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California - The land of many faces: black, white, and plastic


The move from Virginia to Los Angeles was certainly a culture shock for me. For once, there were equal amounts of Latinos, African-Americans and Caucasians in my elementary school class. I loved the diversity, for I am culturally and racially diverse myself.

But when the Rodney King verdict came out, racial tensions led to the infamous L.A. Riots.

Yet instead of segregating ourselves, our school actually meshed. Those whose families were affected mourned, those who were angry vented, but we all went through it together; and with the help of the greatest teacher I have ever had, we reached a sense of understanding in the end. L.A. definitely opened my eyes to new people and made me feel lucky for what I have.

After a year of living in L.A., we moved down the coast a few hours to Newport Beach, CA, where the beaches are plentiful, the women are beautiful, and Baywatch was filmed! Too bad I was only in the sixth grade, or I woulda really been in heaven. Everyone is tan, thin and sometimes superficial. Talk to a valley girl: I never knew it was possible to use the word "like" so many times in one sentence. I couldn't complain though,

on a good day I could see the ocean from my house...
and Disneyland was only 20 minutes away.

You can't beat that really.

And oh, those voluptuous blondes...

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