Style

The other day was rather cold, definitely not weather to be wearing shorts. I have not done laundry in a little while so I realized my only clean pants was a pair of teal jeans. I contemplated for a minute, deciding whether or not to wear them because colored pants aren’t really in style in Texas. I realized it was probably wise to make the decision to wear them so I wouldn’t freeze. On the walk to class I met up with my friend and she told me she loved my pants. I thanked her but also told her how I felt like they weren’t in style in Texas. Her advice was a typical mom advice like “make them the style!” If only it were that easy. She then went on to tell me about how she thinks Texas is a little behind California on the styles. I don’t know exactly how much I agree with that statement, I just feel like there are a lot of people who are bolder with their style selections in California. I’m not saying that their aren’t boldly styled people in Texas but in California it’s a lot harder to stand out and by trying to stand out you’re really just fitting in more.

Airports

I love the San Antonio airport!  It is pretty small and you never have too long of a line to wait in. Also, this probably won’t make them sound too good in some instances but they are a lot less strict which I like a lot.  The San Diego airport is pretty big and there are all these different sections for different gates, which wouldn’t be too convenient in the event of a quick lay over! But anyway, my family and I were flying to San Antonio this summer for my grandmother’s birthday weekend.  It was a short trip and we did not want to have to deal with checking our bags so we took everything as carryon.  I did not think I would be able to take my mousse to San Antonio because it was a big bottle and there are now all these restrictions on what you can and cannot take on the plane.  The bottle was almost empty so I figured it was worth the risk to try and take.  However, the guy behind the security camera pulled my bag out and took me aside to search it.  He told me I was not allowed to take mousse in my carryon and threw it away. Sad day!  I had to buy some when we got to San Antonio…with this hair I really don’t have another option!  They only have the really big ones and I was sad to throw the entire bottle away so I figured why not try again in the San Antonio airport this time?  Boy am I glad I did!  The guy just looked over the camera and told me “just so you know you aren’t supposed to have these!” but he let me keep it.  It was a beautiful day.  Months have passed and I am still on that same bottle!  I thank that man for saving me money and the pain of having to throw away an entire bottle of mousse!

My Mom, brother Prescott and sister Jessica at the San Diego Airport waiting for our flight.

SD Airport by Victoria Traversi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Driving!

Texas Roads confuse me very much.  Take the turn around’s as an example.  How often is it that someone gets off the freeway and instantly wants to get back on going to opposite direction? And if they do want to do that can’t they just make two lefts instead?  In California I feel like they redo the roads way too often.  I have only lived there for about seven years and they have redone my street at least three times.  However here in Texas they don’t redo the roads enough! The two states should get together and plan a happy medium or just do what it takes to keep the roads looking nice and easy to drive on.  Along with fixing roads they need to repaint some of the lines here in San Antonio.  I don’t know if this is true of everywhere in Texas but I am often confused as to whether it is one or two lanes.  I guess it’s whatever the drivers make it!

One of the biggest differences I have noticed between Texas and California drivers is that people drive much slower here in Texas.  During rush hour or a traffic jam is the only time people are driving under 80 miles per hour on the freeway in California.  The speed limit is the same but I guess people in California are just always in a rush, or the cops just don’t seem to care as much!

Me driving away in California!

"Country Gentlemen"

One definite difference that I have noticed between here and California is people’s attitudes toward strangers. Here in Texas when I am walking through campus or through any public place I can say hi to any stranger I pass and could easily strike up a conversation without it even feeling weird or awkward. In California, on the other hand, people are not always as eager to talk. A lot of people there seem wrapped up in their own business and are sometimes taken aback when a stranger shows politeness for no reason. I remember when I was little my family and I came on a trip to Texas to visit some of my cousins. As we were making a quick stop in Target a little boy walked up to my brother and me talking to us as if we were old friends. My brother and I were so confused and a little hesitant to take back to this random red headed boy.
This is one of the things I really like about Texas. I remember telling my roommate about it last year, about how I loved how I could say hi to anyone and everyone. She told me that’s how it is in Texas. She referred to it as the old idea of a “country gentleman” and how people here still value things such as opening the door for women, acknowledging strangers and much more.

I think this picture from rush is a great example of the attitudes of people in Texas. It was a great way to meet people and easily become friends.

Weather Differences

I have moved around quite a bit in my lifetime and gotten to experience living in many different places.  One of the main differences I have noticed is the weather.  I was born in Connecticut where the winters are cold and the fall is very beautiful.  From there I moved to Washington where it was very green because it rained just about every day.  From there I moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico where I remember the weather being quite nice.  However my greatest memories are from southern California.  I lived there for the seven years leading up to me coming to Trinity.  The weather was always perfect, just below sixty degrees was considered to be pretty chilly and I can barely remember a time it was over ninety-five.  I lived right by the beach so even on a hot day there was the nice ocean breeze that kept the air cool and fresh.  Moving here to Texas gave me a bit of a surprise at first.  The biggest thing that I noticed was even at night when I go outside it is almost still be hot enough to break into a sweat!  I’m used to the sun going down and the heat going with it.  I do really like that change though, because I am not too big of a fan of wearing longs pants or sweaters.  I was expecting the humidity to be worse, but it’s not too bad.  I can handle it; the only problem with it is that it makes my hair poufy and frizzy!

Here is a perfect example of the California weather, we were fishing and my friend fell asleep with the warm blanket of sunshine and cool breeze.

Lake Jennings by Victoria Traversi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.