Memories of Pico-Union and USC

Many of my friends went out to USC for the big game against cross-town rival UCLA last night (USC beat UCLA 50 – 0). I’m not a fan of college sports but I do have a soft spot in my heart for USC.

I grew up in L.A.’s Pico-Union district of Central L.A. just two miles north of the campus, north of the I-10 freeway and a block or two away from Hoover St. The I-10 also serves as the border between Pico-Union/Central L.A. and University Park/South L.A. where USC is located.

Pico-Union is known for being the home of one of L.A.’s most notorious street gangs and for its large, mostly Mexican, immigrant population. Despite living in a crime-ridden, low income area, most of my memories of life in Pico-Union are happy ones.

king taco — The food certainly helped. Image courtesy Grub Street LA.

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The First Stamp on my Passport: Valladolid, Spain

Today is the big day:

Photo by marcp_dmoz

I am currently sitting in the airport (barring any issues) and am about to board my flight to Dallas – London – Madrid. From there, it’s a bus ride to Valladolid where I’ll be living/studying for the next month.

I am beyond excited…this is my first time visiting Spain as well as Europe in particular. I have a few trips within the country planned. I wish I had more money to see more of Europe but that’s a trip for another time.

I have a few posts scheduled to post automatically as well so this page won’t be too quiet while I’m out eating tapas and wine.

Nos vemoz en Españia!