hmm...Texas ay?

Cowboy wants his Couscous

2006-05-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

I cannot wait to eat mama's couscous

I cannot wait to see hills
I cannot wait to see squirrels
I cannot wait to see Papa et Maman
And, of course, I cannot wait to see my beloved friends...

I cannot wait

I will miss Texas

I will miss my apartment
I will miss the purple and pink sunrises, and the hot and flaming orange and yellow sunsets seen from my balcony
I will miss the marina
I will miss the seagulls and pelicans
I will miss seeing Nam everyday, and all the moments we laughed together watching "My Wife and Kids"
I will miss the drive to and from work on the very flat, long and stretching 146 with Chris, even though we listened to Christian Country music every single day
And I, without a doubt, will miss the kind and caring nature of Texans...

I will miss it all

Keep learning, and keep experiencing

Go Longhorns & Go Aggies!

"One who has nothing to die for, has nothing to live for"

New blog coming up in Late August: Second Co-op Term-California Style!

Aight, this cowboy wants to trot outta here.

peace yall~

Nothing but Pics

2006-04-28T07:56:00.000-05:00

I finally decided to just post pics up that I was supposed to for previous journal entries, and to include a few new ones for the hell of it.

Mama and Papa, when they came to visit me:

Austin:

Yes...there ain't much to do with parents in Austin, so we had to hit up one of the local Starbucks, unfortunately.

I like my dad's funny smile while looking at my mom.
The Elephant Room: The band with the awesome sax, drummer, and bass player(oh and the keyboardist too...not shown sorry)

Not one, but two Saxophones wooo!

6th St: The Dizzy Rooster-I still can't figure out what that girl in black is trying to pull of with that outfit.

First time to finally see a true longboarder in Texas and it happened to be on 6th St. I guess Austin is pretty much the only city here with hills. Maaan, do I miss bombing hills.

We found an awesome little maghrebi/mediterranean deli/market. I got me some Halwa, biscuit au chocolat, a couple "Kinder" chocolate eggs-you know..they are the ones with toys inside. They even had Mars bar, which I have only seen in Tunisia!!! I was so happy. I could cry, now that I have eaten them all.

Here is a little woman that I brought back home with me from the Waterloo music store in Austin (I think that's what it's called), and she became big with my water...oh yeaaa.

72 hours maximum in water they directed...but I had to see them stretch marks so I kept giving her more juice and had her in there for a bit longer.

I found this on my dad's rental car. The security guard at the hotel told me that he has spotted a few other ones on the sidewalk and they are usually everywhere in Austin, as he walked by wondering what the hell I was doing in the parking lot taking pictures of the back of a car at three in the morning, because someone complained about seeing flashes outside their window. I like frogs and they are sweet!!

Last day of their visit, back home in League City:

I miss ma mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. One more week and I get to see her!

The Fishing Trip in Galveston:

Chris's 37 in. Redfish. A true Texan.
.
Nothing but dissapointment for Nam and I...you can see I wasn't really that happy for catching squat.

Chris and I decided to try out some fishing at another place after we came back, since I bought a 24hr liscence and didn't want to waste it. Although, we both didn't catch doodoo at this one bay, I had some luck back home at the marina. This sucka...I caught him 5 times chewing on my shrimp bait and holding on to my line almost snapping it, so I decided to finally keep him and put him in the ice to feast on later...

...man I'm playin', after 30 minutes in that cooler, I threw him back in due to the horrible guilt I felt for freezing him to death (plus, I don't trust eating anything that comes from that marina...all that pollution and shit...) So no worries, he didn't die in there, he was still pretty pissed off and had enough rage in him to keep trying to claw me slowly, before I threw him back in the water and accidentally knocking him out as he hit the side wall. I won't ever bother crabs again.

NBA: Rockets Vs. Grizzlies

Toyota Center

Tahar, Rebecca, and I. Don't mind the weird face I am making.

Gasol was awesome, but it would have been great to see Yao and Tracy play:(

Some dude proposed

Coming home from the game, I found this little baby opossum chillin around the stairs. The poor little guy got scared and was about to jump off the stairs. I climbed the rails to get above him and tried to herd him away from the stairs and back into the woods, but he wouldn't budge no matter what I did. So, I sat there and let him move around until I took a chance and ran down the stairs and then he started running and kept running after him across the parking lot and the street until he got back home safe into the woods. It's so funny how he ran, because his body would wobble side to side and is slow.

Salsa at Rumba Club:

Ricardo with his awesome sweet pose. I love Cassie's expression.

It was a very nice night and I have never been salsa dancing before. Special thanks to Ricardo and Dustin for the idea.

My studly beach cruiser w/ dem ghetto wheels bike:

Two weeks ago, I came back to work on a Monday to find my bike having been visciously attacked and disrespected. Some asshole(s) took my sweet wheels and the freakin' lock too! I went and told my supervisor..b/c I have no other way to get around this freakin' plant, and I had one of the security guards come to do a theft report. Three guys passed by in a truck, and one of them was doing this laughing/smiling thing and shit , so I stared back at him with rage and then he stopped smiling after his friend said something and then they all look worried. I think it was them! The next day, I find that the bike frame is gone and started to walk towards my building with nothing but wanted tears to come out my eyes. My bike! My bike was back! Whoever did it, and I think it was that one guy in the truck, put everything back together, and even the lock, and put it in front of the building. Crazy thing is, that the lock wasn't cut, they freaking picked the lock. Pros man...pros. And yes, it is a girl's bike. They aren't allowed to have employees use men's bike, because some idiot in Plaquemine, Louisiana had a ball-bustin' accident. I love my bike, I don't care.

Enough

2006-04-10T12:38:00.000-05:00

I want to go home...no I need to go home. People here...arghhh.

The Biggest Coincidence to ever take place for Yater

2006-04-10T11:25:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks back Nam and I went to Roxy on a Friday night with his new friend Guien aka Tommy. Apparently it was "Freaky Friday". First thing I see as I entered the club were 4 raunchy, nasty, dirty half naked girls on a go-go dancer platform. Hallelujah? Nah folks. The place was packed 110% and for every girl, there were 3 guys grinding, like I have never seen before, their johnsons on her. Freaky Friday is also known as Mexican night, and boy are they racist. I tried to talk to this girl that was actually by herself, and she lashes back naaaahnaahnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa and puts her hand in my face. I try again in Spanish...."uh uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i like mexican heeeeiiiiiiihhhhhhhhh" Two minutes later, this big latino does a "hump move" and another came and did the same thing, both guys looking at nothing but her ass, and she turns around and starts rubbing her ass on them. Oh well. The place did play some good music though, I have to admit, and we did get in for free thanks to Tommy, so I couldn't complain too much. We went back the next day...Saturday=Asian Night...well more like Viet Night. It was much more laid back and there was space to dance. A few white and black people so I didn't feel too out of the ordinary. There were these two cute deaf Vietnamese girls sitting right behind me, while I was leaning over this rail. It was one of those times that I wished I knew more than my own name in sign language. I went for it anyways...pointed my thumb at myself...Y-A-T-E-R. They replied, but the confusion on my face was enough to tell them that I was a hopeless idiot as they giggled and stared at me for 10 minutes. What was I to do? Go over there and text shit on my phone for 'em? Actually, come to think of it, I should have done that. I really really should have... they were that beautiful and they would have found the effort cute, but that's just me fantasizing.

The next weekend, Brad, the new Chris that just moved in from Ohio, and I went to Viet night. Not bad of a night, I did see the deaf girls again, but one of them had this big dude wrapping his hands around them. They actually dance, which I thought was awesome since they were deaf and probably going with the vibration of the bass. Brad, Chris and I went out on the dance floor after Tommy and Nam came and then left for a strip club because Tommy is a big fat doodoo, voodoo scooby doo. The weekend before this one, he was all talk about fights, girls, and knowing people (ok so he knows the owner of Roxy), but I think people are just nice to him, because he acts retarded. Proof was that everytime we tried to hang out with his "friends", they would keep walking away. He told us that his "girls" came and then went home as we were out getting a drink at CVS. What kind of girls go out to a club for 10 minutes and then go home..not go to another club..but go home? yea yea yea Tommy. Those were jsut one of the many fibs he told us, such as the one about having a gun in his backseat...where I sat and looked for hopelessly to shoot him.

Most recently and more excitingly, I have met a Tounsi! ahhh I feel like I am back home in the motherland. Chris and I were chillin at the pool last Wednesday, and I even hesitated to go at first which makes it a bigger coincidence). We found these people scubadiving in the pool for fun. We joined one of the girls in the hotub, then her friends came over. This one guy had a strong French accent, so I asked him if he was French by any chance. He said no I am from Switzerland but I do speak French, and so does my friend here.
"Tu parles francais?"
"Oui, t'es d'ou?"
"Chui parisien mais chui tunisien aussi"
"Chnouaaaaaaaaaaa?(what?????) 7at eni tounsi!(I am tunisian as well)"
We both yelled jovially and shook hands. Seriously...one in a million chance of ever meeting a Tunisian. He's been livign here since January as well and has been bored out of his mind likewise. We stayed there talking until midnight drinking I don't know how many beers. The Saturday before this, I was outside looking at a 2006 Limited Edition Hayabusa in the morning as I woke up early for some reason and wondering who owned that magnificent machine. Well...he does, and it freaked me out, because it is my favorite motorcycle in the whole wide universe. He took me out for a drive on it the next day....wowwwwww from 0-60 in less than 3 seconds. The power on that thing...I cannot even describe it. It was a true crotch-rocket. To be continued.

Pics later...I know I know I keep saying that, but my wireless is really slow and I can't do anything about it b/c it belongs to my neighbors.

peaaaaace ahuuuuuuuuuuur~

desole pour le retard

2006-04-03T08:41:00.000-05:00

I have become lazy in the past month doing this thang right here, but I somehow found the motivation to write a little bit this morning to tell, in short, what has been going on (or so I hope so it will be short).

My parents came down for spring break and we had a wonderful time. I didn't know how much I missed my momma, until I saw her. They stayed at Galveston for a couple of days and I took Thursday and Friday off of that week. My dad made an interesting remark that the sea here is looks like it's made of dishwashing soap, as you are able to see mousse and shiny bubbles everywhere along the shore. I guess that's what you get for having ten million chemical plants in one county. Funny thing was that the soap-induced (well I think it's soap anyways) water didn't seem to bother or stop people from fishing on the pier. We went to Austin that weekend and I then found out that minors are allowed to drink if their parents buy them the alcohol...still...it didn't really cross my dad's mind to buy me a beer. We walked along 6th St (street full of nothing but nightclubs and bars) and then looked for Antone's, a jazz/blues club which a friend of mine back home suggested to check out. Unfortunately, they had some punk band on that Friday, and some latino music going on Saturday...we were in the mood for some blues and jazz baby. The woman who owns Antone's was kind enough to direct us to The Elephant Room...a calm and chill jazz/blues bar. They had an extremely great band playing that night, which included of a very talented sax player who would awed us all by playing two saxophones at the same time, and drummer who played and sang at the same time-very impressive. The mood was great, the people were smiling, and I fell in love with jazz again. Then the time came to say good-bye to my parents and feel depressed and lonely all over again.

St. Patrick's day sucked as usual, but for a weird and ironic reason this time. Instead of having to walk through downtown and put up with drunken bastards spewting slurs at the top of their lungs, I spent a quiet evening enjoying my time with my favorite goose from my beloved country. If I had to thank someone for introducing me to a liquor, it would be Boris, for showing me the great taste of true vodka. My roomate decided to cook up some mussels and clams that he brought thawed from Louisiana, but I was already tipsy enough and didn't have a care in the world what I would eat just as long as I would eat something I didn't have to prepare. I slurpped away at the mussles and clams, not thinking of the food poisoning I might get and in the end, I was just fine. I guess the G. Goose neutralized the contamination.

The weekend after, Nam, Chris and I went on a charter boat for fishing. I was pretty excited, since I have only fished in lakes and ponds and I haven't gone fishing since I was in 7th grade. I was pretty glad that we didn't have to use worms and that crab and squid was provided. I always hated putting the worm on the hook as it wrapped its body around my finger. Everyone got a few bites, but Chris was the MVP. He caught 5 little flathead catfish, but had to throw them back him, because of some law about them. Then, he almost got a huge redfish, approx. 25 inches. He came through an hour later catching a 37 in redfish-the biggest fish he's ever caught, and the biggest fish I've seen anyone caught in front of my eyes. The weight and size was just impressive and so were the skills of the fillet master on shore slicing and dicing and cleaning that beast in a matter of minutes.

I went on my first business trip a couple weeks ago to Lufkin, TX. A town filled with piney woods and ...that's about it. Chris and I went there with Karamsinh to go look at a gearbox of ours and witness the main and spare gear to be tested. I have never learned so much about gears and bearings. It was cool to check out how they are made and all, but I don't want to get into that much detail. The first night, we stayed at this shacky motel called Executive Suites..the damn sheets smelled like ciggarettes and nothing else was clean and had ciggarettes holes in the covers. Karamsinh chose the place, because of how the name sounded. He took us to the Hampton Inn and Suites the next day, and although I had to share a room this time with Chris, I was quite releaved to see what "sanitary" really meant in a hotel. As stupid as I was, I didn't think everything would be paid on a business trip. When we went out for dinner the last night, Karamsinh told me that I could have as many beers and drinks as I wanted. Although, this did scream hurray in my brain, I did want to give him a good impression, so I only had a shot cognac and a bottle of Shiner. Oh by the way, Shiner has to be one of the best beers I have ever tasted, it had a soothing peanuty after-taste and I plan to bring back some to State College for all you folks somehow, someway.

pics soon for both this post and the previous one.

Mardi Gras, Houston, SB @ Austin w/ da Rents

2006-03-13T10:44:00.000-06:00

Galveston has a Mardi Gras festival every year, and apparently over 300,000 people came last year. It was even bigger this year, because of what has happened in New Orleans due to the hurricanes(they still had it though anyways). We were to go on the Friday before "Mardi" Gras, but it was muggy plus Chris, for some reason, felt like staying at Dow working all afternoon and night until he finally responded to our voicemails and missed calls around 21:30 letting us know where he was and what he was doing. I was finally able to persuade him to leave the damn plant and to come over, while Brad was driving over. Man this kid...I swear...staying at a chemical plant on a Friday night? cmon son....

Saturday, it rained until 16:00. Once we arrived in Galveston, the sun started to come out and it lasted for the remainder of the afternoon. We didn't know where we were going, so we just walked around hoping to find bead-covered breastesses. We finally see some beads flying on 25th and Seawall, so we hop on over. Nothing..just a bunch of people throwing beads at other people on the street...we stayed there a bit, and then went to eat. It was too family-oriented...kids? wtf?

but hey, atleast there was some of this...

Cute outfit? yessir. (but not according to Anna grr)

We then walk down the Seawall checking out the marching bands. I got to give it to them down here in the South...they have awesome..and I mean awesome marching bands. They are so into it and they actually play good music AND dance...shit even the little tuba players danced. Women-hungry as we were, we stayed and checked out the dancers practicing their performance. Then, it started. Floats, bands, and dancers were passing by. No boobs, no boobs. I call up Carol, who tells me to go to the Strand because all of the other co-ops are there and it was the "spot" to be at. We walk down 10 blocks and it was pretty much the same thing with just being outside of the Strand...20 measly bucks gone. We did pass this one chick showing her stuff...but I wish I have never even stopped walking to take a look, but I had to take a picture to show how nasty a sight this was.(soon to be posted) Her boyfriend yelled "hey..cmere..check this out... yeaaa take a picture!" Fool. I did find a much nicer scene though.(soon to be posted) The parade ended, and the crowd poured into the street. We finally got to Carol and the other folks, as they were on the other side of the street. It was quite a disappointment. People just walked around on the street, drinking their beer.

Oh, check out these beads

Here we are

Check out this cool mansion

...Galveston has beautiful old houses, I want to go back and visit them again
We went back to my place, thinking I was going to sleep after Chris and Brad left. Chris got a call from one of his pals from U of H, telling us to come over to Lizzie's place(another friend of his). Nam didn't want to go, but we jetted out of my apartment anyways. We got there in about 20 minutes, thanks to Chris's 100+mph driving. The party was dying, but it was a relaxing atmosphere and the people weren't acting like stupid drunks. ChemE's in Houston are awesome, and the engineering girls are actually cute. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant around 2:00. Afterwards, we were looking for an after-hours club, but they were closing at 4:00 and it was 3:30...plus they don't accept out-of-state ID's, so Brad and I would have lucked out anyways. Chris drove us around downtown to get me familiarized with places(which was my first time after a freaking month and a half going to Houston thinking I would see downtown with Nam, but instead would go to BellAir blvd. to spend a day walking around an Asian supermarket and eating Vietnamese food(which is fine, but not EVERY single time). We ended the night going to Wal-Mart, because I lost my earring's stud.

The next weekend, Nam and I went to Chris's parent's house for the weekend up North of Houston. We were to meet up with Carol at Ralph's place to go to a Hip-Hop club called HUSH. Plans changed, and we met up with his friend Lizzie at another club downtown. I tried to bribe the bouncer with a 20 under my ID, but he couldn't let me in, b/c according to Lizzie, his boss was there behind him..so we went to this latin/hip hop club(downstairs-salsa and merengue,upstairs-hip hop) called Solero..but it was kind of empty and it was a 30's age group scene...so I told Chris and Nam that we should bounce out of there, and told them to go to that club that I couldn't get into b/c I didn't ant to ruin their fun, plus Chris's friends were in there from school. I decided to go look for a coffee shop or something, and I ran into a homeless guy(man they are everywhere). He asked me for money, so I proposed that if he helps me, I would help him in return. I told him about my situation with the clubs, haha, and that I need a place to go to drink coffee or eat to pass the time. He showed me the way while talking about Jesus and why he was put on earth and taht he is here for a reason. Of course I listened at first, but then I just nodded and didn't really listen. He took me to this Pizza place...no coffee..but there were tables and some drinks..it was good enough and I just had to be there for an hour, b/c the clubs close at 2am. I gave him a few bucks and he shook my hand and gave me a hug. I got myself a Red Bull to try to stay awake, and then Chris called me. We walked on the strip with his friends and then parted and went back to Chris's place. On Saturday, we went go-carting...man that shit is fun...I HAVE TO GO DO IT at Tussey with all of you reading this...no I am serious...you will freaking love it, and yes it was my first time going, if you haven't figured that out. It's like we were playing mariokart in real life; it was funny as hell. We tried to go horseback riding afterwards, as I suggested, but it was getting dark and they said we'd have to come back the next day. Later on that night, Nhian, Chris's friend, came over and we all went downtown to meet up with Lizzie to go to this party. Nam was telling me he wanted to go home that night...wtf? Go home to League City, and do what?! Loser. Chris said I could go home the next day with him, and then Nam all of a sudden wanted to stay... I think it's because he found out Nhian was Vietnamese, and he was going to meet other Vietnamese people. The party was great. The people were nice and chill, and no one was acting like a drunken fool which I hate. I met this Mexican who called me Cabron when he knew I could speak Spanish, so I called him Cabron back and laughed drinking our corona's. Here are some pictures. (soon to be posted) One thing I found interesting is that people don't drink the drinks that you bring yourselves. We had two packs that we had brought, and no one touched them the whole time there...totally different from State College, where people just grab anything in site. After the party, we went to Taco Cabana!!!!! It is an awesome Tex-Mex place, and the food will make you full for days. I mean...check this food out.(soon to be posted) The next morning we went to the horseback-riding place. It was pretty cool...there were many different types of horses-miniatures, mustangs, arabians...good stuff, good stuff. The ranch is owned by a family, and their stable is on their first floor of their house and they have a huuuge pasture for the horses. On our ride, we mostly had the horses walk, but we did do some trotting. My ass hurts, because I figured after a while that you should stand on the stirrups as you trot, so that you don't bounce your freakin ass on the saddle, but even just sitting on the saddle, as we walked, hurt. Horses are much much different than donkeys, that's all I got to say Tunisia. Anyways, that was my weekend...oh I have another Italian restaurant story...Chris, his family, my roomate, and I went to Gugliani's...we each had to pay 10 bucks after looking at the bill. Not bad right? mmhmm... they charged me 80 bucks...plus took the $70 in cash that everyone payed for their share..but I was the only one who payed with my card, so they got confused? Confused on a $70 tip they say????? So I had to call the next day for the manager, as he was not there that night when I realized, on my online bank statement, that they charged me...those idiots...the receipt even said 10 bucks. Anyways, that got resolved, but I have now swore upon myself that I will never eat at an Italian restaurant as long as I live, unless someone else pays for my share, or if it's REALLY REALLY recommended, or if I am in Italy. En francais maintenant... Point Final, C'est Tout!

I will write about my parents' stay for Spring Break later...I am too tired to write some more, plus it's lunch time.

More pics soon

San Antonio!

2006-02-22T09:45:00.000-06:00

I must say that last weekend was one of the best, since I have come here. Nam and I had to drive to Freeport to hitch a ride with the Freeport co-ops on Friday and on their way there I got to use my Spanish skills. We got a bit confused when we saw a sign saying "288 Business" but we needed to go on 288. So, we pulled over at this ghetto ass mechanic shop(a lot of 6 feet tall garages). I found a 4 foot old man, possibly from Mexico-I'm not sure, and asked him how to get to 288. He asks "Speak Spanish?" SWEET I finally got to talk to someone in Spanish!! I replied "Un pocito" and so he directed me to go past this one bridge and then right after, I'd find 288.

We arrived in San Antonio around 10:30 that night and found that Sara's mom made Mexican chicken soup that was mad delicious. The house was humongous and beautiful and wondered how we fit 13 extra people in there before we arrived. We managed more than quite comfortably and had a wonderful stay.

Here we are:

On Saturday, we went to the Mercado downtown. It was this little Mexican mall full of souvenir shops. I got a cool Texas Star belt buckle and shot glass, plus I couldn't resist getting these two post cards showing old photos(will post later). There was a mariachi band there as well, so I took a little bit of time to enjoy their music and singing.

We then went to the Riverwalk, which was extremely gorgeous, although the whole weekend was nasty and cold. We spend some time in the mall on the Riverwalk, because nobody wanted to walk outside along the river. This was an extremely bad idea, not only because we didn't take the time to enjoy a nice walk around the river, but I had spend too much money in that mall...rediculous. But check out these shoes-they are freakin awesome dude.(will post later) We did have a good time anyways inside and I did get to admire the beauty of San Antonian women (extremely better looking than the ones in Houston, perhaps because they are 60% latin american? I don't know, but there was a nice pleasant mixture of ethnicities).

Gangsta-ing it up @ Foley's

What can I say, I have a way with the ladies

At Starbucks

Nathaline and Carol

In the end, we ended up walking along the Riverwalk, only because we were looking for the restaurant we were to meet everyone else at as we split up.

We finally got to the restaurant...forgot the name, but what I liked is it had a nice ambiance to it.
Waiting to be seated

By the way, in the above picture, the guy in the middle with the dark blue sweatshirt and glasses is Matt Fisher-a fellow Penn Stater!

I am still not sure if Nam is giving me the finger.
Finally the food, I must say that Italian restaurants suck everywhere. Europe or in America...they are greedy. I swear...everytime I go I end up paying so much for so little. This time i got 5 beef raviolis in cheese for 13 bucks(it was good, but my mother could do better). I am just glad I ate a lot of bread with olive oil, before they served us.

I know, I know...too much flash on that one, ma bad.

Pinal, Chad, and Nathaline

LeAnn and Carol

Back at the house for margueritas, poker and movies

My boy Nam was doing good, but Brad owned it in the end. (I know...too much flash once again).

The hostess

Me and Carol

The next morning

Pinal and Nathaline

...and we outtie
Ever hear of Bennigans? Apparently, it's always St. Patrick's day there. Anyways, it was the second best meal I had that weekend-of course the first was the Mexican chicken soup Sara's mother made. I had the "Bamboo Chicken and Shrimp." It was pasta with an Asian sauce with delicious fried shrimp(not at all that greasy surprisingly) and some nice tender chicken boobies. mmmboy.
There you go, peace signs are much better.

Brad and Dave

Nam and Brad

Back home to Freeport

Pinal and I

Funny car. I have only seen those in France.

Pinal always smiles no matter what

After we said our goodbyes in Freeport, Nam and I still had to get back to League City.
We kind of got lost, so we took a special shortcut through some backroads after talking to a state trooper. It was a blackhole...not even the moon gave a little light, until we saw this...

Chemical plants are just everywhere in Texas. It was nice to see what was on our left and right for a bit though, insteade of just a few feet ahead of us during our drive.

Lightning strikes...

We did get home at 9:30, which we planned to do before getting lost for an hour, so the shortcut did work out. Amazing...the drive is usually an hour and a half, and could have been cut down to just 45 minutes if we knew about the shortcut firsthand.

Anyways, bye bye y'all.

I just don't know...

2006-02-16T12:28:00.000-06:00

Valentine's day was great! The flowers I ordered online from the Tunisian post office actually arrived in Ksibet-Sousse, the lil village where my parents are from, to Niar's place. I am very very impressed with Tunisia's post office right now, because in the past, it has taken two months to just send a simple letter to someone over there, so I'm quite pleased they actually sent them on the right day too.

Last weekend was cool. I went to Freeport with Chris and Brad, co-op students working in La Porte w/ Dow, to dine with the co-op's from the Freeport site. Chris was a bit late, and we got there at 8 PM, an hour late. We come in the restaurant and everyone we saw was either wearing a tux or a nice dress. Apparently there was a high school dance going, and for a minute I thought the people we were meeting was this table full of 15-year-olds. One of the co-ops, Adam, stood outside looking for the white truck we were driving in because we got very lost in this retarded town. Here is one of the most retarded street signs I have ever seen.

Before we got to Freeport, we went into a gas station to ask for directions. The dude was telling us to go "This Way" and "That Way" as if he was directing us how to get to Cafe Anus, I mean Annice. They also seem to have color coordination problems when it comes to fire hydrants.

Anyways, Adam seems to be one of those chilled guys who can calm everyone down. I swear, if I was in an argument with someone about ready to fight, all he would probably have to do is be like "Guys...just chilll," in a soft quiet voice, and I am telling you, I probably would chill.

It was a bit awkward finally meeting everyone inside. Everyone was silent admiring their food and didn't seem to want to interract or have anything to do with us. The girls, being the angels that they always are, quickly started introducing themselves, then the fellas followed their lead. I got to say that Jace was quite a character- I don't know where to start to describe him. I went to the bathroom and came back and asked Brad if he wanted to just wait outside since there weren't any chairs for us, being the busy night it was for the restaurant. Apparently Jace told Brad to screw off by asking "Why don't you go to a Wal-Mart and go eat something?" just after meeting him with a hello. I thought it was hilarious, but shrewd, because I think Jace has his own brand of sarcasm that cannot be won over. Others told us that he talks like that in sarcasm, but I don't see the sarcasm at all, so I'll just let it be and think he's funny, otherwise Adam might need to budge in.

We ended up deciding to go to RED TOP. The sweetest burger place in Texas! We didn't feel like eating ass that night, so we preferred to skidaddle away from Cafe Anus... At Red Top, we met two lovely girls, Judy and Cherise. Best service I have ever received at a burger spot, I must say. We had so much fun messing around talking to them, saving them from their cruel boss and undying boredom, that we stayed for two hours there. They asked us to come back the next evening, but I don't think that will happen, although I sure will contact them next time we're in Freeport. Carol, another co-op, called us finally, and so we went on our way to meet her and the others. We actually ended up just chilling with her and Nathaline that night. They seem to be the most interesting out of the bunch, thus far. Hopefully I will be able to get to know the others this weekend, while we're in San Antonio.

I just dont know about Texas anymore. Texas is awesome, when it comes to weather, cuisine, diverse cultures, and nature. The people, I am not so sure about. NOT that people here are mean-they are in fact more polite and kind than people back home-This is the outmost truth. Everyone is always in a good mood and way more laid back. They form great bonds with their friends and especially their families and have real respect towards each other. They take life slowly and appreciate it, which influences their ways in how they walk and talk. Southern hospitality is not a myth indeed. Sara (co-op in Freeport) invited all of us to get away for a weekend to her home in San Antonio, and said her mother was excited to meet us. I am definitely looking forward to it and finally visiting the city that I have come to seventeen years ago and don't remember anything about it. Thing is, most people at work seem to not know much about the world and make statements about subjects and topics they absolutely know nothing about. I was in the break room, and not to my surprise but no one knew where Tunisia was(most people don't), except for this Colombian dude who looked at the huge world map on the wall because I had mentioned that it was near Italy-atleast he knew where that was. I was talking to them about Tunisia and France, and then mentioned where I was situated Texas ( a very rich white neighborhood) and one person started talking about America being the Land of the Free...hmm ok? what? She started saying, and I must make an additional remark that she did not know where Africa was-for serious, "If you really think about it, when you compare America to other countries, this is truly a free land, you are free here...yadda yadda." while others nodded. I wanted to ask "wtf? wtf is wrong with you? what are you talking about?" WHAT???!!! Anyways, another person, whom is worth finding out his name, made a change to that statement, "Aha! America should not be considered the Land of the Free, but the Land of Free Will!" Ok, I actually preferred what he said, but free will...well we all have free will, but it was better than saying that America is a free country. I think people like to say that America is the Land of the Free just to say that slavery was abolished...well abolished or not, it may seem like that on paper, but it does indeed still exist, and I'm not just talking about sweat shops going on in New York and LA or illegal immigrants from Latin America being tricked and kidnapped to work like the Old Slaves. Anyways, this was just one of those dumb conversations that you have once in a while with someone who is too stubborn to think 'outside the box' or who has never had any sort of exposure, or whiff of air, outside that box. People are quite overly patriotic here..I have to remember that this IS still Texas..and this seems to be the cause to tick me off about most people here.

It is now 2pm, and we've had two plant emergency interruptions in the past 10 minutes-one fire, the other medical. Woo! I must go back outside to work now.

My Night Fun

2006-02-11T01:10:00.000-06:00

Everyday I run to my apartment like a sluuggi (it's like an Arabian "greyhound," but crazier) when I get out of the car to come home and hug my dm2. I actually tried to make a song this time, which is in the post before this one, instead of just pushing buttons and scratchin and messin around. Sorry for the horrible sound quality, but to post any audio, you have to use audioblogger and record it over the phone, plus I had to keep the volume a bit lower since my roomate was sleeping and it is now 1:30am heehee. I really don't like this song, but it was nice to finally have a feel of how to use this wonderful instrument.

Starting off the night, I tried to open a bottle of wine, although Dow furnished us with a really ghetto bottle opener...

...so I used a knife to cut the cork and then push it through. Instead, this is what happened.
Even though you cannot see it, the damn shit went everywhere...the floor, the stove, fridge, the walls, and mostly the ceiling damn it. Anyways, it was a fabulous night filled with laughter, good eatin' and mixin' even if I was by myself, as usual.

My First Mix (Improv...don't hate!)

2006-02-11T01:01:00.000-06:00

eeyea

2006-02-10T18:25:00.000-06:00

ahuuuur

Workin, Waxin, Strippin, Scratchin

2006-02-08T21:52:00.000-06:00

Here are ..yekh sup with this font...there we go. Here are some photos of my crash pad. It's pretty quiet around here. It seems rich white folks like to stay indoors on beautiful sunny days...I have yet to meet someone around these quarters other than the Phillipino guard at the gate that likes to run up to the window inside the little shack to give, Chris and I, a huge smile and a peace sign-haha I love that guy, he makes my day.

A Fireplace...in Texas...the lowest it gets here is 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but I guess that's cold for Texans. I wonder what kind of fire they would make up north to keep warm...probably torch their lawns with huge crossed sticks-Oh wait, they already do that here. Boy, they must be cold.

Work has been good so far for this month. It was quite boring at first, but I have adapted to it. Apparently, Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide a few years ago, and Union Carbide didn't give a shit about updating things to recent times because it was run by middle-aged men who knew where everything was. There has been a fuel imbalance problem, because either meters and valves have gotten messed up over the years, or people have been secretely connecting shit to the pipelines inside the plant without telling the head hanchos. So my supervisor and her buddies made a project to solve this matter, and that's where I come in. My job consists of updating P&ID (engineering word for blueprint) drawings from 1984. I walk around all day, climbing ladders six stories high, following these damn pipelines. I wear these awesome blue jumpsuits that make me feel I can fly though(they protect me in case of fire(pictures coming soon)). Over the weeks, I have found a few dead birds along my trails, pigeons, grakels(the noisy birds) and ones I could not identify because all there is left of them are their skeletons. There is one area I do not like walking by, because they are old containers that used to hold Benzene and say "Caution Cancer Hazard" and I always cough. I forgot to mention that I used to walk miles everyday, because I'd come back to my office and eat lunch, and then I would have to go back to where I left off. I tried to get hooked up with a micro-truck(size of golf carts) but instead I got this sweet bike. I feel so gangsta wit it, that I wanna throw in a boombox in the basket and carry a gun around. Picture of this whip coming soon.

The weekend that just passed was a lot of fun. I got to go to my first auto show in Houston but it did make me feel like shit, because I would never be able to afford a car like this :(

The highlight of my time there was getting my sneaks cleaned and polished

Scritch, scratch, watch out Scribble. I bought this thing for 25 bucks on ebay and it is one of the best inventions for poor people like me and to bug roomates. All he listens to is Vietnamese love songs and is so closed into his own culture. I guess the Internation Noise Conspiracy didn't do the trick to make him come out of his shell. Oh well, I'm still having fun staying up until two in the morning playing my dm2 butt-naked in my room. You think I'm joking, but I am not...You will never know.

It feels good to be free.

I hate waking up at six. I told myself I would go to sleep at 10 tonight, but this blogspot thang is worse than facebook. Anna, I am so obsessed with this new internet fad that I am reading your friends' blogs that I do not even know at all...I wanna go to West Africa, Berlin, and Prague now.

Cowboys and Injuns

2006-02-06T12:37:00.000-06:00

Cali, Texas, Michigan, or Louisiana? California was indeed my first pick, but because of its popularity, it was impossible to get in. Michigan...screw that, it's way too cold and I needed something different from State College, and Louisiana...well it's not very pretty right now. So, Houston was my second choice, and I got it all right-40 minutes away...no scooter, no car, no bus, no form of public transportation.

When I arrived into Hobby airport at seven in the afternoon, I expected to see men in tight jeans workin' the huge belt buckles of the confederate flag, with spurs connected to their boots, and of course a cowboy hat. Even though I did not see this at first, I did meet a rad old Mexican/Native American man while I was waiting for the airport shuttle "van-bus" to take me to League City, where I would live for the next four months. He had a beige cowboy hat, with alligator teeth around it(just like Crocodile Dundee!) tight jeans-although no belt buckle could be seen because he was wearing a poncho, and huge black square plastic sunglasses. Oh, he did have spurs on his cowboy boots too! What a style!

Our shuttle finally came, and I never heard such a strong southern accent in my whole life. It was so strong, I only understood him saying "Howdy." I wish I could put a video on here, because I secretly taped the driver and the Mexican/Native American talking during our drive, with my digi. camera. There was a sign that said "Please, do not talk to the driver while the vehicle is in motion." I have no idea how they conversed, because they both had strong unique accents, although, I did understand my new found buddy. The old man...well the driver was an old man as well, asked me where I was going, so I told him "South Shore, League City." He encouraged me to go to Galveston for Mardi Gras, so I assured him I would and asked him if he would like to come join me. He said he's seen enough boobies and culos in his time and that his body cannot withstand the energy any more....bummer. Apparently, the driver did not know how to get to South Shore or he didn't understand the words that were coming out of my mouth either, so he left me at a gas station that had the Road Runner on top of it, and I told my old short-time companion farewell and Adios. Stranded, God knows where, with people passing by on their bicycles looking at me and my luggage, I decided to called Chris, the other co-op student who will be working with me. He was a friendly fellow and asked me if I would mind him picking me up...WOW the true southern gentleman indeed! As we drove to the apartment, I noticed how flat the landscape is here; it's so flat you can see for miles . There are huge roads, and on each side there are plazas like Wal-Mart plazas back home, but with every kind of store. Basically, it looks the same everywhere so you would probably get lost.

I finally arrived at the "Palms at South Shore" apartments around nine o'clock that night. I was able to smell the seawater as I got out of the truck. My new home was a lot more than I could ask for. Furnished with everything you need, even the dining room table was set up. I go out to the balcony and I see a marina full of huge yachts and seagulls flying by. There were other peculiar birds that I noticed, such as the grakel. They are very noisy, weird looking birds and according to Chris, Texans don't really like them that much and think they are ugly-I'll try to post pictures up later. Once Chris left, I settled in and relaxed for a bit. I turned on the television to check the weather for the following day, and all I got at first are Spanish-speaking channels with gorgeous women. I didn't know why I only had 15 channels-I know that sounds like a lot, but I was curious to know where all the American channels were...perhaps it was best I didn't know. I watched this show called "Estudio 2," where ordinary citizens go on the show and perform a song or do a stand-up routine. If they suck, the crowd goes wild screaming "!MACHETE!" (which 'til this day don't know what it means unfortunately) and this midget comes out with two beautiful sexy latinas and calls his big friend who's trapped in a cage to come out and get the performer off of the stage. I hope to go to this show some day.

Afterwards, I went to Burger King, because it was the nearest place to eat, within walking distance. As I left to go to McDonald's, after promising my neighbors I met on my balcony to bring them something back, an egg crashed in front of me. A speeding black truck flew by with a young caucasian yelling "Fuckin' Spick!" at me. This shocked me for a bit, especially because everyone was quite nice at the airport trying to help me out carrying my luggage and assisting me to where I needed to go and thinking that everyone here would be like Chris. I took a walk around the marina and finally decided to sneek into a yacht. I laid on top of it looking at the sky and thought for a good moment to just let it go-I really didn't want something like that to ruin my stay here. While I laid there some more , I pondered if I would develop a southern accent and become a cowboy...