The end of us... I mean U.S.

Brenham, Texas was our last city in the United States for now. I shall begin where I left off (or where I believe I left off, as I'm too tired to look back now) On the third day, we got a new toilet and it was possible to have two bathrooms for the 11 of us. We had a number of guests to the house while we were there, as our host family had talked about the 9 of us a lot and everyone wanted to "meet the kids." One night we had a couple of ladies from their church. The next night, we had an artist from Houston who brought us clay to play with (Sculpey for those who are interested)! I was inspired by the cupcakes we were eating, so I made a clay cupcake with sprinkles and an optional candle and cherry that you can add depending on your mood. There wasn't enough room in my suitcase to carry them with me (and you can read that as they were too delicate) so I left them with my host family. Le sigh. There are always pictures.

Did I mention the food yet? The food was fantastic. Our host parents basically cook the way that I do, which was perfect for me. We had pasta with freshly sauteed vegetables one night, stir fry one night, and veggie burgers one night (well hamburgers for those who prefer them). On Thursday night, my roommate from Nepal, Lachhu, made a Nepali dinner. It was so delicious. It made me miss those Naan 'n Curry runs between shows at the Phoenix Theatre or those late night parathas at the Indian Bread Co. next door to the apartment on Bleecker St. Soooo good! The piece de resistance from our host parents however, came in the form of breakfast our last day. We had bran muffins that were made with Raisin Bran. They were so moist, yet so dense, and the flavor was great. I'll have to get the recipe for those.

The show in Brenham was a lot of fun, too. We had a very enthusiastic audience, which we were worried about because it was Good Friday in a very religious town. We ended up having a sizable house despite the holiday. They were all so kind to us and impressed by the show. We ended up having tons of people apply for the program afterward, too, which was a nice plus.

Oh, did I say holiday? That's right, we spent Easter in Texas. When I woke up (in the usual manner, which was Megan, the dog, licking my face) on Sunday I saw that our host family had used colored plastic cowboy hats - the kind with the string to go under your chin - as Easter baskets for each of us and had filled them with candy. It was such a sweet gesture, especially since some of our crew was away from home for Easter for the first time. We went to church and then went to Houston and visited a few places before stopping to get dinner on our way home. When we got home some people got their hair cut, but I just packed. I had some help from Katrina, one of the three cats. She sat in my suitcase for about 20 minutes while I was going back and forth doing different things to get ready. After I'd packed, I took a shower and talked with my roommate Louisa (from Denmark) until about 1:00 in the morning. Overall, I approve of Texas so far. I'll let you know more when I return for three more weeks.

~Molly