in Houston

Howdy Folks! Well, I am in my favorite city in the world, enjoying A/C, family, friends and lots of great food. I think I am going to gain 5-10 pounds on this trip.

I never realized (until living in K) that Houston is a BEAUTIFUL city! It also has gorgeous blue skies, hardly any people and not much traffic. I love it here. And even though it is is in the low 90s and HUMID, it does not really bother us. However, there are not zillions of people milling around you, no stench of urine, no constant sound of horns honking, no cars about to run you over, no exhaust blowing in your face and no trash everywhere. That really makes a difference in how hot/uncomfortable you feel. So, I totally understand K's discomfort index of 150+ degrees in the summer.

Another thing that I did not realize I would appreciate about being back in the USA is air-conditioned bathrooms. In S Asia, residences do not have central A/C, so if you want A/C in your bathroom, you have to install a unit in there and that would be be sort of ridiculous. So, we end up sweating when we have to go potty or brush our teeth. Not so here! In fact, at my parents' house, the bathroom is the coolest place in the house in summer.

I had forgotten that my old room gets the hottest in summer, so our first night in Houston Jerry and I were sweating. I was thinking, "I did not come all the way to the US from K to sweat in my sleep!" But problem solved - my dad put in a fan the next day. And on a related note, we are back to sleeping in a twin bed for the duration our of time here.

One of our friends relocated to England for five years and is letting Jerry drive his Mini Cooper this week. Not only is the Mini one of Jerry's favorite cars, it is bigger than the car we drive in K!

More later...