Austin

I am a little freaked. I've booked a flight to Miami, which is great but I hadn't planned on going there on this trip. I'm freaked because I don't handle the unexpected very well, which is funny really as this trip has been 90% unplanned. Adding to my discomfort is the fact that I am in my last month of my trip. While I am excited and ready to go home, the actual reality of being back in the U.K. and having to find a job is scaring me. It's the whole "I don't know what's going to happen". I don't handle that very well, I like to have some idea of what's going on even if it is totally erroneous. Add in to this my worry that my new passport won't be ready for my return flight to the U.K., my fault I know. I can be such an idiot sometimes. With this in mind my first stop of the day had to be a FedEx office, I couldn't put it off. I needed to get this done and I would feel so much better when it was. The office was where Google said it would be, I got everything done and sent my application off for next day delivery. A weight was lifted off my chest and I was able to breathe again, I was able to convince myself that the embassy would be able to process my application within my time frame rather than theirs!

I walked up to the state capitol building, I was going to take the tour, although I not sure why. I have been to a few of these buildings and they don't generally vary that much inside.If it's a state capitol they will have the House of Representatives and the Senate. If it's a city hall they have a House of Representatives and other legislative offices. And of course there is generally a rotunda covered by a huge dome. Texas's state capitol is no exception to these rules and I am a sucker for a free tour. Also there is always the hope that the building has some interesting history behind it or even better a scandal. Inlaid in the floor under the dome are the six flags of Texas and the guide was at pains to point out that Texas was once an independent republic before joining the U.S.. In fact he said that the U.S. joined Texas. I think he was joking!

It was a horrible day weather wise, cold,cloudy and by turns raining. There wasn't anywhere else I wanted to go and it was too horrible a day to walk around. I sat in a coffee shop and read a little. On this trip I had met someone who had committed to read a book a week for a year. I can't remember if she has succeeded but the thought of being able to do the same thing had stayed with me. I have kept a note of what I've read so far this year and I'm about seven books away from having read a book every week. I'm probably a bit closer as I've read a couple of books twice to make sure I understood them. I've also made it a point to read some "classics" which I haven't read before. I now do like Dickens but don't understand why "Wuthering Heights" is considered a love story. I'm currently reading "1984", I'm enjoying it but can't help wondering how it's going to end. When the rain slowed I jumped on a bus and went to South Congress. This is the hip and happening part of Austin, supposedly. What this means in reality for me is a lot of fashionable shops, selling stuff you don't need and achingly hip restaurants with overpriced menus. That's probably being unfair but that's the general vibe that I got from the area. It also doesn't help that I am off shopping at the moment and so shops don't hold much interest for me at the moment. The area might be better if I was there for a night out with friends.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day as promised by the weather forecast and I wanted to hit the only other Austin attraction on my list, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential library. When I was in Atlanta I had considered going to the Jimmy Carter library but hadn't bothered as it was a little out of the way and I wasn't terribly interested in Carter to be honest. The hostel and the University of Texas campus is linked by a free shuttle bus and this dropped me off right in front of the library. It's housed in a concrete and glass bunker like building and despite this obviously being a 60's design the building still works really well now. I like the building, it's unlike anything else I saw on campus. The first floor of the library sets out Johnson's life, where he was born, grew up and went to school etc.. Interspersed with the personal details are time lines with what was going on in the world, he was born in 1908 and so they have a display linked to the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the first world war, the great depression and so on. There are also displays on his wife, Claudia or "Lady Bird" as she became known. In his political life he seems to have been considered a good guy who was willing to listen to both parties and so was able to broker a lot of compromises. Then it's gets to the interesting part where he becomes JFK's election running mate and ultimately the President after the assassination. My knowledge of American history has improved dramatically since I've been in the U.S. but this exhibition brought a lot of the 60's history together for me. The decade that Johnson was in the White House was surely one of the most tumultuous in American history. The Civil Rights movement, the Cold war,the Vietnam war, the hippie movement along with increased sexual freedom, the assassination of a president, the leader of the Civil Rights movement and a presidential candidate and the space race all occurred then. It's hardly a surprise that he didn't run for a second term.

On a lighter note the library contains all of Johnson's papers, a replica of the Johnson Oval Office and an exhibition of what his wife did after he died. She was an amazing person in her own right, especially when you consider that she didn't want him to go into politics. There is also an exhibition of gifts given to him and a selection of children's letters that he received. The whole thing is really well put together and captures the time in which he lived. Of course it wasn't so long ago but this kind of first hand history is so important to see and experience. For example there is a tape of Lady Bird Johnson's recollections of the day that Kennedy was shot, it's so powerful and poignant. When I go to Dallas I will definitely go to the 6th Floor museum.

I wandered around the university campus, past the huge football stadium. It still blows my mind that they can fill these big stadiums, some of them bigger than those of the Premier league club in England. It's crazy that college football is such a huge thing in this country, but I still can't get my head around the fact that some colleges have more students than my home town. Things definitely are bigger in Texas!! The campus also made me feel old, being as it is filled with students, some of whom would be half my age. University seems so far away for me now, I think I would probably have a better experience if I went back to study again.

I spent the rest of the day in the park reading, in the library uploading photos as I couldn't do it on the hostel computers and in the post office. So I guess it was a bit of an admin day although I am still behind with this, my blog. As the end is in sight this is becoming more of a chore to me. I find myself repeating myself and lacking in imaginative turns of phrase. I think it's quite clear that I won't be winning any creative writing prizes or turning this into a best selling novel, or any novel for that matter. I had dinner and beer with Michael, a guy staying at the hostel. Tuesday nights are not good for going out in Austin, the first bar we went into was empty, the second was also empty but that might be because the beer tasted awful. The third bar, Bikini's, was pretty full and I am fairly sure that this is because the servers wear bikini tops and skimpy denim shorts and nothing else. It took me a few minutes to realise that I was the only female drinking in there, it was all guys. I wonder why!!!!

Today I'm off to Dallas and I've found a CS'er to host me. I'll be there until Sunday and then I'm off to Miami. My host is working late today so I am chilling here at the hostel before I catch my bus. You know what they say "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!".