Culture shock: n. the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within a different and unknown cultural or social environment, such as a foreign country.
Tonight we celebrated Claire's baptism. The girl herself was sleeping soundly at her grandparents' house, but that didn't stop the rest of us hitting Fort Worth. Things are...different here.
For a start, everything that I'd seen in movies etc. about Texas, and had therefore taken to be a gross exaggeration, is true. The first bar we went into had stools with horse saddles on top. The only thing on the menu was steak (Hannah and I shared one) and the margaritas were as large as Claire. But this was only the warm up. After feeding and watering we headed to Billy Bob's, Texas's biggest "honky tonk".
I wasn't sure what I was witnessing as I walked in the door. For a start, it was the most people I'd ever seen in one place (apart from, possibly, the Cal Academy of Science) and it was vast. At the far end the live country music was playing, and inbetween there were pool tables, slot machines, a dance floor, several bars, and everything heaved with hat wearing cowboys and their heavily made-up wives and girlfriends.
We fought our way through to our seats ten seconds before Randy Travis (a famous country singer) took to the stage. Within a few songs Christine had dragged us onto the dancefloor and, with the aid of a couple of tequila shots, we stayed there for the rest of the night. We're not in California any more!
First bar of the night!
Lining up the margaritas.
Texas steak. "Medium" is defined as "warm pink"! And it was delicious.
And now we're going to see some real culture.
I was feeling more than an little scared.
The perfect combination!
Here's Randy.
Hannah and I strut our stuff on the dancefloor.
Vince was unimpressed, and so gave Hannah a lesson in country two-step...
...and then me. It's Texas, but we are from San Francisco.
This place is the real deal!
Bud Light and tequila slammers - the best of friends.
Hannah and Toni (Vince's sister-in-law) indulge in some gambling on a strange mechanical horse racing game. They lost. Twice.
Hell yeah! Maybe.
