Back in DC
I just arrived back in Washington, DC, today. The exhaustion is starting to catch up with me and I think I'll have to go to sleep soon. I had two days on the train this time, and it wasn't that bad. Last night was a bit miserable, in that the air conditioning was turned down too low and many of us had complaints of hypothermia. I had three (smallish) jackets and even grabbed two of my shirts to nestle around me, and I was still too cold to fall asleep. In the morning after I had a cup of soup (paying $1.75 American for the hot water to add to my soup packets) and my seatmate retired to the observation car (absentee seatmates are the best kind!), I laid down and slept all morning. I could have slept more, but I got myself up by noon, as that was our expected arrival time.
We actually arrived at 4:30 p.m. Yes, Amtrak was 4.5 hours late. What made it worse was they kept telling us we'd only be another hour, then one more hour, then another, until finally they stopped making announcements altogether. On the plus side, I finished reading all the newspapers I had with me. I had grabbed almost every free newspaper I saw while I was down, which honestly amounted to about 30 papers. It got to the point where I'd start choosing the six most interesting-looking newspapers out of the 10 free ones I kept finding. Why don't we have this many free newspapers in Canada?
I had a great time in Texas (why is everyone so shocked to hear me say that?) and miss my friends a lot. I feel very sad right now actually. Coming down off the high of a great 10 days with them. :( I'm sure I'll perk up after a good sleep and I realize I still have 5 days in DC.
Getting a drive home from my friend's mom today, she was one of the people who was surprised I enjoyed myself in Texas. She said: to "us" - Northern Americans, I suppose - Texas is a foreign country, and their citizens alien. After all, George W. Bush comes from Texas. I responded that my Texas friends - all liberals (her: "They have liberals in Texas?") - were quick to point out that the Bush family isn't from Texas, but from Maine. "Well, he's adopted Texas as his home," she said. I responded, "Well, the ones I know haven't adopted him back."
I know I got a very liberal tour of Texas, but I'm fine with that. That's what I wanted, in fact. Keep the scary conservatives away from me! I'm glad to have yet another example of a generalization that simply isn't true. There are plenty of left-wing, progressive people in Texas - especially in the capital of Austin, an artsy, liberal city - they just get drowned out by the majority. Isn't that the way it usually happens?
We actually arrived at 4:30 p.m. Yes, Amtrak was 4.5 hours late. What made it worse was they kept telling us we'd only be another hour, then one more hour, then another, until finally they stopped making announcements altogether. On the plus side, I finished reading all the newspapers I had with me. I had grabbed almost every free newspaper I saw while I was down, which honestly amounted to about 30 papers. It got to the point where I'd start choosing the six most interesting-looking newspapers out of the 10 free ones I kept finding. Why don't we have this many free newspapers in Canada?
I had a great time in Texas (why is everyone so shocked to hear me say that?) and miss my friends a lot. I feel very sad right now actually. Coming down off the high of a great 10 days with them. :( I'm sure I'll perk up after a good sleep and I realize I still have 5 days in DC.
Getting a drive home from my friend's mom today, she was one of the people who was surprised I enjoyed myself in Texas. She said: to "us" - Northern Americans, I suppose - Texas is a foreign country, and their citizens alien. After all, George W. Bush comes from Texas. I responded that my Texas friends - all liberals (her: "They have liberals in Texas?") - were quick to point out that the Bush family isn't from Texas, but from Maine. "Well, he's adopted Texas as his home," she said. I responded, "Well, the ones I know haven't adopted him back."
I know I got a very liberal tour of Texas, but I'm fine with that. That's what I wanted, in fact. Keep the scary conservatives away from me! I'm glad to have yet another example of a generalization that simply isn't true. There are plenty of left-wing, progressive people in Texas - especially in the capital of Austin, an artsy, liberal city - they just get drowned out by the majority. Isn't that the way it usually happens?