front of a really beautiful pink flower that doesn't grow up here in Ohio. I really loved that flower, so I wanted to take a picture next to it, and since no one would do it for me, I did it myself. I put it up as my main picture on myspace if you want to see it (http://www.myspace.com/reixminako).
We stopped at a friend's house in Houston on our way to and from Brownsville. The whole time, my sister Jennifer's dad (who lives in Houston) was trying to persuade my mom to come live in Houston and he kept pointing out all the good things about it, and he was absolutely right! He showed us the city and it's SO beautiful...Cincinnati literally looks like crap compared to it. Everything is so nice -- even the ghetto...hehe.
I think my mom was considering it for like 2 seconds, but, of course, what would we do in Houston after having made a living here in Cincinnati? I even agreed to that, as much as I hate Cincinnati. Houston is a really wonderful city, but it's a stranger to us and there's no way we'll just get up and leave our lives here and start over in another place.
Although, the whole time we spent in Brownsville, I really wished I lived in Texas for mainly one reason: the radio. That's right people, the radio. After being in Texas, I remembered how much the stations up here SUCK (to my likings, of course). All they play up here is rock music, whose lyrics are undecipherable through all those loud guitars and drums, and rap music, which I just dislike to the point of not wanting to explain to what extent.
In southern Texas, as I said, everyone pretty much speaks both Spanish and English. What I love about Texas is that the English radio stations play great music and have likeable announcers. The same goes for the Spanish stations, except for the fact that I LOVE Spanish music SO much. I was very happy to hear popular Spanish music being played on the radio when I came to Texas, that I literally started crying when the signal was lost as we left that wonderful state.
The music they play is AMAZING, all of it is. They don't play random songs that no one likes anymore (like they do here). And you know what the very FIRST song that I heard when I turned on the radio in Texas was? "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio" by SHAKIRA!!!
That's right, people, people in Texas are MAD about Shakira! On the radio station I listened to every single day they played Shakira at least once every ten or twenty minutes...They even played songs from her old cd's from back in 1996, 1998, and 2001. They were having a Shakira concert ticket giveaway on that station, but I didn't win, sadly :(
But, anyway, I heard a bunch of new songs on the radio that I really grew to love. They are:
- "Responde" by Diego
- "Este Amor" by RBD (and to think, I used to HATE that band)
- "Muneca de Trapo" by La Oreja de Van Gogh
- "Nina" by Reik
- "Este Corazon" by RBD
- "Noviembre Sin Ti" by Reik
- "Que Vida La Mia" by Reik
And SO MANY others (whose names I don't actually know, which is why I didn't list them...hehe). Also, most of Shakira's songs are pretty popular on that station (it's 101.5FM in Brownsville and North of Mexico, if anyone ever happens to go there), I kept hearing a lot of request for so many of her songs while I was there. I was so surprised when they played "Antologia" from her debut album...I was like "WHOA, I LOVE TEXAS".
The most popular song they played by Shakira was "Dia De Enero", which is a really heartfelt song she wrote for her boyfriend (aww). You people should listen to that song at least once, it's really pretty, even if you don't know what she's saying.
My trip to Texas was really memorable and emotional. We reunited with old friends whom we haven't seen in so long. My old school mates and I gaped at how much we've changed over the years. I cried when I saw the street and the house we used to live on. It was just a really wonderful experience that I'll remember for the rest of my life.
Dia De Enero - Shakira (translation)
I met you on a day in January,
With the moon hanging on my nose
And when I saw that you were sincere
I lost myself in your eyes
What a strange distraction
What a sweet feeling
And now that we're going about the world
Like Aeneas and Benitin
I found a few scratches
That people gave you here and there
But my mad love
Is your best doctor
I'll cure you your soul
And I'll leave you like new
And everything will pass
Soon you'll see the sun shining
You more than anyone deserve to be happy
Now you will see
How little by little
Your wounds will be healing
Now you will see
How the same life
Comes to take all the salt that's left in the sea
And if you were a stranger even in your own country
If I tell you "how do say?"
You then tell me "what do you say?"
And you cry full of emotions
When you hear your song
And even if you seem penniless with that sloppy walk
I know the reason that makes your heart ache
And that's why I wanted to write for you this song
Now you will see
How little by little
Your wounds will be healing
Now you will see
How the same life
Comes to take all the salt that's left in the sea....