I was people watching again and paying special attention to the faces and languages of passersby. Most people in Los Angeles either come from somewhere else or their families did, and I wonder how each of them see my city. What made them come here and leave behind their hometowns? Do they still love the city? Is there something in this city that reminds me of their home? The recent racial tensions that have been widely broadcast by the media paint a picture of a divided place that seems to be turning into the Tower of Babel–a tower of dreams of lofty goals that some higher power seems intent on stopping. Some will tell you about how Los Angeles is a highly segregated city.

You will undoubtedly find truth in all of these, but I will tell you to be patient and wait and see. Let me share the vision I see that some may call naive and romanticized. Brave people, You will undoubtedly find truth in all of these, but I will tell you to be patient and wait and see. Let me share the vision I see that some may call naive and romanticized. Brave people, the first of their kind came here to grow roots and make a home of this strange land. The people that follow–equally brave–seek the familiar in the foreign and huddle near the language and culture they know. The culture, language, and foods of the mother country begin to flourish. Eventually these groves of people expand and begin to cross into new groves and become a forest formed from a patchwork of cultures. Here you can have a traditional Chinese breakfast where you’ll have trouble ordering if you don’t speak Mandarin, then have Persian food, and round out the day with Russian food all while driving by a million places with Mexican food. Each culture is as different as the syntax of their respective languages and sometimes we have a challenging time understanding each other, but it gets better with each passing day. We do not need an amalgamation or customs and homogenization of culture to fix the fissures between our rich cultures. What we need is to open our minds and actively seek to eradicate our ignorance in this infant forest full of ancient memories of hometowns afar.