There's many stereotypes that we Aussies like to play on when we think of the American South and 'The Bible Belt of America'.. well let me tell you, as one of my favorite English teachers would have said "stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason". Ain't that the truth.
Our first night in Memphis saw us arriving pretty much right on time. The drive had been less adventurous than our previous two trips with a pretty clear road the whole (long) way.
We were looking forward to settling down in Memphis for a couple of weeks and meeting people and really getting a good look at "true American living". Naturally our first night here we went out for Chinese. As Nick mentioned we were all severely disappointed at the lack of Dancing Panda but enjoyed the food and company nonetheless.
Our host, Diana, is quite possibly the most hardworking person i have met in a very long time.. a full-time music teacher by day and a part-time department store manager by night. This woman works none stop most days of the week.. which made me feel incredibly lazy for a few days while i slept.. ate.. slept.. ate.. slept.. and then when we ran out of food reluctantly drove the whole 5 miles to the closest Wal-Mart to buy more food. This guilt lasted a whole two days until Diana explained to us the "norm" that is living in The South.. now i don't feel so lazy.
DRIVE THU ATMs!! America!! What are you doing!? Nick and I were at first amazed.. followed by intrigued.. closely followed by disgusted.. and finally back to amazed again.DRIVE THRU ATMs!! I mean how lazy does one have to be!? In saying that.. we love you Memphis and you've done well to put up with us for this long.
A few Memphis highlights include the Memphis Zoo.. oh no wait, i take that back.. "America's #1 Zoo" my ass! It was a nice stroll through an empty park.. however there were three Grizzly Bears that kept me entertained for 10 minutes or so.
We also ventured to Graceland and after being yelled at my security (who may i mention need better signage) we experienced the self guided tour of the house and grounds. It was informative, moving and i will admit i shed a tear or two at Elvis' grave.
Today we were dragged out of bed early to accompany Diana to school to be her Show & Tell to students. We arrived at the school at 7am! 7AM!! It was still dark.. personally i don't believe children should start school until the sun rises but these crazy Americans do it all backwards! The school is made up of mostly African/American kids (K to Yr5) and is located in a lower socio-economic area of suburban Memphis, for this reason alone it was incredibly interesting to witness a school day. With only 360 (approx) students it's a small school but with a lot of.. attitude.
While 90% of the students we saw in Diana's class were incredibly well behaved, polite and curios of the two strangers sitting in their class it was also obvious that there are kids who know no other way of surviving but to have an attitude fit of a Kardashian sister. I would also like to say on the record here and now that Diana Zimmerman has to be one of the most amusing and captivating junior school teachers i have met. For a white, female teacher she had those kids in the palm of her hands every minute and as i am sure we can all appreciate that isn't an easy task in the best of schools.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Memphis before we hit the road again back up to St Louis (Idina Menzel concert!! Can i get a "hell yeah"?). However we have one last hoorah tomorrow night which is a house party Diana is hosting in honor of both her's and Nick's birthday.
A special mention to Mr Mario Williams for accompanying us around Memphis for a few days!!
Love & puppies to everyone xx
