09.27.2012 - Entry #9: Casinos in the Neighborhood

Where to get good food on a college budget

I'll always feel a sense of home when I see a casino; having spent the past 14 years going to casinos for many of my recreational activities, from going bowling with friends to catching midnight premieres, a casino will forever be a place I feel comfortable in. In contrast to the riverwalk, the casino is a man-made environment solely made for the entertainment of society. Its values vary from the riverwalk in that it does not aim to provide wholesome recreational activities or provide an outlet for people to get in touch with nature; instead, it promotes some of the shadier aspects of our society. A love for gambling, the chance for excessive feeding, a place to kill your lungs with cancer sticks without being judged. Its similarities with the riverwalk ends only in their common goal of providing a good time; to whom that time is spent with depends on the person. and how they currently feel at the moment. Sometimes, I feel like going out for a hike and appreciating the beauty of nature; other times, I enjoy the feeling of immersing myself in the almost taboo nature that casinos provide. The other thing is that the existence of both of these places depends on its residents; while tourism is a nice supplement for both locations, both the riverwalk and the casinos can only be sustained in the long-term through the business and interest of the locals. This puts university students in a somewhat grey area- present for only three-fourths of the year, how much say do they really have in what goes on? Not much, especially with the casinos. Once off limited to college students, it's still prohibited in some ways, mostly due to the fact that many of the services a casino provides is available only to people above the age of twenty-one. Because of age limitations, casinos don't really hold much appeal to university students as there are many other activities to engage in within their age range.

09.25.2012 - Entry #8: Rivers in the Neighborhood

It's a new concept to get used to, the idea that I'm not as separated from nature as I once was back in Vegas. Visiting the riverwalk was an exciting and enlightening new experience for me as I was able to see firsthand the integration between the city of Reno and its natural surroundings. Honestly, I still have this child-like amazement by the fact that there's this much water flowing through and it's only a few minutes' walk away. And yet, I noticed that numerous people- even people within my own group- were all too eager to simply walk by and move on with their lives. How do people just pass through without giving in to the urge to just sit down for a bit, wet your feet, and contemplate your place in the world? The people who just continue on with their lives, without even pausing to appreciate the beauty of nature that they're privileged to possess in their own backyard, are part of the reason why the city of Reno has a reputation as a, "Mini-Vegas," or alternatively, a small town in the middle of nowhere where the only thing that new undergraduate students can do for recreation is party, party, and party. This was the image I was receiving from my friends when I first told them that I was choosing to study up here and thus, I fully expected that I was going to have to entertain myself indoors, safe from all the seedy and close-minded people. And yet, everyday I'm finding out that this is not the case- not in the slightest. Reno has so much more to offer, especially in terms of nature and the outdoors- which city officials should be advertising more if they wish to rid their city of their grossly inaccurate reputation. In this sense, the riverwalk is worth the finances spent in its construction, for it allows visitors to see for themselves a taste of what Reno can offer. The facets of nature present in the city is what every citizen, especially the students of UNR, should be pushing when talking about Reno. For myself, I know that my role in this city is to improve its image and to contribute to its economy, both as a resident and a student of the university. Civic service is an important part of being involved with my new community as well- as such, I will gladly be participating in the Truckee River Cleanup this Saturday with a large amount of members from Circle K (the collegiate version of Kiwanis International, not the gas station) picking up trash and beaver-proofing trees.

09.23.2012 - Entry #7: Nature in the Neighborhood

Manzanita Lake - 09/21/2012

Manzanita Lake- it's a permanent fixture of the University that many of us pass by at least once a week. Dirty, kind of smelly, and continuously filled with water fowl, it is most decidedly not the place to have an enjoyable Sunday picnic brunch with your beloved. These are the impressions I usually get whenever I walk by the lake. However, this past Friday, as I was killing some time before Dean Thompson's dinner (which, to anyone else fortunate enough to be invited to at a later date, I suggest you do not miss) I decided to walk around nearly all of the lake and not just my usual path near the Jot Travis Building. On this new path, I was able to find a small, secluded area that offered a spectacular view of the lake, shown above. In this area, I was able to relax and meditate for a bit, as I observed a completely different lake, completely with some comfortably mild weather. As I watching the ducks on the lake, I pondered why I had never noticed this side of the lake before, and immediately came to the conclusion that like most of my peers, I was simply going by the lake too quickly to fully appreciate the little sliver of nature that we have right here in our own institution. Never stopping to look deeper, I had not seen the rawness and tranquility the lake had to offered, only the discolored waters and rancid green bird droppings. And yet, these characteristics are too a part of nature- unlike man-made structures, which are classified into the chic and stylish or the drab and gaudy, nature combines elements that are unappealing and breathtaking, combines it into a beauty that can only be appreciated by those who understand that life is not divided into neat little categories, but is instead an insanely complex concept that changes everyday, as a result of both our own choices and seemingly random events.

09.18.2012 - Entry #6: Evenings in the Neighborhood

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting in Sparks. It was in a Denny's restaurant that was hidden by these large, power plant-ish buildings. Heading there in the daytime was nothing special- it was simply a journey towards a predetermined destination. I stared out the window of the car like I usually do to help alleviate my motion sickness and took note of the bustling casino that we got lost in and the birds flying overhead.

Fast forward two hours later and the scenery was incredibly different; suddenly, my vision was restricted to only what the headlights of our car and the light posts revealed. No longer did the world seem opening and welcoming, waiting to be explored- but rather, unfriendly and intimidating. The world outside had become a hostile place for the lone person.

Inside the walls of the Nevada LLC however, things were changing. Students, out all day attending classes or meeting up with friends, were now congregating inside their dorms once more and socializing with one another. Of course, I had fallen asleep around 9 or so and had gotten up at 11, and ventured outside of my suite onto a floor that was mostly deserted, save for a few night owls studying in the study lounge. Normally, I'm not in the study lounge past midnight, so having now just spent the past two hours there was an enlightening experience, as I was able to reconnect with people I hadn't either met before or hadn't been able to meet up with throughout the day.

09.14.2012 - Entry #5: Getting Around in the Neighborhood

One of the many RTC buses

As a brand spanking new eighteen year old, fresh on my own way out in Northern Nevada, I find that public transportation is a key part of my life. You can't rely on friends all the time after all and walking everywhere quickly becomes tedious and bothersome. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to get around, especially if you live on campus. For example, I often take the Sierra Spirit whenever I need to head to the Post Office or when I'm volunteering at the Kiwanis Bike Program because not only does it come every 10 minutes, but it's absolutely free. And as a poor college student where anything over free is expensive, not having the obstacle of expense is a nice incentive to ride the Sierra. Unfortunately, the Sierra doesn't have a large route, and so I still do a fair amount of walking as generally, I'll the ride the Sierra as far as it'll go and then get off and walk the rest of the way. Another means of public transportation around campus that I've yet to use are the University Shuttles, which I see often enough and maybe use after I map out where all the shuttle stops are. Finally, there's the standard RTC bus, which route always passes by the University and travels much further than the Sierra or Shuttle. For any college student on a budget, it's always good to know how and when your local public transportation operates as they're usually very reliable and more affordable than owning a car and paying insurance on it. Honestly, the only way they could make public transportation better in our area would be by giving reduced fares to commuters who regularly use their services that go beyond the usual bus pass.

09.14.2012 - Entry #4: Ads in the Neighborhood

"KIWANIS BIKE PROGRAM"

It's a simple sign for an advertisement, and yet it means quite a lot to me. As a Key Club member for the past 4 years, it's comforting to me when I see that the organization which has become like a second family to me is present even here in my new home in Reno. As a member of the Kiwanis Family, when I first saw this sign I knew that I had to immediately follow up on it. Coincidentally, the Kiwanis Clubs of Northern Nevada was on my approved list of organizations that could be use to fulfill my service learning requirement for my HON 200B class, and so last week I started volunteering with the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Sparks at their warehouse for their Kiwanis Bike Program, which was conveniently located just a block away from the university campus. Before coming here to Reno, I wasn't sure if I was going to be as involved with the Kiwanis organization as I was in high school as I didn't know how active Kiwanis Clubs were up here- however, after seeing this sign, I'm glad that I've decided to get involved with this organization and community service again. Already, I've joined my local Circle K Club- the collegiate version of Kiwanis- and I'm making arrangements  to visit the Kiwanians during their club meetings and whenever they go to visit their Key Clubs. Because of this sign, I feel a lot more at home now knowing that just around the corner, there's a group of people who have the same commitment towards community service and the Kiwanis organization as I do.

09.11.2012 - Entry #3: People in the Neighborhood

My neighborhood seems to be a few crayons short of a full box, if you know what I mean. I'm not too sure exactly what the racial demographics are here at UNR, but if I had to guess, it'd be something like this:

• Caucasians: ~85%
• Asians: ~10%
• Other: ~5%

I'm living in an environment that's almost completely devoid of color; an environment where rice isn't a staple at every meal, Qdoba is considered good Mexican food, and the tannest person here is whoever forgot to put on sunblock before going outside. Being Filipino and coming from a high school which was over 55% Latino, one may think that I'd be experiencing a bit of culture shock.

One would be wrong of course. Look at this picture below from my senior year of high school:

My usual lunch bunch, aka the "Nerd Herd"

Like high school, many of the people I associate with are white. This has been the trend for most of my life. A large part of this happens to be because of my academic success- from G.A.T.E to AP classes, my education has always been a large and important part of who I am. And according to research which states that Latinos and African-Americans are significantly less likely to do well in school, this has resulted in many of my classmates consisting of races which do emphasize an importance in education: namely Caucasians and Asians. And considering that Caucasians far outnumber Asians in Nevada, this has led to a predominantly Caucasian learning environment, one that has followed me even to college as an Honors Student.

What does this mean for me? A lot of confusion for one- while I am Asian, I'm really white-washed. I can't speak Tagalog like my parents and my favorite food is lasagna. For the most part, I'm completely comfortable with that- I've made no plans to learn Tagalog and I could eat lasagna for a good few weeks. There are times however, especially now that I've moved up to Reno, that I yearn to hear the Filipino language or when I crave a plate of adobo.

I keep those yearnings to myself though, simply because there's nothing anyone here can do about them. There are no Filipino restaurants in Reno and there's only 1 other Filipino that I know here. Instead, I've decided to continue doing what I've been doing and adapting- learning more about my surroundings and the individuals within them so that I connect with the people around me.

This is not a difficult task either- consider the picture below:

Doing homework in the LLC

Not many people- females especially- would be shirtless while doing homework in a public study lounge. The fact that these guys (and me) did so is because they've gotten to the point where they feel comfortable enough with each other for reasons outside of the fact that they share the same skin tone. One must remember that race is only one of many different factors in how well one can fit in with a particular group of people; many other factors are involved, such as interests, personalities, hometowns, common experiences, and more.

In conclusion, while I am once more one of the few Asian people in a land that is predominantly white, I don't foresee any problems with me fitting in with my fellow Honors students. After all, there's so much more that brings us together independent of the amount of melanin in our bodies.  

ENG 102: Master Blogspot Post

For everyone in Will's ENG 102 class- here's a list of everyone's blogs!

Alaina: http://alainagibbonswalkingjournalfall2012.blogspot.com/
Aldrin: http://aldrinwalks.blogspot.com
Andrea: http://andreasanford.blogspot.com/
Anita: http://anitaalbanese.blogspot.com/
Brian: http://briangoga.blogspot.com/
Cheyenne: http://cheychey577.blogspot.com/
Courtney: http://cmateraenglish102walkingblog.blogspot.com/
Diana: http://theadventuresofagirlinreno.blogspot.com
Emily: http://emilyweissgerber-english102.blogspot.com/
Jessica: http://jrobertswalkblog.blogspot.com/
Ken: http://kjbhood.blogspot.com/
Lucia: http://lasanchezwalkingjournals.blogspot.com/
Miles: http://mileswalkingblog.blogspot.com/
Neema: http://neema144.blogspot.com/
Tamzin: http://tamdoesenglish.blogspot.com/
Tanner: http://tdegiovanni.blogspot.com/
Tazia: http://walkingreno.blogspot.com/

Also, for people asking for help on how to subscribe to each other's blogs, here's a short tutorial:

Step 1: Open Firefox. While you may use any browser, Firefox seems to have the fewest compatibility issues.

Step 2: Sign onto your Google account.

Step 3: Click one of the above URLs that you haven't subscribed to yet.

Step 4: Scroll all the way down. You should see the words, "Subscribe to," followed by a hyperlink - click the hyperlink.

Step 5: Subscribe to this feed using Google, then click the "Subscribe Now" button.

Step 6: Click "Add to Google Reader."

Step 7: Scroll down and find the newly added blog; click the black arrow.

Step 8: Click "Blogs" - You are now subscribed to this blog.

Step 9: Repeat until you have added all blogs.

Step 10: Return to Google Reader at anytime by going to the Google homepage and selecting, "Reader," under the "More" tab.

Comic #1:

Saw this comic on Tumblr- felt like it fit well with the idea of valuing the complexity of every issue:

09.10.2012 - Entry #2: Elections in the Neighborhood

"VOTE ALDRIN SANTAMARIA FOR LLC RHA EVENTS REPRESENTATIVE!"

For those of you reading this post that reside in the Nevada Living Learning Community, expect to see or hear that phrase, or a variation of it, within the next few days. In this post, I'll be focusing on two very specific places in my neighborhood, namely the hall in which I live in and the University Catholic Community Our Lady of Wisdom.

First, my hall- the wonderful Nevada LLC. The new building on the block, the LLC recently had their Presidential Elections for our hall's Leadership Council, an election in which I participated in and lost. While somewhat sadden, I was not surprised at my loss in the slightest, for I knew that the biggest weakness to my campaign was my lack of movement within our Community. Before that night, not many people knew who I was outside of my suitemates and the regular walk-ins that came into my suite. My inability to reach out to the residents of the LLC in a timely manner was probably the primary reason for my loss- if I had taken the time to socialize more, meet the other residents of my floor and learn the names of the people with whom I would be living with for the next 8 months, I probably would have had a better chance at winning.

In the end though, while I may have lost, I was at least able to make a lasting impression and open up to the rest of the community through my speech and personality; people who I had seen all the time but never talked to came up to me afterwards and commented on how excellent my speech had been. Hopefully, I will be able to utilize the impression I made that day to my advantage as I run again this Wednesday as the LLC's RHA Events Representative- a position that I believe I will thoroughly enjoy as it will allow me to not only move around the different residence halls within the University of Nevada, Reno, but to also plan and coordinate events specifically designed to get the students of UNR moving and participating within their collegiate community.

Now for the second place- today, I made it a point to attend church as custom of my Catholic upbringing as well as for the fact that my birthday is this Tuesday (9/11) which meant that I had to go to church for a blessing and a little bit of birthday luck. I went with a good friend of mine from Vegas, Andre, and together we had an excellent time. For me, it was particularly helpful as I was able to relax and feel at home again. Although I believe I'm adjusting well to Reno, recently I felt a little homesick- going to church and practicing the same prayers and movements as back home was a welcome comfort. The fact that Andre was willing to go with me, despite his Agnostic views, was also appreciated. Now that I know where the church is and their mass times, I hope to attend on a regular basis with a new friend every week, particularly those with whom I have just befriended.

Quote #1:

"All we see of someone at any moment is a snapshot of their life, there in riches or poverty, in joy or despair. Snapshots don't show the million decisions that led to that moment." - Richard Back (Running from Safety)

09.03.2012 - Entry #1: Welcome to the Neighborhood

This is why I don't drive...

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a neighborhood is defined as, "a section lived in by neighbors and usually having distinguishing characteristics." While somewhat vague, this definition provides the necessary framework required to etch out my personal meaning of a neighborhood.

As a young teenager on the precipice of adulthood, my own neighborhood has been hard to define, due to the increasing sense of wanderlust I've been experiencing- the same sense that was partially responsible for my move to Reno- and the multiple times I've had to change addresses and move to a new location, such as my move from San Francisco, CA to Las Vegas, NV. Usually, every 3-4 years I've had to move into a new home, leading me to become very familiar with multiple neighborhoods, but ones that I never seem to have any lasting attachments to.

The current neighborhood I reside in is very different from the ones I've lived in in the past. For the past 13 years, I've bounced between different suburbs in the arid Las Vegas area- now, I find myself about 8 hours away in the meteorologically mild Reno, NV. Besides the change in weather, there's also a change in the people I interact with on a day-to-day basis; as a resident of the Nevada Living Learning Community, there's a sense of scholarship that binds together those in the Nevada LLC and the students of UNR as a whole. As college students striving for degrees and future success, no longer are we mocked if we choose to spend a weekend in our rooms, catching up on readings or typing up English papers. Paradoxically however, there's also a unique brand of immaturity associated with college students which lessens as one ages, but never seems to go away entirely. This immaturity ranges from the excessive partying that goes on every weekend, to the replaying of nostalgic shows and games such as Pokemon. The neighborhood I live in now, namely the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno has provided me with a plethora of interesting new experiences in the week and a half since I've moved in.

Some of these experiences come from my first few walks through my new neighborhood. A few days ago, I walked down Virginia St. towards the Post Office to rent a PO Box. A somewhat long walk, I was intrigued by the Planetarium that the University had to offer, as well as the Nevada Historical Society which had a building just a little further up from the Planetarium. The presence of these two buildings further supported the image of my new neighborhood being a place of academia. Of course, the screaming lady at the bus stop as I was walking back killed that image somewhat and reinforced the idea of Reno being a "sketchy" place that numerous friends and family members tried to impart upon me as I left Vegas.

My second walk through this route was much more humorous however. I had walked a friend down to the School of Medicine and as I was walking back, I managed to see the image posted above. That picture says so much about the collegiate culture I find myself immersed in now; a culture that will ask me to sacrifice much- perhaps not an arm or leg, but definitely a lot of time and money- but is also colored with the sarcastic  laughter that comes about in poking fun at our hefty debts and our diminishing job prospects in today's economic climate.

In short, the impression I've gained about my new neighborhood and my future for the next four years is that they're both bound to be ones stereotypical of the average college student- in that there will be a healthy amount of learning and education occurring, but will also be spattered with random and often amusing anecdotes that one can't quite predict.