Goodbye, Dixieland

Keepin' it classy, Tennesee:

The overwhelming heat of the south broke in the matter of a few minutes while I was in Cincinnati. My friend commented, "Oh, there's no way it can rain *that* long." It hasn't stopped raining since Sunday (and it's now Thursday). Silly Phil. I've learned better than to make statements like that. However, the rain and cool weather is a much welcomed change from the stifling heat that kept me from good sleep. Last night I passed out at a rest stop for 10 hours straight.

I've been pondering my experiences in Appalachia since I left yesterday. I drove for 12 hours thinking about what to write and how to describe the people I met along the way. The best I can come up with is I just didn't have enough time. Two days getting inside information from people that have lived in Appalachia for fifteen years and 3 hours with some locals is not nearly enough time to get a real feel for the area and the culture. I really regret having had to leave so early.

How did I meet the people that I stayed with? Well, by knocking on their front door and introducing myself! Rather, they were family friends with a girl that I had met and stayed at her house in Arkansas. She told me about what they did and I was fascinated and immediately trusted them. After all, they were missionaries in the deaf community in east Africa. As my boyfriend put it, you can't get any more noble than working in deaf orphanages in third world countries. Even so, when I arrived shortly before dark, miles from the nearest sizable town and up a windy mountain road in the pouring rain, I did wonder....what was I thinking?? My view from the car: My aunt warned: Banjos: ok. Toothless men: Ok. Banjos and toothless men= RUN AWAY. The couple, however, ended up (of course) being incredibly kind, fun, and full of knowledge. We spent hours discussing cultures and poverty and all that deep stuff we boring people talk about. Yes, I even think I said, "Well, I was listening to NPR and..." Gross. I promised myself I would never do that.

The lady of the house and I drove to a small event called Girl Talk which is sort of like an all-girl youth group meeting. A lot of girls who come from hard life backgrounds will have a very tough attitude and wonder, "What do YOU want?" But these high school aged girls were extremely open and friendly and welcoming. I genuinely had a good time chatting with them and listening to their stories. At the end of the night, we gave the girls a ride home and I realized what kind of lives they had to go back to. The first girl lived miles from the last street light to a trailer out in the middle of nowhere. We did this drive in the dark...believe me I was praying the car worked fine and no creepy strangers walked out in the middle of the road. Although the next girl was shy and quiet, she really perked up when she talked about wanting to be a vet and how she liked math. I tried my best to let her know that it was an excellent idea and she seemed to think, hey, cool, someone else thinks it's a good idea. Yet sure enough, we dropped her off back to a trailer filled with drugs, an angry father, and a boyfriend 9 YEARS her senior. In a culture where you don't rise above your peers or your family as it's seen as prideful, I seriously hope she'll graduate from high school. If the young poor in communities that don't value rising above the flock don't succeed, can you really blame them? Again, how LUCKY I was to be born in the family I was with the money and education to at least have a springboard to go where I want.

Does everyone in Appalachia do meth, live in a trailer, and hope for a welfare check? Absolutely not. One thing I found really neat about the culture is those who work hard and teach their children to earn an honest living are content with less. A 1000 sq ft house is a blessing and why would a person need more?

Yesterday I drove through the rest of Tennessee and Virginia admiring the beauty of the Appalachians, the rolling hills, and the deciduous trees beginning their fall cycle. Last night was at a rest stop because I thought the idea of staying overnight in a place called Gore would be a little unsafe.

Gore, VA is an unincorporated town in northwest Virginia, just minutes from West Virginia. This is by far the smallest town I have been to yet. Because of this, I was worried on how the residents would respond to me. It turns out, they were the most open and friendly so far! There was no awkward stage where I tried to get to know a local to get an in with the other townspeople. Everyone greeted me with a smile and was eager to help out a stranger. One man even paid for my coffee and muffin, then bought me lunch (which I used for lunch AND dinner). I guess this amazes me so much because I was figuring they would be just like Ozark, AR and I would be basically kicked out of town. I don't know why I keep on making assumptions cause I'm never right.

Speaking of assumptions, I am heading to the North now. I loved the South. Everyone I know makes fun of them but boy, they opened their arms wide and were very kind to me.

North, your move.