Mexican Christmas

This year for Christmas instead of fighting the elements and being stranded at the airport for 12 hours, Nat and I had an easy three-hour drive from Austin to Dallas.  Well, actually, we drove from Austin to Houston then to Dallas – skipping only El Paso and San Antonio when it comes to major cities in Texas.  Nat got invited to a holiday mixer at a law firm in Houston so we decided that in order to cut some driving time out.  We drove directly from Houston to Dallas instead of back to Austin.  Usually Nat and I like to trade off the burden of driving but just last week, Nat was almost denied entrance into a bar due to his expired driver’s license.  He was as shocked as I was to find out that for the last five months, he has been driving and carrying on illegally.  So that major drive from Austin to Houston to Dallas- all me.  It might not sound like much, but unless you have been or lived in Texas you probably don’t realize how big of a state Texas really is!  While Nat attended the holiday party, I wandered around downtown and hit up two of my favorite places, Macy’s and Starbucks.  I really like the downtown because their main shuttle runs over water and everything looks beautiful being reflected off the water.

Houston Night View

Christmas was so much fun this year.  Nat was a little overwhelmed with the chatter in Spanish that went back and forth but he held up well and after a few days really got into it.  I learned how to make Mexican “gorditas” with my new tortilla making machine and salsa using my new food processor.  We must have eaten at least ½ a jalapeno with ever meal.  

Tia Del and me making "gorditas!"

We swam in the 78 degree weather and even tanned a little.  Later in the week it actually got cold, but it didn’t even matter since my aunt heated the pool to an amazing 99 degrees!  No joke, the pool was warmer than the hot tub most of the week.  My mom doesn’t get into anything under 90 degrees, so my aunt made sure to provide.  We took family pictures in the pool and everyone started drinking at 9AM!  Oh my family.  One of my cousins seemed to always have a Corona in his hand.  It was definitely a rowdy time.

Family time in the pool!

I got so many amazing gifts this year, but for sure the best part was having all of my family under one roof, curled up on inflatable mattresses, couches, carpets and foam mattresses.  I am happy that Nat was able to meet all my cousins, aunts and uncles that I grew up with in Mexico, too.  The best part, it turns out that Nat’s family is gathering in San Diego a few days after Christmas, so we decided to hope onto another plane and see them for a few days, then fly straight to Las Vegas for New Years.  Nat matches my spontaneous travel-minded lifestyle so I am grateful to have him as a travel buddy.  I need to sign off, since our plane is descending now!  Hello, California!

Flood Gates have been opened

After having spent the last month and a half studying up to twelve hours a day, you better believe that Tuesday night was a night to celebrate for the first year law students at University of Texas.  Directly after the final ended, some immediately started drinking, others napped, and others just sat dumbfounded in shock.  By 8PM all of my new friends were ready to begin the festivities of the night.  The evening was started by a three-man race to a restaurant/bar called Trudy’s.  The contestants had to tie themselves together, run to each destination, chug a large beer, and then keep running.  Nat and I made the wise decision of simply being spectators, but quickly realized that in order to continue to gawk at our friends, we had to actually run after them.  The plan quickly deteriorated, so we decided to just walk directly to Trudy’s with one other friend.

After Trudy’s, we headed to a peer’s house prior to hitting the town.  During the evening, somehow Star Wars came up and I was shocked and appalled to hear that one of Nat’s friends had never seen the original trilogy.  Out of sheer shock and offense, my gut reaction was to slap him.  Harsh I realize, but he also said he didn’t know Harrison Ford was in the movies which I think merited a slap.  I apologized, and shortly thereafter we headed downtown.

A larger group of law students had rented a party bus to head downtown, but we had something better.  It only cost my one dollar, and is totally green – public transportation.  We took some silly pictures while we waited, and I guess we were having so much fun that a homeless man decided to join us so we took a picture together.  Quite the rowdy crowd! 

Note our new homeless friend on the bottom right

At the bar, we meet up with the rest of the first year law students.  Some were dressed like elves, Santa’s ladies, or just themselves but covered in green glitter.  After a while, some of us went on a quest to find a dance floor and break it down.  Unfortunately, we realized it was still Tuesday, so dancing was scarce.  We snuck onto the third floor of a bar, only to get escorted down.  After one of our friends fell down the stairs on the way down, we went from escorted down to out.  Since everyone is done with school and I don’t have a job, I really feel like we are living the dream and constantly on vacation.  I wish this feeling would never end.

I am also feeling the holiday spirit here in Austin!  Check out the huge tree!  I felt like such a little kid spinning in circles under the tree.  I got really dizzy but held my ground.  One of our friends tried to spin but completely fell on the ground.

Nat and Erica under the Christmas tree made of lights

Spinning under the tree!

Group picture!