Santa Cruz

The city is not what the cities in New York are like.  My knowledge of cities in the US is limited but from what i noticed, almost everything is paved and cement and whatever the buildings are all tall and glassy and such.  But here, minus the roads, nothing is paved its all sand/ dirt, the sand gives the city kinda a redish tone. the buildings are not tall not skyscrapers or anything. they have the spanish style roofs and i think are made of clay type material.  Its also very dirty like the streets are littered in trash. One time i saw people just burning trash on the side of the road.  I always thought that cities were dirty but this is worse than anything that i saw in the US.  there is a little canal running through the city but its so full of trash that the water can barely flow.  I also never thought that cites in the US were safe but honestly Santa Cruz makes Rochester seem like a safe haven. Many of the public buildings have guards and gates (the guards are armed). and the private buildings all have walls or gates and everything has barbed wire or glass shards embeded into the walls.  I went to the grocery store with my host mom and i saw a military man with a HUGE gun.. i was like woaahh.  also many of the store owners have a bat or equivalent out. 

Currently, due to the season, it is really windy and very smoggy.  the farmers outside the city burn the land to fertilize it (illegal) but the smoke form the fires floats into the city making it... well smoky.  

The traffic is crazy.  i have learned all of the rules of the road already, its pretty simple, if you dont get in a crash and if noone dies then its not illegal.  there really are no rules there are 2 lanes of traffic in most places i think but you can drive whereever you want to really.  you dont wait for a break in traffic to come out a side street you just kinda go.  there are traffic lights, but if its red and you want to go you dont wait for it to turn green.  also you dont stop when there are intersecting streets... you slow down and hope that you dont get hit.  You can park whereever you want.. including in the middle of the road.  there are also a lot of people who come up to your car when your at a stoplight and will try and sell you stuff  or clean your car and stuff.  its kinda scary driving around here.  I get to and from school via my mother. but if i want to do anything crazy out of routine i will have to take a taxi.. but i cant get a taxi from the street i have to call one and make sure that it has a number on it otherwise its dangerous.  but taxies still scare me... i could take the bus.. but i have no idea how that works yet they go where ever and do whatever they want.