Jesus Chairez: Dear Dallas, I miss you

Friday, August 1, 2008. The Dallas Morning News

Voices

I went from writing about losing affordable housing in my Old East Dallas hood, to moving and living in Mexico all in a matter of about three months. I landed in Mexico City, my new home, on the evening of May 18, 2008. I officially was no longer living in Dallas. Was I terrified? Yes!

My friends say they worry about me because of all the crime they read about in my new city. But the crime here is no different than being in any large city in the U.S. – just be careful.

Though I was nostalgic about my Old East Dallas apartment building, reality was that I did not often feel safe being in my old hood at sundown because of the prostitutes and drug dealers who would step out and work the streets.

The random gunshots around my home bothered me, too. I often wondered if, or when, a roving bullet would find me.

Since I no longer have those twilight uncertainties in my new locality, I often walk along with a 77-year-old lady friend. We walk her dogs as late as 11 p.m., with no worries.

My new Mexican friends tell me to be vigilant here, too. Because if people know I am an American, some will automatically think I have money, and money equals robberies or worse.

So when I walk here, I try to blend into my surroundings like a chameleon, not wanting to attract the attention of thieves. I don’t want people looking at me like an ATM with sneakers. I think I do a great job of looking local until I open my mouth. My accent, Spanish-Texas twang, always gives me away as an American.

Walking offers me time to think and study my surroundings, like finding new sidewalk cafes to drink coffee and eat. While looking at the old colonial and contemporary buildings as I stroll, I also notice some gentrification going on here, too.

There are plenty of outdoor sculptures along the streets to admire. I love how the local government brings art to the people. Don’t have time to go to a museum? Take a walk.

I occasionally walked in my Old East Dallas neighborhood and blogged my venturesome strolls on NeighborsGo.com, but here I walk everywhere. When I’m in a hurry, I do something here I never did in Dallas – I take a bus. A microbus costs 30 cents, and the Metro (the subway) costs 20 cents. I prefer the bus because I am worried about getting buried alive or stuck underground during an earthquake. I do not need to know a bus schedule here because the buses and trains seem to pass by every 60 seconds.

Sometimes I find my new surroundings in Mexico City a little surreal. Like the day I was on a microbus and we passed about 500 nude bicycle riders. The riders, men and women from their 20s to their 60s, were all having a pleasant jaunt in the pleasant weather. (Summer days are typically in the 70s.)

I stared and wondered what was going on, but the locals on the bus did not even seen to give it a second thought. Turns out the nude bicycle riders were protesting the numerous vehicles on the city streets and taking going green far more seriously than I would.

Though I am living a more carefree existence here in the big city, I do miss my Old East Dallas and my many friends. In Dallas I knew lots of people, but here in the mega-city, I can count the number of people I know on one hand.

I think of my lonesome times and missing Dallas as growing pains. I got my first monthly electricity bill and it was only $5.50. So, for now, I can deal with the lonesomeness.

Jesus Chairez is a (former) Old East Dallas resident and artist. He is also a Community Voices volunteer columnist. His e-mail address is ChairezStudio@ gmail.com, and he can also be reached online at http://neighborsgo .com/jchairez.