Autor: Weverton Ataide | Publicado: 2013-11-17T10:04:00-08:00



In American Pie style?!?!? MAYBE









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Mill Avenue: Students cave



The first time that I went to Tempe, Elisa
Mojica, World Explorers Member, guided me. We took the light rail on 44th
street and Washington Rd. and it took us about 15 minutes to get to Downtown
Tempe, more specifically, to Mill Avenue.

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was so
excited to see something different that day. The light rail stopped and it was
announced on the speakers: “ Approaching station Mill Avenue, exit to right.”
When I got out of the train I saw the most beautiful light rail station in
Phoenix.&nbsp; Green Vines growing on the
fence and the tiles on the floor made by concrete led me to Mill Avenue, a
street which underwent some modifications in the past as in 1950s when it
became a major arterial and its sidewalks were narrowed, its verandas removed to
conform to Mill Avenue state highway standards. In 1987 it also had some
modifications in traffic patterns, “Broad sidewalks were restored, verandas put
back, and the street was landscaped with brick pavers, live oaks, and
Washington-style light fixtures”(Barnett 19). 

It was exactly what I found there. In the
beginning of the street there was a blue sign, in a brown structure, in
European style written in white letters “Mill Ave.” The stores in an old
format, built with brick colonial, reminded me, Harvard University. During that
afternoon I walked under the shade of the trees and awning in the calm
university street. We saw a lot of bars and clubs, but because of the time
almost all of them were closed. Elisa told us that we should go back there
someday Friday or Saturday night to see how Mill Avenue looks. 



Then I remembered that since 2007, when I
started to study English in Brazil, I started to have the will to come in the
US some day, and at that time I used to watch a lot of Americans movies,
principally American comedies. I saw all kinds of comedies, but one of these
comedies I never forgot: American Pie. This kind of movie is my favorite one,
always the same story about young guys graduating from high school and going to
universities. And this was exactly what was happening with me at that time. I
was almost graduating from my high school and going to the university.

Watching American Pie, I created in my
mind my own idea about the USA. Actually I thought the US was exactly the same
thing I used to watch in the movies. Students get in the universities, join
paternities, party all nights, drink a lot of beers, hook up with a lot of
girls and have a lot of easy money. So this US was the one that I dreamed of. I
got all those teenager dreams: have a lot of girls, go to parties everyday, and
have fun, have a lot of fun.

Maybe in my firsts days in the US I got
frustrated because all of these things that I had thought were not here. I
could not find them and I started to create excuses in my mind to pretend that
maybe the problem was I was not studying in a University or maybe I had many Brazilians
friends here, so I did not make friends with American guys. But I was wrong.

One week after visiting Mill ave. with
Elisa my Brazilians friends and I decided to go to a club on Mill Avenue during
the night and there was my teenager dream. My “American Pie Real Life” was just
beginning and all of those things that I used to see on my comedies were all
there, that night, together in only one place, Mill Avenue. 

In the
beginning of the street, after the sign written Mil Ave. near the light rail
station, there is a small piece of the street with no lights. In the middle of
the darkness you can realize the forgotten touristic information point with its
hundreds of flies. But if you walk more less than 100 meters you will start to
feel the emotion of being in the heart of Arizona State.

I could say that Mill Avenue is the
street of lights, the street of people, the street of songs, the street of illicit
drugs, etc. That night all of these things came into my mind. Mill Avenue was
replete of people. It seemed to be a kind of “celebrations of the nations,”
because all different kind of people was there: Black, white, small, tall,
Americans, Europeans, Asians and Africans.

Beautiful girls semi-naked in front of
some nightclubs screamed: “Happy hour” or something that I could not understand
very well. Beautiful cars were modeling on the streets and what made Mill
Avenue more beautiful was the people. They looked like as they were going to a
fashionable prom party. Mill Ave. is a place that gives to people the
impression of being free. If you look at the people’s faces you will see that they
are all laughing, as though they had no problems in life. 

The
smoke of people’s cigarettes was everywhere. And it is unbelievable that Mill
Ave. was not a dirty place, even though it receives a lot of people there
everyday. The alcohol smell for those who are not drinking is totally
perceptive.

Walking
down the street, you can listen to the varied of songs in the clubs and bars.
The mix of the songs with the strobe lights that go out the glasses of clubs
contribute to the street club appearance. They play all kinds of songs in clubs
and bars of Mil Avenue. And in the night the street is really noisy. 

The cars
come and go, as though they were part of that place. Some of them stop to bring
or to pick someone up. All seems to be like a movie on the TV. The lines of the
nightclubs are in all corners. Some are big and others smalls, sometimes if
make more difficult the traffic of the people on the sidewalks. 

Some
cops showed up above horses to bring to people that go there some kind of
secure feeling. They look at you in a way of asking “ All right?” In the end of
night, about 2-3 am, people start to get out of the clubs. It seems that they
are like blood molecules running through the veins of the Mill Ave. Street. It
just takes little time and everybody is gone. The street takes a rest. Now, only
men and women from the urban cleaning service remain there to give a new face
to the street which will receives its millions of viewers on the following day.
The heart of Arizona will be ready again.

During
its history Mill Avenue has changed a lot, and each time more it has been being
a perfect place to invest money and create big profits. The number of the
populations has varied too much and this number is just increasing. “The energy of the Mill
Avenue District is also evident by the thousands of visitors, day and night,
experiencing its boutique retail, dining, movie theaters and galleries. This
all adds up to what we call ‘walkable urbanity’ and ‘an authentic sense of place’”(Losch
23).

Mill Avenue so far is my
favorite place in Tempe. There I can feel the energy of people, dance, have fun
with my friends and live a little bit more my dream, that teenager dream that I
dreamed when I was just a high-school student. Mil Ave. is just the best place
for party ever. Whatever happens this place will be there with its thousands
fans waiting for you. 



References


Barnett, Jonathan. "Great Streets." Planning 74.11
(2008): 16-19. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.



Losch, Ken. "Mill Avenue's Pieces Fit Vibrant Urban
Puzzle." Arizona Republic:
23. Nov 30 2007. ProQuest. Web.
22 Oct. 2013.

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