Difference We Find in Our Own Country

Taking another detour today from my usual blogs to keep my readers interested. Since I have been on my trip I have met lots of people from different states within the US, I am the only one from Mississippi that I have met within my group and in my classes at school. Last week I wrote a blog about the difference between Spain and the United States. Today, I would like to point out major differences between Mississippi and the other states. My roommate and I have pretty much the same customs, she is from North Carolina and so we don't see that much of a difference and neither does my friend Liz who goes to the University of Alabama. As for the girls from California... we continue to have funny arguments every day on how to actually pronounce certain words or we laugh at what each other are accustomed to. Here it goes...

• It practically kills them to hear or try and say the word "y'all". Now most of my readers could have probably figured out that was a given. My friend Ria from LA has finally caught on and is saying it more and more each day. The Delta Gamma, Karen, is also catching on and got so excited to tell us she used the word twice in a post card that she mailed to her brother. As for my friends Sierra and Ally, it is completely impossible for them to say the word y'all without trying to sound too much of a hick and just really awkward. It is actually pretty funny. As of now Sierra keeps saying y'all guys and we correct her every time ha.
• Now my Starkville friends will get a kick out of this... people in California have absolutely no clue what queso dip at a mexican restaurant is. Yes, I know it is probably the most crazy thing you have heard if you go with me to Mexican in starkville about 2 to 3 times a week. They have never heard the word rotel or white queso dip. It still amazes me, because I know what else I would eat at the mexican restaurant. If they were to order queso in California, the waiter would most likely bring them a thing of shredded cheese.
• Their pronunciation is totally different from ours, of course that was another given but it is random words like: oil, leg, pen, etc.. They also have noticed that I talk slower than they usually do. One of the girls said it is funny because stories are so much longer because I am not talking very fast. Although I don't think I have an accent, everyone in my group says they can hear my voice and know exactly who it is with my southern voice. Liz did point out that it is not the worst she has heard. Todd Pitts, don't be mad, but they wanted to hear a true southern accent from someone in a small town and I just so happened to have a HeyTell from a while back. My friends listened to a couple of times and enjoyed it ha.
• My friends Sierra and Ally just want to listen to me talk about my farm every time we see each other. I am not sure how my farm came into conversation in the first place but Sierra gets a kick out of everything about it. Everyone now wants to go to Tuscaloosa to see Liz and then drive over for the dove hunt that my dad tries to have every year. I don't know if they will be able to handle it ha.
• While I have been teaching them certain customs of my own, they have been getting me to say "dude" a lot. Also, I now know what they are talking about when they say So Cal and Nor Cal which is southern California and Northern California. The other day I said So Cal and Sierra got VERY excited!
• Sierra and Karen have also been posted on our Facebook group video and images of hipsters. Sierra says you find a lot of those in California and we were unsure at first what exactly a hipster was.

It has been fun learning about different customs of all the states I have never really been to. School has been good, it is starting to become long and I get tired of waking up so early, but I am still learning so much! Only one more day of school then it is off to Portugal for the weekend! Then only 9 more days of classes, how crazy! I am still missing certain things back home, I actually just sent my mom an e-mail on everything I would like to eat when I get home. The list included:

• Steak with broccoli for dinner one night

       I have had chicken, tuna, or ham everyday so I am ready for some red meat! I have been having a lot of fruit for my desserts, but not very many vegetables, which I miss!

• Chinese food

I could definitely go for some PF Changs right about now.

• Mixed Peanut Butter and Jelly for lunch
• Pancakes and bacon for breakfast

Here breakfasts are really small, I would love to have a big girl breakfast with my mom's homemade pancakes, yum!

Below are pictures from the Albyzin. The Albyzin is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Granada, it was so beautiful getting to the top and seeing all of Granada and the Alhambra across the way. The other pictures are our second attempt at salsa classes, except it was 10 euro and we did not think an hour lesson was worth all that money.