Brevíssimos comentários sobre O Monge, o livro do Clube de Leitura de Abril

Acabei de ler O Monge semana passada, mas não sei muito bem o que falar dele e fiquei enrolando até hoje para escrever algumas linhas. Li porque foi a leitura programada deste mês do clube do livro. A sinopse me pareceu interessante, ouvi falar muito bem, mas não é um livro da minha caixinha. Eu não leio muito coisas escritas antes de 1850. Na verdade, até pouco tempo atrás, minhas leituras eram muito mais século XX e só nos últimos meses tenho lido mais século XIX. O Monge foi escrito pelo inglês Matthew Gregory Lewis e publicado em 1796! Século XVIII é um pouco longe demais para mim. 

Não é que eu não gostei! Eu gostei bastante sim! É uma narrativa cheia de surpresas. Um eita atrás de eita! Só não rolou aquela identificação. 

O livro conta duas histórias paralelas, cujos personagens se entrecruzam no tempo e espaço. A maior parte se passa na Espanha, dentro de um convento, um mosteiro, e umas ruínas subterrâneas labirínticas que compartilham o mesmo subsolo destes dois edifícios.  Dada a época e local, a Inquisição é uma instituição muito presente, apesar de só no final ela aparecer de forma mais concreta. A burocracia, a estrutura de poder, a moral repressora da Igreja Católica sobre as pessoas e suas relações com os outros e seus próprios corpos... Tudo isso aparece o tempo todo. 

Em uma história, acompanhamos o Padre Ambrosio* que, ao ser seduzido por uma mulher, descobre as tentações da carne e não consegue mais fugir de sua luxúria. A outra história é um romance de cavalaria. Acompanhamos Dom Raymond, um cavaleiro, sua mulher amada Agnes e Lorenzo, irmão de Agnes e amigo de Lorenzo. Por causa de uma promessa feita no nascimento de Agnes pelos seus pais, a moça é prometida a Deus, mas ela e Raymond são apaixonados um pelo outro. Por causa de mil infortúnios, ela não consegue fugir de seu destino e acaba se tornando freira. Nesta história acompanhamos seu amado e seu irmão tentar de tudo para resgatá-la das paredes e regras opressoras do convento. 

As idas e vindas de Raymond, Agnes e Lorenzo eu achei mais legal. Na longuíssima introdução destes personagens, Raymond faz uma retrospectiva e conta suas aventuras aos redores de Paris numa casa de um grupo de bandidos que quer matá-lo, depois sua ida a um castelo em Strasbourg, onde conheceu Agnes, sua experiência de quase morte nas mãos de um fantasma, seu exorcismo e, finalmente, seu retorno a Madrid para salvar sua amada. Essa parte é muito legal, principalmente quando uma confusão entre Agnes e a fantasma que assombra o castelo, a Bleeding Nun, acontece. Raymond também tem um escudeiro, Theodore, que escreve poesia, é jovem e animado. Essa parte do livro lembra um pouco Dom Quixote e foi uma delícia ler. (Aliás, a Bleeding Nun é um personagem muito interessante!)

A primeira metade do livro é divertida: na história de Ambrosio, um eita atrás de eita, e na história de Agnes, Raymond e Lorenzo, uma aventura cavaleiresca com toques fantasmagóricos. Na segunda parte, no entanto, comecei a ficar cansada. 

Século XVIII, Inquisição, Deus, Diabo. Existe uma discussão moral muitíssimo forte. A culpa, a tentação, o pecado, o perdão, as instituições religiosas, etc são temas aparecem em longos sermões, diálogos e fluxos de pensamentos num estilo rocambolesco. Ninguém no século XVIII vai direto ao assunto. Normal. Só que isso deixou a leitura cansativa e no final eu só estava "ai, tá bom, vai logo". Só frizando: são temas e assuntos sobre os quais não leio muito, que não estão em minhas leituras rotineiras. Então não tenho muito o que falar sobre tudo isso. 

De qualquer maneira, o livro tem um grande valor. Ainda mais para lembrar que só porque existiam instituições reliogiosas muitissímo rigorosas, as pessoas não deixavam de  pensar e falar obscenidades, não deixavam de fazer sexo e não desafiavam as regras institucionais. Durante um semestre na faculdade cursei a disciplina de História Medieval II, que foi quase um curso de como os homens medievais eram pervertidos. Praticamente um grupo de whastapp de homens dos dias de hoje impressos em pinturas, literatura e esculturas nas paredes de todos os edifícios possíveis numa estética medieval. 

Enfim, se eu fosse dar uma avaliação de estrelinhas, eu daria nota 3 - relativamente recomendado. O livro é bom, divertido, mas não fez aquela conexão com meus gostos e assuntos de interesse.

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* Esquerdo-macho do século XVIII, que tem um papinho sedutor e as meninas amam.

O Mundo da Escrita, de Martin Puchner: um livro ambioso

No começo do ano comecei a ler O mundo da escrita: como a literatura transformou a civilização, de Martin Puchner, com tradução de Pedro Maia Soares e publicado pela Companhia das Letras em 2020. Ele estava há algum tempo no meu kindle e por isso viajou comigo para os EUA. 

Os capítulos são mais ou menos curtos, então decidi que leria um capítulo por vez sem compromisso. Não gostei da experiência. Levei quatro meses para terminar e acabou me faltando um pouco aquela sensação de linearidade que perpassa uma obra - mesmo que os capítulos sejam mais ou menos independentes. 

A proposta é ambiciosa: entender como a escrita foi decisiva para os rumos da história. Para isso, ele parte das primeiras narrativas orais e surgimento da escrita (tanto no aspecto social quanto tecnológico) e chega até os dias de hoje, com o fenômeno Harry Potter e a internet. Puchner nos mostra que coisas que nós tomamos como naturais, na verdade não são. Como por exemplo: a junção da escrita, criada para fins administrativos, com as narrativas orais. O surgimento da literatura não foi óbvia. Também nos mostra o processo de inscrição de mitos de criação e o surgimento de "textos sagrados". Puchner também investiga o desenvolvimento tecnológico ao longo da história da escrita: pedras, papiros, códices, a imprensa, computadores, internet e tablets. 

Sua ambição não acaba aí. Ele analisa geograficamente todo esse processo histórico, recuperando exemplos em todos os continentes e mostrando as particularidades de cada civilização. Também explora a questão de grandes mestres que entraram para o mundo da escrita sem nunca terem escrito uma palavra, como Buda, Jesus, Sócrates e Confúcio. E por que os textos escritos pelos pupilos destes grandes homens se tornaram ora textos sagrados ora textos filosóficos?

Um livro desta ambição pode apresentar um grande problema: exaustão e superficialidade. Acho que o autor lida bem com essas questões. É um livro cansativo sim, especialmente nas partes que ele conta as viagens pessoais que ele fez como pesquisa, mas não tanto. Uma leitura sem compromisso funciona bem. A superficialidade também existe, mas não é rasa. Ela é uma introdução a uma série de assuntos interessantes com os quais dificilmente teríamos contatos. 

Por exemplo, o capítulo sobre o Romance de Genji, "o primeiro grande romance da literatura universal que foi escrito por uma dama de companhia da corte japonesa por volta do ano 1000". A história da poetisa e escritora Murasaki Shibiku é interessantíssima. Numa sociedade de corte extremamente rígida em questão de gênero, ela aprendeu a literatura chinesa de forma clandestina para então escrever o Romance de Genji. Mais velha, já afastada da literatura, ela registrou toda sua história em um diário. 

"Depois de ter sido casada com um homem mais velho e ter sido acompanhante de uma princesa, a identidade que ela escolheu conservar foi aquela que adquiriu por iniciativa própria: a de escritora." (p. 169) 

Outro capítulo favorito é o da poetisa russa Anna Akhmátova. Nos capítulos anteriores, Puchner procura entender o surgimento de manifestos e o desenvolvimento de uma tecnologia e distribuição de um gênero que possibilitou revoluções e quedas de regime até chegar na União Soviética. Em seguida,  tomando como exemplo a vida de Anna Akhmátova, ele procura entender como, apesar de todos os avanços tecnológicos de inscrição e reprodução, um estado autoritário levou a poetisa à métodos pré-Gutemberg: narrativa oral e memória. Como não podia criar registros incriminatórios, Anna Akhmátova reunia suas amigas em torno de uma mesa de chá e cada uma era responsável pela memorização de certas estrofes. Mulheres russas no século XX, em torno de uma mesa de chá, subvertendo o governo por meio de memorização e narrativa oral. 

"O trecho mais revelador [do poema Réquiem] falava de mulheres, mães e esposas que se reuniam todos os dias diante de uma prisão, esperando para saber se seus entes queridos tinham sido executados ou exilados. 'Queria chamar a todas pelo nome/ Mas tiram-me a lista e não há como saber'. 

O poema em construção estava seguro enquanto Akhmátova memorizasse cada seção e queimasse imediatamente, mas sobreviveria apenas enquanto ela mesma sobrevivesse. Para que vivesse, o poema precisava ser compartilhado, ocupar a memória dos outros. Com cautela, Akhmátova convocou suas amigas mais próximas, não mais que uma dezena de mulheres, e leu o poema para elas muitas vezes até que o decorassem."

Mas outros capítulos também são interessantíssimos, como a prática de indulgência da Igreja Católica e sua relação com o desenvolvimento técnico da imprensa. Ou então, como o fenômeno Dom Quixote pode ser reconhecido como a primeira obra dentro de um mercado literário moderno tal como conhecemos hoje: autoria, direitos autorais, mercado, plágio. 

O livro é interessante e me fisgou pela sua introdução. Eu recomendo baixar uma amostra pelo Kindle e ler só a introdução. (risos) 

Puchner faz uma interpretação belíssima da leitura de passagens do livro de Gênesis pelos três astronautas norte-americanos no momento em que pisaram na lua. Do espaço, para um público imenso que assistia da Terra, a leitura dessa obra remetia à Guerra Fria e seus rivais russos. Iúri Gagárin, o primeiro homem a viajar para o espaço, disse quando retornou à Terra: "Olhei e olhei, mas não vi Deus". Essa anedota é também um resumo da história da civilização ocidental que dependeu da criação da escrita e o registro impresso de uma mitologia que veio a se tornar um texto sagrado, a Bíblia. Como ele vê toda a história da humanidade neste único ato é simples, didática e, ao mesmo tempo, complexa. Ele explora muitas camadas de significados neste ato que, a princípio, parece inocente, ou não tão importante assim. 

"Mas a lição mais importante da Apollo 8 diz respeito à influência de textos fundamentais como a Bíblia, textos que acumulam poder e significado ao longo do tempo, de tal modo que se tornam códigos-fontes para culturas inteiras, contando aos povos de onde eles vieram e como deveriam levar suas vidas. No início, esses textos eram frequentemente repetidos e transmitidos por sacerdotes, que os reverenciavam e os preservavam no centro dos impérios e nações. [...]

A União Soviética havia sido fundada com base nas ideias articuladas num texto muito mais recente do que a Bíblia. O Manifesto do Partido Comunista, escrito por Karl Marx e Friederich Engles e avidamente lido por Lênin, Mao Tsé-Tung, Ho Chi Minh e Fidel Castro, tinha apenas 120 anos, mas procurava competir com textos fundamentais mais antigos, como a Bíblia. [...]

Lá no espaçoo, tratava-se de uma batalha de ideias e livros." (p. 13-14)

Enfim, livro bom. Não ótimo. É ambiocioso demais querer falar sobre todos os lugares ao longo de toda a história humana, mas cumpre bem o propósito de nos ensinar coisas novas e atiçar nossa curiosidade. Como um ponto de partida, ele é excelente. Finalmente, essa leitura também me ensinou que não nasci para ler mais de um livro ao mesmo tempo. Melhor continuar a passos de tartaruga e com um de cada vez.

Eight-day trip in Texas (Dallas, Odessa, Alpine, Big Bend and Austin) - Spring Break

For the first time, after eight months living in New York City, Allan and I had some time (unfortunately not money, but we made it anyway) to travel within the US and enjoy our one-week spring break (March 11th - 18th). We were tired of NY: the winter, the snow, the noises, the "everything is so expensive!", the typical new yorker rush and bad mood, the subway, the dirty, etc. So Allan, who planned the whole trip, chose the completely opposite of what we were living: we will go south, he said. No more Yankees. We will go to the Southest we can. So he took me to the US and Mexico border. 

This was our first time in Texas. Everything was new and different. Besides having fun and feeling the sun on my skin after so many months, this trip was also a kind of an anthropological experience. I am going to list, day by day, our itinerary and the remarks of each day. This is neither a travel guide nor an analyses of my observations. This is just a small note so I can remember things in the future when I get old. Besides, I'm writing in English which is NOT my native languages. Many mistakes, but I don't care anymore like I used to. 

Day 1 - Dallas

We arrived in Dallas in the morning. We barely left the airport and we saw the cowboys and cowgirls. I loved their style of boots, hats, belt. The cowgirls have a beautiful fancy-country style. The weather was not so pleasant, but it didn't mind. We just needed to eat and sleep. So we took advantage of the tex-mex cuisine (the first tex-mex meal of the whole trip) and of silence. Yes. Absolutely no sirens, no horns, no people screaming on the street. We slept like babies. 

First meal was half tex-mex half southern cuisine. Quedasilla as starter and crab cake sandwich as main. Absolutely delicious.

Day 2 - Dallas and Odessa

Now the fun began. We woke up very early because we had until noon to enjoy downtown Dallas before taking the car and going to Odessa. But, first things first. As a Brazilian, hotel breakfast in the US is a little bit frustrating. Much cereal, oatmeal, suspicious scrambled eggs, waffles, watered coffee and TOO MUCH garbage. Everything was disposable: plates, silvery, cups. I was not comfortable at all and this situation was the same in every hotel we stayed in Texas. 

Breakfast hotel. WHY SO MUCH UNNECESSARY PLASTIC??

The image I had of Dallas was from the movie Dallas Buyers Club. I imagined cattle, cowboys, and rodeos. However, now I'd say Dallas is half cowboy half JFK assassination. Every where you go in Dallas is about Kennedy. There is a memorial (beautiful, btw) for the president and then we took a tram tour around Dallas downtown that followed all the steps of the ex-president murder. We started riding on the same avenue in which he was parading minutes before he was murdered, than we stopped at the spot where he got shot. On the pre-recorded narration we listened while we were riding, SHOT SHOT SHOT. It was terrifying. I was really scared. I felt I was living a true crime episode of Netflix. It is surprising the attraction for murder history and gun violence in the United States. It is morbid. 

Allan in front of JFK Memorial Plaza. It is supposed to be an open tomb. It is beautiful and intense. 

The exactly spot where JFK got shot. 

At noon we came back to the hotel to checkout and get straight to Odessa, where we would spend a night before our main destination. It was a 7-hour drive from Dallas to Odessa. We got really tired, but this was our first road trip in the US. In a comparison with Brazil, a few observations: people here are MUCH more educated in traffic, the roads are in great condition, there are not old cars and trucks. The road culture is friendly, respectable, secure and comfortable. After we left the urban area, wind farms. Only turbines. There were so many. We spent hours driving and all we could see were turbines up to the horizon. It looked like a science fiction landscape.  

Many hours driving within this landscape. 

After some time, when we were getting close to Odessa, the landscape changed. Innumerous pumpjacks extracting petroleum. So many. Then, the oil refineries. Odessa was, indeed, a very ugly city which main activity was oil refinery. 

The oil refinery above and pumpjacks on the horizon. 

Wind farm, oil refinery, pumpjacks: in the end it is all about natural resources, energy and consumption.

Day 3 - Odessa and Alpine 

In Odessa we woke up very early (again) to go to Walmart to buy some groceries for the next part of the trip. So, this is important. Living in NYC is not living in the US. This was our first time, in seven months, at Walmart, THE great symbol of American consumption. We fueled the car, bought water, snacks and food. At noon we were checking out and, before Alpine, we stopped at The Monahans Sandhills State Park that was along the way. After some pictures, we went straight to Alpine, our main destination. 

A father and his son were flying kites on the top a sandhill at The Monahans Sandhills State Park.

The landscape between Odessa-Alpine was only desert. No pumpjacks, no cities, no windfarm. It's desolating. Only the road, the desert and the sun. When we arrived in Alpine, I was exhausted and feeling nauseous because of so many hours in the car and the sun. We took a while to leave the hotel to have dinner. The city is so small, around 6000 habitants, that there were no restaurants opened after 9pm. Our only option was a bar of road bikers, called The Old Gringo that serves beer and tex-mex. There is also a stage for music presentations. We are not used to see presentations "for free" in NYC and food was half of the price of NY. We were so happy. 

Day 4 - Big Bend National Park 

The Big Bend National Park was our main destination in Texas. We had never been in a US national park before so I didn't know what to expect. It. Is. Amazing. Alpine was one of the closest city, however it was a one-hour driving to the park entrance and then more time driving inside the park (usually 30/45 minutes) to the places we wanted to see. It is huge and so far away. There was absolutely no internet connection. As new comers, we didn't know what to do, so we chose the first trail because it was the closest one from where we were and, according to the description, it looked nice. 

Trails in Brazil are always dangerous. A guide is needed, there is no infrastructure, I always get bitten by mosquitoes, I always fall and get hurt. This time I was afraid of getting lost or being bitten by a snake. However, at the park, the trails are very well delimited. It is impossible to get lost. There are no losing rocks, so it is easier to walk and not slip and fall. It is the most democratic experience I have had in my life. There were so many families on these trails. Old people, babies, children. There were also many trails designed for people with disabilities, so everyone could be there. When I noticed how accessible the park was, I confess, I cried a little bit. 

In the first trail, we walked in the desert until we reached that canyon on the horizon. The we walked a little bit inside the canyon itself. There was only the two of us, Allan and I, and we spotted an animal named Aoudad, an exotic kind of sheep. It was beautiful, very touching. The silence and the animals moving graciously.

There was a small museum telling the history of paleontological excavations within the park limits. The dinosaurs we see in Jurassic Park used to lived in this area. Before it was a desert, a long time ago in geological time, this area was the bottom of the ocean.

The second trail, we went to the top of a mountain. We could have seen bears, but there were so many people on this trail, it was noisy.

It was late in the evening when we left the park. On our way back do Alpine, we stopped in Marathon, a town of 400 habitants. We were hungry. We desperately needed to eat. The only opened restaurant was a hotel-restaurant, very fancy, named White Buffalo. People there were so fancy with their leather hats, books and wine bottles. Allan and I were smelling, dirty, but we stayed, we were very well attended and we had a wonderful meal. The women were wearing long skirts, boots, hats that had a feather as a detail, and make up. The only thing we didn't like were the cocktails. Probably we are spoiled because in Sao Paulo and NYC we have access to so many wonderful cocktails that, this time, they were awful. 

In the bathroom, old pictures of cowgirls. 

Day 5 - Big Bend National Park

We drove on the Scenic Drive, which is a road with many special stops where you can park and overlook beautiful landscapes. 100% accessible. That was wonderful. We also went to one of the main attractions of the park, the Santa Helena Canyon Overlook. Once again, everything incredibly beautiful. Because it's an important attraction, it was crowded. There were so many people, so many families. We could walk in the river and the water was freezing. This was the moment we saw a family in which the father was carrying a gun on his waist. Again, it is really complicated for me trying to understand this adoration for guns. I kept thinking a lot about it. We were in the park, walking on the river, only families... Would he protect his family from a fish? From a coyote? Anyway... 

Overlooks 100% accessible. 

The Santa Elena Canyon. 

The Rio Grande, the border between Texas and Mexico. 

Then we went to an archeological site. Before that area became a national park, people used to farm over there. Although it is desert, some months of the year it rains a lot and it floods, so they managed to have few kinds of plantations. At the archeological site, there are ruins from the old farmer's house, a storage place and a guest house. Of course that on this site there were no one, except for Allan and I. An eagle came very close. It was there for a long time. Actually, we left and it was still there. 

The archeological site. 

Our eagle friend. 

Of course that, back to Alpine, it was late and no other restaurant was opened but The Old Gringo. Once again, The Old Gringo was saving us with tex-mex, live music and cheap beer. 

Tex-mex at The Old Gringo. 

Day 6 - Big Bend National Park 

We wanted to go to a thermal spring in the park. However, the whole torcida do flamengo had the same idea. It was crowded, but along the way to the hot spring there were ruins of the middle of the century from a spa/hotel that they built in that area. 

Then we went to see something really special for me. Since last year I have been passionately reading Lucia Berlin. She sometimes mentions the Rio Grande, the natural border between Mexico and Texas. It was very touching to see and to be so close to something that she described and talked about in her short stories. On the other side of the border, there was a pickup truck playing Mexican music - really loud. 

We went back to Alpine. It was early and we could eat somewhere else then The Old Gringo. We chose another restaurant and the food was spectacular. Then we did something we hadn't had the time before: walk around and get to know the town. Years ago, the railroad used to divide the town in two: on one side the Americans lived and on the other side, the Mexicans. So, at the Mexican side we can see these adorable adobe houses - that, once again - I got to know in Lucia Berlin's short story. 

More tex-mex. Yes, so much cheese was making me feel very sick. 

The Old Gringo that saved us several times - with live music! 

Murals are very common. Even inside the houses there were painting on the walls. 

An adobe house. 

Not in flood season, Rio Grande seems small and gives the false idea of a fragility natural border between countries. However, all the time we saw warnings of what we should do in case we saw something suspicious regarding illegally cross border and on our ways there were border patrol stations. 

Border patrol station. 

Day 7 - Road trip to Austin 

On the seventh day, we woke up early, had breakfast and soon we took the car to a long road trip to Austin. This was the most cool road trip ever. Unlike the landscapes with pumpjacks, refineries and windfarms from Dallas to Odessa, this time the landscape was wilder. Only desert and mountains. There were few stops on the road and from one little town to another we had to drive a lot. So we had a little bit of trouble for bathroom and food. 

The only thing very sad was the dead animals on the road. On the whole trip we saw many coyotes, birds and boars that were hit by cars and died. But at this time there were  more of them and many deers also. It is really sad and even sadder that you get used to it while driving. I could only remember the book from the Brazilian author, Ana Paula Maia, Enterre seus mortos.

Our first stop was to have lunch and fuel the car. It was a small town and in front of the gas station there was this cute and colorful restaurant. Inside, everybody spoke Spanish and there were 3 sheriffs having lunch. It looked like a movie scene. (I miss all these colors in Texas. NYC is such a grey city).

This was our last tex-mex meal. Delicious, but my body could not stand any more cheese. 

The whole trip had a country type of landscape. We saw many ranches and farms, specially pecan farms. Closer to Austin, we passed through Fredericksburg, a town founded and occupied by German settlers. There were many peach farms and wineries. It was so curious, because I didn't know that Texas produced wine. I wanted so much to spend at least one night in this area. It is curious to think about this European settlers in Texas. We see hispanos, cowboys, black people... German descendants were a surprise for me. 

We arrived late in Austin. Just the time to checkin and have a quick dinner. We discovered that there was a festival happening at the same time. I looked on the internet and it is a famous and enormous festival for "creative people". I still don't know exactly what it means. Anyway, streets were closed, chaotic traffic, many strange people wearing stranger outfits. We didn't fit in. So after bath and dinner, we called it a day. 

Day 8 - Austin

We walked from the hotel to the Capitol and then to The Bullock Texas State History Museum. After one week traveling through Texas, we went to see their history (ironies of life). Many surprises: we didn't know that for a short period Texas was a nation! Yes. A totally independent country. We also didn't know that during the Civil War, Texas was fighting among the Confederacy States and they are very - VERY - proud of their history. 

We also learned why the symbol of the state is a star. It is related to the masons. However, curious thing: if you paint it in red, it will be exactly like the start at The Museum of Communism in Prague. 

The star in front of The Bullock State Museum of Texas. 

The star at The Museum of Communism in Prague. July 2019. 

After lunch, Allan searched on internet one last experience we wanted to have in Texas: a rodeo. He bought the tickets and we went to the outskirts of Austin (around 40 minutes driving) where there was an arena. We had never been in a rodeo before, even in Brazil. Around the arena there was an amusement park, but we arrived late and we went straight to the arena. So many hispano hablantes. So many Mexicans. That place was not touristic, so many people there were low income and they go with families. Many children dressed up like cowboys. Really cute. 

The rodeo presentations were nice. I was afraid I was gonna feel sad or bad, but it was more like a party. Besides, I was happy for being in a place more authentic. I hated the festival atmosphere that was happening in Austin. After the rodeo presentations, there was a concert - I suppose Taylor Swift and other country artists started their careers singing and playing in rodeos like this? I don't know. 

We saw a little bit of the concert and then we went to the amusement park. There were so many teenagers, families speaking in Spanish and Allan and I speaking in Portuguese. hahahaha Soooooo cool! It was crowded, so we couldn't go to many attractions, but we went to the roller coaster and the ferris wheel. We ate popcorn, candy apple and pizza. Like the movies. 

While we were waiting to park at the rodeo arena, this man was greeting the ones in the line. 

The ferris wheel. 

One presentation at the rodeo. A family of three (father, son and mother) had each one a horse and they performed a beautiful presentation. They were wearing Mexican outfits. 

In how many United States have I been in this 8-day trip? How many Texas have I seen? So plural. So many new things each day. I am thankful Allan took me to take this trip. Hope there will be others in the future.