Thanksgiving weekend in Lubbock, Texas

Good evening friends!

First of all, i would like to thank everyone for their birthday wishes through email/facebook/postcards! You all really made my day unforgettable!

Thursday November 27th
I've spend the past four days in Lubbock (Texas), visiting some very good friends of my parents. Frances and Lesley picked me up at the airport and we drove straight to their family to celebrate Thanksgiving. Looking out of the car window, i immediately noticed the different landscape. In general, it seemed less dry than in Phoenix and the grass had a yellow color. The white spots on the fields which i thought were snowflakes turned out to be little pieces of cotton. Once we arrived at the house and after greeting everybody, i felt at home from the very first minute and the whole family was so friendly! Elizabeth's cooking was just delicious: the sweet potatoes, macaroni with ham and cheese, the frozen cranberries/pineapple/marshmallow salad, the pumpkin and pecan pie and last but not least: the turkey :) The whole atmosphere of sitting together with friends & family and enjoying each others company looks a lot like our Christmas diner in Belgium. Especially when all the houses in town start to be decorated with lights, trees and Santa Clauses! My first Thanksgiving was a success :)

Friday November 28th
The day after Thanksgiving is always the biggest sales day of the year and shops open their doors at 04.00 AM! At Wall mart, 2000 people were waiting to get in and an employee was stepped on so many times that they had to bring her to the hospital!
After a very early swim with Francesat 06.00 AM (yes you read this right:)) and a good breakfast, i visited the Science museum (you can compare this to Technopolis in Mechelen). Although it was mainly meant for children, i learned a lot :) They also had an exhibition about the sea life and while i was closely looking at some fish in their aquarium, suddenly a hand showed up in the water. My god, that hand scarred me to death since it was not supposed to be there :) Once at home, we watched The Rockettes Christmas show on TV.

Saturday November 29th
Today the Texas Tech University Football team had their last game of the season and on the very last minute Frances could arrange a ticket for me! Borrowing a jumper with the Texas Tech logo, i was ready to go to my first American Football game ever and i was so excited! Twenty minutes before the start, the band and the cheerleaders did a performance on the field, four little girls song the National Anthem and the senior players together with their parents were thanked for all their efforts during the past years. The freshmen of the Texas Tech University could now take their places. During the third quarter it didn't look to good for Texas Tech, they were two touchdowns behind on the Baylors. I will not bother you with the rules of the game, but one touchdown is 6 points. If you really want to know more, just Google it! It's the way i did it before i went to the game :) But then suddenly in the last quarter, they scored three touchdowns successively; the crowd got more noisy, the band enthusiastically played music and we all went crazy :) This is so much more fun than our soccer games! The coach said later in the newspaper: 'you had the first part which was pitiful and you had the second part which was impressive.'

Sunday November 30th
It seems like there is a first time for everything during my visit in Texas: Thanksgiving, an American football game and a church visit on Sunday morning. Also the square shaped hosts and the little plastic cups filled with red wine during Communion were new to me!

Monday December 1st
Oh yeah, that's right, it's my birthday today :) I honestly almost forgot! As i mentioned on facebook, i've spend my first hours as being a 22 year old in the airport and on the plane. I guess i've never started my birthday this soon, waking up at 03.00 AM this morning! During my lay-over in Dallas, i bought myself a cappuccino and a piece of chocolate/vanilla cake and i was able to read all the messages and emails on the public computer! That was just perfect :) This afternoon i tried to sleep a little bit, made a couple of long phone calls home, opened all the postcards and i've just blown out the candles on my birthday pie :) It's not a real party party day, but i enjoyed it a lot turning one year older in America!

I just had such a wonderful time with Frances and Lesley and they made my last days in the USA unforgettable!

Big hug x
P.S You find the pictures of this weekend in the album 'Thanksgiving in Texas'.