Confessions of a Lone Star Bum

This is going to be difficult to say.  I suppose it is the male pride that loathes the necessity of admitting wrongful judgment.  After all the trash talk and incessant harassment of natives temporarily relocated across the state, I now have to eat my words.  Here it is.  I like Houston.

As much as I wanted to hate the city, its unique, eclectic culture won me over.  There seems to be an endless number of interesting, indie coffee shops where the atmosphere is almost as cool as the fact that they all serve beer.  The food is wonderful, the salsa scene is robust, and there are numerous dingy pubs that have Saint Arnold’s on tap.

Along with the many amenities, Houston houses many of my closest friends.  Most of my time back in Texas has been spent making rounds throughout the state, seeing old friends and family before my departure for Turkey.  Houston was my last stop because the Turkish Consulate is located here, and I finally have all the documents to apply for my work visa.  The bureaucracy is expectedly and exceptionally annoying.  However, it appears as though everything is going to fall into place nicely.

The current plan is as follows.  I leave Dallas the night of August 22^nd and arrive in London the morning of the 23^rd.  I will spend the rest of that week and the subsequent weekend with several friends in London.  Currently we are planning on attending the Notting Hill Carnival, provided it is not canceled due to the riots.  On Monday the 29^th, I will catch a flight from London to Belfast, Ireland.  Throughout that week I will be traveling with Irish friends that I met while in Mexico.  We will be moving down the east coast and stopping in Dublin.  Around the 3^rd, I will fly back to London and continue on to my orientation in Ankara, Turkey.

The most amazing part of this entire trip is that the cost of most of the travel is covered by the Fulbright Commission.  The only costs I incurred are those related to my side trip to Ireland.  Everything else I managed to arrange as travel expenses related to my grant.

It is hard to believe that in about ten days I will be starting these journeys.  I hardly feel mentally prepared.  Then again, experience tells me that such travels are really not something you can plan for.  Even the most conscientious of planners find their efforts thwarted while abroad.   So far I have the most important pieces in place, and as for the rest, well, I will ride whatever wave comes my way.

A Grand Weekend Getaway

It turns out there are only so many days of relaxation before rest transforms into agitation.  After so many consecutive episodes, the political drama of The West Wing becomes muddled and confused with actual, real-life current events.  And then one begins to question if there is more to life than waiting to see if the executive staff manages to escape the political blowback from the President’s choice to hide his case relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.  And at this point, one must pack his bags, get behind the wheel, and just drive.

So exploring I went.  My destination was Flagstaff followed by a day trip to the Grand Canyon.  I figured before leaving Arizona it was necessary to see this natural wonder.  I originally had plans to hike rim to rim but the outlandish cost and promise of shade temperatures around one hundred five was enough reason to defer until a milder season.

While in Phoenix, many of my friends have made it a point to be hosts for something known as couch surfing (http://www.couchsurfing.com).  It basically provides accommodation to travelers with hosts who are often excited to show off their city.  When I traveled to Seattle over spring break I stayed with a couch surfer and had an incredible experience.  Looking for another great trip, I decided to do the same while in Flagstaff.

I stayed with a girl named Alex and had a great time.  As soon as I arrived in Flag, we drove out to Walnut Canyon and hiked down to view some pre-Columbian cave dwellings.  It was a fascinating day trip.  Not to mention the weather was a much welcomed twenty-five degrees cooler than Phoenix.  That afternoon we relaxed around downtown.  I was able to meet many of Alex’s friends who were incredibly fun and interesting.

The following day I made my trip out to the Grand Canyon.  I had seen pictures of the Grand Canyon before, but it is difficult to understand its expansiveness without a personal encounter.  I parked near the visitor’s center and hiked about 2.5 miles along the southern rim.  Around lunch I arrived at El Tovar Lodge where I enjoyed a delicious meal before turning around and walking back to my car.  That night Joe, Charley, and Alana met up with me back in Flag.  They were on their way to Sequoia National Park to camp for the weekend. We hung out some time before fatigue from the long day set in.  We said our goodbyes and returned to our respective couch surfers for the night.

Even though I mistakenly left my camera at home, I still created memories on this trip that will stick in my mind for some time.  More important, I alleviated my stir-craziness for the time being.  For now it’s time to return to Phoenix and begin preparing for my drive back to Texas.  Again I find myself at the end of one era and the dawn of a new adventure.

The Capitol with Extra Baggage

By now most of you realize that Washington D.C.has a strange magnetic pull on my traveling whims.  In the past two years I have somehow managed to make it to the nation’s capitol on several occasions.  Well, it is late May and I find myself here once more.  However, this time I brought some extra baggage – twenty-two eighth graders.

At 11:50 p.m. Saturday, we boarded a red-eye bound for D.C. with an inconvenient two-hour layover in Atlanta.  Finding your way through airport security is always an adventure, yet this experience topped them all.  Not one of our students had ever flown in a plane before and despite the incessant questions, misplaced liquids, and nearly forgotten shoes, we somehow made it through security just in time for our departure.  Both legs of the trip went quite smoothly.  The students were strangely well-behaved, this having mostly to do with nerves.

Immediately upon landing we were shuffled to our hotel to unload luggage and quickly freshen up.  No resting was permitted because we were on our way to an afternoon at the Smithsonian museums.  Thankfully it was a beautiful day and the Mall was buzzing with life.  The students seemed to have a delightful time riding simulator after simulator in the Air and Space Museum.  I walked through the Natural History Museum with several students and then ventured off on my own to enjoy the peace and serenity of the American Art Museum.  As it grew dark we ventured over to the Vietnam War Memorial, which truly overwhelmed the students.

Day two was perhaps the most exciting for me because it was my first time at all of the sites.  We began the day walking through the hauntingly beautiful Arlington Cemetery.  The kids were especially impressed by the changing of the guard ceremony that happens every thirty minutes.  After Arlington we traveled to Mount Vernon, which I thought the students would find dull.  Instead they raved about it – mostly the fact that they got to “walk through a forest.”  Oh, the things that excite those who have seen nothing but desert sand their entire life…  I especially enjoyed the museums at the end of the estate tour.  I walked through them with several students who inquired about various displays which led to great conversations.  We closed out the day with a haunted ghost tour of colonial Alexandria.  Our tour guide was a fantastic story teller and kept the kids entertained and in good humor.

The third day we were all beat, but there was no time for rest.  The students who decided to stay up till the wee hours of the morning eating chips and drinking soda were truly feeling the consequences of their decisions.  Our first stop was Ford’s Theatre where Lincoln was assassinated.  After a quick run through we ate lunch and headed to the Capitol building for a scheduled tour, followed by a trip to the Library of Congress and Supreme Court.  It started to look like rain so we made the decision to eat dinner.  Thankfully, the weather cleared and we were able to visit the World War II, Korean, and Lincoln Memorial at dusk.  The students climbed into our tour van completely beat.  It was the first night we had a quiet ride home.

 

On Wednesday, the fourth day, we woke up, checked out of the hotel, and loaded our bags onto the bus.  We had a late flight at 6:00 p.m. from Baltimore, but we did not plan on letting this slow us down.  First, we stopped by the Holocaust Museum to reserve tickets for 1:15 that afternoon.  Then, we drove out by Georgetown to visit the National Zoo, which the students loved.  We ate a quick lunch and then arrived at the Holocaust Museum early to make sure we were on time.

For anyone who has not been to the Holocaust Museum it is a must.  The theme of the entire event is “for the living and the dead.”  This museum serves to honor those who lost their lives at the hands of the Nazi and to remind the living that never again should this happen on our watch.  Some displays include a tower of photos of those who died, pictures of hair shaved off of prisoners, and a room full of shoes taken from victims at a concentration camp.  The sights are incredibly harrowing.  To end the museum they have an interactive visit about recently past and current campaigns of genocide that are happening in the world.  I found it a proper way to end the museum, not with sadness and despair, but a call to end such violence and hatred.

On our way to the airport we shared goodbyes with our tour director and bus driver.  Everyone shared things they learned and their favorite activity.  It was nice to hear the students got so much out of the trip.  I let them know how impressed I was with their behavior and respect the entire time.  Never once did I have to really get on to a student in a museum or memorial.  In fact, there were times I said something to other students.  But honestly (and surprisingly), our students were a model of good manners.

The third flight went smoothly.  The students did a better job getting through security, with the exception of one girl who lost her shoe.  Somehow it ended up 4 security lanes away under the conveyor belt – don’t ask me how that happens.  Most of us slept soundly on the plane.  It was a long and eventful week, but one that was truly rewarding for both teachers and students.