A Loving and Unimagineable Sight...The JCC!!!

The Barshop Jewish Community Center (JCC) is a charity of the Jewish Foundation of San Antonio and United Way. It is committed to promote a new way of life for its members, which can include children, teenagers, adults, or even senior citizens. It is open to the entire public; you do not have to be Jewish to become a member. The JCC has programs, in which they incorporate five programs: Jewish Identity, Jewish Experience, Jewish Community, Jewish Programming and Jewish Connection. Their ultimate operation is to help individuals increase visions and dreams as citizens, to both our community and nation as a whole. The agency is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals, family agreement, and group endurance through the value systems of the Jewish people.

Located here at the Jewish Community Center, is the Vexler Theatre. This is where much volunteer work is taking place. Volunteering at the JCC can make a massive difference and just by donating your time, effort and ability you can make a difference in a person’s life. Not only can you volunteer at the theatre, but they also recommend volunteering in sports and fitness, senior citizen activities, marketing, arts, early childhood, and special events that take place on a weekly basis or during special holidays. Jenette Weinberg, who is a chief manager, who not only works at the Jewish Community Center, but also contributes her time, states, “This has been the most pleasurable experience in my life and giving a special hand and donating such time to such an enormous cause has really influenced my life”. Not only volunteering, but becoming a member is absolutely open to the public, and all you do is pay a monthly fee. You can either enter as a family, individual, or you could just join so that you can get your daily exercise routine in.

After visiting, I came to believe that one of the most essential features about the JCC are the different programs they offer to children from six months to thirteen years old. The programs offered for all children are incredible. They consist of an early childhood center, which is considered a daycare, an after school center and a kindergarten through eighth grade private school. It also consists of classes and different outdoor sports activities. To let your child in and become a member, all you have to do is pay a monthly fee and so then it is possible to come at any time. For children they offer, tennis courts, basketball courts, baseball field, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, homework center, camps, winter programs, plays and a soccer league. When I visited with my oldest sister, she told me that, “There are so many places out in the city of San Antonio to take your children to, but I believe that the Jewish Community Center is one of the most captivating places. This is primarily because of the series that we are offering to young children are so powerful and go beyond expectations. It teaches additional qualities, more than most public schools in the communities do.”

Since the Holidays, are only a couple of days away, the JCC is offering special winter programs for children, adults, and the elderly to come join in and participate. This is known as the biggest party of not only the entire season, but the year because they offer special party activities, games, treats, goodies and special Christmas characters. Overall, this is for anyone who decides to come out and join or who wants to get into the Christmas spirit and sing along. Some of the programs being offered are, Party Every Day Camp, which is for children from kindergarten to fifth grade. Both the Winter Tennis Party and the Winter Olympics Party, are for second to eighth graders. Also being offered is, a Snow Party, Under the Sea Party and a New Year's Eve Party. The main focus for these different holiday activities is to have fun, learn a new sport everyday, create your own medal, and study about the unusual kinds of Olympics that we have.

Senior citizens, play an important role today in life, because without all of our grandparents, aunts or uncles, we would not be alive. Unfortunately, I found it hard to believe that since children starting at six months can attend the local day care at the JCC, that senior citizens can also get together, they just have to pay a fee. Since all older women and men are not capable of driving, there is a special bus that is offered, owned and operated by the Jewish Community Center. It will come directly to your house and pick you up and take you back to the center. Most senior citizens join just because many feel the need to get a daily exercise routine in, so this is why they offer a bus for the elderly. Also many join just to compete in daily programs or to attend a movie at the theatre that is offered here. There are also programs that are offered for the elderly, which include: crafts, dominos, personal training, an enormous fitness center, aquatics, health classes, chess club, a book club, Yiddish speaking club and game room activities. The fitness center consists of exactly twenty-five different machines which some include: weights, cardio equipment, treadmills, elliptical and a bike. Since most tend to ride the bus, the JCC also offers a lunch at a very small price everyday for the senior citizens. On the day that I had attended, many were having their usual lunch and I had went over a talked to an older lady by the name of Mary Kerr, commented, “Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have the bus come to my house which is only a couple of blocks away and it picks me up and I stay here to play dominos and walk on the treadmill. After that, I then eat lunch here, and then after that, the I slowly hop back on the bus and it takes me back home.” After speaking to her, I was amazed because it really touched my heart how such a program, could actually touch someone’s life.

In conclusion, I now believe that the Jewish Community Center, is one of the most inspiring and educational places to go and visit here in the city of San Antonio. This is primarily because of the wide variety of opportunities that they are offering for people of all ages. It is always open to the public, anyone is capable of coming or joining and it can give you a full body workout. It is also a foundation that anyone in the country can donate money to, for example, in memory of making a donation in someone's memory. Therefore it is a very loving and cherish able organization. I do believe, that if anyone has the chance, they should go out and experience or visit the JCC to see what it is all about.

An Inspiration: Juan Tejeda

On the 28th of November, Juan Tejeda a music instructor and director of PAC’s Conjunto Program came to visit our Humanities class. He was the most inspiring and entertaining speaker that I believe our class has had throughout the entire semester. The main reason for this was because he brought in a variety of different instruments that he plays and demonstrated them to the class by playing a piece of music. He spoke greatly about the languages and told each of us that there are three different languages that we have lived under and should be appreciative for it. It is also important to know your own personal history and culture and be proud of it because we should live at peace with our neighbors and grow, and shall not be at war.

Music is also being expressed in different forms that are coming together and overall, we have created a culture between the United States and Mexican borders. Juan says that the United States has influenced our country by Jazz and rock-n-roll music and words are what counts. He said that he is a pan American Chicano and when he was only nine years old, he learned how to play the accordion and also learned how to play a Polka song. This has created a distinctive style for him, and he also loves the blues and country. Juan played a flute called a quena that was made out of red wood and also sang a song that was for his personal culture identity, for history. Corrido music was the earliest music that was created on the border and was called “A Pistol on His Hand” and the Orquesta Tejano was created here in the state of Texas. In the year 1985, he produced an opera and Conjunto started out on ranches and farms in the early centuries and from Mexico there were corridos.

After listening to him speak and play his musical instruments, I feel like if I ever have the chance to go and see him in public, I would definitely go. This is because I have never had the experience to sit and watch someone play these instruments and a couple of them I have actually never heard of. Overall, his visitation was worth it and I believe that I have learned something from it, along with all of the different forms of music that I never would have thought of.
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An Unusal Radio Station! Who Would Think....

As I was tuning into the radio station KEDA Radio 1530 AM, I found it to be a very curious station, in which I came to believe that many of my family members and friends would not listen to this type of music. The main reason for this is because we all tend to tune into both older and newer country, along with rap music because this is what we have grown up listening to. Both Conjunto and Spanish music is a language that we have a tendency not to listen to, because we are not capable of understanding or speaking the languages. As I was listening to the station 1530, I found the mood to be very joyful, thrilled and pleasurable because I noticed that different people on the station were talking, and suddenly their voices were slowly becoming higher and higher and a lot of people in the background were laughing about the conditions they were talking about. Also, as I was tuning into this station, they were not playing much music at all, and it sounded more like a talk show that was on the radio, rather than on the TV. The reason for this was because one man was talking to a young lady and she was telling him different stories about her life, which I wasn’t capable of understanding. But after her response, the audience would start clapping, screaming, and yelling and you could obviously tell that she was talking about something positive.

However, as I was listening to the station 1530 AM, I noticed some words that I could completely understand because rather than speaking them in Spanish, they were speaking in English. For example, Dallas Cowboys, McAllen Medical Center, Houston Texas, Hector’s Oil Company, Rio Grande City and Alpine Texas. After catching these words that they were speaking in English, I was completely amazed because when tuning into a Spanish station, you wouldn’t think that the main speaker would be speaking in English, but then I suddenly realized that there are Spanish words that have to be spoken in English. After listening and listening to this station, the speakers had started playing music, which some pieces I didn’t find to be very enjoyable, but overall other sections of music were actually very fascinating because of the musical instruments that the singer and the bands were using. Some of the songs seemed to be very slow and depressing which came to my mind as being compared to some country songs that I listen to. Other songs had a very quick pace and people were screaming and yelling as they were singing which had reminded me of rap music, because of much of the excitement that was taking place. I also realized that they were playing commercials and playing advertisements as well, along with calling people on the radio and talking to them and asking questions. The reason that I find this to be interesting is because when I tune into stations such as 97.3 FM, they do the same thing as well, along with calling people and letting them win free things, such as money and gift cards.

After tuning into the radio station KEDA Radio 1530 AM, I thought to myself, why in the world am I listening to Spanish, but after realizing all of the different cultures that are out in the world, I need to be more appreciative and considerate. Overall, I suppose that music is all expressed in different forms and cultures but they are all slowly coming together as a whole. It is also important to understand the different cultures, religions, history and language because we can exchange and grow upon one another so that we are capable of living at peace with each and every individual. In general, I think that every now and then, I might want to jam out to other stations, so therefore I might experience this radio station again and see what kinds of music they are going to be playing that day.
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Music..Who Could Live Without?

The movie, “Songs of the Homeland”, is concerning music that has reflected the spirit of the people, in which the area they had lived in. Music is an expansion that was created and it represents and expresses several generations of style. There are different techniques of music, such as western, Tejano, blues, rock-n-roll, Spanish, Conjunto and also includes a wide variety of numerous jams. Much of the rock-n-roll had taken on talent shows and sock hops, while the Conjunto music has traveled from town to town all over the world. Most Conjunto musicians rely on their fans and families and some individuals call it a “dance hall life”. Conjunto music has become part of the working class experience and much of it also included beer drinking songs, heartbroken songs and love songs. Some say that Spanish music was music that many had to listen to and had no choice because there was nothing else to listen to at the time. Many Mexicans bands wanted to look and sound more American because the songs were in Spanish, but it was music to an American audience. The majority played at weddings, baptisms and traditional holidays, but in general most still sing songs that are from generations and generations ago. In Texas, it is known as a universe of exchange, with a mix of musical traditions, such as the accordion, which is music-based and is the central instrument in music.

Isidro Lopez, a famous musician symbolizes the working class of all Tejanos. Orchestras in south Texas were increasing, making it more flourishing to the working class. There was also an enormous amount of segregation and discrimination against the Tejanos, but it could not be let into restaurants or the movie theaters. Even though, this was the case, Tejanos began to sing more to the poor and inside of restaurants. There were schools for Anglos, blacks and Hispanics, but they were noticeably all separated because of the problems that were held. Mexican Americans had the opportunity of finding new things in cites, and the middle class continued to grow in the early 1950’s.

After watching the DVD, "Songs of the Homeland", I found life for the Conjunto people to be extremely entertaining, pleasurable and gratifying and this was all because of the wide variety of music that was available. My opinion of Conjunto music is that it sounds exactly like Hispanic music because of the fact that the language seems to be identical. The reason for this is because I have grown up listening to country music my entire life, because my family was born and raised in Texas. Overall, I have found the origins of Conjunto music to be enjoyable and extremely fact reveling.
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Artwork...Who Could Imagine!

The San Antonio Museum of Art first opened its doors to the public in the year 1981. Families, college and high school students, children, teachers, volunteers, or anyone visiting San Antonio, has the chance to go and view the works of art because it is opened to the community. It has several different forms of art, which include Asian and Latin art, sculptures, art that has a background meaning to it or is from an illustration, photography, Greek, Latin, and European monuments, and Chinese ceramics. When visiting, I found many of the paintings and sculptures, to be either black and white, extremely colorful, or being displayed with light colors. Most of the works of art, were quiet, affectionate, had a touch of friendliness, active, and relaxed, but overall I found a couple exhibits to be very remarkable, because of their prehistoric age. Some of the collections were also sketches from books that had been written, old art, outdoor sculptures, American art, and the works by various artists of both current and artists from the earlier period who have already passed away.

The European Art seemed to catch my attention very quick because it looked as if it were a family full of young women who were sitting down and praising each other for the great possessions they had in their lives. This piece of artwork was done by Elizabeth Huth Coates and is known to have been a 19th century painting which has made millions and millions of dollars. These relatives are being gathered around in a circle, and the most striking point was that, three of them are not wearing much clothing, but the other three young women are covered in clothing that is exceedingly colorful. This photograph is painted in such a way that it looks so real because it looks like families in today’s world, who sit around and associate with one another for all the great effects that are taking place in their days. My overall feelings toward this picture were those of love, passion and appreciation.

The exhibition, The Colors of Wrath, was also pleasurable because it shows the image of a monkey and what it enjoys doing, along with other animals too. This painting was completed by Walton Ford, who obviously likes to express his emotions and his beliefs about various animals in history. I found it very striking that a young man would take the time out of his life and paint a picture of a monkey sitting on a cement stand picking fruit from a tree, with all kinds of bushes and a cemetery in the background. But overall, it shows cheerful thoughts in which I find it to be unusual, strange, curious, and questioning. The reason that I find this to be questioning is because he seems that he is writing about a situation that was never true or has never taken place, such as a fake exhibit.

After viewing these pieces of artwork and visiting the San Antonio Museum of Art, I found it to be a very educational, instructive, and enlightening place because it instructs you about exhibits and why they were fulfilled. It also has family afternoons, internships, programs for adults, concerts, lectures, tours to the public, and receptions that take place every day. I have personally never visited this museum, but in general I ware being takenill take more time out of my life to go and visit new places like this because it seems to inform me about the works. I also truly believe that there were a great amount of advantages in the museum because every single piece of art work has a purpose to it and teaches you why people actually do the things that they do.

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An Eye Catching Moment

On Friday, the 9th of November, Joan Fabian, who is a visual and graphic artist, came and spoke to our Humanities class about her works. She truly believes that art is trying to make you think differently, and each and every person, deep down has their own opinions that are unusual. Art is obviously very important to her and she says that each person is unique, meaning that no other person can be like another, so therefore no one has their experience and it won’t ever come again. She enjoys meditating, which is a time when you are cleansing the mind, having a moment with God, and it allows her to gain acceptance with images that suddenly come to her mind. Shapes are used as a means to her vocabulary, and she is interested in what they convey to both her and the viewer. Many titles, convey her humor, reaction, and overall, how she feels when she is totally through with a picture, from beginning to end. She feels that when you are building something up, it’s more like a relationship and she has to feel good about the picture and feel very confident because millions and millions of people throughout the world can look at her art work. When staring at fabrics, she can picture thousands and thousands of different images and can totally look at things differently from other people and see new things. She totally believes that artists are political and more aware, and she said she always has to share and read between the lines. Also, in education, you approach new people with new ideas.

Joan, also told a very interesting story about a young man, where his dad had taken him to the Dallas Museum of Art, so that he could learn how to appreciate. Seven years ago, she had visited Pakistan and she had said that absolutely everything is different over there. For example, here we drink iced tea; instead, in Pakistan they always drink hot tea. While staying there, she had to be driven around by a driver, because the traffic along with the animals being in the road ways was extremely bad. She was in Pakistan for a total of six months, and while she was there, her husband came and stayed with her for one month, just so he knew what she was going through and how different the world was. She then came back in 2000 and it’s inspired her and now she looks at things completely different.

Her story was a complete attention getter, because of the fact that you don't find many people very often that are willing to get up and leave their family and friends just to go and visit a different country. I found her speech to be very eye catching, because I have never had the chance to sit in class and listen to an individual talk about having the chance to go and teach in another in Pakistan for six months. Another reason was because her pictures were very fascinating, along with the way she expressed her feelings about art in general.

Historic Building/Home... What a Thriller!!

Falls City is a very small community which has a population of only 591 people and this is the reason why not many people know about this small society. When passing through on 181, all you see are two small gas stations, along with the local bank. But if you actually make an attempt to drive down some of the side streets, you will find a ton of small houses with people sitting outside on their front porches and children or parents either riding their bikes or running or walking up and down the streets. In Falls City, there are very few places that are considered to be historical and there is only a small amount of artistic landmarks, because almost everything in the community, are houses that are newly built, or old buildings that are extremely ugly looking and need to be torn down.

However, there is one building, in particular in Falls City that I consider to be historical, modern, and an attraction to not only the community, but visitors who are passing through. This is because it’s very appealing and it seems to stand out, rather than just looking at the usual houses that are seen in communities, such as Falls City. This grown-up building/home is located right in the center of town, which has two stories, and has circled arches in the front, which I consider to be very elegant and appealing. The reason for this is because you do not tend to see this very often, especially in older buildings. This was once a home that an elderly man had lived in, but after losing his wife and having all of his children grow up, he had decided to sell it. This historical home/building, now serves as the Justice of the Peace for the community.

The white color on the outside is very boring looking, but as you are passing by, you tend to realize the red roof that stands out, and cannot be missed. There is a very large courtyard that is filled with green grasses and on the left hand side of the home, there is an enormous amount of colored flowers that have been known to have been here for decades. Directly in front, there are large green oak trees, that seem to cover the entire building, but if you make the block around it, it is more noticeable and can be seen clearly.

After viewing this home, and having the opportunity to have lived in such a small society for the last nineteen years of my life, I am likely to find land, homes, or personal belongings that are noticeable and find myself to be more appreciative. However, when I travel to San Antonio, or any of the surrounding areas, I tend to pay more attention to older communities, historical buildings, and the way that buildings, homes, or stores are being put together. I find this to be very attractive because we should tend to appreciate historical places, because they are not always going to be here. The main reason is because after so many years they will began to fall apart and as an ending we will have to tear them down.

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Touching Points in "Losing Ground"

“Losing Ground”, which is an article located in the San Antonio Express News, focuses on a law where real estate developers, go in and around the city and touch other organizations or people. In other words, this can be called the grandfather clause, and it basically talks about the vested right laws. AGUA is the organization which protects the Edwards Aquifer, and one of the most important parts of the aquifer is the aquifer’s recharge zones and this is where water is put back into the aquifer. In 1995, this ordinance was made, because many people believed that they could get around this vested rights issue. From reading this article, I concluded that many real estate developers are benefiting from the vested right issues because they don’t have to go to city council meetings and so this ends up making their job more straightforward and simpler.

Another fact that has been stated is that the lands in the Hill Country have been torn up into pieces and there is not much left of the lands. The main reason for this is because of country development, and along with this, much of the pastures have been bulldozed. Other things, such as grasses, that could not have been bulldozed, have been ripped up, as to where there is not much left to the land itself. This is not only happening here in San Antonio; it is also being done in places around my community, which consists of about 500 people, and this is because more and more people are moving from the cities into the country and are starting to build homes. But I feel that if people want to experience the country life, let them because it is filled up with pastures, grasses, dirt roads, tons of places to hunt, and thousands and thousands of trees. Overall, I believe that the Hill Country is a bulky and stunning place. But yes, I do believe that people want to live outside of the city, but I do not see a need to be tearing up this place outside of San Antonio that seems to be enjoyable. If families or individuals want to live in the country, move to the country, where it’s filled with pastures, so that we don’t have to be tearing down these things just for country development.

In conclusion, I believe that many people in and around San Antonio, do not know what is going on with our lands, so this helps them to develop and understand, what is happening to our lands in and around the Hill Country. But, more importantly, from reading “Losing Ground”, it is talking more and more about how the real estate developers are getting around city ordinances and the vested right laws. The article itself, gives out a vast understanding, because of the fact that it is explaining exactly what this law is, and how many developers are basically using it. As I was reading this article, at first I had absolutely no idea what the vested rights laws was, along with AGUA and its recharge zones, but as an ending result and reading “Losing Ground”, I found it to be extremely useful. I also believe that the citizens of San Antonio should stick together because many developers and individuals, who live in and around the San Antonio area, do not seem to care what is going on. So therefore, I believe that most people should either read about it or talk to neighbors or friends about this.
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Special Guest Speak's Out

Last Friday, the 19th of October, Speaker and Technical Research Director of AGUA, Elyzabeth Earnley came and spoke to our Humanities class. One of her main focuses was the City Council in San Antonio and how it represents who we are, the passing of ordinances, and how the budget pays all employees here in San Antonio. The City Council has a variety of decision makers which are located in San Antonio and their job is to decide what exactly goes on. These members meet every Thursday during the day and all of the meetings that are held by the council, are always open to the public so that everyone has a chance to speak their opinion and to see what goes on. There are ten different districts that can be found in San Antonio and the council itself, gets help by Developmental Services and a review by the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), in which they ask a variety of questions.

Her second key point was the 1995 Water Quality Ordinance (WQO). This group preserves recharge features, such as buffers and has limited impervious covers in the Recharge Zone (ERZD). An impervious cover is the covering of the natural land surface and is a good proxy for the intensity of development. The Water Quality Ordinance also mandates detention, sedimentation, and filtration for commercial and multi-family developments, which has over 15% of the impervious covers. She also mentioned the recharge features which are normally located, beneath the surface or on top of the surface. An example would be an enormous cave or possible sink holes.

What I found to be extremely interesting, was when she had put us into groups and gave us a variety of handouts, in which I was absolutely clueless as to what many of these things meant. The different forms that she had given us were a zoning staff recommendation, SAWS staff recommendation, zoning codes and a water quality ordinance. The main task was to review the rezoning cases and make a recommendation for the City Council, in regards as to what we had thought that it had meant overall. The main idea was that it was about the approval of land in which each group had stated their own opinions.

Now that she has told us about the city council and the districts in San Antonio, Elyzabeth Earnley has taught me what she does for a living as being a director of AGUA and what she focuses on. She showed us pictures of where many of the Recharge Zones were to be found here in San Antonio, along with directions on where the City Council holds their weekly meetings. Overall, this does not seem very important to many people, including myself at first, because I was completely lost and had absolutely no idea why zones like she has mentioned are even important. So all I can say is hopefully people might actually take some time out of their busy lives to read some factual articles about AGUA or possibly attend a City Council meeting.

WORD COUNT: 508

Small Radius, Bold Core

Approaching the green population sign with the all too familiar name, immediately gives a sense of comfort and safeness. A small change to the recognizable faces, cars, and houses in town is immediately apparent. Falls City is a small, friendly town and so much more. It is an extended family, a support group, a warm smile and a friendly conversation. Not all communities offer the same support system; because most towns do not have fewer than 600 people. Everyone in some way, shape, or form is connected; whether it be family or just generations of family friendships. When a crisis occurs, it hits close to home with everyone in town, and the pain feels as if it were someone in your immediate family. Nothing is more comforting than knowing that someone is always going to be there for support; whether it is a crisis situation or a celebration in your life.

However, in small towns such as Falls City, everyone is always aware of either the towns or an individual’s business. In a town that has 3 family-owned restaurants, 1 grocery store, and 2 gas stations, everyone knows everyone’s personal lives. People feed off of the trials and tribulations that life throws in our paths and enjoy speaking of these over coffee at the Palace Café. Walking into the doors you can feel the heads turn and the conversations begin firing up. What is she doing now? Who is she? Have you heard? There is a 99% chance anyone can guess what is on their minds. Those same faces and same looks can be linked to those same conversations.

There is one prominent religion in the town, Catholic. Everyone sits in the same pew week after week. It is certain if someone is passing through from out of town and decides to stop for mass, sits in a “reserved” seat, and did not want to move, they would be given a very unfriendly welcome. It is extremely humorous how hypocritical people in the town are about small things, such as the story just mentioned. There have been many times, incidences like this have all occurred and all one can do is laugh. Church is not the only area people are territorial about in Falls City. Community members will always drink coffee at the same time, same place, same table, leaving the same tip. It does not matter what the satiation may be, Falls City is full of creatures of habit. Change is unwelcome, regardless of the situation. This past year the athletic director made a decision to accent the football teams jerseys with a black border. Many parents demanded a school board meeting because they felt the athletic director was changing the school colors from traditional blue and white. Changes have to be made or that have been made have to be slow, to give everyone the opportunity to adjust.

Falls City is a place I would prefer not to make my home and a town not to raise my family in. Many people grasp the idea of a closely knit community and all the benefits it has verses a larger community. As in every situation people do not always see the downfalls to situations or the “bad” side of things in regards to small towns. Because of the lack of activities that go on in the community, most of the townspeople resort to sitting at the local gas station/bar most days of the week. Many families in town are broken marriages, which relate back to alcohol being the underlying factor in a majority of them. This, of course, can occur in any city, regardless of the size, but from a personal standpoint in small town allows its members to get away with it. There is not one police officer in the town, only a county sheriff. This is important because many people feel they can consume alcoholic beverages with no limit, because there is a very slim chance that they will receive a violation for their actions.
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True Facts Spoken Aloud

On Wednesday the 10th of October, Heywood Sanders came and spoke to the class about San Antonio and its background. In the early 1800’s San Antonio was not a very important place, but in general it was considered a very ethnic place. The Germans built this city, but they had benefited from building things cheaply, and so this is why sidewalks are not in places where they need to be, along with having gutters for drainage and not all road conditions seem to be drivable. But suddenly in the 1920’s is when new streets and new businesses were beginning to be built. San Antonio is considered a massive place for manufacturing thunderstorms and in 1913 there was a major flood downtown which led to billions and billions of dollars in damage.

The aquifer in San Antonio is an underground limestone that holds billions of dollars in refreshed water and it is extremely unbalanced. The more people that are living here in San Antonio, means that we need more water which results in buying it from various places. Overall, this means that water bills are radically rising because we are tempted to be looking for more water. We are a very divided and separated city and this is reflected on how we are operated and how each and every individual looks upon one another. Here in Texas, Austin is number seven in the ten most educated cities and Austin-San Marcos is the tenth in the highest increase in manufacturing. During the election, all Hispanics had voted for Ed Garza, but comparing it with the Anglos, he did not do as well because Hispanics vote for Hispanics and Anglos vote for Anglos.
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Holding on to History

-This photo was taken off of the website, google.com-Alamo images.

The movie The Alamo, starring Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William Barrett Travis was a very educational movie because this is one of the most important events that took place in American history. The fighting between these three heroes, and the Anglo settlers, Mexican forces and the Tejanos was that they were fighting each other for land. The Tejanos were the first people to settle in Texas and their beliefs of defending had a strong impact in the events and battles leading into the Alamo. Texas was a place full of cattle, water, and timber; this is where fighting was taking place. This film reminds me of the Alamo because they had all of their guns and weapons and rode on their horses to defend the Mexicans. The setting and structure where this is taking place, looks almost exactly like the Alamo itself today, because the way the buildings are built and how everything around it looks.

Davy Crockett had a very inspiring life and he did not want to split the army because he had believed that the war was over. Crockett supposed that he had the chance to fight the Mexicans out in the open with amateurs. But in return, they would end up coming back. He was known to have been a congressman who had wanted to fight only democratically. In the film, Davy Crockett, had stated, “That he cannot sacrifice Texas.” William Barrett Travis was a man who had wanted to defend the Alamo between the Mexican army. He was a leader in Texas, who had fought to keep slaves in Texas. James Bowie has said “I have hope.” He wanted to see what they were fighting for, he truly believed that he could not only go out and fight for himself but fight for other people and loved ones would not get killed. He had also found a mission more than a 100 years ago and many found this as what we call it today, The Alamo. Bowie wanted to destroy the mission.

The church was first built in 1756, but during the battle, the roof of the church was destroyed. Overall, the Catholics had actually never finished building it. These three men also had the courage of defending this fort in Texas with an entire army for only 13 days. This battle had over 200 men who helped fight for independence. Santa Ana himself had only wanted to rule and stand up for Mexico, but the Mexican army itself had to cover around 300 miles. The Mexican occupation in Texas was completely expelled because Texas rebels were able to gain control of the Alamo in San Antonio. General Sam Houston had an army of Texans who defeated Santa Ana’s army, and this is what led to the independence in Texas. All of the Tejano and Anglos were able to fight for both the independence and land from Santa Anna and the Mexican government.

After watching this film, it actually explains in full detail what went on with the Anglos, Tejanos, and Mexicans. This battle that took place is a very important piece of history that every Texan should want to learn about. After my visit to the Alamo, I had noticed both Bowie’s and Travis’s rifles and knives on display still today. The Alamo deserves to be acknowledged and shared because it is a structure that has held on to much triumph and pain.

Word Count: 539

Deep Down in the Heart of San Antonio

On Saturday September 22, several of my classmates and I had the opportunity to go and visit the Alamo and learn about the history. This experience was pleasurable, helpful, and made me wonder, how all the connections of history can be united with one another. When immediate thoughts came to mind, all I could think about was the slogan “Remember the Alamo” and each and every one of the fights that were fought, along with ammunition being brought in. Dr. Winders, spoke greatly about the different forms and ways of interpreting history, and he stated that if you put it all together you can get one big picture in the end.

At my recent trip to the Alamo, quite a few things had caught my eye and one in particular was the grass in the courtyard. It was established that the grasses in the front of the Alamo had a meaning, which meant that it was the “heart of the Alamo”. The structure and the large brown doors as an entrance sparked my attention as soon as I had walked up, because I had never visited or seen the Alamo before. I had also seen a couple of exhibits on the walls, which were of Stephen F. Austin and Jose Antonio Navarro; these were two very important leaders who had wanted to bring more and more people back to Texas. Both Austin and Navarro’s main vision for Texas was that they had wanted Texas to become a free republic. The men who effectively shielded the Alamo and developed much independence were the Europeans, Americans, Tejanos, and the Texans.

Overall, it has been an experience having the chance to visit the Alamo, because I have taken in new pieces of history. Most importantly, I am thankful for having the opportunity to go to the Alamo and I shall be making this visit more often and make it an additional priority. Each and every individual should understand how important the past is and recognize the unusual heritages. This takes a tremendous amount of courage and it tends to relate back to experiences I once had in high school, such as going on field trips to historical places and speaking about these things in class. The main reason is because of the skills, power, and leading to both the good and bad solutions of the fights that had taken places years and years ago. -Word Count:403

A Powerful Image, both Near and Far

After visiting Mission Espada and experiencing its historical backgrounds and various meanings, I had decided to take a tour throughout the Espada Dam. The Espada Dam is located right around Mission Espada, which is on the southern side of San Antonio, or at times referred to as Bexar County. On Saturday September 15, 2007 my sister and I made our way to San Antonio to visit this area. The surrounding areas are very obvious, and I first noticed the green grasses along with several bushy trees. The grassland is very widespread and the trees are located on the outskirts of the grass. This area reminds me of where I am living today, because coming from a small town and living in the country I can now compare grasslands, trees, rocks, birds, and all the water from the rivers to the dams. This is an enormous area, which is very calm, immense, and would be a remarkable place for living. As the water flows down, it’s seems clear and flows very smoothly and softly. In other areas it’s not always the same because of the water in a couple of places doesn’t flow as quickly; therefore its browner and dirty looking.

Along the sides of the dam, I found beautiful rocks, in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. On the outskirts of the water, there is a brick wall, which of course allows the water to stay in place and then makes it into a dam. This cement wall is a couple of feet tall, and as the water continues to flow down the dam, the wall obviously becomes lower and lower along with the water. Next to the dam, is a road that many tourists use as a means of a walking trail in order to view Espada Dam as well as Mission Espada.

Espada Dam is the oldest functioning aqueduct in the United States, and I found it to be very enjoyable because the dam along with the mission itself is still being used today. A considerable amount of people are still viewing it, because it’s ancient and historical. Espada Dam plays a major impact on the missions because it was used as a means of their irrigation system. This dam has survived a remarkable amount of rains, floods, and other destruction throughout the past 200 years. I believe that the purpose of the dam today is that it can be used for the watering of farmer’s crops.

I have personally, never been concerned about visiting historic places like this because it has never alarmed me like it does today to know about history and the past. But after visiting an area like this, I now think about all the different lifestyles that had gone on, not only at Mission Espada but the hardships with the dam itself. My most important reason for visiting the dam was because I was extremely impressed by our visit to Mission Espada and I had learned a major amount of background information that had resulted with visiting the Indians and Native Americans that I had no clue about. As a result, I can now conclude after I have visited both areas, I am more aware, understanding and knowledgeable. Apparently, I will be making more of these visits, because I truly believe that we should appreciate everything that we have today, be more aware of what went on in the past and should be willing to learn more about it.

My Incredible Journey Through Mission Espada

My 2007 Humanities Class, along with our teacher Mariana Ornelas, visited Mission Espada on Friday September 7, 2007. This beautiful southernmost mission is located along the river in San Antonio, Texas and was first transferred in 1731. Mission Espada was founded in 1690 as San Francisco de los Tejas near a place called Weches, and was the first mission in Texas. This old stoned mission is very rural and it was built to where it is hard to be seen because of all of the pastures that surround it. A friary was built at the mission in 1745 and the church, which is now restored, was completed in 1756. The mission’s church had large stone towers which looked as if they had outlined the sky with their enormous bells that had stood out in mid air.

The main purpose of the mission was used for “conversion”, for local Native Indians to Christianity. The word espada means “sword”. At Mission Espada, the Indians had received both training as artisans, and weaving skills were needed to help clothe them. Many of the friars strove to make life in the mission communities because they had wanted to resemble many of the Spanish villages. As mission buildings became more elaborate, Indian occupants learned the skills of masonry and carpentry with the help of many craftsmen.

The Franciscan missionaries and their Indian followers built a dam, irrigation ditch, and aqueduct. The main ditch or what is also known to have been called the “acequia madre” carries the water to the mission and its neighboring farm lands. The dam was approximately 270 feet, and has been known to have "curved the wrong way," was built across the San Antonio River. This water is still used by today's residents who are either living on former mission lands or surrounding areas. In order to distribute the water to the missions along the San Antonio River, missionaries had overlooked the building by the natives of seven gravity-flow ditches, dams, and at least one aqueduct, which is approximately 3,500 acres of land. According to the Historic Bridge Foundation, it can be concluded that "precious lime salts in the water gradually cemented the dam's layers of brush, gravel, and rocks. Even so, the dam, ditch, and aqueduct survived a century of Indian attacks, ravaging floods, and controversy before it had been repaired in 1895".