Cultural Experiences!

Morgan here. I thought I would rewind and talk about some of the wonderful cultural experiences we have had in the last few weeks. The panhandle is certainly a different breed and I am proud to say that we are embracing every aspect of that. People move at different speeds and all on their own courses. One of the most rewarding (well not now but I am sure it will be in the future) things we are learning here is how to manage people. Regions have different people, even with in a few hours of our comfort zone, and this has been a giant step into that learning process for us. With that said, the characters we have met sure keep us entertained. 

Our first local outing in Amarillo consisted of a tour, dinner and a concert on the original Route 66. While driving up, the most notable stop was the Friday Night Only Wrestling, unfortunately we did not stop but it is on our "to do" list. The concert was pretty decent, the beer and food were cheap and delicious but the crowd was priceless. I wish I had the forethought or the guts to record our surroundings as we sat at the bar waiting for the band to start. The only thing we could relate it to was the atmosphere of a high school party but every one was well over the legal drinking age. Good entertainment all around. 

After we got our hands on the deliciously cheap Lone Star beer (only $1 at the GoldenLight bar) we were on a quest to stock up at the house. Little did we know there is an area in Amarillo that is dry and foolishly that was where our quest started. I forgot to mention, but will help with the mood of understanding our quest, that Marc and I are in practice mode while we are living in Amarillo to learn how to live frugally and make the most of every dollar...so naturally after being reminded of the little gem known as Lone Star Beer we knew it would fit perfectly in our lives here for the summer. Back to the quest...after being told a few times by a few grocery store and gas station managers that we were out of luck we went home that night very disappointed. Have no fear though, the next day we searched Lone Star Beer distributers in the area and put out a desperate call for help. After being given the name of only ONE liquor store that sold Lone Star we promptly headed there after work that day. To our severe dismay they had just sold out and probably were not getting another shipment for another year or so (told to us ever so casually and naturally by the manager). What?! A year? That is when we took a step back and realized, hey... no one is in a hurry in Amarillo, just sit back and enjoy the scenery. 

For our next big adventure we headed up to Durango, Colorado to visit some friends and family for a long weekend. As fate would have it we were in town on the same weekend as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Talk about the polar opposite crowd from our new found Amarillo friends. The picture below is a sea of dancers, these people were dancing like the would never be able to dance again.  

There is nothing like Durango in the summer time and the people that live there know it and their attitude is contagious. Even though it was a long drive for a short time we were able to carry on that energy and be revitalized to start a new week back in Amarillo after the trip. Interesting tid bit, Leon took this adventure with us and is now a well established road/mountain cat. 

To change course a little bit, but trying to stay in order of how our adventures have taken place we met an interesting couple through some volunteers at the Food Bank. After meeting them and sharing a meal we were invited to attend a show by the Kwahadi Dancers, who dance at the Kwahadi/Kiva Museum here in Amarillo. Having attended a few POW WOWs while I was at Fort Lewis, I jumped on the chance to show Marc some authentic Native Culture. Not really fully knowing what we were getting ourselves into we jumped on the chance, but were slightly disappointed. The group of dancers range in age from 14-21 and are involved in girl or boy scouts. The dancing was very authentic to Native American tribes, even highlighting some tribes from Mexico. The dancers were extremely talented and well regarded in the area but the MC was a little over the top, extending the show for at least an hour longer than planned. Not apologetic at all, but merely using the stage as his own personal soap box. It should be noted that most of the dancers have been adopted into Native tribes but have no heritage themselves, seeming quite ironic to Marc and I since we are in an area of a much higher true Native American population. Nevertheless the dancing was good and it was pure entertainment in one way or another. I would love to show pictures, but photography was prohibited:(

Most recently Marc and I drove down to Lubbock (weird to say since you always seem to be driving up to Lubbock) for a night to stay with our friends from Austin, Kyle and Kathleen. We had a great time with them and touring the lovely and bustling town but most notably we visited Prairie Dog Town. The four of us have decided to put a proposal together for the town of Lubbock to construct a Main street and a few essential buildings, including but not exclusive to a City Hall, a jail, a United grocery store, a Wells Fargo Bank and a Wallgreens. It will be amazing, Kathleen noted that the jail will have a concrete floor so no one can burrow out. 

As it turns out the there were not too excited when we got close to take their pictures (for the proposal slide show of course.) The closest one promptly sent out a warning yelp to the town and sure enough there was at least one for every hole popping out on guard. It was a pretty good show, and good practice for emergency situations, like a fire alarm for prairie dogs. 

I think you all are caught up, look out for more to come!