We've been in San Antonio for a little over a week now, and there's a few things I've observed.
The people here are very friendly. That said, a lot of San Antonians originate from elsewhere. I've only met 2 people thus far that grew up here, and they were married to each other.
There is a large Hispanic community. A sweet lady from church invited our family over for Thanksgiving dinner along with some friends of theirs. The couple's parents were from two different parts of Mexico as were all of the guests, except for Rajiv who was from India. Military and work brought them here to San Antonio. Everyone could speak Spanish with the exception of our family and Raj. That night they primarily spoke English for our benefit. They were lovely people, and we had a nice time. I do think it would be prudent if we learn at least some Spanish though. Just in our neighborhood are a lot of Spanish speakers. The friendly couple right across the street are from Argentina, for example.
There's a LOT of military and retired military here. Which of course is natural since there are 4 military bases located in San Antonio. Many people we met assumed the military brought us here.
Texans can't grow grass. I'm not sure what this stuff is that is growing everywhere in yards and parks, but if I'd run across it in UT, I'd be reaching for the herbicide. It's course, prickly, pale green, and looks mean. And they water it!!!
They love kids! In the grocery store, just walking around, shopping, and at church people will come up and ask about your kids and coo over them. If they have kids or grandkids, they'll freely chat about them as well. In the furniture store even some guys in their 20s came up and wanted to touch Isaac's fat feet. This was cool with me, his feet are pretty hard to resist- but I was surprised that guys would approach a baby. Huh. Someone explained that in Hispanic culture it is believed to be passing a blessing along to touch a baby. I don't know if that's true or not, but people do like to touch babies. I'm less of a germaphobe than I was for my firstborn, but still I prefer touching to be on the top of the head or the feet or other parts he doesn't stick in his mouth.
As much as they like kids, they didn't plan enough parks/playgrounds. In Utah there are playgrounds big and small all over the place. Here they are pretty sparse.
The general attitude is more laid back. In the grocery store for instance, I was a woman on a mission because I had to get back right away. I kept finding myself behind people strolling along the aisles doing their Thanksgiving shopping at a leisurely pace. When checking out, the clerks chatted up each customer. I need to plan more time for the slower pace, I think.
Driving is more laid back as well. It's very easy changing lanes, people are mostly polite behind the wheel. As Jonathan noticed, a lot of drivers drive at or below the speed limit on the freeways. Coming from Utah this is a bit of an adjustment. Still figuring out the roads- at times the GPS gets confused too, which doesn't help. More lanes than 2 are needed on 1604 to cut back on rush hour congestion. Seriously though. 2 lanes for a major freeway for a city of 1.3 million? Many of whom commute on that freeway into the heart of the city?
Pictures coming soon, so you can get a glimpse of the city as I see it.
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