San Antonio Sabbatical

One week from today I leave beautiful San Antonio.  My courses are completed and my sabbatical semester is coming to an end.  I’ve been spending this week getting ready for my move, first to New York to spend Christmas and New Year’s Day with family and then back to Pennsylvania to resume my job for the Spring 2011 semester.

On Sunday afternoon, I made my first visit to North Star Mall.  No plans to buy anything; just wanted to look around and take a picture of those awesome Texas cowboy boots (a huge colorful eye-catching sculpture that sits by the I-410 highway at the mall’s entrance).  After snapping the desired photos, I made a planned stop at Luciano Ristorante, an authentic Italian restaurant (They also have an express version of their restaurant in the mall’s food court.  I ate at the large full-service restaurant).  Italian cuisine (minus the cheese) is one of my favorites and Luciano was no exception.  I sat in their mall seating area admiring the holiday decorations and shoppers while eating my lunch.  I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese and Iced Tea.  I was given a small complimentary bruschetta-like appetizer along with the usual basket of bread and butter.  The food (large portion of seasoned spaghetti that was attractively presented) was delicious and the service was very good.  I’m so glad I got to try the highly-recommended Luciano Ristorante.  This is a place I’d like to return to if I’m ever in San Antonio again.

Later that evening I signed my holiday cards and prepared them for mailing on Monday.  They’re already late for Hanukkah which came early this year.  Due to time constraints, I wasn’t able to include my annual newsletter for my college friends (whom I’ve been keeping in touch with for over 20 years), so I’ll have to send it separately at a later date.  I spent a couple of days getting my San Antonio pictures developed at CVS.  They processed several rolls of film; I had put in 13 Kodak Fun Saver cameras — love them! — and requested single prints, CD and index print for each (I’m nearing the end of my 14th camera and will develop these photos after I move).  The pictures came out really well and I gave copies of a group photo to each member of my Spanish clinic team.  I’ve been saying goodbye to people as the semester has been winding down.

I have to say that moving back to Pennsylvania is a lot easier than my August move to San Antonio.  The first move required many more decisions and preparations since I had to plan for four months away from home.  The reverse process is familiar having been through this stress before.  I’ve returned all of my library books; gave my change of address (mail forward) to the post office and also mailed a box of items (since I can’t carry it on the plane); made my last trips to the hairdresser, grocery store, and bank; made an appointment to have my Internet service disconnected next week; ordered a book to review for NACADA over the semester break; and made my car shipping arrangements via Phoenix Auto Transport Services (located in Vancouver, WA), the same company I used in August.  My 1999 Toyota was picked up at 8:00 this morning.  Knowing that I would be carless for the final week of my stay here forced me to do several errands by early this week.

My stay in San Antonio has been relatively uneventful except for a tropical storm in September and two annoying things: (1) one of the boxes I mailed from Pennsylvania to Texas was lost by the United States Postal Service — the box was insured and I have 180 days in which to file a claim for reimbursement, which I will do once I return to Pennsylvania and can gather the receipts, and (2) the inability to continue receiving my allergy shots in Texas — my health insurance company approved of the out-of-network coverage, but doctors in Texas required that I undergo the allergy testing all over again and have a new mix created based on allergens in Texas (the insurance company had not authorized this extensive procedure and retesting and remixing my serum would have taken too long and not been practical since my stay in Texas is only temporary).  Fortunately, with the exception of a couple of bad days, my allergies presented no major problems here in San Antonio.  I figure that if these are the worst things that happened to me during my semester in San Antonio, then I’ve done really well.

A surprise for me was how cold San Antonio can get, especially at night.  This is something that I underestimated and wasn’t prepared for.  I brought with me only one casual long-sleeve sweater and four casual long-sleeve shirts.  I had to buy a pair of thicker pajamas once here.  But, I didn’t want to buy too much because I won’t have room for it on the plane.  Since I have a washer and dryer in my apartment, I’ve been doing laundry more often during cold weather.  I’m glad that my furnished apartment includes heat and warm bedding.  People warned me of the heat in Texas (and it can be brutal in the summer), but not the cold.  So, if you come to Texas in the fall and winter months, bring some heavier clothes.  You’ll need them.  My winter clothes are in New York waiting for me at my Dad’s house when I arrive there next Friday.

Things are winding down and I’m using these last few days to do some leisure reading.  Soon I will need to clean my apartment and pack my things.  First, I’m giving myself a couple of days to just relax.  Then, I’ll get busy.  On Sunday evening one of my clinic team members will be hosting an end-of-semester potluck dinner party for the team and I will be going (another team member has offered to give me a ride).  Other than this event, I have no major plans.  My sightseeing is over.  I’m tired, so I’m actually looking forward to some downtime now.  And I’m really looking forward to reducing my expenses (i.e., not paying twice for rent and utilities each month) and paying down my credit card bill.  This four-month excursion to San Antonio has been wonderful, but I think I’m ready to get back to my normal life.