Rednecking The South

My last day in Vermont myself, Tommy and Lauren (a friend that had driven up the night before from Boston) went on a day mission to Montreal, Canada. No sooner had we left, we encountered a full on blizzard which made driving slightly difficult especially with the lack of 4 wheel drive or snow tyres. After crawling our way to the boarder and answering the same old security questions at the checkpoint, we crossed over into Quebec. To my relief we were greeted by a miles sign with a cross through it and the familiar sign of the kilometer. We continued further down the road to where we were then greeted by a not so familiar “Bonjour”. Literally, everything was in French and it made for an amusing ride into the city. Montreal itself is an awesome place. The French culture, combined with the snow and good looking girls made for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon before we headed back to Vermont that evening and parted ways with Lauren.

The next day I hitched a ride back down South to New York City with Mels sister. After walking four blocks with all my bags I again braved the subway (still with limited knowledge) to my friends brothers house (Harris). I was informed on arrival that they had headed into town and I had missed them by about five minutes. Again I headed back to the sub and into the thick of the city. After minutes searching I found the bar I was looking for, sure enough, as soon as I walked through the door I was greeted by the familiar face of Davis, my neighbour from last year. This was the beginning of several laaaaarge nights.

During a particularly large night out in NYC we were informed we had to try Dim sum (a style of Chinese  food) before we left. The next morning we woke up particularly hungover and caught a “cab” to China town. The food we were presented with was easily the weirdest textured food I have ever tried. From the limited amount I could stomach, I would describe it as a sheeps eye (thanks Iceland) wrapped in eel skin. Never again.

I awoke the morning after New Years Eve with no coat, no credit card, no NZ drivers licence, no Icelandic ID. If that’s not an indication of my NYC New Years experience then I don’t know what is. (Fortunately I found them later the next day at one of the bars we had “supposedly” visited the night before; whoops) .

My four days spent in New York this trip was much more party orientated than my previous experience. New Years eve was crazy and It was great catching up with Harris and getting to meet his friends. I was heavily introduced to the college football scene (everyone here is “football” mad) and have just recently been turned into an honorary Alabama supporter.

The night before I was due to leave the city, myself, Harris and Davis walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. This gave us an incredible view of the city in all its lit up glory.

I left the NYC for the second and final time, heading south-west on the crimson tide* to the land of red necks (and what I later discovered truly delightful people) and college football.

My time in Alabama staying with Davis’ family provided me with some much needed rest and relaxation. I’ve been treated to sleep ins, fantastic home cooked meals and some much needed mothering over the last three days (and the addition of football tickets to see the Saints vs Lions NFL match tomorrow night hasn’t hurt the situation).

Because I lost my NZ ID in NYC, I’ve had to use my Icleandic ID when purchasing alcohol. Some reactions so far (note that all of these are spoken in a thick, thick southern accent: “I can’t read that, just take it”| “What language is that even in?” “Icelandic”. “Oh, well ok then”| “What country are you from sir?”. “New Zealand”. “So you know about cricket?”-I literally had a 5 minute conversation with the only Bangladesh/American in the USA. To be honest I actually really enjoyed talking about “the forgotten sport” (self proclaimed).

Last night we went out deer hunting on a farm in redneck central. Alabaman deer hunting consists of sitting in a stand, drinking beer, with a big wide open field in front of you, with a few trees and a deer feeder luring the deer in. I took my camera and although the deer weren’t out there was a chance to get a few snaps of the amazing sunset (the sunsets out here are truly spectacular).

Tomorrow myself, along with about 200,000 other Alabamites head to New Orleans for the national college football championship game between Louisiana and Alabama. I’ve been told that even the hyde st keg race and other castle st antics, won’t have prepared me for what I’m about to get myself into.

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL TTTTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!