My place of residence

I came to East Los Angeles about two years ago, right now I live between Boyle Heights and East L.A.

When I first came to this area, I was always paranoid because I had heard about the street gangs and had always been paranoid of getting robbed, but it turns out it is not as bad as I thought.

I have lived in East L.A. for two years but it feels a lot longer than that. When I first came to East L.A., my first thought of my community was how dirty it is. My community was not as diverse, you mostly see Latinos but now I see more African Americans walking around.

What I like about my community is the culture and the little Mexican food restaurants. I also like when I am walking around and I see a taco spot (you see them in every corner) because you can grab a quick bite.

There are also “respado men” walking selling snow cones and also a churro guy everyone knows about. I always laugh when I see the churro guy because he is all over the place.

The community I live in has some pretty good smells like the bakeries for example, they give off a really good odor. There are some spots in my community that have distinct, foul odors that I cannot explain. It might be from some of the animal carcasses I see lying on the side of the roads or sidewalks. Sometimes I think about the way people treat the community, and I wish I can do something about it so it will not be a dirty place to live in.

Throughout these couple of years, I have met some pretty awesome people. I am very happy that I consider them my friends.

Overall I really like East L.A. no matter the condition. I am glad I can say I live in East Los Angeles.