San Antonio Texas

I just spent a month in San Antonio working. Let's just say I am glad to be home. Not that San Antonio is that bad of a city, it actually has some very pretty parts and for the most part it was not a bad experience. I visited the Alamo (which is smaller than I thought it would be and gave me the urge to yell out "where's the basement?") and walked along the river walk. The river walk is basically the stretch of the San Antonio river that flows through downtown and is built with a walking area on either side and lots of restaurants and a few hotels along the walkway. It is all very well done and is a tourist magnet for the city. There was also some good shopping in the area to be had as well. The place I did most of my shopping was the area called the "Mercado"(the market). It was an area of shops that sold mostly Mexican handicrafts interdispiredwith reasturants. Closer to down town was an area called "El Villita" (the village, for all you non Spanish speakers out there) it was more high end than the Mercado and was a small collection of local artists and craftspeople all set up in a historic grouping of houses.

The place I spent most of my time in San Antonio though was at the clinic were I was working. The clinic was located in the "medical area" of the city that had most of the hospitals and specialized clinics. The building where we were was a actually an old psych ward. And believe me I felt like I was right at home. The coordinators that was were working with actually had there desks right in front of the old "rubber rooms." I got to go in one and see what it was like. I can tell you it is not at all like the movies that show an all white tufted padded cell. They are actually really hard rubber walls with only a skylight for light and a drain in floor for, well, you know. They are now being used for storage. I was told all kinds of stories from the staff about the place being haunted. I can tell you it would be scary enough to see a ghost, but to see a crazy person's ghost would scare the bejesus out of me. The only weird experience I had there was in the bathroom of the office I was using (that used to the one of the rooms the patients slept in) the bathroom always smelt like flowers and even if I shut the door firmly, it would always be open again (sometimes with the trash can in front of the open door) if I left the room. Hmmm..odd.

Ok now for the bad news about San Antonio; it was hotter than Hell and so humid I couldn't wear my glasses outside or they would fog up. There were also sudden thunderstorms the caused flooding and frequent lightning strikes. Nice to look at from inside but a bitch to be caught out in. There was also the matter of the a certain type of Texan. For the most part they were very polite southern folks and it was fun to hear "y'all" all the time. BUT the other Texan was the Bush loving, war cheering, flag waving kind that really pissed me off and made me long for home where these people are in the minority.

So, there you go, a month of my life in the middle of Texas.

Yee Haw!

So Long Y'all!

Want to see more photos from this trip? Click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50208355@N00/sets/759139/