Back to Houston!

So I just got back in from Houston again. I've got to say, this city gets better every time I go back. Admittedly the drivers are more on the psychotic side than in most smaller cities that I'm used to, but they've definitely got a lot going for them. I went back to find out if my visa had been approved, and if so to pick it up. Good news first, I've got my visa in hand, so the trip is definitely on. That being said, Everyone I've talked to in this city was incredibly friendly and tremendously helpful. Hell, I was running behind yesterday afternoon and the driver went out of his way to help out. He literally cut his break short and I kind of got the feeling he wasn't waiting at the bus stops as long as he was supposed to. We chatted the whole 45 minute trip, and had a great time.

This time around I chose to take a Greyhound bus instead of flying, and oh boy was that fun. First off, buses don't bother me. My first observation would be that they frighten most white people. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I swear, every time I get on a city bus, there's always some random 30-something white guy dressed all sharp sitting in the back corner cowering away from all the non-white people on the bus like he thinks they're going to mug him. So the Greyhound trip to Houston wasn't anything spectacular except that I had a woman behind me with a little girl about 8 and another about 4. There was a woman in front of me with another little girl around 6 or so. All 3 of these little girls spent the entire 10 hour ride screaming and crying, and their mothers didn't seem to care and just let them keep screaming and crying. Fantastic. Further more, the woman in front of me moved to a different seat beside me and spent the entire trip on her cellphone screaming at God knows who. I should point out that there were around 40 people on this bus and it was a 7pm to 5:40am ride, so everyone is trying to sleep. It never fails to amaze me how obliviously inconsiderate some people can be.

So that aside we got to Houston alright, and I had to find a way to spend the day. I hung out at the bus station for about an hour charging my phone at the public charging station (which by the way is awesome) and while I was sitting in the terminal, I started Googling what all there was to do in Houston. I had to burn from 7am until 4pm when the Visa desk at the Russian Embassy allowed you to come in and pick up visas. I settled on the Houston Space Center for an awesome inexpensive $10. The only problem was I had to print off the ticket. I opted to just walk to the public library since it was only about 10 blocks away or so and made it there in about an hour. I suppose it could have taken less time, but I wasn't in an incredible hurry as you may imagine since I knew I had the whole day, and I kind of meandered through the city on the way there rather than taking a straight line.

Side note, Houston's architecture is fantastic, and I hope at some point I can take the time to look into some of it more thoroughly. There are so many awesome buildings and designs, and while some of them aren't necessarily complimentary, I think they give the city a very unique flavor that I'm a huge fan of.

When I got to the library I discovered it wouldn't open until 10, so I sat down and was planning to try to see if I could find wireless internet in downtown Houston, but had brought a book as backup since I didn't honestly anticipate being able to accomplish the former goal. To my surprise, I learned that Houston actually has free wireless internet access across downtown. How freaking sweet is that? The signal was better than what I get at home, which is just embarrassing, lol. Rock on, Houston, you're awesome.

I got on Skype and chatted with a few friends until the library opened and I got into the queue to get on a computer. The Houston Public Library has a really awesome system for their public computers that is both complex and at the same time incredibly simple to understand. Again, I was very impressed. I got my ticket printed off, wandered back the to Metro station and caught the 149 bus all the way out to the outskirts of the city to the Space Center. It was a bit strange being the only person there that wasn't with a family and there were tons of kids and school field-trips going on. I went on the tram ride around the complex and got to see the original mission control room where the Apollo missions were run out of and the Apollo 18 rocket, which was built to be functional and then was never used. I got a bunch of pictures, and will post some later when I get the chance!

About 3pm I caught the 149 back to the Metro station and caught the 35 again out to the embassy. This is where the awesome bus driver came in :P Awesome guy! Even had one of the aforementioned frightened white guys leave the back of the bus to come sit with me... like he thought we would have a fighting chance together if they attacked us or something. Silly white people. We made it there in about 45 minutes despite getting caught in traffic a few times and I ran up to the embassy on the 13th floor. Was kind of out of breath, but again, I was only in the embassy maybe 3 minutes tops. They might have a complicated system, but at least they're efficient. I handed him my receipt, he handed me the visa, and I ran back down and caught the returning 35 back to the Metro station. I have to admit at this point I was fairly positive I was going to miss the Greyhound, and I made it back with just minutes to spare... cutting it a bit close, but at least I made it :P

The return trip proved to me even more colorful than the first. All things considered nothing terribly different except no kids this time. Just a skinny white girl about 20 that wouldn't stop crying for reasons unknown, and about 30 Hispanic guys that wouldn't stop shouting in Spanish and had to continually be told to keep it down. The first 5 hours or so were rather uneventful, but when we got to Baton Rouge, the driver announced we would be breaking for 30 minutes. Awesome! It's usually 15. Then he said to sit back down. Huh? A bunch of guys in police-style green uniforms with badges and the big highway patrol style hats got on and announced they were border patrol and would be checking all our papers proving we were US citizens. Oh, this is going to be fun. Of course the first half of the bus filed off quickly, and then they started taking some of the Hispanic men off the bus and putting them in a van. Apparently they didn't have identification papers and were unable to prove they were here legally. Then dogs got on the bus... the fluffy adorable type that could probably tear your arms off without trying. I fought the urge to pet them.

All that aside, we loaded the bus again. Good, 3 hours of sleep before my drive home from Mobile. Not so fast though, sounds like a fight. Freakishly large angry black guy comes up and says little white girl has an attitude problem and if she gets violent again he'll restrain her. Of course he tells the driver this in front of the State Patrol officers. "Little white girl, come here" Ahahaha, can't believe they just said that. She comes up, in tears... uh oh, bad move big black dude. You must not have been black for very long. Everyone knows little blond white girls just have to turn on the water works and they win. So they escorted him off the bus after getting his luggage and she returned to her seat. All the black people on the back of the bus turned on the white people and the driver had to settle them down. God I love public transportation. Saw the officer basically having to try to restrain this guy as the bus drove off. Fun times.

Got back to Mobile without further incident and had a rather uneventful drive home. Success! Headed to Russia in 10 days! I'm kind of at a loss for words how I feel about this to be honest. Before I got the visa it could have gone either way, so I had tried to withhold my excitement. But now that I know I'm going... I don't really know how to respond. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life, and I can't really even celebrate. I'm just filled with anticipation at this point. I'm not nervous anxious, but an excited anxious, and my test now is to keep my head on straight and finish up my last preparations. Headed into work soon to put in my notice, and then I get to start packing. Time to get going!