the house on mango street, no. 1

“In the meantime they’ll just have to move a little farther north from Mango Street, a little farther away every time people like us keep moving in” (15).
This line spoken by Esperanza in regards to Cathy, Queen of Cats, caught my attention. As we are about to graduate my wife and are looking for a place to live. I will be in grad school at Baylor and so we will be living in Waco. Our church is located on 18th and Bosque. The church has decided not to move to a “better” area of town and one of its goals is to reach out to the community around it. Several families are “intentional neighbors” and own house in that neighborhood. It looks like my wife and I are going to do the same. During this decision process the idea of a good and bad neighborhood has been heavily on our minds. It is interesting to see the perspective of Esperanza. Her family does not have a choice about where it will live. They are excited that they will own their own house, as rundown as it is. Neighborhoods such as Esperanza lives in our often looked down upon as “bad” and avoided at all costs. However, despite the economic level, these neighborhoods are often the richest. They are full of diversity and warmth, with people who appreciate what they have and are often willing to share it. Clearly Esperanza’s living situation is more difficult that I will probably ever have to endure and I do not want to make light of them. I simply hope to not look down upon it. I’m not exactly sure what I’m trying to say with this blog. I have thought much about this and it is hard to put it all into words…