Girls' Night Out

Remember the Alamo? I didn't. I learned about the San Antonio fortress/mission in elementary school, but neither me or my fellow missionaries could recall many details about the events that had taken place there. As we were getting a little cabin fever from being inside the gated MAC Center, we decided it was time to get some history by taking a trip to the city. The nine of us girls piled into a big, white unmarked van, driven by our small, blond assistant program director and we strolled into the streets of Texas---after flying through the HOV lane, circling for parking and cramming the van into a tiny space.

Here's the Alamo:




It's located right in the midst of downtown and not out in the desert as I anticipated. The story goes that in 1835, about 200 Texans fought here against 6,000 Mexicans during the Texas Revolution. Davey Crockett was one of the Texas soldiers. Texas lost brutally, but there heroism was not forgotten and "Remember the Alamo" became a battle cry that eventually helped Texas to win the war.

We were hungry after all that education, so we went to eat at an Italian restaurant on the Riverwalk. Here I am with Meghan (our director), Jessica, Mary, Clare, and Nicole.



The last trio of girls of are from Ireland. Mary and Clare will be staying in San Antonio while Nicole is off to Guatemala. I know Iam in for a culture shock when I go to Mexico, but imagine the surprise that Mary must have felt, when she, a women from Ireland in her mid-20s', was denied a drink. Her driver's license is paper and the restaurant wouldn't accept it. Still it was great food, with portions big enough to feed the Texas army.

Here we are on the stairs of the Riverwalk, along with a photo the river. I'm in front with the Irish girls behind me. Then there's Jessica (who'll be my roomie in Mexico) and then Courtney who's going to Peru. Next there's Jackie who is also on her way to Mexico followed by Jane and Julie who will be in a Peru.



After a big night out, we returned to MACC and took a dip in the seminarian's pool. As the seminarians are mostly on retreat, we were spared the potential awkwardness of a run-in with them. The bats that had been skimming the water the other night were nowhere in sight, so it was a relaxing end to the day.