Hipster in Jalisco

In Guadalajara recently a friend took me to Palreal, a cafe in the Arcos Vallarte section of the city which she happily described as 'hipster'. And everyone around us was fairly young, well dressed, and casually cool (possibly hungover). A couple girls were taking pics and posing like they were in a fashion blog (against the wall, on the stairs, next to the cactus); I couldn't blame them since the decor was very cool. The bathroom used a mini pallet as a sconce. Next door was a succulent shop. This place was happily hipster and for some reason it made me happy to think it's not just American millennials in all sizes of cities acting hipster.

Anyway we had a delicious brunch and really good coffee. Mexican coffee is already well-known but the owner of this place was award-winning. I had a cold brew agave latte which was perfect on a warm sunny Saturday. We ate outside, and the overall space wasn't that big but very well laid out. If I found a similar place in San Francisco I'd probably go every weekend.

  

 

more reading:

http://articulosiete.com/content/de-aqu%C3%AD-palreal-hay-buen-caf%C3%A9

Reset

I had about 24 hours of calm in the middle of a crazy few weeks and this is what I was looking at for some of that time:

Children of Immigrants

No, I wasn't born here. Yes, I am American. I loved this article: NYTimes: Children of Immigrants. It pulls together anecdotes of how children of immigrants struggle to identify with their particular brand of American.

What does it mean to be an American? For me it's acknowledging that my parents moved us to the other side of the world for a better life, and that many families continue to do this today. That my family's roots in the US may be newer than others', but they're still here. That I carry the passport above and have the means to use it. That I have access to many resources, advantages, and cultures that, even in this ever globalizing world, still is considered a privilege. That I can talk sh*t about politics I don't like and not worry about the government arresting me (checking my inbox, maybe), and that I can vote for or against any politics in a free election. It's not easy to officially be an American, but I've known many people who live the spirit of America. I know this country isn't perfect but I love it and all of the different kinds of Americans in it.

The line in the article about not celebrating Thanksgiving made me laugh - I'm sure my family does't celebrate it quite the way other families around us do, but the I will take any excuse to have a huge meal and take the day off, so cheers to the Pilgrims on that one.

Oahu sunrise

sneaking down to the beach early in the morning 

Kailua beach