Nostalgia

I moved to Queens over a year now and lets just say it’s been rough! To most I may sound like I’m exaggerating, but moving here was extremely difficult to deal with at the beginning and still continues to be hard at times.  It’s gotten easier to deal with, but the transition was not easy and it isn’t over yet. 

I could write an entire blog about why it was so difficult for me, but I think I’ll stray a little for the purpose of a more interesting blog.  Thank me later (or not—leave a comment or send me a message if you want to read all about the difficulties).  The purpose of this blog post is to tell you that moving to Queens made me miss ALL THINGS BRONX.  Literally! I began missing even the things that I hated.  I’ve spent many hours dwelling about corner bodegas and chopped cheese sandwiches. 

This past week as we drove home and passed Citifiled, bright lights caught my eye and I did a double take when I saw that the bright lights were from a carnival.  A carnival! Some of my most cherished childhood memories involve me running around the carnival on 156th street and Third Avenue with my siblings on spring break.  It was guaranteed that the carnivals would be up for Easter and it was our yearly tradition to wear our new outfits and new sneakers (most of the time White sneakers that would be ruined after a night of running around on dirt roads.[1])  I had my favorite rides and the “Caja de Muerto “ was at the top.  It was basically a ride in the shape of a circle that had about 50 places to stand in (and of course hold on for dear life), while it spun around, got higher, and tilted in several directions.  It was the best thrill! Part of the thrill was knowing you were on some hood-ass ride that could possibly break down.  The music, the popcorn, the photo booths, and games, only made it better.  I still have a picture of me on a supersized huge sofa, holding a baby bottle that was taken in one of these carnivals!

However, as endearing as these memories are to me, I’ve never taken my boys to a ghetto carnival! The main reason is that I never know of one or see one with enough time to take advantage.  This year though, God is on my side! As soon as I saw the bright lights and did my double take, I took the next exit, drove right up to the parking lot and asked the attendant there, “How long will the carnival be here?”  When he said, “until Sunday”, it was music to my ears! 

Today, I will show my boys how great the carnival is! I will get to share a tradition from my childhood in The Bronx, and even though it’s a Queens carnival, I’m sure it’ll be just as much fun.

[1] “Why dirt roads?”, you may be asking yourself, well this was the 90’s and there were a lot of empty blocks, pieces of land, all around the Bronx.  My guess is from “The Bronx is Burning Days”.