I was brought up to "hate" the United State of America. "They" had, after all, paid for the brutal and bloody right wing military coup that destroyed my family and killed many of our friends in Chile when I was 7 years old.
As I grew up in the UK, more "hate" was taught about the USA in the local culture, as well as validated by most of the refugees we got to know from different parts of the world. Yes, the USA had a lot to answer for.
But I was guided to come here, to this land, and in particular to California. I have been given ample opportunity to "run away" from this land, go somewhere safer, more balanced, less chaotic. In my stay, I decided to observe and study the collective energy, the culture and the people in the USA.