15 Things Rio Grande Valley Transplants Living in San Antonio Will Understand

By San Antonio Current Staff

The Valley is a world of its own, as is San Antonio. So when those two worlds come together (kind of), what happens? RGV natives living in SA know.

Scroll down to view images

Join the San Antonio Current Press Club

At a time when local-based reporting is critical, support from our readers is essential to our future. Join the San Antonio Current Press Club for as little as $5 a month

We talk all the smack we want about our hometowns, but get super defensive when someone who’s not from there tries to do it — especially in SA.
Double the fury if they say “Oh, it’s okay, I’m from the Valley too” when they only lived there for, like, two years.You don’t get to claim a place for some kind of weird cultural street cred just to dump on it two seconds later.
Photo via Twitter / normanokay

We’re used to getting a puzzled look when we tell people we trust gas stations with our tacos.
Stripes tacos are the best, and the ladies of the Laredo Taco Company know how to roll out chingos of handmade flour tortillas in time for the early morning rush. Give the Q taco a try when you get the chance, it’s so worth it.
Photo via Instagram / la_moshimoshi

You appreciate no longer bumping into people you know or are probably related to every time you go out.
No matter where you go in the Valley, chances are you’ll come across someone you know. Depending on your mood, this can either be charming or super annoying. The day you try to make a quick stop at H-E-B looking all tirada is when you see your ex, someone you hated in high school and the annoying tio that talks too much all in the same visit. Moving to a huge city like SA is a welcome break from that fear.
Photo via Instagram / alysssamdl

You come to find out that there’s apparently a “Valley laugh” that is 100% accurate.
There’s a quick flash between “what laugh?” and the “AHHHH” that follows it where we realize we basically have our own branded laugh, and actually love it. You think of all the other Valley transplants that made it up here before you did, just “AHHHHing” all over the place enough to leave an impression. And by now, you know to go to the South Side to hear it.
Photo via Twitter / amandaatrev

You feel intense pride when a Valley business makes it up to SA.
Brownsville’s El Ultimo Taco won Best Tacos at the Texas Taco Showdown; Delia’s Tamales will be opening their first restaurant outside of the RGV in San Antonio next year. Orale fam, we made it!
Photo via Instagram / deliastamales

You can make it pretty damn far across the Valley in the amount of time if takes you to get from one end of this mamalon city to the other.
You could cut across three small towns in the Valley in the time it takes to get from the South Side to the Northwest Side. The struggle in SA is so real.
Photo via Google Maps

We think it’s a little odd that San Antonio is considered South Texas instead of Central Texas.
It looks more like San Antonio is the Southernmost part of Central Texas. SA can try to claim it, but Valley natives know the difference.
Photo via Twitter / SouthTXproblems

The palm trees on 77 will (hopefully) always be there to greet you after the 3-4 hour drive home.
You spend a lot of the drive appreciating the huge empty fields after having acclimated to the SA skyline. As soon as you see a palm tree in the distance, you start to feel the Valley's warm embrace and realize you're almost home.
Photo via Instagram / kw_troy210

You miss getting your weather forecast from Tim Smith.
This absolute G has spent a large part of our lives either letting us know it was going to be hot as hell outside or encouraging us to donate to "Tim's Coats" close to the holidays. After a while up here, you kind of start wanting one of Adam Caskey's sick ass thermometers.
Photo via Twitter / vanmgar

When you meet someone who’s never heard of the Valley, like a transplant from elsewhere, you bring up SPI.
It’s the place you drive through to get to South Padre Island, or if you’re from Brownsville, the actual tip of Texas.
Photo via Instagram / visitsouthpadreisland