Swing me way down South…

Readers, I have returned from the mother-land! Literally, it is the land of my mother- Georgia. My mother and I had the opportunity to road-trip down South this past weekend. We left at 5:30 a.m. on Friday morning to set out for Tifton, Georgia, which is basically at the Georgia-Florida border.

^^^ Tifton is in the Valdosta region. Whew! What a drive.

Now I’ve always known that I was a Southerner but on this trip, I really tried to allow myself to become enveloped in the whole philosophy of the South. My accent always comes back when I leave my college town but down in Georgia, it came WAY back! Like I said, we drove for about 10 hours straight, stopping only for Bojangles and later for Chick-fil-a, two staple fast food establishments orginating in the South. And I have to say, we were so hungry when we finally stopped for breakfast (after driving for four hours), that Bojangles cajun chicken biscuit was quite possibly the most delectable morsel of food I have ever consumed in my lifetime of twenty-one years.

^^^ Just looking at this image makes my mouth water. You MUST try a Bojangles cajun chicken biscuit at some point in your life.

Between our food stops, we needed to gas up the car so we pulled over at this run-down gas station just below Atlanta. The store clerk was a elderly gentleman with a long white beard wearing an old truckers hat, standing behind the counter wistling loudly and proficiently. As we approached the counter to check out, my mom says to the old man, “I bet nobody else in this store knows what your wistlin’.” The man smiled, “Do you know  the song?” Of course she did…she’s from Georgia. “Ramblin’ Rose,” my mother replied.

^^^ Ahhh…I love oldies…

This prompted the old man to break into song. Right there, as other customers proceeded to shop, the man serenaded us to the tune of “Ramblin’ Rose” by Nat King Cole. Then mom joined in and the two of them sang the whole song, right there at the counter of the gas station. At that moment, the only thing I could think in my mind was, “Yep. M’home.” Ahh, I love the South.

^^^ Haha!

From there, we arrived at the University of Georgia, Tifton campus where I met with three professors who had a chance to look at my curriculum vitae and offer some helpful advice on how to get into graduate school. I’m glad my first campus visit was at the Tifton campus- everyone was so Southern and friendly, making it a good warm-up round for “How to talk to graduate professors, 101.”

^^^ When we called one of my mom’s old friends to plan a rendez-vous, his first question was, “You got one fixin’ to be a bulldog?” Hahaha! Fixin’.

Once we were done in Tifton, we made our way back to Atlanta after stopping in Macon for dinner with an old friend (we have lots of old friends in the land of peaches). Finding our hotel in Atlanta was a TRIP! It was in the most impossible location EVER and despite the fact that I was on the phone with the hotel clerk, we were having no luck in communicating. She kept giving me stoplights as landmarks: “You should see a stoplight. Turn left there.” I replied several times, “There are lots of stoplights,” which there were. After driving in circles for about forty minutes, we finally found our hotel in the most secluded location possible, parked behind ANOTHER hotel. There were no signs, either. Let this be a lesson to all: I hereby declare that I will book hotel reservations for me and my mother’s outings from now on.

^^^ You’re telling me!

The next day, we visited Athens, home of the University of Georgia (main campus), and Gainesville, mom’s hometown. Athens was absolutely beautiful and the UGA campus was ENORMOUS. It reminded me a lot of the University of Virginia…only older, I think. UGA was the first established public university in the United States and is ranked as an “Unofficial Ivy-league” university. The campus itself is a testament to architecture throughout the last couple centuries; from the back to the front, the buildings grow younger and younger. Because it was a Saturday, no professors were around, so we only had a chance to look around campus ourselves.

^^^ Um. The campus was huge. And gorgeous.

Once we got to Gainesville, we wasted no time in meeting up with some old friends of my mom’s. And when I say old, they really are old. Which was great! I really enjoy spending time with individuals from older generations which might explain why I hang with my mom on the weekends. I had the treat of spending a whole evening (until about midnight) with three different individuals: one was the mother of my mom’s childhood best friend- we took her out to dinner where we learned quickly that she didn’t like shrimp and that there was no way we were paying for our own food. The next was a friend of my grandmother’s who writes inspirational Christian stories for “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” and whose husband was once the mayor of Gainesville. Our last visit was with the town Pharmacist whose wife was my grandmother’s best friend. We called to see if he was available that evening after the dinner hours, “How late do you stay up, Charlie?” He replied very frankly, “Twelve thirty.” I chuckled. And we stayed until twelve thirty, talking the night away in Charlie’s den.

^^^ His den was really old world Georgia– Cozy, slightly over packed with piles of books everywhere, paintings covering every inch of the walls. I loved it.

Then Sunday came. The BIG day. It was time to prepare for the Coldplay concert. Mom and I went into Atlanta to visit one last person then spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around the city. After visiting our hotel one last time to freshen up, we were off to the concert at Lakewood Ampitheatre. Did I mention that this was an outdoor venue and that it had been raining ALL DAY LONG? Our original plan was to buy tickets for the lawn that encircled the outer edge of the ampitheatre but luckily, we decided to upgrade and go for the tickets that were smack dab in the center of the audience…and under the overhang. The crowd was great. To our left were two gay guys, to our right, several graduates from Georgia Tech University, and behind us were students from University of Georgia. So you can imagine, the crowd was very young and FUN! We all had some drinks, took pictures, danced, sang… It just proves that a show is only as good as its crowd. And the lights were AMAZING! These globes descended from the ceiling of the stage and projected images or colors. During the song “Yellow”, a ton of giant yellow balloons were released from the ceiling of the ampitheatre. The balloons bounced off the crowd as they worked their way towards the stage. It was a surreal image!

^^^ Everything was lit up yellow!

^^^ This is how it opened.

^^^ I loved the confetti!

Before we even left for Georgia, my mother did her fair share of Coldplay concert research and found that we would be getting a free CD at the end of the show. She also discovered that the band actually travels to the back of the auditorium at each show! The first part I believed, but I had trouble imagining Coldplay out in the rain on the lawn–so mom and I made a bet. And I lost. She was right! They played out in the rain, on the LAWN! The whole show was really amazing. Chris Martin could be likened to Mick Jagger in his performance style; it amazed me at how much he could run and dance around the stage while singing at the same time! The next morning was our scheduled departure and pit-stop in Clemson, South Carolina where I would have several meetings with MORE professors.

^^^ Alright. Alright. She was right, I was wrong. They came into the crowd.

My time at Clemson University was well spent. I had the privilege of meeting with four different professors and a graduate student. The first professor I spoke with was a little Polish woman who is the graduate coordinator for the program I was interested in. When I first arrived, her prominent concern was that I had not decided whether or not I wanted to persue a master’s degree or go directly into a PhD program. After trying to convince me nicely to go straight into a PhD program, she made a startling analogy to get my attention. In her Polish accent, she asked, “Do you want to be like the house wife who sits at home and does everything the man tells her to do? Or do you want to make your own decisions and stand on your own two feet? That is the difference between a master’s degree and a PhD.”

^^^ A view of Clemson’s oldest building, I believe…or one of them.

“Whoa,” I thought. So as of now, I am leaning towards a PhD. But it’s still up in the air. After spending four straight hours meeting with Clemson faculty, I was exhausted and starving. Mom and I took off to Cracker Barrel and feasted on cornbread, chicken, cooked carrots, potatoes, and corn on the cob. It was our last high calorie, Southern food “hoo-rah.” Delicious.

^^^ Mmmm, heart attack on a plate.

The next day, I started my internship with the Department of Environmental Quality which, so far, has proven to be the most incedible opportunity I’ve ever had. I go conoeing and boating on lakes daily. We spend our time in some of the most beautiful regions of Virginia. Today, we saw two bald eagles in the wild on a lake run. Again, incredible. I am learning how to use a “Sonde” which is a tool used to measure pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen levels, and conductivity in water. How cool is that?

^^^ And THIS is a sonde.

In short, I am having the time of my life. I’m learning a lot. I’m playing a lot. And I have more to look forward to. I will keep you all updated as much as possible! Until next time!