Socks Galore

We’re not for certain, but we believe that if we play our cards right we may have blossoming careers as Park Rangers. Well at least the outfit looks good with Kenny’s eyes.

Oh a relic of Anglo imperialism visited by over 3 million fanny packers a year. The Alamo was our first stop in San Antonio. Here we heard the well versed story of David Crockett and James Bowie, fighting to their death with 189 other brave men and 14 other women and children who were spared by Santa Ana in order to tell the story to the rest of Texas. With little attention paid to what some would say reasons behind the battle (President Polk’s desire to expand US territory, despite borders already set in the Louisiana Purchase) we left the Alamo a little confused as to what exactly happen in this historic spot. It could also have been the tight crowds and less than conciliative syntax used (phrases like “belligerent Indians” and “angelic Anglos” [sic]) which confused us and made this stop a quickie.

From here  we plunged on over to see some of the mission grounds established by Spain and more specifically Fray Antonio Margil de Jesús. These grounds were used in the 1700-1800s in an attempt to spread christianity and Spain’s borders. The many churches and huge buildings on the Mission grounds were built by indigenous populations (hmm… Pharaoh labor?). But along with the word of God, these Missionaries also brought disease and deception to the indigenous population. With over 80% of the indigenous peoples who came in contact with these conquistadors  losing their lives. We again left this spot uncertain as to what really happen. 

Many of our questions about San Antonio’s history were answered in a simple essay written by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau was arrested for refusing to pay 6 years worth of poll taxes, because of his strong stance  against slavery and the Mexican-American war. His essay Civil Disobedience describes his beliefs about about the war, America and slavery. From reading his essay we were better able to understand American sentiment towards the Mexican-American war at the time.         

Our brief collisions with people over the past 5 weeks have taught us so much about ourselves and the world, but Hobo Jim taught me about the beauty in just living. I ran into Jim while walking down the riverfront, he had a basket of crawfish and offered me some. I had never had the things before, and after having such a hard time sucking the juices out of them, I can’t imagine I will be eating the little guys again. But he offered me some, so we dined. We sat by the river talking about the places hes been and the honesty of the human soul. Jim taught me how far kindness really goes as he told story after story of the great things people have done for him ( and he for others). Like the couple that found him injured in a church and kept him for a week, before buying him a bus ticket home. He told me about the difference between a Hobo and a Homesteader (a street person) and how a Hobo will always do something to help people out. There are Hobo camps set up in most cities where only Hobo’s are allowed to stay (though he promised he could sneak us in). There is always a camp overseer who cooks the meals each night, and the only rule that a Hobo lives by at the camp is that they must leave some sort of food for the next Hobo when they leave. As Jim and I talked he would stop to say hello to everyone that walked past, and sure enough small crowds would congregate around us for awhile and then be on their merry way. I randomly (ok not so randomly) ran into Hobo Jim the next three nights by the riverfront. On the last night Jim and I talked about making decisions in life, and how whether right or wrong, the act of making decisions keeps us moving.

So at last we were able to put our University degrees to good use. But our jobs in The Big Easy were exactly that, easy. We did the whole extra thing for two days (and made overtime, how bout that) and met Zach who manages the extras. We will most definitely be getting in contact with him again when we get to L.A. and hopefully continuing to do some extra work. It was fun to be on set and to see how the magic is made. Things we learned on set….

1. The smaller the role, the bigger the diva attitude.

2. Bow Wow is really small, and is not Master P’s son.

3. You don’t work for the first 6 hours on set, so its ok to be late.

4. Groupies exist.

5. Cheering for Michigan’s basketball team the past 4 years helped make it much easier for us when the director asked everyone to pretend to cheer for the camera even though no one was actually playing on the court.

If anyone sees the Patriots movie, look for the two kids in the crowd waving signs and jumping up and down. If you don’t happen to see the movie, I am sure you wont be missing much.

Pic is of us with our first contracts.