8 Observations From the Deep South

Day 175~Year 3

Team Zybko

April 1st, 2016


~~A YEAR LATER~~

I have tried crawfish (I even sucked the head). I still believe the people are the best. I did gain a Freshman 15 from fried boudin balls and cold beer on hot Summer nights. Live Oaks are wonderful to hang around. I watch mouths when people speak cause I have trouble understanding the accent at times. I am super thankful I haven't been hurt by massive potholes or dangerous Prairieville ditches while maneuvering the roads. I own two articles of clothing with LSU plastered across the front. Battling humidity is a tricky thing.
 (Have an extra shirt in the car between May and the rest of the year!)

All in all, Southern Louisiana is a great place to live. We have had the opportunity to become friends with some amazing people!

Discovering a new place in the country to live can be super exciting! How thrilling to check out the neighborhoods, food and the way the locals do things, especially when you are a very, very good member of the Curious People Club. Platinum baby.

Unfortunately, my realtor, whom is a life long native of has fallen victim to my ridiculously long list of questions about southern Louisiana. A big social media apology to you for causing your ears to bleed, over and over again. Sorry bout that. I am sure it will happen again.

11) First Impressions of the Deep South

1) It appears the last 15 years spent sweating through the sticky summers of South Carolina was like pre-school weather, baby talk compared to here. It will now be considered an easy warm up to the beast called Humidity. I went for an easy cheesy 45 walk through a lovely nearby neighborhood the other day. Dude. Granny panties soaked. Take note, it's only the end of March.

2) The trucks are very, very big. What the rest of the country would consider a monster truck. Every other parking space. Seriously. 

3) The sight of a 200 year old live oak tree is an amazing experience. It may sound funny to say, but it seems as if they each have a personality of their own, as if they really are alive, like a people type of alive. Each with a unique history and story to tell. I'd love to take my shoes off, get comfortable and hunker down to hear all about it.

4) Kids, kids, kids, they are everywhere. Happily playing in the streets of every subdivision we drove through. How cool! Makes me think of what the old school days of America must have looked like in the 50's. That will be a plus for our three littles.

5) The yards are well decorated with various pride and religious items to be passionate about. 
At least of 1 of these 3 can be found on every yard.
*Mother Mary/Jesus statue
*Anything LSU
*Fleur de lis (equivalent to the Palmetto Tree explosion everywhere in SC)

6) The food is gonna be trouble. Big trouble. Need new elastic pants sort of trouble. After dodging a bullet with the border po po with an itty bitty white lie that rolled off my tongue with a new found southern twang.

 Yes sir, ossifer, of course I love me a good ole crawfish boil kinda afternoon, wouldn't be the Lord's day with out one right? 

Perhaps me wearing nothing but a newly bought LSU flag draped around my shoulders and the can of Miller Lite in my right hand had something to do with it. I'd like to think it was my new, smooth as butter accent that was believable. (mom, just kidding, that's not how it played out. I actual stole the flag from one of the yards mentioned above :)

Hey, Don't judge, I was only trying to get across state lines to my family. Anyhow, despite the fact I don't crave the bulk of their favorite cuisine down here will not matter. Everything else is delicious and eating is as much to do with sustenance as it is a 
social thing.

7) Most of the roads could use a little TLC.

8) More than once this week I have been referred to as a northerner. Apparently anything above LA is yankee-ville. Ha. This makes me giggle inside for various reasons I cant really explain. What have we gotten ourselves into. I text my bestie from Mississippi to clarify. She responds politely not in these exact words.

Honey, that's what I've been trying to tell you all these years. South Carolina is the south but is not the same as the "deep south". I'm from the deep south.

I mull this over a minute. So, its like, if the we put this in food terms. The area I have lived in for a decade and a half was simply a turkey burger in disguise as a beef burger. They are both burgers 
yet the "deep south" is the real deal. Juicy and flavorful.

9) Went to the local Walmart for a few things the other day. We did an innocent double take as we saw what appeared to be a huge liquor section. A straight up ABC store plunked in the front between the book racks and the $5 DVD bin. I only needed shampoo and conditioner but that's interesting enough. 

10) The accents here are new to me. I was having a lovely five minute conversation with a man, I have to admit I had a little bit of trouble understanding him. As we spoke I tried to figure out what country he was from and was going to politely ask him how long he has lived here in the United States. Thankfully, we ran out of time. Turns out he was more than likely from New Orleans. Duh.

11) The people are what makes this place. They are interestingly friendly. So nice and engaging you think they couldn't possibly be for real but they are. They may "Bless my heart" after I walk away but I'm OK with that. 

I can deal with avoiding potholes and the embarrassment of simple mis-understanding of my own language but if the people aren't awesome well, that's a tough oyster to swallow. Pretty sure we will blend in with out a problem. They are a good loud and looking for fun, if they can't find it, they create their own!

Thank you southern Louisiana for a great deep south welcome!