The hubster almost made me cry

Apologies for the possible incoherence of this piece.  I'm just writing it as I feel it; from the heart as the piece on the NY Times has reawakened my TarHeel pride and I must share it.


He almost made me cry because of a magazine article on T-Magazine from The NewYork Times.
So the interactive piece is about where we used to live in the States.  It's strange to think that a lot of the things listed in it, we used to do on a daily basis just because; taken for granted then and dearly missed now.  

RDU, or The Triangle as we locals like to call it, is definitely a hot spot for the arts, science, technology, and more. Most people that go for tourism in the States, miss out on places like it bc it's not massively famous like NYC.  Buuuu on them for it! This is the sort of place that gives the US its cultural richness ---- yes, don't pretend you didn't read that; the US has a very rich and intricate culture and it definitely goes beyond New York, California, and Texas!

Anyway, seeing the piece on RDU made me seriously home sick and seeing a lot of the places and things we used to have at our disposal made me realize how much a part of me The Triangle really is.

Here's my take on some of the places mentioned:

LocoPops is AMAZINGLY delicious and ridiculously cheap.  This is where I would stop on a Friday, after a long day at Duke University Hospital during my internship years in their Emergency Department.  I still mis radiography... My favorite flavor? Mexican Chocolate as it was laced with chilly powder (to die for!). Although it's nice to know that there are more branches now, my heart will always be with the original.

Kings Barcade, at least before its 2007 closing, was our favorite venue in Raleigh. You could go in on any given night and there would be guaranteed quality entertainment.  My two favorite memories there are 

• The time I went to watch Mexican wrestling match with some friends in early 2003 before meeting the hubster ---the closest thing to a Mexican there was me and my friend Ana (ummm, I'm Colombian + she's Uruguayan).  The crowd went wild when the luchadores came out and I absolutely lost it when the winner, a very macho + well built luchador wearing an evil-looking mask with bunny ears on it, ran to me, picked me up and kissed me on the cheek. The crowd exploded and I went "WOW!"  
• About a year later, catching Broken Social Scene there in the company of my then boyfriend, now hubster, and all of our closest friends. Great times!

The Independent Weekly is a Triangle institution; a week never went by without me picking up a few copies:

One for work (whenever I could get to sit down, have some coffee and talk up a storm with my colleagues for hours; these were the randomly slow days)

One for the car when stuck in traffic, or parked on the side of the road waiting for some apocalyptic thunder storm to pass.

One for home to read while having some grub or while catching the sun through the window in the Winter or out in the balcony during the Spring, Autumn & Summer.

And, because I was a good daughter, I also would get my parents a copy.  

Of course, the first thing I'd go for would be the club listings to see which hot Indy act would be gracing the Triangle stages.  Once the weekly gig calendar was sorted out for me, I'd go for the articles and reviews to be in the know, and finally my favorite part: Reading through the personal ads; there are some twisted and funny people out there and these can make you chuckle from time to time.

The North Carolina Museum of Art was the place that saw us on our second date (a perfect date!). A wonderful and underestimated spot in the Triangle with a lovely green space with outdoor sculptures that make for a dreamy spot for a picnic, for reading, for taking a walk or for just dozing off under a tree... You'd also be surprised at the quality pieces that this place has.  It is definitely a MUST if you are ever in The Triangle.

The rickshaws were a welcomed site in Downtown Raleigh when we went to visit friends and family this past June.  We did not ride though we were tempted.  Fortunately we were saved a few bucks when a friend of ours found a dolly and carted me all the way back to our car (they don't call them killer heels for nothing; another step and I would have collapsed).

The other people and places I can not comment on as these are new and we've been gone for quite some time though we still consider The Triangle "our home".  We spent part of or teens there, hubster going to university there and I to high school in Raleigh. We met there, we worked there, we made friends there, we fell in love there and we got married there.

Our 20's saw us discovering an amazing place full of art (specially Durham), great music, wonderful restaurants, creativity all around, highly distinguished academic institutions (UNC, NC State & Duke, to name a few), people from all parts of the world and all walks of life, as well as building our careers.

Chapel Hill, Carrboro and West Franklin St. saw us start and remold ourselves as young adults, pulling all-nighters as we prepared for exams,wearing our Carolina Blue gleefully with pride every time there was a home game or a match against our rivals Duke.  It saw us dress up like children on Halloween night, celebrate whenever our beloved TarHeels would beat Duke, and completely loose all self-control whenever we'd win an NCAA Championship Tournament --- think bonfires all over Franklin St, toilet paper rolls thrown over trees, and loads of screaming from students and supporters in such big numbers that every once is a while the national media would have to go and see for themselves.

Chapel Hill and The Triangle saw us last on October 6th, 2007 when hubster and I made things official before our friends and family.  We chose Chapel Hill because of what it meant to us then and it still means now.  
Having had The Triangle as our playground before making the big move definitely shaped our world view.  I am just excited to see that now, even if through a national paper--- actually, that's not a bad thing as all, especially since it is my beloved New York Times!--- The Triangle is finally getting some proper recognition. 
Anyway, follow this link to that you can see the feature for yourselves.