She told me the Pacific Northwest was beautiful, and I would love it. I loved her (and forever will) so I packed my world in a suitcase, and boarded a plane (yet again). My friend Jose Luis Casar said I was a conqueror of countries, and I guess he's right, he usually is.
I was tired of Mexico and Mexico City, I never really felt like I belonged in Mexico anymore, I didn't truly fit in, and I knew that when I moved from Brazil, back in 1989. Don't get me wrong, as much as I love Brazil, specifically Recife and Rio, I always felt like something was missing... not just my Dad, but that crisp cool San Diego breeze in the fall, the big cups of coffee (yes, Rio's cafezinhos at the Cinelandia are incredibly romantic, but I yearned for the "Hollywood" movie coffee shops in the States. Cuzcuz, inhame and papa didn't really cut it, neither did huevos rancheros. I yearned for waffles and bacon, for the state of mind I grew up with as a child, so moving to the US wasn't just an easy decision to make, it was something I always wanted.
Wenatcheewhat? I had to look it up... and I began discovering Mount Rainier, the Puget Sound, the Columbia River Gorge, the forests, and I knew I'd like it here.. I just needed to get a car and a job.
It wasn't easy at first, but she was very supportive, as was her family. I went from being a technical writer in Mexico City, to being a tractor driver in her apple orchard, in Orondo.
Toilet seat covers? yeah, they don't have those down south... it's a wonderful thing when you have a sweaty butt.. cause I never expected summers to be this hot up here.. I thought we had penguins year round. Everything went as life usually goes, with its wonderful challenges and thermobaric cultural shocks. Yup, I was shocked to find life here was as I remembered it, back in Coronado and La Jolla, I was happy, we got married.
The challenges continued, Seattle became more and more my home, and I fell madly in love with the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound. Seattleites were educated, quirky, standoffish, and worldly. It was perfect. I'm fucking weird, so I fit right in. Divorce came and went like a storm, and I'm still sad about it, I think that's how it is for anyone who goes through it. I was incredibly lucky to have made some amazing friends, and while it wasn't easy at first, I slowly became what I am now, a Seattleite till I die.
"and this is fucking awesome" said Macklemore
