Native Tourist

by Dania

I have never experienced what being a tourist in Los Angeles means. Of course, I have visited Disneyland, but I have always thought of Disneyland as my home already.  I was born in Mexico, and currently reside in the United States four hours away from Los Angeles. When people talk about Los Angeles, I always think they are talking about my hometown even though I live hours away. For this past weeks, however, I have learned about how all these years I have been unconscious about what Los Angeles is all about. 

As I arrived to the city, everything seem pretty common to me: same highways, same food places, same climate, and as a whole same culture. However, the more time that I stay here, the more things I know about what I did not know. 

During the first week, I learned about what a food truck experience is all about. The first thing that came into my mind when I heard about food trucks was a truck where people sold hot dogs, corn dogs, or ice creams. However, when I arrived I was surprised to see that the whole stereotype that I had about people selling from food trucks limiting their product to fast food was false. I have seen many food trucks before, yet this was the first time that I saw actual food dishes such as pasta and grilled meat served from a truck. It was also different from what I was familiarized because it was new for me to see several trucks at a single time specifically parked on a lot as a food court. 

Throughout my stay in UCLA, I started to value all of the different treasures that I have nearby home and that I have not actually explored. I believe that it just becomes so easy for us to overlook what is closer just because of how used we are to it.  Exploring even what we think we know is the lesson that UCLA gave me.