Deep in the heart of Texas...

Oh, Texas. It's been a fast one. Quick overview to hit the highlights, with a more reflective blog in the process.

Monday -- Knowing I wouldn't have time at any other point in the week, I hit El Mercado for a specific purchase -- a gift that I'd been contemplating for awhile. Super excited about the gift. Spent the evening with the community. I love spending time with these amazing women.

Tuesday -- Three observations, a midterm and a little more community time.
I remembered how much middle school students make me laugh. Aware that I was there to observe their teacher, two of the seventh graders kept yelling "She's a really good teacher!" and "We learn a lot from her!" in the middle of class.

Two "tee-hee" stories from the Kindergarten. The letter of the day was B ("B says 'buh'!"), and the students were identifying words they know that begin with b. One student said barn. Their teacher asks the students if they could tell her what a barn is. One little guy, who was so excited he could hardly stay "criss-cross-applesauce," announced, "It's a place where animals live, and my mom bought the big barn on FarmVille last night!"

A little while later, during snack, a student who was seated at the table where I was working informed me that my "bracelet has brown beads. Buh-buh-buh!" The girl at the same table asked if she could see it. She then asked if I would take it off, so she could see it. I thought I was going to have to use force to get it out of her fingers. (I did not take it off.)

In Spanish class, I wondered when students in Texas were going to be able to use the phrase, "Hace frio," as it was in the nineties with high humidity each day this week. Today was particularly disgusting.

A few realizations from Wednesday. One, I think I like Texas because they have places named "Mamacita's" and "Bueno Taco!" We don't have that in Ohio. I also wondered if a place like Chipotle really does very well in Texas. Kind of seems like a sell out. Finally, I was rather disappointed by Austin. I don't know why I expected Austin to be different. Driving into Austin from 35 S is kind of like driving into Atlanta on 75 from the south. The hotels just get bigger and closer together, and then you're kind of like, "Oh, hey. I'm downtown. There's where the Longhorns play football." I expected Austin to be more like Cincinnati -- You come through the cut in the hill, and TA-DA! There's the city!

Wednesday was also the day that I stopped in New Braunfels to see Kristen, my friend from high school. We were nearly inseparable the last two years of high school, despite going to different schools. I'm not quite sure I know all of what came between us, but at this point, it's just best to say life took us in different directions. It was very cool to see her and spend some time catching up. What I thought would be a couple hours turned into like four, and I found myself driving back to San Antonio at one in the morning. Totally worth it.

Sooo... a word about rental cars. You really should figure out how to read the gas gauge before you get too close to empty. Because it's quite an adventure to find yourself on 35 in Texas, in the wee hours of the morning, and thinking, "Hmmm... I wonder why that is flashing. OH! That's the low gas indicator!... Crap. How long has that been flashing?" (Much to my relief, I found an open Exxon station, and I pretty much coasted up to the pump.)

The gas light fiasco was followed by turning on the car Thursday morning to find the Check Engine light on. It took Enterprise an hour to decide if I should just drive the car, or if they could find another compact car to bring me. (Apparently, even if the car they give you requires maintenance, they are not giving you a free upgrade for the day!) After an hour of calling back and forth, they told me to go ahead and drive, but provided me with a number "in case the car breaks down or stops running." Wow. That makes me feel spectacular.

Four volunteer fairs over two days -- with mixed results. I'm looking forward to following up with the potential Lalanners that I've met over the past few days. I'm especially loving the group of volunteer service program recruiters who are running the circuits. What a fabulous group of people! Super fun. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with them more next week.

Tonight was a particularly slow fair, and I was privileged to spend about an hour and a half talking to Hector from ACE about the spirituality of art, theological reflection in sketches, visio divina, and sacred art. Amazing conversation. We also talked about prayer forms, prayer journals, stories of saints that we love, icons, cool churches, and Catholic identity at the university level. He's an artist, teaches art, and is teaching a college level course on Theological Reflection through Art.

So I'm pretty sure I'm going to like this recruiting thing...