Last weekend, Jose and his brother were out of town and I had the whole weekend to myself. I decided to stay in San Diego on that Friday night to do a little shopping. I spent some time at Kohl's, Sport's Authority, Ross (which is basically just like a Marshall's), and Borders. They were near this mall area called Mission Valley Mall (if I remember correctly). Later, when I was telling someone about how great this area was, he asked me what was so great about it. It made me think. I guess what was so great was seeing a Chipotle, a Pei Wei, a Nordstrom Rack, and a Target all so close together. That was when I realized that I am homesick.
I'm not homesick in the obvious ways. I'm not missing Chicago or Illinois. Nor am I really even missing the people there yet. (Sorry guys, but it's only been 2 months.) The part that I'm missing is being in my own culture. I miss the predictability and the feeling of being comfortable and of being where everything makes sense to me. Jose is getting really irritated every time I ask him why someone is doing or has done something. I think he's feeling a bit like he has to answer for the whole country of Mexico and everyone in it.
The crazy thing is is that I live only 5 miles from the US and am in San Diego 5 days a week. But it's just not the same. Culture can be a difficult thing to define. I suppose you can be in the US and still be missing your own culture if you aren't in a neighborhood you are familiar with or are with people you may not normally hang out with.
I have decided to define my culture (at least for purposes of this homesick feeling) as food and retail stores. And so I have instituted American Night. I am going to spend my Friday nights for the indefinite future in San Diego eating at whatever familiar restaurant I feel like and going to stores where I'm fairly certain they will have something I like. I'll probably change it up as time goes on, but I'm not sure what other things San Diego has to offer between the hours of 5pm and 8pm on Friday nights.
As a side note, speaking of California culture, I do not get Californians' obsession with In-N-Out Burger. I'd heard about it over the years. People said it had the best burgers but you could only get them in California. I've had it twice and I honestly don't understand what the big deal is. The first time, I got a few burgers for me, Jose, and Luis when I was in San Diego getting my mail. I then had to drive 30 min back to Mexico before we ate. I didn't think it was that great, but I also thought maybe you needed to eat it right away, so I thought I should give it another try. Last weekend, I had it again when I was in San Diego and I still didn't think it was that great. It was good, but not enough to warrant the lines. They put way too much onion and tomato on the burger, not enough meat, and the special sauce is just thousand island dressing. It was a little cheaper than your average fast food restaurant, so I'll grant that maybe it's a good value. But I grant nothing else.
Jesus, Yoder. How can you not love In-N-Out?
ReplyDeleteThe meat's fresh, the veggies are fresh, the fries are fresh. Put that next to the other fast food chains, at the price, and there's a pretty big gap. It's like getting a Steak n Shake Steakburger, but cheaper.
But, there are some things that you should know. First, did you order it "Animal Style?" The grilled onions are the way to go. And you can order as many beef patties and slices of cheese as you want. They just charge you another $0.80 or or $0.50 (or whatever) for each each. You can order a double-double (two patties, two slices of cheese) off the menu, but they'll gives you a 3x3, 4x4, or whatever.
Now that I've defended In-N-Out, I'm just wondering what you're doing in TJ.
-Roland
Good to hear from you Roland. But I think it's a little bit ridiculous that to get a burger at In-N-Out you have to order off of the menu.
ReplyDeleteI am in Tijuana because my husband is Mexican and we are waiting for him to get a visa to go the US. It could be 2 years or 8 years. We're not sure yet.