Week four: Cultural

By now I have truly settled into life at Ole Miss.  I have managed to create my own routine, get on top of all the work they give us, and have some amazing experiences with amazing friends. 

Week four started off pretty much the same as every other week, with Monday through to Thursday being hectic.  However this weekend I was invited to the home of one of my American friends, Ava.    On Friday we made the five hour journey to Alabama which was long and tiring but entirely worth it, when we reached the city of Mobile, and I realised just how big Alabama was! Nothing like it is in the movie ‘Sweet Home Alabama’!

Outside the Mardi Gras Museum

On Friday night Ava took us into the city centre where we watched our first Mardi Gras parade.  Most people aren’t aware that Mardi Gras actually originated in Mobile Alabama.  It is seen as a time of celebration before lent, starting after epiphany and ending on ‘Fat Tuesday’ the day before lent begins.  During this time people attend Balls, and Parades, they get dressed up, they dance and eat fatty foods, all before they start to fast at lent.  This was a hugh culture shock for me and a wonderful event to see.  We watched all the brilliantly crafted floats, the dancers and the marching bands at the parade, and we got millions of beads, teddies, cups and cakes.  I really enjoyed watching the parade and catching the beads, and I love that I had the opportunity to see Mardi Gras.

The next day we got a chance to look around the beautiful town of Mobile.  We drove to the bay, where I noticed a lot of poles in the water.  It turns out that these were what remained of a number of piers, which had been destroyed in various hurricanes.  I found it hard to believe that a place of such beauty could be destroyed so easily, and that so many people’s lives could be turned upside down.

With all our beads

Unfortunately on Sunday we had to make the five hour drive back to Oxford, and back to a lot of readings and papers for the next week.  I feel so grateful that I’ve had this opportunity to experience another part of the county, another tradition and a lot more southern hospitality.  Everyone we meet treats us with kindness, and together they are all helping to make this trip better than I could have imagined. 

Now I have to settle back into life in Oxford for another while, and concentrate on the tests, and start of observation which are approaching this week.