Texas Hold 'em down

It's always interesting watching movies you first saw when you were a kid, ten years later. Sitting on the train from Philly to Boston (a comfortable 5 hour ride) I had the pleasure of watching Corrina, Corrina on my laptop. I think it's even made my top movie list, to be honest. The music is absolutely superb (jazz, rock n roll and a touch of gospel - my lovelies!), the acting by Whoopi Goldberg and the little girl, um, Tina Majorno or something, is so good, and it can brighten up your day no matter where you are. Well, it does actually matter, you have to have some time up your sleeve to sit and watch the film... but aside from that.

And living here in the States has made me more aware of how much I 'get' in films pumped out from Hollywood - all the American slang and references to American products that I otherwise would never had known. A little like a line in Ben Folds Five song Army - "Got a job at ChickFila" (which is pronounced Chick-Fill-'A') - what the hell was that? Filla?? Well, in this lovely country they sometimes pronounce things a little different to what us cultured Aussies say - such as a fillet of chicken. I don't know about you, but I pronounce it as it is written, none of this French rubbish. It's fillet, complete with the 'et' at the end. But no, here in America, they say it like the French, fillAAAAA (like the letter A). Weird.

So, I haven't finished writing about my travels across Texas country. You know that Texas was its own country for a while, and then it was annexed to the United States in the 19th century - it is the only state that is allowed to fly its flag as high as the American flag - because of precisely that. Kids who go to school in Texas are required to study Texan history both in elementary and high school. Crazy huh. And, one can also major in Texan history at the University of Texas in Austin. Nuts! They're right when they say that it's a completely different part of America.
On the Wednesday of my week in San Antonio, Krystal and I took a road trip to a nearby town called Fredericksburg, a quaint German town an hour out of the city. It really only had one main street, which we walked the length of in the bright Texan sun, and made our way through the pretty (or pretty kitsch?) quilts and cowoy hats and patriotic aprons and a beer brewery.


One of the most memorable stores though was a shop advertising that it sold fudge. Doesn't every girl love some homemade fudge from weird towns in the middle of nowhere? Well, this girl does. (actually, that's a lie, I'm not so keen on fudge, I'd prefer something savoury any day, or ice cream. But it's so uncommon, one just must get it when they go to little towns like this one) But when Krystal and I walked in, the walls were lined with such a variety of salsas and mustards and spreads and preserves and salad dressings and herb infused olive oil and they even had cobbler (you know, the pies? Berry or peach cobbler? Is that how its even spelt?) in a jar. How ingenious! And tasty too! So Krystal and I, unabashed, walked around the store (that stretched forever) sampling this and that. Little baskets of crackers were stationed at various points, encouraging the customer to just try. But the saleswoman gave Krystal and I dirty looks, because we had our lunch in that store, before buying anything! And they were all so delicious, probably grown in their backyards in the little towns neighbouring this tiny town. We felt bad, so we bought some fudge and some dressing for that night's salad. For all our sampling, we only spent seven dollars. What a cheap lunch!

The next day we slept in (I still hadn't recovered from my crazy week during Finals. Most people don't sleep because they're up all night studying... Unfortunately that wasn't my excuse)and were supposed to go out on Krystal's dad's boat. The weather wasn;t so suitable, so we postponed it until the Friday, and that afternoon I got my first haircut in America. Now, why on earth would I waste your time with details about my haircut?? Probably because it was such a different experience (but not as weird as Rob's shave in Vietnam, which was complete with an ear cleaning and head massage.. Say wha??). On Krystal's recommendation, I went to the hairdressers her family use..."Visible Changes", a huge salon... in a mall. In a mall! Now, I know I sound like a snob here, but I've never been to a hairdresser in a shopping centre before... I know that's where my Dad first started getting his hair cut (and he still uses the same girl) but I'm used to small salons with about four hairdressers, including the shlepper apprentice hairdresser who mops up the hair and brings you coffee. But even when I booked my appointment (I was desperate, my hair had, over the six months of freezing cold weather, getting frozen, not used to Philly water (I'll use any ol excuse!)) I was asked what level I would like: An art director, an expert stylist, and advanced cutter, or a junior cutter (there were many more levels but I can't remember them right now). I didn't want to spend so much money since I was travelling for the rest of the year, and wouldn't really have so much time to look after it, and one never knows how much it all adds up to, since you have to tip everyone here, including hairdressers... So I just asked for the junior cutter. I deserved the cut I got, I suppose.

Her own hair wasn't so attractive, but then again who am I to comment on the hairstyles of Texas.. but she had a fringe that was frouffed up and straightened out in front so that one would see the fringe before her. Her hair also looked a little like sheitel. No joke. But she was far from being frum, she was a gorgeous inexperienced Mexican woman trying to make small talk. I suck at small talk. So we were dancing around the awkwardness for a while, until I couldn't be bothered and trailed off into silence. Man, even as I write this I know I sound like a most horrible customer, but, as I said earlier, it was an interesting and new experience for me. I just asked for a small trim, just to get rid of my ratty ends and that's it. And to keep the layers I already have in my hair. Please. But now my hair is all the same length, except for at the back, where there looks like I have a kind of mullet.. meh, at least it's only noticeable to those who pay close attention to it. The lovely lady asked me how I wanted my hair to be styled after the cut - I just said straight, not many people can style curly hair, and by the look of her cutting skills, I'd rather stick to the easiest. "You want some body? Not just slick straight?" she asked me. "Yeah, some body is great, I look awful with dead straight hair. Thanks."

Twenty minutes later I looked like I just stepped off the set of Dynasty. Arghh! I think she saw the look on my face and started to straighten it a little more... It turned out to be fine, but before she was finished she sprayed a cans worth of hair spray on the top of my head, to cement my hair to my scalp. Seriously. I didn't realise how stiff it was until I checked out my new hairdo in the bathroom in Macy's next door - it didn't move! I haven't used hairspray like that since my ballet concerts of the early 90s! Yikes!

Wow, a whole entry on a haircut. How sad. Afterwards, Krystal and I took another short roadtrip to Austin, an hour away from San Antonio. Apparently with the fast growth of San Antonio, the two cities will merge within the next twenty years.. crazy, eh? Austin was really cute, I saw UT's campus (University of Texas - the biggest Uni in America) and we did some window shopping at some really cute boutiques that reminded me a nice stores down in St Kilda. Very innovative and witty business cards...

The next day was boat day - the whole family (except for the little sister Lauren) was going out on the family boat in the lake. It was a gorgeous lake - so blue, so sparkly, and so smooth - and it was the perfect weather for tubing, or whatever it's called. Here are some glorious pics of Krystal and I looking like retards hurling behind the boat.

And here are some gorgeous pics of me in front of the boat... and a cowboy in a boat... and a cowboy walking down the street (yes, I was so excited to see a reallll cowboy, complete with the hat and everything!) and a pic of the huge ass trucks they drive in this lovely southern state...

So here goes the slide show-