Texas is a Whole World Outside of Trinity

For most Trinity students, especially those of us living on campus, Trinity seems to be an all encompassing world. We sleep, eat and study here and on the weekends we go out with other Trinity students, to meet up with more Trinity people, which leads us to create a very sheltered environment for ourselves. In many ways Trinity is our life.
However, once in a while a glimpse of the outside world reminds us of the life that is out side the Trinity circle. My first year here, I remember that towards the end of fall semester, I saw a woman walking into Laurie Auditorium with a baby. I was then suddenly reminded of the existence of babies. The only people I had been in close contact with were students 18 years old to 22, and professors. No children and no babies. That was the first time I realized how sheltered our lives become when we are at Trinity.

by S Avalos

This past weekend during fall break, my roommate, two other friends and I decided to take a road trip to Austin. Driving there, I felt as though all the pressing anxiety of "all the homework I have" and "midterms week" all stayed behind at Trinity. Once we arrived we went for dinner at a midle-eastern restaurant and had a variety of different foods of all colors and wonderful smells. We saw people of various ethnicities coming in and enjoying the savory dishes. We then walked around Guadalupe Street just as people were starting to come out to eat and walk. Austin has a different feel than San Antonio, it seems to be younger and more dynamic.

by S Avalos

The day after we drove back and decided to stop in a town called New Braunfels just 30 minutes before getting to San Antonio. This small town in contrast to Austin, was very "stereotypically Texan" in that people  were walking around in cowboy hats and boots, and were gathering at the dance hall. The town was beautiful so we decided to walk around and visit some of the shops. The old Soda Fountain was crowded with clients and souveniers. They sold root-beer floats, fudge, ice cream and a variety of home made jams, amongst other goodies. 

by S Avalos

As we came closer to San Antonio, we decided to take a detour and go downtown for a late dinner. We drove down towards the plaza and we saw people walking around. As we made our way through the crowd we saw people dancing, others dinning and some just walking. San Antonio also became a different place than the one we experience at Trinity. Just as interesting and exciting as Austin or New Braunfels and very distinct as well.



by S Avalos



Going to school at Trinity has been a wonderful experience, however, Trinity is not a world: it should only be part of our lives as opposed to all of our life. People, things, spaces and activities within the Trinity community are great, but so is the world outside. Sometimes, especially in times of stress, coming out of the bubble and getting a change of air can help replenish your perspective.

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Food Diversity at TU

I was standing in line for the Granary at Mabee the other day, and I decided to take notice of the types of spices people use to season their foods.

Salad bar
Taken by S. Ávalos

From the very beginning of the scavenging process, one can see that some are more careful about what goes in their plate than others. There are those who seem to have some sort of systematic approach to the amounts and the colors, others go down the line and choose only an item or two, and of course there are those who just take some of everything and hope for the best. Once you reach the front, you are confronted with a variety of spices, which you may choose to combine, and experiment with, or else you can just wait and have one of the pre-made sauces added to your concoction.

Spices
Taken by S. Ávalos

Among the spices available are: turmeric, salt and pepper, a five spice mix, oregano, cumin, curry, raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest. Some are intimidated when confronted with the variety, others don’t enjoy unknown flavors, and then there are those few adventurous who mix and match. The safer choice is always salt and pepper. Cumin is strong and overpowering. Oregano is mild and blends in well with other flavors.  Lemon zest is a never-go-wrong choice, but still has to be a deliberate choice. Curry is the bold choice; one must be familiar with it to known the proportions in which it can be combined. Finally the brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon are the ingredients for the detail-oriented palates, used only by those who know about proportions and can successfully maneuver the spices at the stand.

Many times it is hard to feel satisfied after eating a meal at Mabee, but if you explore the options you might find a way to combine flavors to get the feel of home or those that feel like you have traveled to an unknown place. 

Mabee Pictures by S Ávalos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Mabee Spices by S Ávalos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.