My L.A.

Growing up, no I did not live in Los Angeles, and although I did not live too far either, I may as well have been all the way across the country. I grew up in Simi Valley, Ventura County, California. I lived there in my own little world where nothing happened and no one cared, until I was 13 when my parents were divorced. My mom and I moved out to Northridge in the middle of my 8th grade year and I immediately fell in love with “The Valley”. Not only that, I fell in love with all of Los Angeles. I was finally able to experience the ethnic, economic and cultural diversity that I had craved for so long in Simi Valley where everyone was rich, Mormon, and white. It seemed to me that I was finally able to be a real part of a real society. Now with my occasional trip to various states, I’ve come to the conclusion that L.A. has THE WORST traffic of any place on this planet (maybe with the exception of New York) yet for some reason I love it. I’m the type of person that loves to “people-watch” and I’ve discovered that people do some pretty interesting things when sitting in traffic. There are always the people on their Blue-tooth that look like they are talking to themselves, the women that are putting on their makeup with one eye shut and mouth open as if they’re completely shocked and giving you the stink eye at the same time. I see the men that shave in their cars, the men who rock out in their cars with the windows up because they are probably listening to Kelly Clarkson, the women that groom themselves, the couples that fight, the couples that make out, the groups of friends talking and laughing. While I do enjoy the sites, the opportunities and of course the climate, what I have fallen in love with is the diversity of L.A.—Russian, Korean, Black and Italian. Buddhist, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Jewish. Rock, Jazz, Country, and Rap. Republican, Libertarian, Democratic, and Independent. All of it is so beautiful and it’s amazing to me that so many different cultures and beliefs could coexist in one community.