Amarillo, West Texas A&M

Greetings followers!

This part of the blog is about the great time we had in Amarillo, at West Texas A&M.

LorAnn and Keagan picked us up from the airport and we travelled to get some lunch at an American diner first of all. It was midday on a Sunday so we were promptly introduced to what is affectionately known as the ‘church rush’ where the people of Amarillo fill the local restaurants!

After lunch we dropped our bags off at the hotel and went to a dinner being held for the entire debate team, at one of the faculty members houses. We couldn’t have expected the kind of welcome we were given. There was a full buffet and all the root beer we could drink (which has become our favourite, non-alcoholic beverage this trip!) and the chance to meet the whole speech team. The night ended with the entire Communications Department jumping on a bouncy castle, and discussing Scar’s (of Lion King fame) sexual orientation.

The next day we had an early start and the poor soul tasked with driving us around (Thanks again Dino!) took us on what was a fairly packed schedule that involved us holding class-room discussions where Ben and I made as many British jokes as possible. Suffice it to say our charm could use some improvement! After lunch we travelled to what we are told is the second largest canyon in the United States. We’ve since been unable to verify that claim put we believe the people who told us, unless they are in correct, in which case we completely disassociate ourselves from it and them (Sorry LorAnn)

The canyon was brilliant, and vast. We spent a long time driving down it’s winding roads, discussing Harry Potter and taking photographs with the local turkey population. Once we’d left the Canyon it was debate time. We debated the motion ‘THW cap political spending’ and were each paired with a debater from the University. We suited up and put on a show, to a room of around 200 people.

After the debate we went for dinner at a great Mexican restaurant, and had some great chats over shrimp burritos. Afterwards we were invited to Jessica and Brandi’s house to watch Ricky Gervais annihilate his Hollywood audience at the Golden Globes on Youtube. We’ve subsequently convinced them both to come to Europe next Christmas! (#socialismftw)

On our final day in Amarillo we went to the museum located on the University grounds. Uniquely the museum didn’t really specialise in any particular historical period, but we saw exhibits on cars, oil production, steam engines and the Native American’s. Once we’d finished in the museum we went to one of the tourist highlights of Amarillo: Cadillac Range. Basically some billionaire dumped a row of Cadillac cars in the ground, and it is traditional for tourists to spray paint the cars. Being the ‘lads-on-tour’ that we are, sprayed the tires with the English flag (see the photo above)

We finished up with a trip to a restaurant called The Big Texan, home of the 72 oz steak, where Ben and I managed to fit in another great meal before boarding our flight and waving our newly made friends goodbye!