Last Blog....

I can’t believe that this is my last blog for borderbeat.net. In just about two weeks, I will be a college graduate. I can’t believe it. They say during college you’ll have the time of your life and trust me, I have had the time of my life. I’ve been able to intern at the Arizona State Legislature (how many times have I mentioned that during while writing this blog?), working in the Office of Admissions, volunteering and being a part of the borderbeat.net staff under the direction of Jay Rochlin.

Last spring, when I signed up for this class, I was under the impression that we would be writing about green issues but shortly before the semester started; I was were informed that we would be producing borderbeat.net. The topic of the border is such a huge topic: from covering politics, art, music, food and I’m pretty positive that we did a great job in covering it. I look forward to seeing what future generations of what borderbeat staffs will do. Having my first story published, was amazing. It was a feeling that I can’t explain – trust me I emailed my entire family and all of my friends. It was also amazing to receive my “press pass”. This was a lot better than the cheesy pass that I received in high school for yearbook.

I never imaged that I would have spent 5+ hours in the photolab trying to cut audio for the Chimichanga story that I worked on with Chris Reed. Or traveling down to Nogales to cover St. Andrew’s Children’s Clinic, interviewing David Tineo, Josefina Lizarraga and many others. I never thought that I would have the chance to work with a group of very talented, dedicated group of journalists

Special thanks to Jara Greenfield, my copy editor, thank you for all of your hard work in making all sure that my articles the very best that they could be.

My advice for future generations of bb is to take Jay’s advice of learning SoundSlides. Trust me it’s easy to learn the software before you are stressing out while trying to meet deadline during the first special project. Take a shot at learning final cut and when you are recording video make sure that the mic actually works and learn how to turn on the video camera before hand. Chris Reed and I learned that the hard way.

Have fun, enjoy borderbeat and remember to Bear Down!

I know that this is off topic, but I feel that it is a worthy enough topic.

In the beginning of August, one of the requirements for this blog was to pick a topic and explore it. Some students in my class picked entertainment, sports, food, and healthcare. I chose the culture. The Hispanic influences here in Tucson are incredible, from the food, to the music arts and entertainment.

On Friday, during a normal Facebook check on Friday, I realized that my uncle (my mom’s little brother) was complaining about Hispanic’s who were attending a yard sale at his mothers house. It really struck a nerve with me. He’s a quarter Hispanic, a quarter African-American and half Caucasian. Not only was he disrespecting those who were attending the yard sale, but his own relatives who sacrificed a lot for themselves for them to come to this country.

My great-grandmother Guadalupe de la Rocha (his grandmother) was born in Culiacan Senaloa, Mexico and moved to Nogales, Mexico in 1924 finally to Tucson in 1928 and died in 1966.

(The Fleming Family possibly late December 1926 or early January 1927)
(left to right: Great Grandpa, Grandma, Fred, Cleo, Marie, Delia, Armando and Grandma was pregnant with my Papa)

People come to this country for a chance at freedom, independence and a chance to start over again. In Chelsea Jo Simpson's blog, she has talked to many people who have come to this country because of love, a job or continue their education. But they have all found a home in the country, just like my great-grandmother.

Grandma, as I call her, was able to receive her citizenship because, my great-grandfather sponsored her. She enjoyed all of the rights and freedoms that this country had to offer. She loved spending time with her six children and three grandchildren. Although, I never met her, I always enjoy listening to the stories that my mom tells me about her. How they would make tortillas in the yard, listen to music while they would polish the silver.

I am very proud to say that my great-grandmother came to the United States and lived the "American Dream". I wish that all people would respect those who come to this country in search of freedom, love, or at a chance to start over.

Recently, on borderbeat.net, the fall 2008 restaurant guide was made live. I went through past borderbeat.net stories, to see what has been already been covered; I found reviews by the local Tucson papers (The Arizona Daily Star, The Tucson Citizen and The Tucson Weekly) and made created a list of the reviews with their contact information.

With living in Tucson for 23 years, I have eaten at the majority of all of the restaurants in town: the good, the bad and the awesome. I’m picky when it comes to my food, but even picker when it comes to Mexican food. Below are a few of my favorite Mexican restaurants:

• Last spring, when I was an intern at the Arizona Legislature, I came home for a weekend and wanted some really good Mexican food; we went to Mi Nidito (at 813 S 4th Ave, Tucson) and waited for almost 2 hours for our table. The food and service were amazing. I’m a huge fan of cheese enchiladas and they were to die for. They are home to the world famous Chile Relleno.Former President Bill Clinton (he even has a item on the menu named after him), Enrique Iglesias, Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, and Willie Nelson are just a few who have eaten at this Tucson restaurant.
  

• To celebrate a friends birthday last year, we ventured off to La Fuente (1749 N. Oracle Road.) for dinner. I wasn’t really impressed with the food, but guacamole that was prepared at our table was pretty good, and I’m not a fan of guacamole. The entertainment at La Fuente was great! Throughout the week, they have live mariachi music for the guests to enjoy. Since it was my friend’s birthday, they played ¡Feliz cumpleaños!Just for her and for the rest of the night, she even wore a pink sombrero.
  

• I am a huge fan of the Fox Restaurant Concepts: everything from Sauce, Zinburger, North, and Wildflower a couple of weeks ago I wanted to try something new from Sam Fox. Blanco - Tacos + Tequila it offers a new, causal atmosphere and outlook when it comes to Mexican food. The food was really good.

• While working on The Chimichanga: A Delicious American Mystery project with Chris Reed, I remembered how amazing the food and service was at El Charro Café. While working on this project, I learned that at the downtown location (which was Monica’s home) was where the burrito was “accidently” dropped into the pot of boiling water and the rest is pretty much history. There are five locations in Tucson and each offers the same, traditional food with the same great, family service.

Check out this video of the mariachi music at La Fuente!

Something different: St. Andrew's Clinic

On the first Thursday of every month volunteers from all over the country gather at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Nogales, Ariz. and once there the church is transformed into St. Andrew’s Clinic. It is not the typical medical clinic that you would see in the states, but this clinic is filled with love and true compassion.


Retired doctors, nurses, interpreters, spouses, and friends/co-workers of (former) volunteers take time out of their schedules to make the lives of children better. According to the clinic website, in 2007:

• 2,422 Clinic visits by volunteer doctors
• 87 Prostheses (legs, arms, eyes)
• 209 Office visits (USA and Mexico)
• 120 Pairs of Orthotic footwear
• l,851 Medication prescriptions filled
• 50 Hearing aids
• 348 Medical diagnostic tests
• 89 Pairs of eyeglasses
• 36 Orthopedic surgeries
• 4 Eye surgeries
• 39 Cleft Palate surgeries

While waiting for the child’s name to be called snacks (coffee, fresh fruit, nachos) are made available to the patients and their parents. In the back of the main waiting room, an arts and crafts table has been set up for the children. Children have the option of playing homemade play dough, to water colors, to working with puzzles, board games and building blocks. Linda Pantoja, 68, a volunteer from Green Valley, Ariz. told me that the children enjoy playing play dough and especially with the water colors.

According to the website “St. Andrew's Children's Clinic is a 501(c)(3) nondenominational, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide free medical treatment for disabled children of impoverished parents from Mexico, using medical and lay volunteers from both sides of the border”.

The clinic relies on donations to continue their work. Throughout the years, they have made connections with various hospitals (Shrine & Shriners Hospitals and Spokane Hospital) to provide surgeries for the patients.

Watch the following video's to get an idea of what St. Andrew's Clinic has to offer:

1.

2.

3.

The trip down to St. Andrew's Children's Clinic was amazing. Words can not describe how powerful this trip was.

In 2004 my grandfather passed away after a long battle with cancer. Every year on All Souls Day (November 2), my mom and I go and visit a little shrine in downtown Tucson, called El Tiradito to light candles for loved ones who have passed away.

I am a frequent visitor to the shrine, especially on his birthday.

To honor our loved ones at El Tiradito, we purchased 8, 15 oz. white generic prayer candles or 7 day candles (which burn for 7 days, hence the name), which we bought at Wal-Mart for $1

In an earlier blog, a classmate of mine, Emma Keilbey, explained the history of El Tiradito.

While at El Tiradito, I noticed that there were little notes (possibly prayers) that have been placed in the cracks of the altar. There have been names craved into the altar and photos have been placed on the altar.


















Here are some fun facts about All Souls Day:

• Marigolds are the official flower for All Souls Day
• Versions of All Souls Day are celebrated all across the world (Brazil, Spain and the Philippines)
• On November 1 and 2 families of the deceased will go to the cemetery and clean and decorate the graves with either toys, tequila, food and possibly
• The Arizona Daily Star has produced an interactive site that shares information about the holiday, local traditions, the altar, and why personal items are shared on the altar. The
• The Arizona Daily Star also has a video that the Ramirez family and why they celebrate Dia de los Muertos. Very informative and interesting
  

A very interesting and informative article about Dia de los Muertos written by Carmen Duarte. This article goes along with the video.

With living in Tucson, finding Mexican groceries is relativity easy. Most grocery stores have an isle dedicated international food – whether that may be spices from the orient, tortillas, and salsa!

I took a trip to Fry’s Food Stores in Oro Valley and wanted to see the different varieties of the Mexican foods – I found tortillas, salsa, spices, beans, and items to make tamales and anything else that could help you to create that prefect dish.

One thing that surprised me is that all of the Mexican foods were together on one isle. But I did find the supplies and ingredients for tamale's were in the produce department.

All of the prices at Fry’s are very reasonable – a pack of 10” Mission Burrito Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortillas were only $3.99 a pack of 36 Yellow Corn Tortillas are only $2.49.

In an earlier blog, I mentioned that we always have salsa but I forgot to mention that we always have tortillas due to the popularity of quesadillas and enchiladas.

something new....

This week, I wanted to try something new with my blog this week by adding audio.

Listen to my first "podcast"

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I am sad to report that I couldn't find a video of the "tuba" dance from an Arizona football game. But there is a facebook group on the tuba dance -The UA tuba dance is the best part of football season!

Here are some links to the halftime performers from the football game:

• Mariachi Atzlan de Pueblo High School
• Ballet Folklorico Tapatio
• Viva Arizona!
• The Pride of Arizona