Everyone always asks me why I decided to come to the South. As a girl from one of the most liberal and beautiful cities in the continental United States, people are always surprised that I chose to move. Why would I leave the perfect state that is California and wonder over and down to a place that is known to be extremely conservative, racist, and uneducated? I simply wanted to be with all my fellow blonde people…duh. I’m kidding, I promise. The truth is that I wanted a different experience. I never thought I would ever be a “free, wandering soul”, but as time goes on, I find myself seeking out new experiences and different people because I genuinely believe it makes me a more complete person. Despite what I may say in this blog, there are a lot of wonderful people and places in the South that everyone should explore at some point in their lives. I want to make clear that I think there is a fine line between bashing the Southern lifestyle and just laughing about some of its charms and I hope I do not cross that line and offend anyone. With that being said, let’s get to it!
A little over a year ago I stepped off a plane and into the sweltering thick and sticky cloud of air that would besiege me for the next four months. I can honestly say that I have never sweat more in my life nor has my hair ever curled so much. Walking outside became an ordeal. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t escape the heat or those horrible mosquitoes that wouldn’t leave my legs alone! There I was, walking to classes, a lowly freshman in college, trying my best to look half as pretty as the five-foot something, blonde, tan, model-skinny girls, and as I’m sitting down in my seat I’m wiping the sweat off my forehead and peeling my shirt from my back. I still don’t understand why the nine guys in my class of thirty didn’t immediately ask me to date them considering how amazing I looked. Clearly their loss.
My roommate was quite a character. We had only emailed each other a few times over the summer so I only knew a few things about her before I actually met her. I distinctly remember her referring to her lack of ability to using the new email system as “learning how to work this bitch.” Here are some of the most memorable facts about Cindy*:
1. She was from Maryville, Tennessee. If anyone knows anything about this place, that is shocking. Maryville is in the middle of nowhere and has little to offer. If you are reading this and you are from Maryville, Tennessee, I am sorry for you.
2. Her boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend as of a few days before school started) was a 36-year-old pizza delivery boy with a 9-year-old son. She met him at work J.
3. Her accent was so strong that there were times I could not understand what she was saying.
4. She was apparently extremely depressed (no kidding) and I would often times come back to our room to find her crying, which I found very awkward and sad.
Thank God I convinced her to join a sorority, because if she hadn’t I would have seriously been worried for her safety. Once she got over her initial strange phase, she became a much more normal person…normal for her anyway. I was really, genuinely, slightly disappointed when she told me she HAD to move into her sorority house because she became part of executive committee. It wasn’t until I realized my dorm was incredibly haunted that I began to wish I had someone else in the room with me. I also really missed her whenever I saw cockroaches in my room that I was definitely too afraid to kill. She was used to them, being from the South and all, and didn’t mind killing them. Alternatively, I ran away from them screaming like a normal person would. I remember one time I was late for class because a cockroach wouldn’t let me out of the bathroom. It was traumatic.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s story about my first time at Walmart.
*Cindy is a fictional name that has been changed for her protection.
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