The week was full of adventure!
First, our car broke down just a little past Little Rock in a small town called Lonoke. It was kind of freaky. We were driving, and all the sudden the check engine light came on then in that instant, the car just powered down. We got safely to the side of the road, said a prayer, and got the car started again. We couldn't go over 30, though, which made a lot of cars behind us mad (driving in one lane because the others were closed for construction). I was just glad we got it running.
It's a good thing we got smart phones for Christmas! We looked up the nearest O'Reilly store and had Byron do a diagnostic check for us. We figured out what probably needed to be fixed, but it couldn't happen till the next day because everything was closed at that point. So we got a hotel for the night and chilled. Actually, we got to watch the Voice, which I am obsessed with, so it worked our perfectly!
Being stuck in Lonoke overnight was so funny! I had to translate for Ben... He didn't understand their southern drawls! It was seriously so funny to me. I giggle thinking about it. Also, did you know I can rock a mean southern black woman accent? I told Ben that on our next date we should talk with thick accents as best as we can. Maybe he will do British and I'll do the South.
Anyway, the next day we did make it to Blytheville (pronounced blah-vul) (just in time for the Voice finale!). I missed the first day of my training, but it worked out.
The next few days were spent with me doing day training and spending the evening with Ben. Training was fun, and it was AWESOME to have so many resources and ideas for that one class (Utah teachers--you should talk to someone about having some specialized training for certain classes. maybe? I thought it was pretty amazing. AR has some pretty cool things going on with FACS). It was also really good for me to meet other FACS teachers and state representatives here.
On the second to last day, we got to go out to lunch. I sat by a few black women who were so hilarious. One of them was trying to set me up with someone (I lost who he was somewhere in our conversation) because I have good social skills. Lol. You had to be there. Then, later, one of them was talking about her son's fiancée, who wants to freeze her eggs. Favorite quote from that week of training? "Gurl, I don't want no frozen granbabies! Them babies be like, gramma I'm cold and I'll just tell them it's all their momma's fault" (Read in best southern accent). If that's not funny to you, I guess you had to be there. We all had a good laugh, and the waiters were probably glad when we left :)
Friday, we headed back to good ol' Bella Vista. We took a little detour and stopped in Memphis on the way! We talked down Beale, which would probably be way cooler at night, but was still pretty awesome. We saw W. C. Handy's statue (father of the blues), the walk of fame, and lots of bars. They had live bands playing in W. C. Handy park. We also found the first public park for blacks. Created around the turn of the 19-20th century.
We also walked down Main Street to the Civil Rights Museum. If you have been to the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas, it's kind of similar. The top floor of the museum is all about MLKJ's assassination. It has the room where the guy was watching the motel and the bathroom where he shot from all set up. You can see the angle, and the motel is right across the street. There is a wreath hanging on the balcony where he was shot. The rest of that floor has information about the assassination, manhunt, and conspiracies. It's cool. The next floor down has civil rights history and other information.
It was really inspiring to be there. I like learning about history. It was a reminder of where we have been as a nation and what we are still working to save.
After this, we walked around town some more, at some amazing BBQ, walked by the Mississippi River, and headed home.
What a week!
Wow!! Sounds like a crazy but super eventful week! Fun!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was really fun! thanks!
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