NEW CAMPO…….YOU ROCKED MY WORLD!!

I'M ALL SHOOK UP!!

It’s obvious that I’m going to be talking about the recent earthquake activity. Especially the most recent 7.2 that happened on Easter Sunday 4/4/2010. Why not? Everyone else is anyway right haha!! Unfortunately, I didn’t feel it because I was driving on the 78 East on my way to my apartment. I say unfortunately because with all this talk about this major earthquake, I kind of feel left out that I didn’t even feel it!! Yesterday, everyone kept asking me “Did you feel it? Did you feel it?” And I answered “Feel what?” I’m sure that if I was on solid steady ground and actually felt it, I would have been as freaked as the rest of you. But this earthquake triggered a lot of memories from when my family and I used to live in Nuevo Campo (new campo) in Brawley. Our world always rocked there!!

I’ve explained this before, but just in case you didn’t already know……Nuevo Campo (new campo) is a pretty large low-income apartment complex located right next to the projects in Brawley, CA. I always called them the “fancy projects” because they were two-story and way bigger than the actual projects. As far as I can remember, my family and I spent approximately 8 years living there until my parents were able to build their own home in a different part of the city. I believe I was a few months old when we moved into Nuevo Campo and moved into our own home when I was 8 or 9 years old.

Every now and then when I visit Brawley, I’ll drive by around the complex and remember all my childhood memories from there. I think I’m still so emotionally attached to that place because of the memories we have with my late dad and brother. I had such a great childhood growing up in Nuevo Campo, that even today, I can’t help but reminisce and smile everytime I pass by it. And even though my parents didn’t have money to buy me or the rest of my siblings all these expensive clothes and toys, I never felt like I was missing anything. I always felt content with everything I had. Yea maybe I might have wanted something here or there, but I always knew, without it being explained to me, that I had everything I needed. Especially the love of my family.

All this talk about the recent earthquakes really reminded me back to when we were living in new campo and there were constant earthquakes all the time. I don’t ever remember being scared of them but I do remember that they were so bad that we would often sleep in the living room pull-out bed with the door cracked just a little bit open. That’s when new campo used to be safe. Nowadays, it’s full of crime and gang activity…..so I’ve heard. They would especially happen at night and as soon as everything would rumble, my mom, dad, older brothers and sisters would rush outside in our pajamas and stay out there with the rest of the neighbors until everything settled down. I remember one particular night when my sister Rosa and her family were visiting us during thanksgiving and Christmas. I believe I was 7 or 8 years old when this happened. My sister Rosa was in the kitchen standing next to the stove; my mom and I were sitting at the dining table when suddenly we felt a rumbling earthquake. It wasn’t a big one but wasn’t as small one either. I turn to look at my sister Rosa and she had this confused look on her face and asked “Ama, por que se esta moviendo la casa?” (Mom, why is the house moving?) I never asked her this but I’ve always wanted to know if that was her first earthquake.

I’ve experienced pretty heavy earthquakes living in Brawley and I can surely say that I’m not too afraid of them. I think the one thing that does scare me about them is the noise they cause. The loud booming and rumbling noise that sounds like a monster is after you. Not too long ago before I moved out of my mom’s house, I was in my bedroom with Marybel (niece), Vanessa (sister), Johana (nother niece), and Andrea (best friend) having a girl to girl conversation. We were just there chatting it up when we hear and feel this rumbling. The water in my huge fish tank began to move. We all got quiet out of shock and I began to say “Ok, it’s just an earthquake. Let’s just go outside….” and boom!! It got bigger and louder and all the girls panicked running out the door before I even got a chance to get out of my chair. I grabbed my dog Bitsey and joined everyone else outside. The fact that I was able to remain calm in that earthquake leads me to believe that maybe I would have been able to handle this big one that just hit our town.

Scientists claim that they can predict when another earthquake will hit or give us a range of days as to when to wait for another one. But in all honestly, no one, not even the smartest person on he planet, can predict when Mother Nature will act up. A lot of people are arguing that the recent spike in earthquakes has a lot to do with the Mayan calendar that predicts the end of the world on December 12, 2012. I personally don’t believe the world will end based on an ancient calendar. If anything, the world is already slowly being destroyed with the causes of global warming. However, even if philosophers and astrologers have been proven right such as Nostradamus with connection to 9/11, nothing can destroy the world but only the human hand. And we are already doing that with pollution. And who knows…..maybe these earthquakes are also a reaction to the evolution of the planet. It has been said that Venus was once like planet Earth that eventually evolved into the planet it is today. Maybe Earth is slowly running its course. After all, everything has an expiration date. What do you think?