chase the light

Out of curiosity, I went to Olvera Street for lunch. I haven’t been there since I went with a busload of elementary school classmates. All I remember is the restaurant and thinking I was expanding culturally by eating tacos and beans at an outdoor mexican eatery. I was 10, so that was a big deal. It’s quite a bit smaller feeling now. In fact it’s disappointingly small. It used to seem the size of Tijuana. Not surprisingly, you can buy the same stuff. Harachi sandals, mariachi marionnettes, plaster cast animals, and leather goods. Except I didn’t see any bargaining going on. Anyway, the food… 2 tacos, two taquitos, good stuff. The oldest adobe in the state is here, um, 1818, or something. Two, obviously non Mexican women were tending the garden. Where’d the Mexicans get gourds in the early 1800’s? Did L.A. even have gourds?