I am back from El Paso and getting ready for San Antonio next week, but first we have to get rid of this busy week with tons to-do (including the presentation for the San Antonio conference. Good thing the paper is done and gone). Well, El Paso really made me happy. Texas is still there and people tend to be very nice. The hotel staff was very friendly and everyone smiles at you when you are walking downtown. Oh and did we walk. My friend and collaborator Maju Brunette had the "awesome" idea of walking from downtown El Paso to UTEP (some good 50 mins, uphill, and in some 80-something sunny 4pm weather while wearing a suit). It felt like home, with the hotel TV giving me at least 7 channels in Spanish, and the undergrads driving around the UTEP campus listening to Mexican music. I was really surprised to see a girl driving while blasting Diego Schoening's cover of "Enamorado de ti."
That's something we probably will never see on the VT campus. Food was... well, I can't tell. Most of my meals were in the airport or conference, and when Rachel was nice enough to drive from Las Cruces to have dinner with me, we were so hungry and tired we went straight to "El Taco Tote" (not bad for a franchise... the Mexican restaurants here in VA would die to have their non-microwave-victim tortillas and the salsa bar that even had chiles toreados). With P$ in attendance, we can only hope San Antonio will be even better.
I fondly remember walking that area around UTEP. There was a great Italian place (and I think it's still there) called Ardovino's. Very small, but great food. Casa Jurado was another good place.
Posted by: Phil | October 12, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Glad you had a good trip.
Posted by: RW | October 12, 2009 at 04:32 PM