Here I am in San Antonio, Texas!! I really love it but it is intensely hot... in fact, it's kind of impossible to stay outside for longer than five minutes. At night the air is still exceedingly thick and hot so air conditioning has become my new friend!!



I arrived in Houston, Texas on Tuesday, August 10th and stayed at Circle Lake Retreat Center for five nights. I met all 56 of the Jesuit Volunteers working in the South region of the United States. There were people from all over the U.S. and they made up houses of three to seven people. There are two JV houses in Houston, one in Austin, one in San Antonio, two in New Orleans, one in Atlanta, one in El Paso, one in South Dakota, and one in Mobile, Alabama. We had a lot of fun, there were three hour lectures on four of the days and then a talent show on the last day. I performed with the seven girls in my house- we sang "So Long, Farewell" from the Sound of Music. I was Brigitta. :) I also did a skit with some JVs from the Midwest which was a lot of fun!! It was my birthday so we all enjoyed a huge marble cake and dance party that night. I was in heaven (except I realized that if I was hot inside from dancing, it would be no relief to go outside so I had to keep taking breaks so as to not overheat!!).



So, my housemates and I were picked up by Brother Gus (a religious brother associated with our parish in San Antonio) and a nice man named Carlos in a white mini-school bus on Sunday, August 15th and driven to our new home in San Antonio. We arrived around 3pm and had a little time to unpack. Our new home is crazy!! It's a huge former convent with nine bedrooms and a chapel. It's two floors. The second floor has eight monastic cells- one of which is the "Mother Superior" room, complete with a buzzer to wake the young nuns. My housemates and I had a little trouble choosing who would get each room but when we finally decided, I was content with my assigned room. There are four bathrooms, each with a shower, toilet, and sink, on the second floor. The house was filthy when we arrived so we set about cleaning as soon as we all had chosen our rooms. However, someone used the shower in one of our bathrooms to fill up a bucket of water for cleaning but the water wouldn't turn off. It gushed and gushed from the faucet (luckily it was luke warm water and it wasn't coming from the showerhead, it was the bottom faucet) and we had to call the priests over (from the church next door) to turn off the water to our house. They searched and searched but couldn't find the switch to shut off the water. Meanwhile, the drain in the shower couldn't handle the excessive amounts of water spewing from the faucet so we kept filling up buckets and dumping them in the sink. Finally, the maintenance man for the church grounds figured out how to turn off the water and we were without water for about twelve hours. We showered and brushed our teeth in the church guest house which was nice :)



Then, on Monday, August 16th, we (the six gals and I) went and visited all of our places of work. When we went to visit Catholic Charities (where I work), I was given the keys to a large white van which I will need to use every day to get to and from work, and to run errands for the organization throughout the week. The van can only be used for Catholic Charities-related activities :( and it has only two seats (driver and passenger). Also, the windows do not open at all... thank goodness the air conditioning works because otherwise I would die. I share the van with my housemate, Christina who also works with Catholic Charities. The job seems like it will be challenging but a really great experience. I'll explain more later. I start work tomorrow!!



So, the gals!! We call ourselves, "G-Unit" because the convent we live in is called Casa Guadalupe and we call it "Casa G" or the "G-Spot" (which I don't like but it's a tradition for the JVs to refer to the house that way). So anyway, here's the line up-



1.) Owen, "Nana"- She is the oldest of the group and from Columbus, OH. She studied Dietetics but now has applied (and been accepted) to Social Work graduate school. She has her own car here and is working with the elderly at Christian Senior Services.



2.) Janine- She is from Los Angeles and is shorter than me!! Yay!! Haha. She is going to enter Nursing school after JVC and works with Respite Care- a center for children with disabilities and abused children.



3.) Kelsey, "Kels"- She is also from the Los Angeles area and reminds me so much of my former roommate, Kaeli that I keep accidentally calling her that- oops!! She studied Sociology at USD and is a self-proclaimed sassy diva. She will be working with pregnant teenagers and young mothers at Seton Home as their spiritual director. Vegetarian.



4.) Kait- She is from Philadelphia and has described herself as the most talkative person you'll ever meet. It was true at first but really, I haven't noticed that she talks much more than anyone else, haha. She attended Loyola Maryland (and studied abroad in Spain with a girl who studied with me in Chile!) and is applying for grad schools this year. She'll be working at Respite Care with Janine. Doesn't eat red meat.



5.) Megan- She is from San Diego and probably one of the sweetest people you'll meet. She's kind of quiet and shy but totally selfless and caring. She works at the church (Our Lady of Guadalupe) next door to us and already started working today and yesterday (whereas the rest of us have a break until tomorrow). She's our direct link with the church which is really nice. Vegetarian.



6.) Christina- My fellow Chi-town gal, her family actually lives in Skokie now but she lived in Wrigleyville before. She attended Loyola Academy and St. Louis University. She studied Spanish and International Studies (just like me) and is working with Immigration at Catholic Charities. I was jealous...until I found out her department has a lot of drama, back-stabbing, and passive aggression (as well as active aggression- last year's JV got into a verbal altercation with a staff member that involved cursewords). We know all about the office from a binder the girl who worked in my department gave us. I'm glad to have a coworker from my house!! (and hometown!!) She's real nice.

7.) Laura, "Boo," "Baby Boo"- The youngest of the group and the goofiest. Least religious and most adamently opposed to the cruel treatment of animals. Content with her housemates!


So, I want to comment on Texas culture, our financial situation, the rest of our house, the staff of the parish we live with, and the neighborhood we live in but don't have much time. Suffice it to say that we are in an area of heavy crime. Literally across the street is a plaza where prostitution and drug deals are done every night. Last night we heard at least three helicopters responding to some criminal activity in our area. We heard sirens and bird calls as well. The city has installed speakers that blast predatory bird calls so that birds will stay out of our area. I've been sleeping surprisingly well. Apparently this morning I slept through a loud garbage truck and the eight o'clock bell medly from the church next door (OLG). Granted, I was exhausted. The cockroaches we've found in our bedrooms have made us afraid to sleep.

Wait, I should say first that I am happy to be here!! It's going to be an adjustment but I really thank God that I have been given this opportunity. I'll try to keep you all updated. :)

Love from San Antonio!!!
<3
Laura