A TASTE OF TEXAS
Texas is great.What i mean is, everything in Texas is great; huge; massive. Buy a meal and you'll be surprised by the size of it. Buy anything- most likely you'll need two hands to handle it. Being a petite Asian, i am literally dwarfed both by the native and the things around.
But really, Texas is great. Especially when you come expecting the worst (like i did). To begin with, Houston -where i'm staying- is a very flat city. In a literal sense- it's just soooo vast a space of land. Then there's the fact that it's an oil city. Meaning it's not exactly the place you'll go to if you expect to have a wonderful evening in a piano recital or so. To top it all, it has just been struck by the Hurricane Ike. So really, you could not bring yourself to expect a lot.
But it's been three weeks now (and counting) and contrary to all prejudiced thoughts, i'm enjoying my stay immensely. We can put all kinds of arguments into it, of course. It might be because it never takes much to make me happy & occupied- I'd have been happy even if they have sent me to Nigeria. It might be the human power of adaptation. It might be the whole first-class stuff that i have the privilege to enjoy.
But i think partly it's because i come to the States at the right time- when the TV is full of the clamour of presidential campaigns. Barack & John are my two faithful companions- they have the rare skills of creating all kinds of news to keep me amused & entertained. And don't forget Sarah Palin- and oh! Tina Fey!
I'm going to confess that never much of a couch potato as i am, i even find myself being deeply interested in TV ads. They're just stunning. They mention their rival brands & openly claim that they are better. Probably that's capitalism realised. Probably defamation is not a big deal. The election campaign ads are the best of 'em all. They name names and put nasty labels to them. "Liar". "Dangerous". "Out of touch". Oh-so-amusing! Woohoo!
So there i go with my TV set, lazying around with Barack & John & the fabulous Anderson Cooper. There i go with my AMEX card, swiping here & there, shopping more than what i can handle. There i go ordering lunches & dinners- only to request boxes "to go". There i go with trips to the museums, the parks, the NASA Center, the outlets. There i go practising to say "y'all" the way the Texans do.
Texas is great. I'm glad i made this trip. Hell yeah! :-)
Labels: travel
posted by eloque @ 12:32 PM
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