July 22, 2008 at 1:04 pm · Filed under a day in the life, el valle, our history
so the hurricane has been upgraded to a hurricane warning.
and I am reminded of something I wrote back in 05, after Katrina.
Who was left behind? Who couldn’t afford to evacuate? Let’s see you need money, car, transportation. And coming from a person who lives in a place where 3-4 months out of the year is hurricane season, I could not afford to leave. I could not afford to drive off (if my car made it more than 50 miles), I could not afford hotel stays, I could not afford buying gas and food for the family of 3-5 that I support. I could not afford to leave my job everytime there was a hurricane heading to the valley, that would be 3-4 days without pay and that is half a bill, 1/8 of the rent. I never have been able to cough up the money to board up the windows, tape the windows down, go on a spending spree buying canned food, bottled water, butane, batteries. I know all the precautions of a hurricane and all the things I should buy and should. Do you know how expensive that is? People blame the parents who stayed behind in NOLA, who put their kids at risk. And I’ll tell you, they don’t know what the fuck they are talking about.
I did go ahead and buy batteries and a few flashlights. My mom is not here-during hurricane scares, we usually went to her house or she came to mine and we would watch old movies and she’s make a big pot of arroz con gandules. J and Winter would beg to get wet outside. I was asked by my work where I would evacuate if I had to and to put together a “disaster plan.” Everyone has to have a plan-where they would go, who they take, what needs to be done (medication, pets), contact, second contact and on and on. My evacuation plan involves cookies, peanut butter and wheat bread, cereal and whatever canned foods I have in the cabinets. Will I evacuate? Probably not, being that there is no where to go. Did I board up the windows? No. I live in a rented house. I wonder if the windows get blown, I’ll have to repair them myself.
*
Even though the border patrol has now said they will not stop and check documentation of folks trying to evacuate, this does not take away the feelings brought on by their initial statement. and it’s not OFFICIAL yet either, nothing has changed since my the folks where I used to work and where I work now filed a lawsuit to find out the specifics of their evacuation plans. People still will not evacuate. As of now, there isn’t even a hurricane warning, it’s a tropical storm warning. *okay now it’s a hurricane watch.
And there is no official evacuation, so say someone has relatives up north and they want to leave to avoid the hurricane, they will only be able to do so if they have legal papers to travel the United States. even though you might have a legal reason to have legal papers, if you’re from south texas, you are automatically not legal.
*
Gov. Perry issued a disaster declaration for 14 counties in Texas, including Hidalgo County, where I live, in anticipation for the hurricane which they say we’ll start to see tonight with 80 mile winds.
This lets them send emergency aid before the fact. On the news, I saw in San Antonio, trucks are ready and fueled to drive down with supplies.
**
the levees here are not expected to hold up.
the building of the border fence has been put on hold until after hurricane dolly.
If the lights go out (they are expected to go out because of the high winds coming on) you can find me on twitter, twiting about it-until my battery dies.
July 21, 2008 at 10:03 pm · Filed under el valle
Man shoots wife in front of children
Woman had protective order against husband; planned to go to movies with man
this makes me so very sad and angry. Angry that the article right away tells us, makes sure to tell us, that she was going to go out w/ this man who she had a protective order against already.
and the comments are gems, of course. “Why did she go back with him? Quit marrying losers/ quit living with them”
and of course, the classic, the scape goat for all the evils under the earth and below the earth. Build a fence.
This has been a bad month for the valley.
July 21, 2008 at 11:53 am · Filed under a day in the life, el valle
AT 1000 AM CDT…A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE TEXAS COAST
FROM BROWNSVILLE NORTHWARD TO PORT O’CONNOR. A HURRICANE WATCH
MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH
AREA…GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS.
THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO HAS ISSUED A HURRICANE WATCH FROM RIO
SAN FERNANDO MEXICO NORTHWARD TO THE U.S. BORDER…AND A TROPICAL
STORM WATCH FROM LA PESCA MEXICO NORTHWARD TO RIO SAN FERNANDO.
July 17, 2008 at 10:00 pm · Filed under a day in the life
- i think i have a plan.
- this hotel’s restroom has a window. nice-but the widow doesn’t lock and it’s on the first floor. I can see right into the parking lot.
- too many border patrol inspections. too many questions. case in point: where are you going? where are you coming from? why are you coming down 277 instead of 57? This way takes about 50 minutes longer. Were you going to turn on 83? where are you from? why were you staying in ___ before heading out to ___? This car is rented? Why? For work? Where do you work?
- i was surprised to see like 2 dozen kids playing basketball tonight.
- the local movie theatre opens at 6pm.
- they close in between showings.
- there is a place here that makes dishes with tofu! totally unexpected. I will pay the high price tomorrow and eat there.
- don’t know why, but along these parts, all the food is extra expensive. never seen rice and beens cost so much.
- i have maxed out a credit card and spent almost all I have in savings. Yep. Here’s to you.
July 13, 2008 at 7:57 pm · Filed under media
because of Associated Press coming down on others publishing snippets of their stories, are folks just not listing news from AP? For example, for my the blog I keep up on human trafficking, I haven’t been posting new stories I come accross because of this.
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part therof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing
July 12, 2008 at 9:21 pm · Filed under a day in the life, inspiration, our history, single parenting, texas
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k100/hermanaresist/blog/100_0007-1.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k100/hermanaresist/blog/100_0001.jpg
I passed by this river once when I was younger, my dad stopped to take pictures. Wish I could find it. Eagle Pass felt like home, moreso when my camera got stolen, the hotel door wouldn’t close and I couldn’t find anything vegan to eat. We ended up eating by the river after ten where I mistakenly took a biteful of spagetti with sauce that had meat in it, though they told me over and over it wouldn’t have meat. I should have had someone else taste it like I always do, but I was so tired and hungry. The ducks weren’t ferocious like they were in Brownsville, going up to you and waiting for food with this evil look in their eyes. I am deadly afraid of ducks.
In Uvalde, they say the name like You-vald, not like the Spanish last name. I caught myself asking folks “are you from Uvalde?” and received strange looks. We went to an old fashioned soda shop in a pharmacy (found this photo online. It’s not mine. I’ll snap one tomorrow while i”m still here.) Maybe I’ll go in for another lime freeze (shaved ice with limes, yum!)
fyi, Jesus is the answer to human trafficking.
I have not hit any dry counties (YET!)
I always vow to pack less stuff when I travel, but I do know how to pack anything and everything you can ever need. EVER.
I hate the smell of hotels.
I smell the smell of hotels.
*
these interviews are racking. I always think folks will regret their decisions.
I am so dead tired right now I’m not even going to walk to the desk and cover the jar of peanut butter. Dinner was crackers with peanut butter and lovely and oh so yummy tomato, avocado and pickle sandwiches. I’ll tell you, never had a sandwich so good.
ONLY 16 more days of this. I miss the kid. But still, got some good leads, met some nice people.
July 10, 2008 at 9:24 pm · Filed under MAIZ, a day in the life, community building, poetry
Hunting is practically a year round sport in Uvalde and the surrounding area. Whitetail deer, dove, quail, turkey, javelina and feral hog abound. Sporting clay ranges are available within 5 miles of Uvalde. There is a wide selection of hunting leases by day or season.
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