why i love america - part 2

i've always loved america, always ... everytime we visited a new town or city, i was in awe ... the entire nation has to me what i can only describe as a "hollywood" quality ... if you're american, that probably sounds strange to you ... but growing up in canada, watching tv, most of which is american, seeing movies, mostly produced in the states, seeing cities in backdrops or hearing them mentioned and then actually visiting those cities one day ... wow, hollywood

i remember the first time i visited nyc ... i could not believe how fricken' huge it was ... i had been living in toronto for a while and i thought that was a big city ... i went all over the place in nyc ... museums, restaurants, stores, central park, times square... it really was awe inspiring to me and i wanted to live there ... i went into tiffany's with a bagel in my purse ... took a bite out of it quickly while inside the store, just so i could say i had breakfast at tiffany's ... hollywood

chicago ... the pizza, the house of blues, oprah ... hollywood

new orleans ... mardi gras, bourbon street, pearl necklaces (ha ha) ... hollywood

miami ... beaches, pink and blue buildings, sunshine ... hollywood

bar harbour ... boats, lobster, cottages ... hollywood

i spent a few months in central america ... after hurricane mitch ... hollywood america even got me down there ... the day we were supposed to fly out of honduras, we were informed that all roads to the airport were barricaded and all flights grounded ... why? bill clinton was dropping in to survey the devastation and promise some funding to help out ... wow, bill clinton ... we had to get to the airport though, and in an adventure ride in the back of a pick-up, the story of which could probably be elaborated on in another blog, we raced through a road block anyway ... the guys brandishing machine guns yelled at us and pointed, but our driver was fast and the military down there rarely has vehicles in which to chase you so we got away ... great security eh? we made it to a burger king a little ways down the road from the airport ... people were standing on either side of the road ... the word was, bill's visit was coming to a close and his motorcade was heading back to the airport ... if we waited, we might see him ... my friend applied lipstick ... we waited ... finally, the dark green SUV's started rolling by ... we tried hard to see through the darkened windows ... and then, there he was ... his window was rolled down ... daring bastard ... and he was waving at everyone ... he passed us, about 6 feet in front of us ... we cheered ... i'm not sure why, we just did ... hollywood

america is glitz and glamour to me ... but it is also the beautiful heartlands in between ... the poorest of neighbourhoods with almost every house proudly displaying an american flag ... it is breathtakingly beautiful in spots, people are outspoken and proud ... freedom of speech ... superpower ... the land of hope and dreams ... hollywood

i've never actually been to hollywood, but i know it would be too much for me, america is enough

stay tuned for part 3 - clinton, 9/11, bush, iraq