First visit to McAllen

My first visit to McAllen, TX was in October 2005.

We drove around a bit the first day, crashed at the hotel room, and went out late for a BBQ dinner. The next day, we were supposed to head to campus in advance of Mike's meetings, but got a slow start. I got freaked out to the point of humorlessness about the city, the campus, the un-autonomous feeling the whole thing gave me. Here's part of some posts I wrote to friends while trying to process being there:

We went to the UT Pan American campus. Mike met with colleagues while I went exploring. They had a big graduate education info fair the day before we came into town (grrr), but I picked up some info on their sociology and psychology programs.

I met the dean and 3 professors in the business management; we went to lunch with them and I heard more about their MBA PhD in business/HR. One professor said they still do a lot of remediation (less now there's a community college in the area) with their students. Said about half do OK and the other half are not academically up to speed. Which makes me think I'd be an attractive MBA/PhD candidate even with my math deficiencies. The campus visit did a lot to reassure me that I have a number of academic options.

After lunch, we met with the realtor for several hours. Decided it was too ambitious to buy a house this trip (can't bring myself to make an impulse buy that big in an unfamiliar area). Mike will rent and when we have a better idea when the wedding will be and when I'm likely to show up here, then we can make plans to buy. Having reverse sticker shock that 100K will easily get a 3-4 bedroom house in a nice neighborhood.

The realtor confirmed that yes, I did see the ONE mall in town across the street from the airport. The nearest outlet shopping/real malls are in San Antonio. They have Marshall's and Ross and some other discount chains; Pier One and Old Navy, too. The kids on campus seemed hiply dressed; they must shop somewhere. On the downside, there are only TWO bookstores in town: B&N and a Hastings. A lot of cookie-cutter subdivisions and strip malls along the main drags. I'm going to totally be able to find my way around. The realtor suggested I brush up on my Spanish by watching telenovelas on DVD with the English subtitles on.

But what made me feel a WHOLE lot better about the whole thing was going into the H.E.B. grocery store (the "gourmet" one the realtor directed us to) and finding virtually everything I normally buy and use at prices that were generally comparable to my mainstay, Trader Joe's. Amazing produce section with a giant selection of chiles; specialty sections of Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, British and Mediterranean foods; big section of natural/organic health & beauty supplies, essential oils; and a whole aisle dedicated to BBQ supplies.

No one I asked could say where or if there are any Thai places, so when I saw a place advertising Thai food, we stopped to check it out. Turns out it was Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese fast food/buffet. The Thai menu board listed three dishes with alligator meat. WTF? Will have to embark on a more exhaustive search. It's still going to be a HUGE move and there are still a lot of balls in the air but I'm feeling like it will be doable and I'm not nearly as freaked out as I was earlier today.

Alligator in Thai food? Seriously?