/“I can´t eat as much as I want to puke” is a famous German quotation. For my time in Houston I have to reword to make it fit for me: I can´t eas as much as I am intvited to it.

Within my last week in texas I was invited for meals more than I was during my entire stay here. In my stay in Texas I was invited to more meals than in my entire life. For tomorrow I even had to cancel invitations because I had several ones.

/ A Alphorn player blows his horn, the tuba plays along with accordion and the singer yodeling, but we are not on the alm. The girls I dirndle and the boys in lederhosen and the Spatenbräu in a mass, but we are not at the Oktoberfest meadows in Munich. Potato pancakes, red cabbage and kassler but mom did not cook it. Where am I? I am at Rudi Lechner´s restaurant in Houston, where they celebrate Oktoberfest every Wednesday. When they started playing Rosamunde, all the Texan customers started singing “roll the barrel”. They probably mean beer, but on can get the impression they could also mean oil.

/What would happen if all air conditioning in Houston failed for several hours? There would be a mass panic. Additional problems arouse at the metal gates. The heat expansion would be so great that the doors would be stuck. Opening them would be very hard. I experienced both, but I stood calm.

Ich war heute in den Sümpfen im ländlichen Texas wandern. Etwa eine halbe Stunde südlich von Houston, zwischen Farmen und inmitten von Koppeln mit Texas Longhorn Rindern befindet sich ein Fluss, der Brazos River, mit all seinen abgeschnittenen Altarmen. Die Sümpfe werden umrahmt von Eichen, Weiden und Palmen worauf sich Epiphyten von der Luftfeuchtigkeit ernähren und Lianen ranken. Im Herzen dieses Naturparks flattern Schmetterlinge, die so groß sind wie meine Handflächen. Auf den Seen und Teichen schwimmen Wasservögel während an den Ufern Reiher und Kraniche nach Nahrung Ausschau halten. Eine Entenmutter muss sich sogar um 22 Junge kümmern. So ein Entenjunges ist ja ein Mundgerechter Happen für einen halbstarken Alligator. Auf den Informationstafeln wird beschrieben, dass diese Reptilien schlau und auch für Menschen gefährlich sind. Auf Bildern schrecken 3m lange Exemplare ab. Ich sah nur 2 eher winzige Tiere, nicht länger als 1m.

Im Wald begegnete ich einem Gürteltier. Es wühlte durch den Boden, scharrte herab gefallene Bätter umher und bemerkte mich nicht, oder aber ignorierte mich, denn die Nahrungssuche schien wichtiger zu sein. Erst als es seinen Rüssel an meinem Fotoapparat stieß, wurde es auf mich aufmerksam.

Ich wanderte 3 Stunden bei 35°C und weder die Zeit noch die Temperatur waren von Bedeutung. Bei meiner Rückreise verabschiedete mich ein Schild im typisch Southern Style.

Und in diesem Sinne,

See ya´ll later.

/Howdy!

I went hiking in the southern swamps of rural Texas. About half an hour south of Houston, among farm and grazing lands with typical Texas Longhorn cattle, there is a river, the Brazos River, with all its cut-off meanders. The swamps are surrounded by Oaks, Willows and Palm trees on which epiphytes filter the moisture out of the air and lianas ramble. In the heart of this natural park butterflies as big as the surface of both of my hands flutter around. On the ponds swim water birds and at the lakeshore cranes and herons look for food. A duck had to look after her 22 fledglings. Such a duck fledgling is a bite-sized portion for a young rowdy alligator. On the information signs is described that alligators are dangerous for people. On pictures 10ft long specimens scare off. I saw 2 rather small animals no longer than 3 ft.

I the forest I crossed paths with an armadillo. It raked around into the soil, pawed the ground and it didn´t recognize me or ignored me, the search for food seemed more important. Only when it bumped its snout into my camera, it became aware of me.

I hiked for 3 hours with 95°F outside but neither time nor temperature mattered. On my way home a sign said goodbye in typical southern style. And with this in mind,

See ya´ll later.

Heute relaxte ich am Pool. Niemand sonst war dort. Unter einer Palme lag ich und beobachtete Spatzen, die sich um reife und sehr süß duftende Datteln stritten. Der blaue Abendhimmel bildete zu den kräftig orangebraunen Datteln einen schönen Kontrast. Ich habe schon lange nicht mehr so schön relaxt.

/ Despite it being only a few miles between NW Houston and downtown, I need to gas up after 4 trips due to the constantly running air conditioning on max. Even at night. Yesterday the low temperature was 80°F, although heavy rain in the afternoon. Watching the rain is exciting. Especially when one T-storm brings more precipitation than in the entire year in NV. During rain it doesn´t cool, here. However all roads become roaring rivers and waterfalls fall off bridges not unlike in Yosemite NP. Thunderstorms are gone as fast as they came and there is no evidence left behind on the bright blue sky. Only the flooding ponds are filled and give away the rain.

Today, I relaxed at the poolside. Nobody else was there. I lay under a palm tree and watched sparrows fighting over the date seeds, which smelled very sweet. The blue evening sky contrasted the orange brown dates. I haven´t had a relaxing moment like that in a long time.

…gegen die Kardinäle spielten heute im Minute Maid Park, dem lokalen Baseballstadion. Ich hatte Freikarten. Zuvor hat mir Jammie, unser Sicherheitsexperte, erstmal die Regeln erklärt. Und diesmal vom Einfachsten an und auch in der richtigen Reihenfolge. Diverse Versuche anderer mir diese Regeln beizubringen scheiterten kläglich. Doch heute wollte ich es verstehen und habe mehrmals nachgefragt. Mit Erfolg. Ich habe es dann im Stadion, welches sich inmitten der Wolkenkratzer in Downtown befindet, erfolgreich an alle Anderen, die es auch nicht wussten, weiter erklärt. Die Astronauten sind die heimische Mannschaft und sie schafften es im 9. Inning (letzte Runde) die Kardinäle aus St. Louis zu schlagen. Die Bimmelbahn hupte, das Stadion tobte und Einheimische sangen ihre Texanischen Texte. Hat man erstmal die Regeln verstanden, kann man sich wie bei der Fußball WM für das Spiel begeistern.

/…vs. the Cardinals played in Minute Maid Park, the local baseball stadium. I had free tickets. Beforehand Jammy, the Pinnacle safety expert, explained the rules. And this time I started from the most simple rules and we then went toward the more complicated ones…the right order. Many attempts from other people to explain went awfully wrong. Today, I really wanted to know and asked if I didn´t understand. With Success. I was able to explain it to all the others that didn´t know the rules sitting around me in the stadium, which by the way is situated among all the skyscrapers and high rise buildings in downtown. The Astros are the local team and they beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the 9^th inning. The ChooChoo train chooed, the stadium went wild and the locals sang their Texan lyrics. Once one understands the rules,  one can get excited about the game, not unlike the soccer championchips.

/More pictures will come, I promise

Anschließend machte sich ein Komiker über uns Lustig und Shell und Halliburton sponsorte seinen Studenten noch ein drei Gänge Menü in einem Privatclub mit orientalischem Ambiente.

/All students with summer job in Houston were personally „saluted“ (how they expressed it) by the Oil business executives in a concert hall. There were presentations from experts in the oil business but also from scientists studying body language and behaviors at work. I learned a lot and could get used to a life in the oil business. Houston, as it seemed, is the only city in the US that is not affected by the crisis. They spread a lot of euphoria and it felt to me like they promised everyone a bright future who wanted to work here. It started with giving out a gadget after each presentation. 10 devices like cameras, BlueRayPlayer, Playstation and even laptops were given away. I was one of the lucky ones and can call myself an owner of an IPod Touch with 50$ gift card for music.

Afterwards a comedian joked about us and Shell and Halliburton sponsored their students a 3 course meal in a private dining club with middle eastern flair.

/After finding out on the USPS homepage that there are no single stamps for international mail and one has to use a combination of 3 stamps, I went to the USPS office during my lunch break. I did not order over the internet to avoid another delay. When I arrived there, I had to wait in a long line. Apparently not only I have a problem with the postal service. No, just about everyone in line seems to have to solve their stamp problem. In front of me, a man is waiting with a torn shirt and a pair of shorts that seemed to have a batik pattern but a closer look revealed it was a salty crust. Probably a homeless person. I get lost in thoughts. I used to pitty homeless people in Chicago for having to be outside in awful coldness. But I never wasted a thought on the homeless here, with 100°F and high humidity, who are probably closer to death. He is the first I´ve seen here. No homeless person stays in Houston voluntarily, or they all died of heatstroke. I keep a distance. It is his turn, he wants a 1cent stamp. The postal service employee says she is out of them. But he escaped the heat for at least half an hour. Ingenious. There are only 3cent stamps, I heard. On my turn, they are also out of 10cent stamps. I took 44cent, 4cent and 3cent stamps. With the right combination I am now able to put the 98cent postage on. But there is no room left for greetings.

/ Highrise building, uppermost level, Halliburton event, view over downtown and a park (Houston is a forest), 3D presentation, high-tech software, company gym, tour of company kindergarden, volleyball match during lunch break, pool, tennis court, fewer words save time, time is money, money is luxury.