Things I did and didn't expect

Things I expected about Tucson, which are true:

• It's hot. This past week, the high has been over 100 or about there every day. While it's true that doesn't quite feel 102 degrees because it's "a dry heat," it just means it feels like 95 degrees.
• It's very spread out. "Sprawling" is the word they use around here. This is very different than San Luis where I walked everywhere I wanted to go. Here, everything is 10 miles away and I've driven more in the past two weeks than I have in the past two months.
• Gas is cheap. Without all the California taxes, gas is about a dollar or so less per gallon than I'm used to paying.

Things I didn't expect:

• The surprising number of people who could be nominated for TLC's "What Not to Wear." Now, I've never really considered myself all that fashion forward, and I've never really been one to care all that much about what people wear, but, I have seen more people in sweatpants and oversized shirts at the grocery store than I care to count. We took Lillian to the library this morning where a lady from the zoo brought some animals and a woman was there in boxer shorts. Really? Boxer shorts? (I didn't stare too much because the boxer shorts outfit may or may not have been the only outfit she owned. However, I wouldn't have been surprised it she owned many like outfits and wore them all the time.)
• Various unexpected sequelae resulting from living in "a red state." People who lived here told us the state was very conservative. I assumed that meant that people here didn't want the government to fluoridate their water. What they actually meant, I assume, was that it is almost requisite that one gets a prominent tattoo, smoke, and not recycle. In my apartment complex, I can't even choose not to recycle... they just don't have the service.
  
• Not to be too harsh on the Tucsonians, I'll mention the spectacular sunsets they have here. I mean, I knew that desert sunsets were famously beautiful, but night after night, they are simply breathtaking.