San Antonio and the Matrix

Long(er) days, sunny days, tea that tastes like it should because it is made with water from Edward's Aquifer, women with nasally voices wearing sweats and Louis Vuitton bags, adverts every 10 minutes, half for lawyers half for pharmaceuticals, a new mall in La Cantera that appears more a pavilion and boasts Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. My, San Antonio is coming up in the world. That 'mall' was freaking me out truth be told. Me fellow Texans will understand when I describe it as an upscale shopping development, a posh strip mall with the landscaping and hand-cut stone walkways of nicer apartment complexes in the lonestar state. Perhaps I've spent too much time in the city - several thousand people ambling at a leisurely pace in the sunny walkways amid the sounds of water fountains and the most non-offensive muzak possible seemed somehow off kilter. And as we landed into Dallas/Ft Worth, I thought to myself 'I don't remember this place being a desert..' Imagine landing into Delhi at dusk or dawn, when the sky is that hazy blue that merges seamlessly into the land, a flat wash of dusty sable. Delhi-Dallas-Delhi-Dallas. Coincidence? I think not.

So now, protected by my red metal bubble on wheels I scream and curse at mindless people speaking on mobiles while driving ridiculously large trucks that get 8 miles a gallon, watch Fox news in bemused disbelief, and scramble wildly to prod two horrible bureaucracies - the state department and UCL - into action so that the work permit will be mildly less stressful. The job transition, the end of the student age, hit yesterday. When conversation focuses on pensions, passports, contract litigation, health insurance, double taxation, mortgages, and holiday planning one year in advance, it can only mean one thing. The matrix has you. The matrix has me!

But there is solace in the details. Take Mexican food. Ahhh, that savoury ambrosia of Texas. After shovelling a chicken enchilada slathered in salsa verde and monterrey jack cheese into my mouth in record time, I slumped over and sighed deeply. Oh yeah, that's the stuff.