Review of Tucson from a 25 year old (6.5/10)

[Dreamdeer]

I much prefer Tucson to Phoenix, personally, but then I'm a bona fide liberal weirdo, and I love the tolerance and quirkiness of Tucson.

If you're looking for an Indian date, there's plenty, mostly Tohono O'odam or Yaqui, some Apache and Navajo. Tohono O'odam do not like outsiders asking about their customs right off the bat. Yaquis will talk freely about anything related to the Yaqui ceremonies, but questions about Carlos Castaneda, Heather Valencia, or any of the other exploitive and sensationalist writers and their skewed view of Yaqui culture would be a turn-off. Neither tribe has waists, so don't try to pressure your girlfriend into dieting down to one; if she gets underweight there will still be no significant indentation between her ribs and her hips (I know, because I tried!) The single most important thing to remember about Yaqui culture is that the heart matters more than outward qualifications. The person who tries to do his best with the most passion, and who loves most deeply what he does, is considered better for the job than one with degrees or heartless talent uninterested in the subject matter. If you're going to date a Yaqui girl, you've got to be wholly into her, and that will matter more than bank accounts or handsomeness or anything else.

Regarding the heat, move slowly. Give yourself a chance to acclimatize. Whatever you do, don't spend most of your day in air conditioning too many degrees cooler than the outdoors, or it will hit you like a sledgehammer when you step outside. Keep your home (and if you can, your workplace) in the 80's, and you will be able to walk around quite comfortably. See if you can get your sports in at dawn or before. Shift your schedule to early to bed, early to rise, because the hottest time is a few hours before sunset and for an hour or two after sunset it's still too hot to play--remember, it's not how hot the sun is at the moment that counts, but how many hours of sun have accumulated. As for green cooling, swamp coolers work well in the arid climate--but remember, unlike air conditioners, they only work if you open a door or window so that evaporation has somewhere to go; otherwise they will only make your home humid, and that doesn't help. Swamp coolers don't work so much during a storm, but then the storm usually drops the temperature by itself.

Regarding winter activities, the big event of the whole year is the gem show in February. This is not confined to the actual gem show, but sprawls about in booths all over town, where you will find people from every country in the world hawking their native stones, fossils (including some affordable fakes) every imaginable and some unimaginable things made of stone, plus things that have nothing to do with rocks, such as really great swivel office chairs made of upside-down stumps and root systems of cedar trees. It's a great, big, bejeweled extravaganza!

[Subie2]

I have found in my 16 years here that the Gem Show is mostly people from out of town. Or a local goes only once or twice. Of course there will be exceptions, but I've found it gets old fast to a long time Tucsonan. Especially the traffic that goes with it.

[coatimundi]

Thanks for reviving this thread started by one of the most awesome people ever to post in this forum.

"Indian," I believe, was referring to Indians from India, because that's the OP's ethnicity. It's funny to take it like that though: "The Yaquis live on the edge of town mostly, but you'll find more in Tucson than you would in other areas of the country." Kind of points out the absurdity of finding the lack of a very specific ethnic population a "con." I don't know though: if you ever hung around Park Avenue near University on a Friday afternoon, you might think differently about it, even though they're mostly Pakistani.

I think your gem show comments are right, for the most part. We would always go right at the end when you get things really cheaply. My SO would buy jewelry-making materials and I would buy various cool stuff. It's hard to pass up at those prices. But I would always invite out of towners to Tucson in February to come for it. Really cool event and we're really lucky to have it in Tucson.
But I've met people living in Tucson who are really into the gem show and it's the highlight of their year.

[MDCB]

Originally Posted by coatimundi

Thanks for reviving this thread started by one of the most awesome people ever to post in this forum.

Is that sarcasm I smell? LOL Thanks if it was a genuine compliment.

[Subie2]

LOL.

Time to change your location there... I think it's beautiful right now, you came at a good time.