It’s been something like three days since I added anything to the blog. There’s a couple of reasons for my lapse, but tonight I’m hoping to make everything right. First of all, I don’t have internet as I write this. I stopped at a motel and asked if they had wi-fi and they said yes, but unfortunately I’ve been unable to connect, so this entry will probably not make it to the blog until I get back to Dubai. It’s important to me though that I write now as most of what has transpired the last few days is still somewhat fresh in my mind.

I arrived in Amarillo, Texas without a hitch. I usually complain about my flights, but this time I got lucky for the most part. From London to Dallas I sat next to a very small girl from the Philippines that was probably the sweetest girl I’ve talked to in some time. She was a college student heading to New Mexico to go to school. It was her first time in The States, and she was a little bit nervous about what to expect. When we got to Dallas I have to say that it was probably the most pleasant time I’ve had on this trip, the airport was basically empty, the people were extremely polite, and for the two-hour layover I had there, I kept thinking that I could see myself living here. I’m not kidding when I say that everyone was polite either, I don’t think I’ve ever been treated as nicely as I was in Dallas. After a slight delay my flight to Amarillo landed to the warm Texas summer evening. Things were really going well. As I followed the other passengers through the gates I see my Brother standing there waiting for me. I can’t say that it was a complete shock since he wrote that he was in Canyon, but I can say that I was happy to see him. It’s been about five years since I’ve seen him or anyone else in my family and to have him make the trip to Texas, and then to meet me at the airport was one of the best things to happen to me in some time. I been on a lot of flights to nearly every corner of the world and this was the first time in about twenty years that anyone has met me when I got off an airplane.

The next two days my brother and I just hung out, went to Amarillo, and I did a little bit of shopping. I kind of felt sorry that Chuck had to wait around while I went shopping, but the shopping was a necessity for me. On Sunday morning he and I went hiking in the Palo Duro Canyon. I do a lot of walking through cities, in fact it’s how I get to know a city, but it’s really enjoyable when it comes to hiking along a path in the semi-wilderness. The crunch of the rocks under feet, the buzz of insects, and the lack of civilization all come together to make it almost therapeutic. In some ways it is kind of like some of my walks in Dubai, only it’s the sand under feet, the buzz of high-tension power lines, and the haze of the skyscrapers in the distance.

Chuck left Canyon after the hike and although I understand that he has a life that he had to get back to, I really wish that he would have stayed longer.