Mexican-American

[SouthKona]

Re: Mexican-American

[QUOTE=kimo55]ho, steh hungry now.
usta make choke chile rellanos at mama's mexican kitchen back in the 70's. Tamales, Mexican rice....
prep all day for the nite time rush. I was in pig heaven. all i can eat.

eh kimo, i knew i recognized you from somewhere ... BYOB Mama's! my uncle would take the whole family and friends out once every summer, our choice, and Mama's usually won.

[hawaii32]

Re: Mexican-American

Arturo-
I am from San Diego and live here now and I can tell you most of the things you hear on this forum are not correct. This is the very place that almost scared me away from moving to Hawaii. All the negitive things you hear about here are jokes if you are from LA. Crime? Traffic? Drugs? Yeah I am sure they are here but I sure have not had any problems. Some of these posts make it seem like Hawaii is a war zone. It could not be further from the truth. To people that were born and raised in Hawaii...yeah maybe it is bad. It is nothing like what I used to deal with in Southern CA. The people here are ALL warm and friendly. I have yet to deal with even one person that is unpleasant.
The cost of living is actually less here than in Southern CA and that is why I think so many people are coming over. I purchased a home here that would have been 50% more in San Diego. My life is better and I am actually doing better with my business now that I am here and happy. Do not listen to the negitive people. Most people that have negitive things to say are the type that never do anything with their lives and want to stop you from living your dreams.
Just remember if you come here that you are sure you want this life. It is a island and many people do make the mistake of coming here and it is not what they thought. Coming here debt free would also help.
I personally would rather have a island full of people that dreamed and worked hard to get here rather than a bunch of people that sit around and bitch and do nothing to change things but try to scare people off.

[Miulang]

Re: Mexican-American

Arturo-
I am from San Diego and live here now and I can tell you most of the things you hear on this forum are not correct. This is the very place that almost scared me away from moving to Hawaii. All the negitive things you hear about here are jokes if you are from LA. Crime? Traffic? Drugs? Yeah I am sure they are here but I sure have not had any problems. Some of these posts make it seem like Hawaii is a war zone. It could not be further from the truth. To people that were born and raised in Hawaii...yeah maybe it is bad. It is nothing like what I used to deal with in Southern CA. The people here are ALL warm and friendly. I have yet to deal with even one person that is unpleasant.
The cost of living is actually less here than in Southern CA and that is why I think so many people are coming over. I purchased a home here that would have been 50% more in San Diego. My life is better and I am actually doing better with my business now that I am here and happy. Do not listen to the negitive people. Most people that have negitive things to say are the type that never do anything with their lives and want to stop you from living your dreams.
Just remember if you come here that you are sure you want this life. It is a island and many people do make the mistake of coming here and it is not what they thought. I came here to grow tropical plants so it is the perfect place for me. Coming here debt free would also help. I personally would rather have a island full of people that dreamed and worked hard to get here rather than a bunch of people that sit around and bitch and do nothing to change things but try to scare people off.

Hmmm...my guess, Hawaii32, is that you live someplace out in the country and away from the crowds in the cities. Yes, there are places in Hawai'i where all the negative things you've read here aren't experienced, yet...what the locals on this board are trying to tell people moving to Hawai'i is to make sure they do their homework before they get here and be prepared to see some of the same kinds of problems they thought they were leaving behind. Hawai'i (and Honolulu) is not like LA because it is a finite space and there is no more land to spread out on, except on the Big Island. Many of the local people have spent all their lives here...it's all they know. And the "modernization" that they see occurring as their farmlands disappear and their slower pace of life is disturbed by the rapid influx of newcomers who are taxing every single infrastructure item---from the highways to the water system to the school system...everything---concerns them. If you lived somewhere all your life by choice and all of a sudden there were more newcomers than original residents, wouldn't you get a little concerned, too? Especially when the influx of new people caused your taxes and cost of living to increase dramatically? You are telling about your experience...the locals are telling you theirs. Neither side is absolutely right or wrong, so weigh every opinion and come with an open mind.

Miulang

[hawaii32]

Re: Mexican-American

Miulang-
Thank you for that thoughtfull post. I guess in a way I am just so proud of where I live now I just hate hearing all the posts about how bad it is here.
I have been growing orchids since I was a teenager so it has been my goal to move here my whole life. Plants are everything to me and there was just no better place for tropicals than here in Hawaii. So to me the land is very important...it is what made me come. I guess I just don't want people to get the same idea I was getting about life in Hawaii as I felt when I was planning this move. I have lived in Miami, LA, San Fran and San Diego and this by far is the best "lifestyle" for me. I love the easy way of the locals and if you are from LA you can sense the kindness and ease of people here right away. People smile and wave here! I want nothing more than the best for this wonderful place and I am working on a few things myself to help in what little ways I can. Once the rates go back up it will slow down again. I do feel it will cap off sometime as with all places.
I live in Mililani by the way!

[newroots]

Re: Mexican-American

hey mexican. its great that your happy.

the ''lifestyle'' that you love so much. is not just a lifestyle , its who we are. [i cant speak for hawai'i .. but i can speak for MiKrOnEsiA] its been disregarded for like a long time. da lifestyle was born outta like poverty and stuff. the land that was givin to us by god , is worth more than any material world powers introduced. i think the whole ''island'' trend thing was born out of the fear of terrorism in the city.

its great that your happy. but try to be empathetic. just imagine if like the natives in mexico were outnumbered and your land was being ''taken over''. wouldnt your ancestral pride kick in

[arturo_h]

Re: Mexican-American

Newroots: I don’t think Hawaii32 is Mexican (but correct me if I’m wrong, Hawaii32). I (Arturo) am Mexican and the original author of the thread and Hawaii32 was just commenting on that thread. Either way, he does have a name and not just “Mexican” and find it rather insulting to acknowledge someone by their race. Our (Mexicans) land IS being taken over by the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We are being pushed out by not being able to compete with bigger and wealthier American companies. So don’t think it’s just happening in Hawaii, because it’s happening everywhere you go. CAFTA (Central American Free-Trade Agreement) is currently being approved and will affect even more countries in Central America. Modernization, urbanism, etc. is everywhere, and is what the world is all about now. It’s like a freight train that everyone was willing to fuel in the past, but now impossible to stop. The growing world population doesn’t help either, but how can that be controlled? But I do agree with you; we do need to hold onto our “ancestral pride,” but be more open-minded about the whole situation and understand that there are other people experiencing the same as native Hawaiians. We need to support each other to make this WORLD a better place.
Arturo

[newroots]

Re: Mexican-American

agreed.

but one thing that da whole worldz not facing is GeNoCiDe. in mehiko the mehikaaanz are still the bestest. and since your government is independent , its more easy to preserve your peeps.

[arturo_h]

Re: Mexican-American

That's true.
Arturo

[Miulang]

Re: Mexican-American

You know, you can extrapolate the kanaka maoli sovereignty movement in Hawai'i to the Native American and Hispanic people in California, too. If the State of California reverted back to its "original owners", the Native Americans and the Hispanic people would be sitting on a goldmine! Maybe that's why the Federal gov't is so freaked out by the Hawaiian sovereignty movement...they're afraid other indigenous people will get the same idea...

Miulang

[Pedro]

Re: Mexican-American

I apologize. I can see comparing islands to non-islands isn’t correct. I have lived in Guam, which seemed comparable to Hawaii, but not as populous. Kimo-I meant that people moving from one area to another is basically redistribution when viewed from a greater perspective. Development is evident around the world. Why should Hawaii be any different? I’m not saying destroying beautiful land in Hawaii is right, but I don’t see it as something to blame on people who move to Hawaii. Babies are still born everyday, and the population of the world, not just Hawaii, is growing. Again, perspective. The Earth is a finite place, but to single out Hawaii doesn’t seem right. LikaNui-I don’t think living on an island is the matter at hand. Sure, some people have a problem with it, and should be smart enough NOT to move to an island, but for those who can, so be it. Miulang-If someone doesn’t feel comfortable living in an “urban” lifestyle, then they should move somewhere rural. It is under one’s control to decide to move somewhere they think will make them happy. Some people enjoy urban lifestyle, like me. Moving somewhere because its “paradise” doesn’t seem like a smart move, and that is not what I will be doing. But I agree, for those who move to Hawaii ONLY because it’s paradise, have another thing coming. Miulang-How does it “pain you” to see what’s going on in Hawaii, although it’s happening everywhere?
Arturo

O.K. One thing U keep on mentioning perspective everytime. Why?
2nd; you compare hawaii to Guam and other places as if Hawaii is somehow interconnected because of land and resource, and population. Why? Hawaii is my home not these other places, and it saddens me that it will not be affordable to live on anymore, and all the resources of the island will be gone, well most of it, in the next ten years. Your an outsider looking at a closed door asking all kinds of questions, in which no one has the answer to give you yet you keep pounding on the door as if it will open. And since it won't open you have all these interesting conclusions and theories. If you want the real answer quit talking and move here and I am sure you'll find some answers that will suit your interest, if not oh well..

[AbsolutChaos]

Re: Mexican-American

To people that were born and raised in Hawaii...yeah maybe it is bad. It is nothing like what I used to deal with in Southern CA. The people here are ALL warm and friendly. I have yet to deal with even one person that is unpleasant.

I personally would rather have a island full of people that dreamed and worked hard to get here rather than a bunch of people that sit around and bitch and do nothing to change things but try to scare people off.

When I offered my opinion, I meant it also as a warning of advice, not a "don't even consider coming here" sort of post. Like Miulang said, you really need to do your homework here if you want to survive, the same as moving anywhere else. Due to this being an island and part of the of the US, etc, once again, there are unique situations here that don't exist anywhere else.

I was born and raised on the Mainland until I moved here three years ago. I've met my fair share of people who moved to HI with nothing more than dreams and no sense of reality that you need a lot of MONEY and a back-up plan to survive out here. They expected a job to be handed to them. They expected people here to welcome them with open arms and give them a place to stay. They expected to live here comfortably and still find time to surf/whatever on a minimum wage salary. Those are the ones who went home disillusioned and bitter, especially when they finally woke up to the fact that the image presented by the HI Tourism bureau doesn't necessarily reflect life here when you are a resident.

There ARE definitely some tensions that will always exist when you have people from various backgrounds living in the same area. And I AM familiar with being a minority, though it wasn't in LA. As an Asian Indian in the South, I had my share of slurs/ignorant comments. In fact, when I went to visit some friends who still lived in the small town I grew up in, I learned that the KKK is a prevalent force there now. (Shiver. You see their graffiti up all over the walls.) You don't have to be living in a city like LA to experience racism, that's for sure! It exists in the outlying areas of a place also.

[poi cocktail :)]

Re: Mexican-American

hola arturo, que te paso amigo?

this is but a small sampling of hawaii's population. and I'm going to add my 2 cents too! I live in a modest (IMO) subdivision, for example most of the homes sell for under the median so it's no kahala. but it's a palace and sanctuary for me. the majority of homeowners here are not transplants but local people, with young families. and now we are a part of each other's families. they are making it work as people do all over the country. many are the original owners so they bought brand new and watched their houses go up. they are flight attendant, a doctor, brewing company employee, insurance adjuster, music producer, hospitality worker (that guy has the nicest suv here LOL), etc. the island life is not as destitute as some would lead you to believe.

I have met some wealthy young locals too. the local contractor tradespeople I've come across are rolling in it. one guy shows up in a new hummer. another is building his own mini-mansion down the block, the last open lot left. plans for a pool good for him I say he doing well for himself. the heavy equipment guy "scraping the hillside" just threw down for a new $100k grader and doing side jobs on the weekend with it all the time. the damn architects so busy they don't give a crap about the small jobs. I don't want to hear how poor everybody stay here it ain't the absolute truth. there is a whole nother underground economy too.

SF is way more compressed than Oahu at only 49 square miles and the same cries of welcome, spend your money and go home are heard, especially with the dot bomb infusion and then fallout. sure you can take a bus out of town easy enough but it's not impossible to get off this rock neither. last I checked we have banks, credit unions, atms, of course the ships and airlines and maybe even a western union. I saw my City change too over the years but it's still a beautiful place to live though for the most part actually more beautiful now that the people are more varied. and everybody is still free to roam about the country. good luck with your upcoming move~! it may work out it may not. nothing ventured, nothing gained.

ps. another friend of mine moved from SF to Waianae, for the 2nd and hopefully last time. it is where they want to live out their days and few places in the world can match the beauty of the west side especially at sunset. they have had no problems with nobody. the neighbors enjoy bringing each other dinner / cookouts etc. it is their home and community as it is where I am. we take care of each other as family. I think that is what this is all about.

te veo!

[arturo_h]

Re: Mexican-American

¡Gracias mucho!

Thanks for your reply. I know there are so many different perspectives on living in Hawai’i, and it makes it interesting. I knew it couldn’t be all bad but still welcomed the comments. All of you deserve to feel the way you do and I commend you all on cherishing your culture so much. I only hope that I won’t become one of the many idiots who come there showing no respect for your land and only want to satisfy their greed and selfishness. I will strive to only be a guest in your land and do my part to show respect.

¡Espero que te vea también!