In the morning we visited Institute of Texan cultures. It was basically a huge exhibition telling people the influences from the diverse populations that landed in Texas hundreds of years ago. We saw the Chinese one (there is actually a huge population of Chinese here in the Lone Star State), and it contained several errors. For example, the exhibition tried to teach people to write numbers in Chinese, and it said that Chinese was read up to bottom, right to left, which was so wrong. It should be Taiwanese or Japanese instead. I don't know about other countries, but this error was big enough to make me lose interest in the museum. 

   Then the bus drove us to El Mercado, which was the largest Mexican market in SA. It was a street full of vendors and crowded shopping malls with colorful Mexican merchandise. All those hand-crafted stuff were so much more expensive than those in China, and my mom and I hurried to leave once we saw the price tag. We decided to first have lunch, and we didn't walk too far when we reached La Magarita, a Mexican restaurant that was Zagat rated and received many credits. 

   The food was amazing, and the size was huge. I ordered a strawberry magarita for my mom, and the alcohol started to have an effect on her after several sips. I also got us a Fiesta San Antonio; though I had no idea what the name meant (I did not know a single word in Spanish except "guacamole" and "burritos" and other terms related to Mexican cuisine), but the descriptions under the name seemed to imply that it contained a great variety of foods. It turned out to be a Mexican food combo, with all types of signature dishes, the names of which I could not remember. 

   They were so delicious that my mom and I both left the restaurant with big tummies and no desire for any other food, ever. My mom used to say that she did not like Mexican food and I just couldn't understand why. Then I figured out that it was because she usually had Mexican food in Tex-Mex fast food chains, while I dined in more authentic Mexican restaurants. She now fell in love with guacamole and red beans and other Mexican foods just like I did. 

   

   After the extremely satisfying lunch, we strolled around the market and found a place to sit in a larger mall. There was a center stage, and we found out that a bunch of kids from San Antonio dance company were going to perform. There were two dancers who were more professional, and the others were really just kids messing around. I remember the ballet class I used to take when I was little, the teacher was so harsh on us, especially when it came to performance. But now it seemed like all of the little dancers and the parents were just having fun, and no matter how terrible the performances were, all of the audience would clap really loudly. 

   The afternoon was spent along the riverwalk, which was exactly what it sounded like. There were numerous restaurants along the river, and it felt as if we were in Venice but not Texas. We jumped onto a tour boat and had a nice view of the history of the riverwalk and the buildings around the area, especially on the banks. There were also world-class hotels on the side of the river: Hyatt, Hilton, Marriot, and many more. The river walk ended in half an hour, and I had already started to think about dinner when it's five in the afternoon and I wasn't even hungry after the big lunch. But I still got to persuade my mom to dine at a restaurant on the riverwalk, and we found a table that was just on the edge of the bank. We had nice afternoon breeze and tour boats passing by. Guacamole and chips, that's all we'd had for dinner, and we left San Antonio with full and satisfied stomachs. 

   What I found most impressive during this tour was that the Texans were so proud of their history, which was super short comparing to the history of many Chinese cities, but they took great care of their historical treasure. China might be too rich in history to be thinking about preserving its historic relics, and it was so sad that two hundred soldiers died in Aloma and the Texans built a shrine to commemorate them, while millions of Chinese fighters passed away during the war against Japan, and museums about those fightings were only scarcely dotted all over the country, and nobody really paid visits to those places. Knowing the history of one's country or even one's neighborhood could promote a sense of honor when one is the resident in that specific country or neighborhood, and it would encourage them to become responsible for continuing building the reputations of their communities. This is something that is worth doing, and I think American government has done a good job. 

   Tomorrow I will be at home finishing summer reading requirements and emptying my stomach, but at least I had a great time today and will have a good time visiting Rice University the day after tomorrow. 

   Goodnight, everybody.