Yazoo City

Well this weekend I did some fun things off campus. On Friday I went to someone's house for dinner and on Saturday I went up to Yazoo City with some friends. It is about 40 minutes away and the name alone makes it worth it. Some guys I know coach soccer up there so we watched their game and then went and hung at this family's house who they know- it was a really nice house. So we sat around and studied and napped and for lunch we went to the grandparents house up the street and watched football (all the football they watch around here is college football, which I find odd) and ate a very Southern meal: fried chicken and fried okra and fried potato wedges (they fry everything) and macaroni and cheese and BBQ (pulled pork) and hot tamales (which are hot tamales wrapped in corn husks) and boiled peanuts and sweet tea and "plain" cake (pound cake). It was so fun. This is the DEEP South, folks. I mean everyone works on the cotton fields (there is cotton everywhere) and put up Confederate memoribilia in their houses and define the word "Southern hospitality" by welcoming anyone into their house and feeding them, no questions asked, and little children saying things like, "I've never seen a Yankee before. I don't like Yankees very much." It was an experience, let me tell you. But I really enjoyed it. It is so different from my life. I love the cotton and the wide sky and the old, old trees on the horizon. I love how friendly everyone is and how caring. And I love eating so well...

The South has a lot of problems, though. Like many places. People are so close-minded here. I could never understand how racism could still be such an issue or how they STILL haven't gotten over the war. But they hate change. (My friend was telling me about this and it really is true.) Tradition is the most important thing. The culture of the South is very slow-moving and relaxed, and that's how the mindset has been throughout history. It just doesn't change that much. People are loathe to change. I don't know if it's fear or laziness. That's why the economy is in the dumps and racism is still a problem and they hate damn Yankees (I get called a damn Yankee a lot, by the way. In a half-joking manner.) Also, the Southern states that are more sucessful - North Carolina (though most Southerners say that isn't part of the South) and South Carolina and Georgia have become more northernized, with industrial and technological growth that is similar to the North.

It's all very interesting. I am so glad I came here. It has broadened my horizons so much - it is such a distinctive culture. No wonder everyone stereotypes it. I really am starting to like it, though I don't know if I could ever live here. I honestly think I would never be accepted becuase I am from the North - it sounds so silly, and I wouldn't have even thought about it before I came. But it is a big deal to Southerners. Who knows what God has for my life anyway. Right now I am just having fun.