The Ugly American

I just finished watching the season finale for "The Amazing Race". I love the show but it does highlight one aspect of our nation most of us don't see; that's the ugly American. The ugly American is arogance and niavity all rolled into one person. The person who thinks that in order for them to be understood by someone who doesn't understand English all they have to do is speak English with an accent. The person who acts like an ass in public because the place he want's to go is closed for siesta. The "I'll get you to do it by throwing a few US dollars around. People who get drunk instead of drinking socially. People who can't eat anything but hamburgers. The bermuda short wearing flowered shirt fat guy taking picture of locals because THEY look different! In all my travels I contantly strive not to be that guy. Sometime's I'm the tourist which is ok, but I'm never the ugly American. Please, if your traveling outside the country, take a little time to enjoy the culture you're visiting, be respectful, be patient, try to blend in.

Trip to Austin

Rosa and I took off to Austin today to see her Dad. It was nice trip, 4 hours down - 4 hours back, and we had lunch with Hillery. The trip was pretty uneventful but the scenery was amazing. With all the rain we've had recently and the warm weather the Bluebonnets where in full bloom. As we got closer to the Hill Country they became thicker and thicker until it transformed into blueish-purple carpet lining the edges of the road for as far as you could see. This was the Texas I fell in love with when I moved here 22 years ago. It sure was a sight to see. The visit with Hillery was nice. We took him out to lunch at Smokey-Bones restaurant and did a few things around the house for him. Rosario is in Spain right now visiting her family so he's by himself for a few weeks, he sure enjoyed the company. We only where able to stay for a few hours but it was nice. When Rosa and I are on trips like this we get a lot of time to talk. We talk about a lot of things, mostly what's been happening lately but sometimes we get off on tangents about how our lives are, based on decisions we've made in that past. With the recent events surrounding Andrew, he became a large topic of the conversation. I was telling her how blogs have given me an insight into our children (Andrew and Isabella) that I would not have had before the internet. I've never been a person to keep a diary which is what a lot of blogs are. These "public" diaries offer a unique insight about someone you know as well as complete strangers. It's a very interesting concept. Anyway back to our discussions; Rosa and I are both ones who feel fate plays a big part in our lives. What kind of person would I be had I not divorced Pam? What if I wouldn't have joined the Air Force? All of these are interesting things that spark reasons why we're happy together now. Everything I've done in the past has gotten me to the point I'm at now. Am I happy? Unequivocally YES! But had I chose a different path I may have been happy with those outcomes as well. One never knows. I think the most important thing is to be happy now and be happy with how you got there. Overall the trip today was wonderful. We did nothing but we did what made us happy.