The Best of Times and the Worst of Times

So far it seems like the South (I know a pretty large landmass to generalize for) has a lot of heart and soul. In fact, I have seldom met as many nice people anywhere as I have met in a couple weeks in Nashville. People in Oregon are nice. They are like genuinely, "I miss you, lets get together next week I really want to catch up!", nice. But people here are like, "I just met you and I want to meet you for dinner TONIGHT, oh yeah and you are welcome in my home any time, in fact just come over right now and I'll make you some sweet tea," nice. Yeah, that's pretty nice. So, southern hospitality really does exist. In fact, some of my new favorite things in the world are here in the south.

Nashville's Top 3 (As discovered by Kristin):

Southern BBQ. Perhaps the best meat experience I have ever had. That's right, it rivals my mom's elk roast. There is just something about it. Its like... inherently smokey. Its not just all from the BBQ sauce. But that part is very delicious.

FIREFLIES! So I read this great little kid's book in my childhood about fireflies in jars, the whole shebang. Yeah, well we don't have those lightening bugs in Oregon, so naturally I thought they were fictitious. Come on, bugs don't light up. But then in High School I had the embarrassing realization that lightening bugs really do exist and I wanted nothing more than to see them. You can imagine my excitement when I saw a little green light the night I got here. More humorously, you can imagine the reaction of every person in this city watching me chase them and catch them when they really aren't anything to write home about to anyone else here.

I think I will love them no matter how many times I see them. So there.

Oregon's got nothin' on Nashville's Summer Storms. Hey Portlander, you think you know rain? Yeah try this little statistic on for size; Portland's average rainfall: 37.26", Nashville's: 48.11". Portland probably beats Nashville by a landslide if we were measuring hours rained because it rains for about 5 minutes here what it rains in Portland in a day. Its amazing. Its sunny, then all the sudden it gets dark... and before you even make it the 5 minute walk to your apartment you are soaking wet and thunder rolls and lightening lights up the sky. I love it.

Annnnnd... The Bottom Three:

Its actually 98 degrees here. Like consistently. That's really hot, people. And, oh yeah, 80% humidity. Granted, almost everywhere I go freezes me out with the AC within seconds of walking in. But the heat still goes in the bottom three.

This is a cicada. They are big huge bugs that fly around and make lots of noise. They are dying off now, and they only come out every 13 years in Nashville, but bugs in general go in the bottom three. There are just so many more bugs here it seems. Saw my first cockroach the other day. I guess bugs like heat and humidity. I don't care too much for it.

For those of you who are unaware, this is a shrine of Nathaniel Forrest. He started the Ku Klux Klan. And for further ornamentation, he is surrounded by a plethora of confederate and KKK flags. Classy, I know. Well, that happens here in the south. In fact, this particular shrine is on private property right off a main highway in Nashville. Come on peeps, racism and southern uprising is no good. Go equality. You go in the bottom three southern redneck.

But I still like all you other southerners a lot, especially those with a little twang. That means you too, nice lady on the airplane who wanted to be my mom before the ride was over and gave me your number in case I ever got into trouble in this Nash Vegas. I like you.