A Texas Experience

I was driving around the areas of San Antonio, Texas when, all of a sudden, I found myself admiring my surroundings.

I had nothing important to do and was just driving around and then started craving a coffee. So, I pulled into a Starbucks and met a new friend named Efrain Navarro that was also there for a coffee, or maybe a latte. We engaged in a simple “Hi, how are you," conversation as we were formed in line waiting to place our order. A minute or two passed and I decided to ask Efrain about his experience with Texas. I wanted to know more about what he thought about the state.  He answered, “That is not just a quick answer. Do you have time to sit down and show you my world of Texas?” I had time and no other place to be at so I took his suggestion, grabbed my coffee, sat down, and listened to his “Texas Experience.” By the way, Efrain Navarro is a mechanical engineer working as an accident forensic expert.

Efrain started answering my question by talking about the variety of food found in Texas. He explained that since Texas is right next to Mexico, the people get to try the best of both worlds. When it comes to Texas, BBQ restaurants are amongst the best places (in his opinion) to experience the state's food. The way he explained the brisket with much detail about the flavors, tenderness, and the generous amount of food served made me somewhat hungry. Efrain has tried multiple places around Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin and gave me a list of BBQ places to go try out. But besides the BBQ, other types of food, which he called “hole in the wall" places are an adventure to go out and explore. 

After talking about food, we started conversing about the land, livestock, and industries Texas has to offer. Since Efrain’s career requires him to travel all over the state, he mentioned that Texas has a variety of beautiful lands. Going out towards the Odessa/Midland area, the land is dry and filled with oil pumps and wind mills. Going towards Eagle Pass, the land is greener, and the farms contain some sort of livestock. Although Texas has an abundance of land, larger cities like Houston and Austin are known to be industrial. Since Texas is second largest of the lower forty-eight United States, Efrain had lots more to say about the areas he’s visited. That’s when he decided to change topics.

Lastly, he brought it all back to San Antonio, where he resides, and taught me of the variety of cultures found in this city. San Antonio may not be known as an industrial city or for the largest in population compared to Houston, Dallas, or Fort Worth. It is a calm city to live in. The city of San Antonio tends to be aware of its people and have an event in relation to what they are interested in. I have never seen it in that way but looking at the calendar Efrain brought up, he was right. So many events held around the city that I was not aware of. An event that San Antonio enjoys year after year is Fiesta. Fiesta is an event to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the battle of San Jacinto. At this event, San Antonio brings in live music and traditional food. Efrain enjoys attending Fiesta every year when possible.

Time blew by so fast. The next moment I looked at my phone for the time and an hour had passed by. At this point, we both had finished our coffee drinks and had to part ways. After hearing Efrain’s experience with Texas, I saw the state in a much different manner. From that day onward, I have started to notice all the things he had said were true. One thing about listening to Efrain’s detailed experience of Texas was like if I was seeing through his eyes. Although I have not gone to many places yet, I feel like I have also been to the same places. Maybe in the near future, I would share my personal experience with someone as well. 

Posted March 22, 2018

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