Friday Morning Fever

It's friday, ten thirty, and I cannot wait to get out of here. I'm going to a "pizza party" at the PhoneBank at 1230, and if my boss doesn't show up before then, well, I guess I won't get to say good bye.

I thought I'd talk a little about the phone bank, and the town its situated in, just go give you a better idea of things.

I work in Langley Park. Langley Park is not a city, or a town, or a municipality. It is a "census designated place" located on the edge of Prince George's County, with streets and neighborhoods extending accross the boarder into Montgomery County. It is .8 miles square, and has the largest population of Salvadorians outside of El Salvador. DC has a huge immigrant population, but there's really nothing like Langley Park, where apartment blocks stretch for miles, wilted courtyards and barred window eerily tenement-like, the MS-13 presence impossible to ignore, the laundrymats and Western Unions and ESOL classes overflowing.

Despite the "Little _____" community feeling, called Long Distance Nationalism, articulated really well in this NPR Clip and patiently explained to me by my fabulous teacher Espelencia Baptiste (she just got tenure!), there's alot of diversity and contextual understanding that comes with knowing how to navigate Langley Park. For example, there's the case of chicken. Chicken should come from your home, and be wrapped in tin foil, boiled with the skin off, unless it comes wrapped in a seven-eleven sandwhich or a silver-truck styrophome container. However, this all pales in comparison to "Pollo estilo peruano." Peruvian chicken is chicken elevated. Look at that charr on the perfectly done flesh. Also, vegetarians, notice the corn on the cob, neatly cut into third-of-a-cob lengths, the yucca fries (not pictured), and the many napkins that will be filled with grease scattered around your paper plate by the end of your "Journey to Peru."

Its strange that Peruvian chicken is so popular in this area. There are peruvians in the area, but nowhere near as strong as the Central American and Mexican population. And its not like most of the people in the area have been to Peru, like, on vacation or something. Not that one quote proves a point, or anything, but my when my Hondure

finishing this later.

boss is here