Road Trip Day 17: McAllen, Texas

So I was a total failboat when it came to posting every day, but I suppose that's okay.  We leave in about eight hours to drive to Monterrey (omg!).  I should probably already be asleep, but I wanted to get some postcards written and photos loaded to Facebook before we left...otherwise that was all never going to get done.  I mean, seriously, have you met me?  Procrastination is a way of life, y'all.

Some highlights from the trip:
1) That I am apparently not grown-up enough to remember to wear sunblock (major sunburn in DC)
2) Watched all four seasons of The IT Crowd while visiting my friend Caroline in Knoxville, Tennessee (show = amazing!)
3) Birmingham Civil Rights Institute: in which it becomes clear why Birmingham was the most segregated city in America (it was against the law to allow black and white people to even play dominoes/cards/dice/etc together) 
4) That it took me two days to realize that I was in the Central Time Zone once I got to Birmingham (two days!)
5) Alabama really is as boring as my friend Caroline said (other than the Civil Rights Institute)
6) I drove over Lake Pontcharlain and thought "wow, the Mississippi River is SO big"
7) New Orleans is the most amazing city ever

8) Make sure you pee before getting on I-10 and heading out of New Orleans - it's mostly bridge over the bayous and swamps (very cool, but no way to get off)
9) The same goes for Texas: except it's just that there's NOTHING there for vast stretches of it (fields, but no towns as far as the eye can see)

10) Hung out with my new roommate and then met several new teachers/admin tonight, and everyone is awesome


And now I really need to get to bed, as we're leaving in less than eight hours!