Living here in Honduras has given me a love for the Latin American culture. In the future, I will be writing a post about life in Roatan and cultural aspects of this place. However, today, I have been thinking a lot in my homeland and the culture there. So, I would like to give you guys a basic run-down of my home, Texas.
Texas is an amazing, beautiful, majestic, friendly, and basically perfect state! (If you can't tell, I am just a little biased.) Yes, yes, I know that I went a little over the top there…but the first thing you need to know about Texas is that we are probably some of the nicest and friendliest people you will ever meet…but we are also probably the most prideful people you will ever meet. We love our state, and everyone in it (well mostly everyone in it). If a Texan is ever in another state and meets another person from Texas, we will suddenly become the best of friends…even if we don't know each other and we live on completely opposite sides of the state.
Oh! And that's another thing! Texas is BIG. This time I'm not over expressing it. To cross from one side of Texas to the other (side to side, top to bottom, etc.), it will take you close to 13 hours to get through our state. And we have all sorts of terrain. We have flat lands and mountains, deserts and forests, hot and cold, beaches and islands, cities and farm lands. You name it, we probably have it.
Something else to know is that we also love our Cowboys. Well…almost everyone loves them. But here is the funny thing about it. We love them because we are loyal people…not because the Cowboys are actually that great of a team. Ask most people from Texas why we like the Cowboys, and you will probably get answers like: "Because I'm from Dallas. You have to stay loyal to your state!" Yes, we know they haven't won a super bowl since 1990-something…but we are all still holding on to that dream that one day they will claim that glorious victory again!
A few other things you should know about Texas: we like our guns, we don't all have accents (but we can all turn it on if we want to), family is important to us, football is basically another religion because it is so important to the people of that state…Also, we are NOT "Texians." Please just stop! The word is "TEXAN." And while we are on the topic of how to say certain things, the drink is called "Coke." In Texas, we have one word for a carbonated beverage, and that is "coke." If you say soda or soft drink, you will probably get some looks, but we will let it slide…just don't. ever. say. Pop. I'll just leave it there.
Here are some words and phrases you should probably know if you ever decide to travel to Texas:
1. Y'all - the southern way of saying "you all." Get used to it, because you will hear it a lot.
2. Fixin' to - this is the way Texans say "I'm about to…"
3. Bless your heart - this phrase can be used in different ways. It can be used to comfort someone or to show sympathy. But the most common way you will hear it used is a replacement for: "That poor soul is just plain stupid…I feel sorry for him/her."
4. Howdy - A common greeting. It is a replacement for "Hello."
There are also different degrees of Texans. There are 1). Those who were born in Texas, but moved away while still a child [Status: Texan]; 2). Those who were born in another state but moved to Texas [Status: Texan]; 3). Those who moved to and lived in Texas for a short time before moving somewhere else, or have family in Texas and visited them a lot [Status: Honorary Texan]; 4). Those who were not born and possibly not raised or lived in Texas, but one parent is from Texas [Status: Half Texan]; 5). Those who were born and raised in Texas [Status: Native Texan/Full blooded Texan].
As you can see, Texans are pretty accepting of everyone, and we will basically take you in if you ever lived in Texas, have a parent from Texas, or have a love for anything Texan.
The last thing I feel you should know about Texas (at least at this point in time) is that we LOVE food. Texans have a love for BBQ, almost any type of meat, TexMex, and Mexican food. If you are going to someone's house in Texas, you can be 99% sure that you will be fed well.
All in all, Texas is a wonderful place to go. This article is just barely a glimpse at the culture and land of Texas. There is so much more I could say about this place, but I thought I should give you the spark-notes version of it. If you have never gone to or visited the state of Texas, I encourage you to go. It is a place I dearly love, and I look forward to going home to see it again.
If you have any comments or suggestions of things to add to this article, or something you would like to hear about or a topic you would like me to write about, please leave your comment below.
Love you guys!
-Tim "Tito"
(Native Texan and Catrachigringo in training)
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