I've decided to live like a foreigner. It's not nearly as boring to stay somewhere when I ask "What would I want to see and do if I were just taking a short trip here?" Plus I'm not even sure where I'm from anymore. So I am now finally having the American experience. I suppose it started a few weeks ago with my day off. A day off? What? Can't pass that up. So I got up early and went on a hike that a friend and I had found online. The pictures showed that the destination was a gorgeous frozen lake. I was a little disappointed that the lake wouldn't look like the picture, but I figured it would still be a nice hike with some good scenery. How silly I was. Yes it was beautiful and the journey wasn't too difficult. But the lake was definitely still frozen and the knee-deep snow on the last one third of the hike provided a nice central air conditioning for my shorts-wearing legs. I used my best ninja skills to walk on top of it though and came out only with wet shoes and a very slight tan. Which is another noteworthy point that I'm sure no one cares about but I'm going to mention anyway. I am terrible at applying sunscreen. Streaks like nobody's business. And when one in particular finally turned into a "tan" (I use that word very loosely when applied to my marshmallow skin) it just looked like a permanent bruise by my knee. I'm sure it felt quite at home with all the real bruises all over my legs from running into things an other generally clumsy behavior. Anyway, sorry for that entirely useless information. So after I got back and cleaned up and whatnot some friends and I proceeded to pick up some American Mexican food and continue to a concert that we had free tickets for but didn't really know anything about. Something a Capella. But it sounded like fun. And it was free. Hello? Little did we know, the main act was a group that performs a Capella country music. What? A Capella country?! I doesn't get much more American than that. But I'm not gonna lie, I didn't mind. Not even a little.
A few days later I topped it off with a rodeo. Yes, you read that right. A rodeo. I have never felt so much like a European or a city girl as walking into that stadium surrounded by hats and boots and belt buckles (which, I'm told, you have to win), listening to the accents and experiencing the national pride of the opening ceremonies. It was also a rather educational experience for me. I learned what makes the horses and bulls buck, that left-handed riders take the barrels the other direction, and that such cow-wrangling skills aren't actually necessary when working on a farm or ranch. But I definitely had a blast and warmed up enough to the experience to wear my cowgirl hat in the car for the ride home. And to what I'm pretty sure was my first ever food truck which, thankfully, was delicious and not at all the disease-ridden black hole I had feared. Whew. I may be beginning to approve of trying new things. Maybe.
I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.
A few days later I topped it off with a rodeo. Yes, you read that right. A rodeo. I have never felt so much like a European or a city girl as walking into that stadium surrounded by hats and boots and belt buckles (which, I'm told, you have to win), listening to the accents and experiencing the national pride of the opening ceremonies. It was also a rather educational experience for me. I learned what makes the horses and bulls buck, that left-handed riders take the barrels the other direction, and that such cow-wrangling skills aren't actually necessary when working on a farm or ranch. But I definitely had a blast and warmed up enough to the experience to wear my cowgirl hat in the car for the ride home. And to what I'm pretty sure was my first ever food truck which, thankfully, was delicious and not at all the disease-ridden black hole I had feared. Whew. I may be beginning to approve of trying new things. Maybe.
I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.
