Tuesday I had a Dr. appointment with the dermatologist to check my scar, it is coming along fine. Afterwards we were searching for a post office and ran across some beautiful old homes, most of them had the historic registry plaque on the front. The cold front is moving away, we got more sun and less wind.
Wednesday, after being cooped up together for most of a week, we went our separate ways. Gary dropped me off at a shopping mall while he went to an air museum. I window shopped but did find a good price on men's jeans, since Gary has lost weight most of his jeans were looking like "grandpa" jeans. His new ones show off his new found figure. It was so warm (comparatively) when we got back I washed my car here at the rv park. A clean car always makes me happy especially when I get to clean it myself, I know call me crazy.
Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we got up at 6:15 (I hate alarm clocks)we had to be across town by 8:00 to help the Catholic Charities take 43 refugees to the Raul Jimenez dinner. Raul started this dinner 34 years ago to feed the needy for free. It has grown over the years, they never turn anyone away, to feeding over 25,000 for free. We were told that the US allows 70,000 refugees into the country every year. Catholic Charities of San Antonio took 70. They get them housing, give $1000 per person to set up their apartments, teach them English, American culture, how to get a job, etc. so they will become self-sufficient. One thing they drill into their heads, "shower every day". C.C. had several different nationalities, Cuban, Burmese, Thailand and several others I forgot. There were a total of 43 refugees that they took by bus down to the convention center for Thanksgiving dinner at 10:30 in the morning, many children, I thought to myself in 50 years those kids will say they came to America when they were just a year or so old. Besides dinner, the refugees were able to call home free, the Cuban group spent all their time on the phone, I believe some of them took dinner back on the bus with them. I noticed a Cuban lady crying on the bus on the way home. Poor thing must have been homesick. I forgot to mention, very few spoke English. It was quite an experience plus it helped us not feel so lonely for our family.
Friday, the day we've been looking forward to for weeks. The boat parade on the Riverwalk. We were warned there would be heavy traffic. Well, once we got off the freeway to downtown it took us an hour to get parked. Gary got a little uptight. We still had plenty of time, we had reserved seats, so we happened upon a hotel/bar that opened up in 1909. We had snacks and adult beverage, our server, Jose, took special care of us, he was fun to talk with. As we were getting ready to leave he wouldn't allow us to pay for our drinks. The parade was fun, 28 floats decorated by businesses and organizations. The people we sat next to on both sides were friendly which made it a lot of fun. After, we decided to go see Jose again while we waited for traffic to thin out. The weather was perfect, in the low 60's and no wind.
Saturday we prepared to move, I did laundry and Gary went on a 22 mile bike ride along the mission trail. Tonight we're going back to the Riverwalk for the last time to see the lights without thousands of people.
No pictures last week, this week lots. Top to bottom: Convention Hall, placemats made by school kids then laminated; stage; two other volunteers with me; shots of some of the refugees; the dam along the Riverwalk out by the missions; scenes from the parade.
TTFN Gary and Pam
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