You know what surprised me most about living in Oregon? Not the torrential rain; I expected that. Not the niceness of the inhabitants. Not even the humidity, although I’ll admit that was one of the low points of my move. No, what surprised me the most was the lack of burritos.
Let me explain. I grew up in a town where we had a Pancheros, a Bocaza, a Chipotle, a Qdoba, a Cafe Rio (new), a Tequilas, a Jilbertos, Dos Hombres, a Fiesta Guadalajara, and an El Tapatio. Ten different places to get burritos. Not to mention the burritos we made at home.
So yeah, let’s just say I’m used to having Mexican food nearby. But then I moved to Forest Grove, Oregon. We have a place called La Sierra right outside of campus that failed it’s health examination and the crappy cafeteria refried beans. And that’s it. Even on debate trips, the best we can usually find is one Mexican restaurant per tournament. Where my burritos at?
That’s a strange thing to notice, and an even stranger thing to wonder about regularly, but there it is. And it made me realize that I love where I grew up.
Ok, so I didn’t love it when I lived there. Far from it. I hated it, in fact. I remember driving Craig and I around town in my truck, trying to come up with something to do on the weekends. The best we could come up with was Wal Mart hide and seek, the mall, and going to movies. But my little Colorado town looks as exciting as Paris when you compare it to Forest Grove. Holy crap. Everything here closes at like 5:30, except for the shady billiards hall and the Thai food restaurant. The only nearby bookstore is the school one, and it’s mostly textbooks and Pacific University hoodies so there isn’t much to love about it.
In Colorado, I used to be really adamant about letting people know I was born in Seattle. No way was I going to be lumped in with the kids whose grandparents had gone to our high school. Nowadays, when people ask where I’m from, I tell them Colorado. Up here, being from Seattle isn’t special or exciting. But Colorado… Colorado is different. Colorado is far away. And most importantly, I’m proud to say I’m from Colorado. I find myself missing Colorado.
Partially, I miss Colorado because I miss having a car and familiar surroundings to cruise around. Partially I miss Colorado for my family and friends. But mostly, I miss Colorado because, no matter where I was born, Colorado is my home.
Colorado misses you too!