Dallas

Hey folks,

Arrived in Dallas. Been to Dallas. Agrees with everyone on Dallas. It’s not that it’s boring here, it’s just that this place doesn’t really have a lot of personality. It seems to be all business and cell phones and tall, shiny buildings.

So I heard that my dad is now coming to DC to visit! To me that’s pretty good news and DC seems to be a good "dad"-town. Filled with political sightseeing and after being so much on the road, it’s good to see one of the parents…

But I’ll have to stick to the point, I know. I started my dad here in the city with making a lot of phone calls to people I couldn’t reach. Friends of friends live in Dallas and I’d gotten phone numbers to them, so I had a free place to stay. Well, that didn’t exactly work out. Furthermore, I had to do all of this at the Greyhound station, where there seemed to be a certain audience. Finally I gave up and went back to the hotel where I spent the first night. The woman behind the counter thought it was pretty funny that I came back and I was just relieved to get rid of my bag again and be able to sleep somewhere tonight. Even though it’ll break the bank. Or maybe it won’t. Oh well. And I need to not think about that kind of stuff after two days of intense travelling on a bus and not doing what I’m supposed to – which is hanging around in American towns and cities.

Then I visited the Sixth Floor Museum, where I learned all about the Kennedy assassination and found myself getting very moved. I can definitely recommend it if any of you are ever Dallas-bound. I mean, you have to have a Kennedy day of you’re here. In the midst of all the tall buildings and all the men who have suited up, Kennedy stuff is definitely some of the most interesting things about this place. And it is interesting. I got to tell you, I was pretty psyched when I found that X on the road where he was shot. I mean, not like happy psyched but more like I’ve-been-here-psyched. There’s a difference. And don’t worry, I took pictures. Many pictures.

Here in the city there’s not so much God-stuff. You see that on the road a lot more, and that’s why even the bus rides here are interesting. But I’m glad there aren’t preachers anywhere, and that I haven’t been asked to any Bible readings just yet.

In the evening there is one thing really interesting and somewhat charming about Dallas though: the birds. In the downtown area you can hear the shrieks of birds all over, sometimes louder, sometimes not so much, but they’re always there. And you can see them, too. They hang out in tress and they’re so many that you can hardly see the tree for all them birds. But it’s only at night apparently and that’s what makes it so interesting.

The cowboys come out at night, too. With their hats and their dialects and their horses (okay, maybe not the horses, but they would if they could, I bet) they stroll around Market Street which is where all the barbecue restaurants and cowboy stuff is at. Tomorrow I’ll go check out the so-called Gilley’s Dallas in the evening where I’m sure I’ll run into a lot of them. Yee-haw!

Nadia