El Paso: Impressions and Observations

We’ve been in El Paso about four months now. It’s crazy how time flies! It doesn’t seem that long ago we were driving in and the reality of my new home was hitting me like a ton of bricks. But, in some ways it seems like we’ve been here much longer. We’ve already built a cozy little life for ourselves. The new home, new church, new friends, and new schools don’t really seem all that new anymore. New is routine now. 

We’ve been tremendously blessed during our time here. Who would’ve thought we’d flourish in the desert? It amazes me. Still, some days I can’t believe I live here, in El Paso of all places, and that I live a life where I’m taken to every end of the nation, and sometimes to different countries. I would have never, ever, guessed all of this for myself about 15 years ago. Life is so funny and crazy. You can’t guess what’s around the corner.

Anyway, I’ve been here long enough to establish an opinion about our new home in El Paso. I've got to say, El Paso has exceeded our expectations in so many ways. Here’s my observations and impressions, so far:

First off, this might be the friendliest place on Earth. Or at least the friendliest place I’ve been to on Earth. This is the first duty station where we’ve had an easier time making friends with the “locals” (and also a – somewhat – harder time meeting military family and friends). With in a month we knew several of our neighbors - and we like them! Mind you, I spent three years at a house in California and hardly knew our neighbors and didn’t really want to know them either. Although, we were living in “the land of broken dreams,” which is a completely separate story altogether. Anyway, people say hello here. They chat.  They remember you. They offer help. They look you up on Facebook. It’s awesome!

Second, and frankly, the best draw to the place is the food. As one local told me, “people in El Paso like to eat.” It’s practically a sport. As you’d expect, the Mexican food is amazing. The salsa! Oh, the salsa! I truly thought I’d tried every Mexican dish there was, especially growing up in Southern California, but I was wrong. We’ve tried new dishes, new flavors, new spices and unique drinks. (I’d tell you the names of the dishes but I can’t pronounce them, let alone try to spell them! There is one dish that Bill orders that I laugh out loud at him every time he says it. Abodabodoo. Something like that…it’s really delicious though!) It’s been so fun to explore. It’s like going to another country for dinner…no passport required! And don’t even get me started on the gelato store down the street from my house; it’s the best gelato I’ve had since our time in Italy. Seriously! I haven’t bought a container of ice cream since we found the place. Why would I eat Ben and Jerry’s when I have an even better option less than 5 minutes away?

Cucumber Lime Martini with a Chile Powder Rim

Third, although this might be home to the friendliest people in the world, it is also home to the CRAZIEST drivers in the world, too. I’m no country bumpkin. I’m used to urban drivers and all sorts of traffic and bad drivers, etc. But, nothing, no nothing, compares to what I’ve seen here. I used to think, “hmm, that person looks like they’re going to run the stop sign…nah, they won’t do that…” now I think, “I better slow down because this guy is going to run the stop sign.” All signs are a mute point here. Stop, Yield, etc. – it all means the same thing: keep going. The best time was when a car ran a stop sign onto a busy street with a police car right behind them. Immediately they were pulled over. I just laughed. Actually, first I swerved out of the way, then, I laughed. On the upside, I’m praying more now.

Fourth: English, Spanish and everything in-between. Everyone is bilingual so there isn’t much of a language barrier, but when someone rolls their “R”s then I’m completely lost. It can be the most basic word but I’ve never heard it pronounced that way. Sometimes I stare blankly. Or – and this is a trick I learned from my Grandma when she started to lose her hearing – act like I know what they said. Mostly, I’m hoping we can leave here somewhat bilingual ourselves. Well, at least the kids. A few times Sienna has rolled her "R" and now she’s starting to speak with a slight accent. Grant can count to twenty in Spanish. I’m not even sure where he learned how? Their brains are sponges at this age. I hope they pick up some conversational Spanish. As for me, I can’t make any promises. I’d like to but I’m not sure I have the mental capacity to learn a new language. Some days I can barely speak English!

Finally, we really are in the middle of nowhere. I know there are lots of day trips and travel options, and we’ll get there. But, never have I lived in such an isolated city. I recently downloaded the FastMall app. and searched for the nearest malls. There are three malls within 20 miles – so we do have lots of shopping options – but the nearest mall after that is 230 miles away in Odessa, Texas or, the opposite direction, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Between the big desert sky and the long stretches of open land, a girl can start to feel pretty small here.

To sum it up: we like it here and we’re pretty happy!

The lessons learned:

1)    Don’t always listen to the hype (or lack of hype).

2)    Sometimes you find happiness in the most unexpected corners of life.

Muy bueno!