sundays in el paso

gary and i made the most of sunday.

we used to drive uphill to go to this catholic church about 15-30 minutes away from our place. it's the only catholic church gary was familiar with then. the structure is very nice though, homey with low-hanging chandeliers and a huge portrait of the virgin of guadalupe at the altar, so the distance was fairly okay with him and me. except we didn't understand a fraction of the ceremony. because we are situated at the border of texas and mexico, the mass is always in spanish.

until one day, i searched all the catholic churches in el paso online, and voila! the church of the blessed sacrament is just on the other side of our area, 3 minutes away says google map. since then, hearing mass became a lot easier for us. we usually wake up late on weekends, and the english mass schedule of 11am is just right for the lazy couple.



this particular sunday however, we realized that the mass coincided with 12 baptisms and a wedding sponsored by the parish, and the church was so jampacked we couldn't even go past the main entrance. we decided to go to the lady of guadalupe church again. the mass, of course, was half-way through by the time we got there.

once out of church, gary said he remembered a place where he could take me. we were both getting tired of going to the same places in el paso that we often decide to just stay home and watch dvd. this time though, we drove the I-10 to reach this factory outlet that kind of reminded me of serendra back home. stores for brands like puma, tommy hilfiger, liz claiborne, nike, levi's etc. lined up in a surprisingly well-ventilated area. ignoring the high heels i was still wearing, we went around the establishment to kill time. gary earlier asked me if i could walk in my stilettos and i answered "i used to run all day in them," smugly. five hours later i was cursing my black shoes.

i got me a baseball cap. now why a baseball cap? see it serves me two ways. one, during bad hair days (or late nights when you suddenly have to run to the store or grab midight snacks), i can just put it on along with a pair of hoop earrings and i don't have to worry about how i look. two, (although i've yet to prove this) it's gonna help gary save some of his patience waiting for me to get ready.



driving home, we suddenly spotted a sign that said sunland park mall was on the next exit. my hubby and i are on a search for recreation areas where we can bring my mom when she visits. so sort of like an advance work, we headed to the sunland park.

it. was. huge. even bigger than mall of asia, i think. it's like there were 5 or 6 malls put together plus a separate bookstore that is soooo similar with the fully booked branch in bonifacio high street, scattered restaurants, and other specialty stores for beauty, appliances, dogs, automobiles, among others. we didn't even know el paso had such an area(or, well, i read it's technically part of new mexico but you get my point).

we hit the mall first, then gary drove me to my mecca, the barnes and noble bookseller. bookstores smell the same. be it in manila, the states or paris. i just love the scent the union of brewed coffee and print makes. we stayed there until we were both famished.

we ate at the grand chinese buffet, which, for less than $30, was such a treat. i ate EVERYTHING. i got a plate full of just shrimps. i think there were three or four shrimp dishes on it. then another plate filled with cantaloupe, strawberries,green melon and banana bathing in cherry syrup. my baby got me dimsum like i asked, some sweet bread with white cheese inside, mini-siopaos, among others. gary also had chow mein. on my 'real' plate, i ate fried rice and corn and oh i just ate everything! :P

too full and about to throw up with the slightest provocation, we drove again for home--but suddenly decided to watch a movie at carmike theatre, which is about 3 minutes from our place. we were choosing between state of play and 17 again, but after all the activities of the day, we decided to go for something light. 17 again was pretty fun, especially the character of zac efron's best friend. we were sitting beside a couple in their late 70s or early 80s (no kidding!)and i was making gary promise me he'd still take me to the movies when we reach that stage.

we were really on our way home, when we realized we had to buy water from the nearby walgreens. then gary got a call from his brother, and we had to run an errand for him so we turned back and finished the favor. we then decided to rent some movies at blockbuster. by this time my legs were really killing me so i settled for the movie letters from iwo jima (which i'll write about next) and gary got the mystery-thriller fracture, starring anthony hopkins.