i am not alone!!!

i went to my first knitting group tonight.  i was a bit nervous as i had a not so savory experience at the local yarn shop a couple of months ago...the women knitting in the shop and the woman who owned the shop weren't very welcoming to put it lightly..

anyway, everyone was very friendly  and i was instantly relieved to see two hispanic women in the group (the rest were white) as the 'world' i live in here seems to be 99.9% white.  one of these hispanic women asked me how i liked napa.  i told the group that i liked the easy parking, not getting parking tickets, the lack of traffic, and the wide aisles in the grocery markets. but, i also told them i was still adjusting to the lack of cultural diversity...before i could say another word, the woman who asked me the question interjected, 'napa is very white'.  i wanted to jump up and hug her for saying that.

ever since we moved here, every white person who has asked me how i like napa (and who has received essentially the same reply i gave at the knitting group tonight) has vehemently denied the lack of diversity.  one woman even went so far as to say she knew a TON of asians and that i just wasn't hanging out at the right spots.  she also added that they were 'punk rock, gang bangers'...i have yet to see any 'punk rock, gang banger' asians here or anywhere for that matter, but again i suppose i'm not hanging out at the right spots.

so, you can imagine i've been wondering if i've been imagining the lack of diversity.  most any place will be less diverse than the city, and maybe napa is diverse for a city its size.  and, maybe i'm just being overly critical/sensitive as i've lived in major cities for the last decade.  well, googling 'napa demographics' quantifies and supports my observations.  and, for a hispanic woman (who is a member of the second largest racial group in napa) to say 'napa is very white' says something.    

it's not like i had exclusively asian friends or only hung out at asian establishments when i lived in the city.  i guess i miss being able to wander the city and run my errands, blending anonymously into the people around me.  and, now more than ever before i feel like a true minority.  i suppose it wouldn't be so bad without the stares and people questioning my ability to speak english, but even so, i wonder if i'll ever feel comfortable enough to call napa (or anywhere else) my 'home'.

fyi-according to the 2006 census 2.71% of napa is asian and 90.11% white.

     -according to the 2007 census 33.1% of san francisco is asian and 45% white.