Southern Connections?

When I heard my TFA assignment was in Mississippi, I was pretty sure that meant I would have to start my life over again.  This is my first time ever living in Mississippi.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t know it was between Arkansas and Alabama before moving down here.  Nevertheless, I’ve been surprised at the connections I’ve found to my past.

Last Saturday, the Guy family from Ball Ground, GA (just outside of Atlanta) stopped by Delta State to take me out for dinner.  I have known the Guys now for three years, ever since I met them working as a counselor at Pine Cove.  I was Caleb’s personal counselor for the week and we did everything together – we rode the golf cart around camp each morning and greeted everyone, went down the slide 50 times a day, spent the hot afternoon hours at the pool, and watched the entire Veggietales series.  I basically became part of the family, which is probably why Mollie now calls herself “my southern mother”.

On their way back from Pine Cove, they went a little out of their way (a little being two hours north past Jackson and back) to take me out for dinner at Pizza Hut.  They made sure to welcome me to the South, and Caleb made sure to impress me with how many words he knows and how mischievous he still is…

This Saturday, I made another Pine Cove connection in Alabama.  Katie Bivens worked the second half of the ’08 summer with me, which led to being facebook friends, which snowballed into me attending a wedding in Birmingham this last weekend.  Katie currently works as an admissions counselor at the University of Alabama and figured that one of her coworker’s weddings would be a good chance to reconnect.

At the reception I had a number of firsts.  First evening in Alabama.  First time singing “Sweet Home Alabama” in its homeland.  It was my first time in Vulcan Park, a hilly overlook on which the Vulcan statue sits and provides an excellent view of the city.  There’s a first time for everything, but I just never figured I would have these with people I already knew.

Feels Like Coming Home

As you might know, the first day of the rest of my life was June 7, 2011.  That's when I moved in to the dorms at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi to start my training with Teach for America!

On Wikipedia, Mississippi has two state slogans: "Feels like Coming Home" and "The South's Warmest Welcome".  I think that we experienced a little of both this week.  After spending a lot of time meeting fellow TFAers and in leadership sessions (for a full overview of this, you might want to check out my friend Jeremy's thorough description), my math cohort was welcomed into the home of Carol Tatum for a Southern-style dinner on Friday evening.  The house was beautiful very spacious, big enough to hold over 30 TFAers and several community guests besides.  Distinguished guests included everyone from the president of the Chamber of Commerce to a local Congressman, and they were all interested in meeting us and hearing what had brought us to the Mississippi Delta.  We were served several Southern essentials-everything from fried chicken to shrimp and grits to spiced tea.  I think I could get into this Southern hospitality...

                         Math Cohort 3! (L to R - John, Kennard, Myself, Gretchen, Jack, and Jeremy)  

The next night TFA was welcomed to Greenville, MS with a catfish fry and live concert at the high school gym.  After that, almost everyone headed over to Indianola for a live concert by the blues legend B.B. King.  He was born in Indianola (about a half an hour away from Delta State) and played the concert right outside the museum commissioned in his honor. 

 (The man. The legend.)

I actually had the chance to talk to a couple of B.B.'s cousins who were at the concert- They told me B.B. always loves doing concerts for his hometown because his roots and his family are his priorities.

The South's Warmest Welcome?  I think so.