Michoacanos

Having grown up in and near Nashville, I remember years back when Nolensville Road felt out of place to me in my otherwise familiar hometown. Or maybe it was more that I felt out of place because there wasn’t anything comfortingly predictable, like a Starbucks, in the midst of the international markets. But now every time I drive down it on my way to or from work, it serves as a reminder to me of how time and experience can completely change your perspective.

I first traveled internationally with my church youth group to Mexico at age 16. I was trying to use my few words of high school Spanish to help guide several lively and giggling little ones to complete their coloring page project. The joy I felt in using even the most elementary level of a different language to communicate with those beautiful children, wakened within me a determination to pursue proficiency in speaking Spanish. That trip was also my first taste of realizing the beauty of different: when a culture different from my own started to feel a little less unfamiliar.

Over the course of the next several years, I traveled on several short-term mission trips back to Mexico, to Honduras, Belize, Turkey, the Ukraine, Romania, Kenya, and India. The longest I stayed anywhere was a year and a half in Peru; and that’s where I finally realized my dream of studying and learning Spanish. With each country visited, with each person I met and quickly learned to love, and with each new flavor I tasted, there began to be less and less that felt foreign to me. My heart expanded significantly past the borders of Nashville, and it began to hold dear the grand design of how each culture uniquely reflects the beautiful creativity of its Grand Designer.

So now, driving down Nolensville Road feels familiar to me. I crave ethnic foods and appreciate that I can easily pick up Indian, Ethiopian, Persian, Korean or Thai carry out on the way home after a busy day at work. I love the convenience of getting authentic tacos from a variety of food trucks, and of occasionally treating myself to freshly fried papusas from a Papuseria (must try these if you haven’t!). I’m grateful I can buy a liter of drinkable yogurt, just like I got in Peru, at K & S World Market. (And I can tell you right where to go if you need a piñata or want a tres leches cake for a birthday party). My weekly staple is a white food truck parked in front of Cricket, just south of Haywood Ln (Michoacanos). My personal favorite and recommendation is their iced coffee—similar to a frapuccino, but it tastes just like the granitas I loved in Honduras. They also have freshly cut fruit combos (with or without chili powder on top), smoothies, rice pudding, and, I’m told, the best flan in Nashville. You can just point to what you want on the menu, and really only need to be prepared to say “gracias” and “delicioso”. 🙂