Diwali

Rasika invited Brandon and I to a Diwali celebration downtown. I got to meet a bunch of her friends (many I recognized from school already) and hang out on the Riverwalk.

I asked Rasika repeatedly what the significance of Diwali is, and I never got a straight answer. Mostly she said "Oh, there's a big festival and... also food." (I can tell she really has her priorities in the right place.) But she did say eventually that, at the end of the evening, we would be putting floating candles in the river. This is supposed to happen on the day of the month when the moon doesn't show (I don't remember what the word for that is), and the candles are supposed to replace the moonlight. That's the most religious thing I got from her the whole evening. Otherwise it was "Oh, you have to try this food, and this one and this..." Which is right about my speed. Photo time!

I asked Rasika if people would be wearing traditional clothes, and she said yes, so I tried to wear my most Indian looking outfit, which admittedly was not that Indian, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Those of you who know me well will notice I'm wearing pink and sequins, both of which NEVER HAPPEN. I don't even remember where I got this top. I never have an occasion to wear it. Finally, an occasion.

We spent a great deal of our time discussing the food, trying different things and admiring the outfits other people were wearing. I discovered that Indian fashion is pretty much tailor-made for me. Explanation: I like bright colors, bold patterns, long shirts and 3/4-length sleeves, loose/flowy fabrics, shawls and scarves, light/comfortable/soft fabrics, bangles and other adornments. It's PERFECT. Indian fashion is effortlessly feminine, and conservative in its proportions (i.e. no cleavage.) I think I need to get in on this... Rasika? Take me shopping? Please? ^_^

So, after the food there was a dance show. They had a style of dance for each province in India. We sat on a hill under the San Antonio version of the CN tower (I can't remember what it's called) and watched the show. The crowd was pretty big.

I took a video of one of the dances from the province that Rasika is from, but my computer is acting funny. I might be able to load it later.

After the dances, we moved down toward the river to watch people light their candles. I took a billion pictures, it was so pretty. Unfortunately there was just enough of a breeze that the candles kept going out. All the same, it was very impressive.

After a while I sat down and started re-lighting the candles that went out. Rasika sat down next to me and said "You're really popular! Everyone's taking pictures of you!" So, I guess keep an eye out for me on flickr or other San Antonio blogs.

We had a lovely time. Rasika and I keep making plans, then breaking them. So I'm glad something finally worked out. And the candle ceremony was really pretty to watch. I told her that Channukah is also called "The Festival of Lights," but we just light the menorah, not an entire river. She laughed. <3

Family!

Apparently I give just enough hints on my Facebook as to what I'm doing to be annoying, but not enough details to satiate my mother's appetite for information. She insists - no, DEMANDS! - more photos of Brandon's family. And here they are.

We went to the Alamo!

And hung out in the courtyard!

We went to a flea market!

There were silly hats!

And action figures!

... One of which, Brandon bought!

We went to Rudy's BBQ!

Brandon's sister arrived!
Then we went to Mi Tierra's downtown!

Reading the menu!

Dos-rita!

Mariachi bros!

Attempts at getting photos of the whole table!

Crazy decorations!

The whole gang!

Next week, on Texas blog: More Texas!

Gini and Will are Visiting!

When we went home for Christmas, we met up with our friends Gini and Will, and started talking about the possibility of them coming to visit. Six months later, they got engaged just in time to come to San Antonio to celebrate! They're staying with us for a week, and doing a blitz of all the fun stuff we've found to do in this city. Here's what we've been up to so far:

We started with some shopping. We checked out the Japanese food mart. This was high on William's list because he minored in Japanese and loves everything to do with Japan.

Of course Gini immediately found the Pokemon.

Then, we went thrifting. Gini and Will do a LOT of shopping at thrift stores - Will basically taught me how to be thrifty. When he found out there are 19 Goodwill stores in San Antonio, he said we had to hit up at least a couple, so we went to the three in the immediate vicinity of the Medical Center Area.

William in his natural habitat. 

When I sent them a rough itinerary on Facebook, Gini said I had packed too much in. She said she fully expected to sit in my pool, with a margarita in her hand, for a week. 

So we've been doing quite a bit of that, as well.

Now that's what a vacation is supposed to look like.

Of course there is the obligatory food: Mexican and BBQ. I didn't get any photos when we were at Chacho's (Gini did, they're on Facebook), but I did get a couple pictures at The Bar-B-Q Station.

I made the mistake of describing a Dos-Rita, and from there on out there was no other option: we HAD to go. And so we did.

William approves.

That's a happy Gini if I ever saw one.

...We were caught off guard.

On my brother's blog, he always shows a photo of the menu when he reviews a restaurant. I think that's what Brandon was going for here, but unfortunately for him I photo-bombed it.

Even I'm willing to admit that's a little terrifying.

I had to include the silly face one.

Today, while Brandon was at work, we did the obligatory downtown stuff. 

Remember the Alamo!

Gini is a botanist, so we spent a great deal of time in the courtyard of the Alamo, checking out all the plants that had been donated. She was really impressed by the size of the palm trees, so she asked for a photo.

And then, of course, the obligatory Riverwalk visit. We didn't eat anywhere on the Riverwalk, just hung out and enjoyed the shade.

This is the Riverwalk entrance across from the Alamo.

We grabbed dinner at The Cove on the way home. I don't think I've reviewed The Cove before, so consider this my official review: it rocks. You should go. (They don't really need my help, they've been on the Food Network.)

It's a restaurant, a laundromat and a car wash. I'm not kidding.

Texas burger (burger with nacho toppings) with sweet potato fries.

I believe Gini had some sort of vegetarian quesadilla.

Will got a sampler with the fish tacos and the shrimp tacos.

We're only halfway through their visit, so there will be more to report on Monday!