A Visit to the Delta

Last week I have finally, the opportunity to know the zone of the state of Mississippi called the Delta. It is a very vast area between the Mississippi and the Yazoo river and technically is not a delta because is not the mouth of the Mississippi river. For centuries the region was the center of agricultural farms dedicated to the cotton, sugar cane, rice, tobacco and indigo, a very appreciated plant used to dye fabrics, but which production process was highly dangerous for humans and the enviroment. Now you could see the catfish farms with big pools to the different levels of growing.

Sometimes is like watching a movie or reading a book about the south, the images you see look timeless. Is really shocking to see the differences between the little towns in the Delta and Oxford, they are very poor places, is not surprising the blues was born here, the vast and lonely fields inspired this kind of mood and the struggles of mostly black people lives in which poverty and hardship were ever present defining a sad rhythm with melancolic lyrics.

We visited the Blues Museum and later Groun Zero, one of the places the actor Morgan Freeman has in the area, the place is so pictoresque with all the walls cover by the names of the visitors trough the years. They have catfish of course and I tried the green fried tomatoes, I really love the film with the same name and always want to taste, they are so good. A good band played blues, soul and rock and we danced and enjoyed the hospitality of the people.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

The last weekend I have one amazing opportunity: go to New Orleans and enjoy the Mardi Gras. The travel from Oxford to New Orleans is long, more than five hours! but we enjoy it because we are with friends and talk, and laugh and stop to eat and to take photos.
We saw the parades and caught the beads and all kinds of stuff they throw from the floats to people. In the parades the families were with folding chairs and all kind of food and beverages to stand in the sideways for hours. Everybody was happy, but childrens enjoy the most.

New Orleans is a city I really like, I have had the opportunity to visited a few times in the past, in fact was the first place I visited with my own money when I was twenty, and also the first place I had a getaway with my husband.

The city was crowded, specially in the French Quarter and as usual, full of all kind of street artists. One thing I enjoyed the most was the delicious food, the jambalaya, the gumbo, a nice rushless breakfast looking the people, the gelato and even the king cake.

I felt shocked to see the damages Katrina made, but the city looks alive and the people hopeful. Most of the damages are repaired, but is possible to see many houses and neighborhoods destroyed.

I really enjoyed my weekend gateway, and I hope visit New Orleans again soon!

A different weekend

Last weekend I have the opportunity to visit Jackson, the capital of the state of Mississippi. In there we saw the Capitolio Building, a beautiful building sorrounded for a small park, we can saw some trees start blooming, a sign to the end of the winter.

The city had several museums and we have the opportunity to visit two of them, The Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum with a great variety of activities, in the Heritage Center antique artifacts display how agricultural tools evolve.

The exhibit of model trains has three differents recreation of railroads from Mississippi, the exhibits was full of senior citizen who enjoy the models.

Adjacent to the Museum you find a representation of an old Mississippi village with the school, the doctor office, the General Store, the blacksmith shop, a little newspaper and many others spots, you should go to the barnyard and meet Joe and Sally, the mules. Is really an amuse and instructive place to know more about Mississippi.

Later, we visit the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, that shows the natural heritage of the state, mix the display of geological and anthropological examples with living animals to explain the biological diversity of the differents habitats. Around the buildings are paths to enjoy a walking tour seeing the birds.

A class in the sun

Last Thursday, the HIWriting group decide to enjoy the really beautiful and warm weather and take the class outside the IEP Building.

We write and read our exercises in spontaneous writing under a sun most of us enjoy so much.

A visit to Graceland

Hi everybody, yesterday I had the opportunity to visit Graceland, Elvis Presley´s house and was such an experience! I want to share a few photos.

Graceland is the house Elvis bought in his twenty´s when start to gain money with his songs. The house is in Memphis and in the sourrounding area are several related bussiness. I went there with Velsie, Chrissy, my two roommates, Alejandra and Rocío and a small group of students of IEP.

The travel to Memphis wasn´t that long, almost one hour and a half and the mansion is at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard. A small trip but a long journey for me. I grow up in the final of the seventies, listening Elvis latest songs my father used to play. I really love his spiritual , blues and love songs, specially Bridge over troubled water, The wonder of you, I remember you, You´ve lost that loving feeling, In the ghetto and several more.

I was surprissed by the fact the house is not very big, I think the most impressive thing to me was the human scale present in every thing, for example the old bike hanging in the ceiling in the corner of the storage building.

They are almost seven gift shop, each one for a different kind of public, even a jewelry store. Is kind a thematic park! Is was amusing saw some of the things for sale, not only memorabilia but every kind of clothes, including underware. The Sirius Radio is a radio station on site, transmiting only Elvis´ songs the whole day.



It was amazing see the clothes Elvis used in the movie, specially the shoes; because the clothes are straights in manequins but the soes had the marks of the foot, the traces of being used for someone and noticing that you feel Elvis like a person not only as an image.

Besides the house is the little graveyard when Elvis and their parents and brother are buried, people from everywhere visit the tombs and left gifts like a form of tribute to Elvis memory, you could feel the love and respect. I really enjoy the visit to Graceland.

chayote

Is interesting how much the food could make you feel away, one of the things I could saw we all miss from our countries is the food, the familiar flavors af everything. Sunny talk to this subject in her blog too. Last night for Alejandra´s birthday I made rice and beans, the most basic and simple dish in Costa Rica, and was better than a fancy dinner in a expensive restaurant because we had four weeks without eating those things. In my country we eat rice and beans every single day for lunch, is the base of our alimentation and mixed, they provides the daily amount of protein the body need. We eat that with a salad, usually lettuce and tomatoe or cabbage, carrots and tomatoe and some meat dish, ussually some "picadillo" that is chopped beef meat with some vegetable like potatoes, chayotes, plantains or another. That way the meat is included in the dish in a cheapest way than a steak or some other. The picadillo could be eated with a tortilla, that the mexican people call a taco and costarican people call a gallo. This plate is ussually called casado, that means married, maybe because is always the same! And for dessert we have the fried plantains.

picadillo

plátanos maduros with cheese

When the rice and beans are for breakfast they are mixed together with onions and red pepper in a saucepan, spiced with our signature sauce, Salsa Lizano, a brand who signifies Costa Rica wherever you go. But that is not a casado is a gallo pinto and normally is eated with eggs fried or scrambled, tortillas and sour cream and of course coffee. Obviuslly this is not a daily breakfast, is for weekends or holidays, not only because take some time to do but because after eating you don´t want to do nothing!!!

gallo pinto

After the Tupelo shopping travel I´m sick; probably for spending so much money!!! I has high fever and weakness and all my body hurts. The doctor made me a complete exam (with blood extraction included) and send me home until thursday to rest. The firsts days I have no complains at all because I´m felt really bad and only want to sleep and stay in bed, but now I´m bored! This is a very quiet place, I look troughout the window and nobody is there, neither birds, only a black ones I suppose are crows. Ocasionally a lady walking a dog, the postman arrives at nine, some girls taking theirs cars and leaving, probably to Ole Miss. I miss the noise and the crowd of the IEP.

My roommates were very supportives, encouraging me to rest and be well. Yesterday one of them, Alejandra, celebrates her birthday. When they returned form classes we sing happy birthday and she blows the candles in a little chocolate cake, she told me people at IEP also sing in classes. I hope she doesn´t be so sad for not celebrated with her family, specially her little daughter. Maybe this weekend we could have a party.