Fun pictures from Greenwood!

My roommate loves to do photography so she brought her 

camera on our road trip yesterday and took fun pictures!

Stephanie and I

Victoria (who is in the Appalachia region), Christina and me

Salena, Alice, Victoria, Christina, Me and Stephanie

I found this cool old fashioned truck parked on the side of the street so 

Hanna took some neat photos of me with the truck!

The next group of pictures are my favorite. You know the part in The Notebook where Noah and Ally lay in the middle of the intersection at night? Well, we saw this intersection downtown that looked just like the one in the movie. It was my bright idea to reenact the part in the movie with Christina and Victoria since the intersection seemed pretty dead. Little did we know that the pavement would be scalding hot! I guess I should have figured that. As we're laying down, we're all yelling at Hanna to hurry and take the pictures because the pavement is burning our backs. Then, I look over and see that a police car is driving towards us! I screamed and we all started to run away. Mind you..as this whole scenario is happening, Hanna is just snapping away, taking pictures of the event. We were laughing so hard and the pictures turned out hilarious! Here is our little romantic reenactment of The Notebook scene. I guess it did turn out just like the movie when they run away as a car comes towards them!

Just laying on the hot pavement.

Yelling at Hanna to hurry!

Oh shoot! The cop is coming! 

Victoria didn't know what was happening (as she just lays there still)

I got us so fast, scared the cop would come get us!

It just hit Victoria that we're about to get in trouble.

And I'm being a lady as I run away. 

This day was so much fun. I couldn't have asked for a better day! :)

A Tour Of Greenwood, Mississippi

Fried Alligator Bites! They were actually really good. I mean, really. Especially with this Comeback Sauce. Mmm! Alligator tastes just like chicken. I think it was also good because it was fried, and let's be honest, what's fried that isn't good? I will definitely have to try alligator again. And if you haven't tried it, you must!

Howard Street in downtown Greenwood

Cool old buildings

Pretty church downtown

They have a bunch of things representing The Help.

This amazing bookstore, Turn Row. It's very southern and quaint and just beautiful. It makes you want to buy all of the books inside. I actually bought my very first children's book yesterday, The Cat in the Hat! I decided to get a classic for my first children's book. I can't wait to start my own little library for my classroom, Ms. Knall's Library. Yay!

Pretty house in Greenwood.

Another pretty house.

And another..

And another..

Just outside Greenwood they had this really cool little group of old wooden houses. It looked like it was out of a movie in a swamp or something. I think people live in these because one of the buildings is actually a tavern. I just thought these looked so cool!

Beautiful corn!

The vegetation here is just breathtaking, isn't it? It never gets old to look at all day...

And now we start our tour of the actual filming locations from The Help.

Hilly Holbrook's house. This is the woman who Minny works for and 

brings her the pie on this front porch!

The Leefolt Home. 

Remember when Aibeleen leaves her job and 

Mae Mobley sits in this front window and cries? 

Aibeleen's Home.

Once you pass the train tracks, you can definitely tell that the area is predominantly black and poor. All of these homes seem to be really rundown. Despite the poverty, there is such a sense of community. Everyone just sits on their front porch and it's rare to see a house without chairs on the front porch. Funny story with this house. We were parked outside and taking pictures of it and a few minutes later we realized there was actually a man sitting on the front porch! He was just smiling and waving at us, haha. We just didn't see him through the screen! We quietly drove away...

We tried to find Skeeter's plantation home, but got really lost so decided to quit looking for it. It was so neat to see how proud this community was of their "fame" from the movie. 

The Help is actually based off the town Jackson which is 90 miles away. The film directors just loved Greenwood's frozen in time character, which is exactly what it's like! There is just so much history here, just in the bricks and buildings alone. It truly is so amazing to see. It makes me realize that people are so mesmerized by seeing other "popular" destinations in the country, but most would never think to come to tiny towns in the south and learn about them. I'm so lucky that I was placed here for the summer because it really has opened my eyes to seeing parts of the country I would have never cared to see. I would have never heard of this town if I weren't placed in Cleveland for the summer, so I am blessed to have this experience. 

More beautiful pictures of Greenwood!

Cool old building!

Pretty church

Cute little restaurant where we had lunch,

and where I tried alligator!

They had such great food. I got a pimento cheese grilled cheese.

They also had fried green tomatoes! My friends got the fried green tomato BLT, yum!

Downtown shops

Cool sign

Old building in Greenwood.

And my favorite picture...

how gorgeous is this?!

Photos of Delta State!

This cool restaurant we went to! Not on campus, but just wanted to show you the picture.

The food is great and they have all of these cool antiques on the walls and hanging from the ceilings (like old red wagons and strollers and other products).

Delta State Dining Hall 

This is the fabulous establishment where I eat. woo.

One of the roads I walk to when I go to the library and print lab. woo.

Another sidewalk I walk on. woo.

The gymnasium. woo.

As you can see Delta State is very pretty. Really, it is. I'm just excited to not live in the dorms anymore! On Friday I get to leave and move back home! Well, my new home...Baton Rouge! I absolutely cannot wait to move into my apartment on Saturday. The weekend can't come soon enough!

4th of July Dance Party

On the 3rd of July, my co-teachers and I decided to let our students have a little dance party. It seemed fitting to play Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA". They had so much fun dancing, and I had way too much fun videotaping them. They are so cute! I just love my kids :)

That night Delta State University threw Teach For America our own little 4th of July event on this massive field on campus. They had a bunch of tents set up with tables and chairs for us to sit (thank goodness we didn't have to sit on the grass -- we would be eaten alive by the bugs). They also had a beer truck and this catering company that had pulled pork sandwiches with baked beans and coleslaw! Mmm! The food was so good. They also had this great Blues band playing all night long. Around 9 they started the fireworks show. Little did I know they would be lighting them just 50 yards away from us. It was spectacular to see real fireworks that close. It was as if the sparks were going to rain right down on top of you, or like it was a 3D movie. Such an experience! 

The Cleveland community has done so much for TFA thus far. It certainly is a small town, but the people make you feel like family. 

Catfish and fried okra!

It's Saturday! Thank goodness! I usually just lay in bed on Saturdays and catch up on all of my shows (Bachelorette, Glee..and my new obsession: The Office). But today I actually did lesson plans, blah! I figured I'd get a head start on this week since I'm switching over to math and now have to have 3 lesson plans per day (literacy was every other day). Once I got quite a lot done, I headed to my favorite place here in Cleveland...Walmart. woohoo! (not). I haven't been in a week and half, which feels like forever, and needed to get a few things. I never realized how expensive it is living on your own, my goodness! I thought I just needed a few things, and ended up spending $55! Toilet paper, paper towels, moisturizer, snacks, and water. Oh well...it's the necessities. I also bought a little red and white shirt for the 4th of July, I don't have anything to wear that day and it was only $5 so I figured it was a good purchase. Although it just smells like Walmart (and that isn't a good thing!). I'll have to remember to wash it before I wear it on Wednesday.

Anyways, after a long day I planned dinner a bowling for anyone who wanted to go. A few people recommended this local place for dinner, Fat Baby's Catfish House, which I had never been. I was really excited once we passed Walmart because I've never ventured out beyond there. It was like this secret world of the unknown...the secret world passed Walmart. This is what my life has become...wondering what is passed Walmart. To my surprise it was a cute little restaurant. When we sat down they had a bread basket with hushpuppies and catfish bread. Yes, I said it. Catfish bread. I didn't know it was catfish bread until after I ate it, but it was pretty good! It was like a piece of cheese bread with olives on it and I guess pieces of catfish? Everything on the menu looked pretty good, and I didn't really want to order the catfish, but I figured I couldn't come to the catfish house and not get catfish. They also have a bunch of different sides you can order that are so different from places in arizona: catfish bread, catfish gumbo, hushpuppies, fried okra, turnip greens, and many more! I've always wanted to try okra, so I definitely had to order that! As main dishes they also had fried quail and frog legs! (eww). Well, thank goodness I also got a side salad because the whole meal was fried! I just don't understand how people can eat this food all the time for their meal.

Fried catfish and fried okra! I couldn't even eat 1/3 of this meal. 

So much fried food, but I figure I have to try everything once. 

I actually liked the okra!

Picture of the restaurant

Restaurant sign

Inside the restaurant they have this giant map of the US and you can write your name and the date you were there on a piece of paper and pin it to your hometown. I wish I would have taken a picture of the entire map, it was really cool! Someone from Glendale was there a few months ago.

Pretty picture of the Mississippi sunset.

After dinner we went to the local bowling alley, and boy was it local.

Christina and I outside by the street sign.

Stephanie and I 

Ricky and Christina - two of my really good friends!

They are both from California. Christina went to Berkley

and Ricky went to USC. Fun fact about Ricky: his parents own

an In-N-Out in California, haha! 

Christina and I bowling!

Bowling ended up being really fun, although it was so hot inside! I swear there was no air conditioning at all. I'm glad we got out of the dorms and spent the night visiting some local places in Cleveland!

More of My Babies!

Not all of my students were at school the other day so here are a few more! 

(still need to photograph 2)

Janiya (miss cuddly)

How pretty is she? She is so sweet and always tries to cuddle 

with me while I work one on one with her, haha.

(She looks so sweet, but if someone annoys her..watch out, she's give them a mean face!) 

'

Arlando (mr. sweetie pie!)

Isn't he just the cutest thing?

Arlando barely knows how to speak, which is so devastating. He loves to talk but it's all gibberish besides a few words. He can't even tell me the letter "a" or the number "1". However, we are working relentlessly to teach him! I've also sent home a packet for his parents to practice every night with him. I'm hoping this summer we can make a big change in him, he deserves it!

On Friday we had to give class surveys where we asked the students about the other teachers in the classroom. One of my co-teachers had to show me this survey about me from one of my students, Danariyah, because it was just too funny. They ask if she likes her teacher (me) and she says "yes, she's really nice". The last question asks if there is anything else that they want to share about your teacher and Danariyah says, "I like her hair. And I know who she is." Haha. This made me laugh so much. Danariyah is my little diva and is so sweet. She is also making such great progress this summer!