a few days (too many?) in Texas

Somehow, nearly the whole length of Texas has passed underneath us without me posting anything. Time seems to pass rather quickly here (despite Michael's much-commented-on previous entry). I'll try not to dwell on any one thing here so as not to drag this out too long.

The first point to make is that Houston is an extremely dull town. However, we had the good fortune to be in attendance at a live performance of Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church. According to Der Spiegel (always a reliable source on American eccentricities), Lakewood is the largest church in America, maybe the world. We estimated that about 10,000 people were there with us, in a former basketball stadium that has been converted into a Christian fortress. The service we attended was one of four they do each weekend. Joel spoke, and his wife spoke, and everyone prayed. But the most amazing part was the rock concert, complete with lights and band, and (nearly) 10,000 people singing along. I can't even really explain what it was like. You had to be there.

But then, I kept thinking that it wasn't that different than when I went to see Matchbox 20 and sang along with all the songs. These songs just happened to be about god (and weren't as good, in my humble opinion).

One more thing I do have to say about Houston is that it is the most integrated city I have ever been in. Everywhere we went there were whites, blacks, and hispanics, all in the same restaurants etc. Even at Lakewood.

That night we stayed with my friend (from Williams) Andy and his wife Shauna. I haven't seen Andy in ages, and have never met his now 3-year-old daughter Irene. It was a short visit, but it was really nice to see him and Shauna. They even treated us to our first homecooked meal of the trip (and an incredible chocolate cake). And Irene was great. We had a good time.

The next morning we took a quick pass through Austin. Austin is kind of quaint, if you can say that about anything in Texas. There were some cool places to hang out, and it has a nice homegrown off-beat feel that we haven't experienced anywhere else. Everyone says Austin isn't Texas, but I don't know about that. Just because you didn't support Bush doesn't mean you're not in the land of cowboys and sprawl.

We left Austin and drove to San Antonio. I liked San Antonio a lot too. The much-touted River Walk has a bit of a Disney feel, but really is quite beautiful and extremely pleasant to walk around. Everyone says the Alamo, which is right downtown, is smaller than you expect, and yet I wasn't prepared. It looks like a dollhouse compared to the buildings around it. Like a play church that some rich person built for his daughter on their big estate.

This morning we went by another of the missions on the "Mission Trail", on which the Alamo also sits. This one, San Jose, is still quite intact and you can see what it must have been like when the Spanish were there converting Indians. The whole thing about Texas independence and the history of that area glazes over the treatment of the Indians and, for that matter, the Mexicans. It's surprising that, with such a large hispanic population, they haven't been more heavily criticized for that.

After San Antonio we took a long drive to Marfa, way out west. Despite all you can say about the size of Texas, actually we didn't mind the drive out here. It was 6 or 7 hours, but we took a very fast back highway and passed through a variety of scenic places. Mountains, desert, artificial lake (dam), small towns, etc. I suppose if you had someplace to be, it would feel long. But for us, it was quite varied and not a bad drive.

Marfa is a bit of an artists' colony, tho not very interesting so far. But we did drive out to view the "Marfa Mystery Lights" tonight. They look like car headlights out on the horizon, but apparently have no known cause and can't be traced if you try to find them. The most entertaining part were the men with thick Texan accents behind us, commenting on what they saw and what they thought about it.

With love from Marfa,

Sarah