Last year for spring break, two of my friends and I road tripped to Santa Fe. While there, we met two bands (Foster the People and We Barbarians), who were en route to Austin for South by Southwest. After conversing with them until the bar closed and then inviting them back to our hotel room to meet our two, ill-trained dogs, (disclaimer, for the mothers and grandmothers reading this right now, no activities took place that you would frown upon), we decided that these boys were cool enough to follow to Austin.
Alas, a few days after meeting them, we packed my Honda Element and drove to Austin. If you're unfamiliar with SXSW, it's one of the largest music festivals in the country. Austin goes from a relatively quiet quirky city to a jam-packed metropolitan area, filled with musicians and hipsters and men who have more hair than women. Miraculously, shortly before plowing into the city, by the grace of some Austinite god, we found a hotel room that allowed two dogs and offered a shuttle service to the music festivities.
The hotel was only the first gift Austin afforded us.
Before checking in, we went out to eat and realized, in the presence of all the hip people around us, our teachery selves were in need of a makeover. We called a salon that was two buildings down from the restaurant in which we were dining and they had openings for all three of us. Nearly unheard of in a city, let alone a city hosting such a huge event.
A hotel and haircuts. Thank you, Austin.
Post-haircuts, we were still three days unshowered. As soon as we lugged our bags to our room, we each took our turn at digging the dirt out of grossly expanded pores. As our self-makeovers completed, we snapped a few "beginning of the night" photos and proceeded to the SXSW shuttle. On our way downtown, a woman from Canada gave us a free shuttle bracelet.
A hotel, haircuts, free shuttle rides. Man, Austin.
Once arriving downtown, I paid for the two non-braceleted rides and, in turn, was given a shuttle bracelet so I could ride free for the rest of our time there. We didn't pay for a single shuttle bracelet, but ended up, through the generosity of others, with two.
A hotel, haircuts, 2 people's free shuttle rides. Woo.
The next part, though, this is the kicker. Our first step
s into the chaos that is SXSW were met with people singing in the street, shelling out flyers, and drinking beer. Seeing the consumption of the grainy goodness, my friend, Jade, remarked,
I want a beer
Here, have ours...
Yes, as soon as her words were spoken, a band of Spanish men were handing us beers and introducing themselves in their sweet Spanish accents.
Austin was so kind to us and it taught me that loving is trusting humanity. Truly. Simply trusting.
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