Let me tell you about another 'only in America' situation which I encountered today..
I have this class called Social Inequality, its discussion-based so we just talk for an hour and a half and there's this dude Demarcus (we call him Che) who's like a political activist; he's always really vocal and argumentative and he's reeeeally hung up on racial inequality.
So there was this test today where 6 people from the class make a panel and raise various topics and then put questions to the floor…
5 mins into the lesson Demarcus walks in and the panel asks: 'Does anyone have any questions?'.. Demarcus raises his hand.
Now, this white girl cuts in and starts speaking and then realises and goes: "Sorry Demarcus, did you have something to say" and he replied: "Yeah, don't worry, its only been 400 years"
(since slavery, for those of you who missed that..)
He continued to say: "ANYWAY. The point I was trying to make is this is all bullshit. None of you know what you're talking about. Fuck your opinion, fuck yours, fuck yours and fuck yours" (Pointing at all of them)
"Cos this aint gonna change anything... the white man is still the richest, the top 5%, they hold all the power"
And a boy on the panel was like "What about Obama?"
Demarcus: "Obama don't mean nothing, black employment has not changed since the 1980s" etc etc
He was getting really loud and telling everyone they didn't have a clue etc
The teacher stood up and was fuming. He was like listen, I let you lot talk freely but you're disrespecting people. Get out."
Demarcus: "No. It's bullshit. You don't have any power either"
So the teacher left. He came back with two campus police officers and they escorted Demarcus out
.
On the way out he was like: "If I have to get arrested, if I have to get shot. Do it. I'm starting a revolution. Get up. Stand up for your rights"
Now only 20 mins into the lesson the teacher looks like he's about to kill someone. He said to us all: "I really can't deal with the rest of the day. I'm fed up. Just go home."
It was extremely entertaining... I enjoyed it anyway. I doubt we'll see Demarcus in class again and we're all anxious about our teacher going militant on us to re-assert his classroom authority.
But this brings me nicely onto the next post I wanted to write.. about issues of race which I have noticed day-to-day so…stay tuned!
Love y'all!
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Sunday, 19 September 2010
ATL babyy
Ok. I apologise for not updating this in a while… I got caught up in the Freshers vibe and on the rare occasion that I did get time to myself, I napped to re-energise for more party time or did some uni work.
But! I'm back on it and soooooo, lemmie tell you about Atlanta. (It might be a long tale, I've never experienced so many crazy events in such a small time)
If I've not said it before, lemmie tell you now, I am a terrible traveller! I'm unorganised, I do minimal research, I'm bad at using maps or taking directions and so, Atlanta could have been more of a disaster than it was but it was definitely…interesting. Haha
Me and the other English girl, Becki took thought it'd be a good idea to take the Greyhound coach over to Georgia, it's famous and it's cheap. Bonus, right? Wrong.
In America, everyone drives. Those who don't drive and those who cannot afford to drive and those people are known as 'trash', usually coupled with the word 'trailer.' Catch my drift?
I was hugging my Macbook to me like a mother does to protect her young and hoping than no-one tried to talk to or touch me!
We took a break at Anniston, Alabama before we crossed over the border to Georgia. When everyone filed back onto the bus, our driver announced (no joke these were his exact words):
"Listen up y'all. Today is September 11th and someone has stolen my phone."
He proceeded to tell us that we were locked on the bus and no-one was getting off and we were not moving anywhere until someone handed it back.
No one handed it back.
He then announced that the police was on their way to conduct searches to find the phone.
As time dragged on and people got more fed up, passengers started heckling the driver. He got maaad. After 3 full blown arguments with passengers he was like:
"Ok, you wanna get smart with me? You're all gonna get strip-searched by police"
Me: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?
People started quoting their rights and after a chat with the policeman, the driver decided to carry on our way and we got to Atlanta about 2 hours late.. great.
Me and Becki made our way to the hotel downtown. We showered and changed and went to grab some food at HOOTERS!! Which worked out perfectly because the Alabama vs. Duke football game was on and by now we are die-hard fans with friends on the team :D
Eating my wings and curly fries, sipping my margarita and watching the game. Bliss. UNTIL…
This stuuuupid idiot walks in, already well on his way to being drunk, and sits with his friends under the screen we were watching. Me and Becki are sitting alone, looking pretty presentable, watching the game and looking- technically- in his direction. I knew it was only a matter of time..
So I was rolling my post-food cigarette and he seized the opportunity to come over and chat gibberish:
"Is that weeeeeeed you're rolling?"
"No."
"Is iiiiiiit tooobaccco?"
"Yes."
"I'm Paul by the way"
"Hi Paul. We're trying to watch the game."
"Wooow. You're Bama fans?"
"Yeah."
He carried on like this until it was painstakingly obvious to him- we thought- that we weren't interested. I went for my cigarette and when I came back, he decided to try again!
"Soooo can I have your number?"
"No"
"Really"
"Yes, really"
"Oh. Ok. You have a boyfriend?"
"No. I really want to watch this game."
OB-viously the boy felt stung by it, because he then was acting the complete fool. Putting his hands over the screen, talking really loudly so we couldn't hear the commentary, flicking the channels.
"I wanna watch the Tennessee game" I mean, the idiot turns around, to me and says "Do you mind if I switch it from the Alabama to the Tennessee game?"
Wrong idea. I got right in his face (the way mum does) and launched into a torrent of abuse, that went something along the lines of:
"No, of course not. I've only been trying to watch the game this whole time that you were acting like a drunken idiot. Change it. Change it, go on. I WANT you to. You've ruined it for us anyway, you selfish obnoxious fool. No-ones laughing at your stupid act, even your friends are cringing. So do whatever the hell you want cos that's what you've been doing anyway."
I took a breath. The whole of hooters was staring at us, they were shocked by the outburst cos they were unaware of the build-up and my accent draws attention anyway.
We got the check and left. We watched the rest of the game in a sports bar, decided it was a bad day and went to bed!
On Sunday we went to the Martin Luther King Center, we took the Marta there. As in:
"Imma beat your ass on the train, we on the Marta and I do ma thang" (I'll post the video link for those of you that don't know..)
Basically, it's full of sketchy characters; crackheads, schizo's, drunks, no tourists.
The MLK centre was cool, there was a massive, colourful mural by different artists, museum, the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he preached, the crypt where he is buried and the eternal flame etc..
Then we went to the World of Coca-Cola, because Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola, we got to taste 64 different types of Coca-Cola products and with a bloated belly and sugar rush, we attempted to make our way home to T-Town again.
It was fun, traumatic, tiring, but we did it and we definitely have to go back with people who know what they are doing and try again!
Video: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/411648/
But! I'm back on it and soooooo, lemmie tell you about Atlanta. (It might be a long tale, I've never experienced so many crazy events in such a small time)
If I've not said it before, lemmie tell you now, I am a terrible traveller! I'm unorganised, I do minimal research, I'm bad at using maps or taking directions and so, Atlanta could have been more of a disaster than it was but it was definitely…interesting. Haha
Me and the other English girl, Becki took thought it'd be a good idea to take the Greyhound coach over to Georgia, it's famous and it's cheap. Bonus, right? Wrong.
In America, everyone drives. Those who don't drive and those who cannot afford to drive and those people are known as 'trash', usually coupled with the word 'trailer.' Catch my drift?
I was hugging my Macbook to me like a mother does to protect her young and hoping than no-one tried to talk to or touch me!
We took a break at Anniston, Alabama before we crossed over the border to Georgia. When everyone filed back onto the bus, our driver announced (no joke these were his exact words):
"Listen up y'all. Today is September 11th and someone has stolen my phone."
He proceeded to tell us that we were locked on the bus and no-one was getting off and we were not moving anywhere until someone handed it back.
No one handed it back.
He then announced that the police was on their way to conduct searches to find the phone.
As time dragged on and people got more fed up, passengers started heckling the driver. He got maaad. After 3 full blown arguments with passengers he was like:
"Ok, you wanna get smart with me? You're all gonna get strip-searched by police"
Me: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?
People started quoting their rights and after a chat with the policeman, the driver decided to carry on our way and we got to Atlanta about 2 hours late.. great.
Me and Becki made our way to the hotel downtown. We showered and changed and went to grab some food at HOOTERS!! Which worked out perfectly because the Alabama vs. Duke football game was on and by now we are die-hard fans with friends on the team :D
Eating my wings and curly fries, sipping my margarita and watching the game. Bliss. UNTIL…
This stuuuupid idiot walks in, already well on his way to being drunk, and sits with his friends under the screen we were watching. Me and Becki are sitting alone, looking pretty presentable, watching the game and looking- technically- in his direction. I knew it was only a matter of time..
So I was rolling my post-food cigarette and he seized the opportunity to come over and chat gibberish:
"Is that weeeeeeed you're rolling?"
"No."
"Is iiiiiiit tooobaccco?"
"Yes."
"I'm Paul by the way"
"Hi Paul. We're trying to watch the game."
"Wooow. You're Bama fans?"
"Yeah."
He carried on like this until it was painstakingly obvious to him- we thought- that we weren't interested. I went for my cigarette and when I came back, he decided to try again!
"Soooo can I have your number?"
"No"
"Really"
"Yes, really"
"Oh. Ok. You have a boyfriend?"
"No. I really want to watch this game."
OB-viously the boy felt stung by it, because he then was acting the complete fool. Putting his hands over the screen, talking really loudly so we couldn't hear the commentary, flicking the channels.
"I wanna watch the Tennessee game" I mean, the idiot turns around, to me and says "Do you mind if I switch it from the Alabama to the Tennessee game?"
Wrong idea. I got right in his face (the way mum does) and launched into a torrent of abuse, that went something along the lines of:
"No, of course not. I've only been trying to watch the game this whole time that you were acting like a drunken idiot. Change it. Change it, go on. I WANT you to. You've ruined it for us anyway, you selfish obnoxious fool. No-ones laughing at your stupid act, even your friends are cringing. So do whatever the hell you want cos that's what you've been doing anyway."
I took a breath. The whole of hooters was staring at us, they were shocked by the outburst cos they were unaware of the build-up and my accent draws attention anyway.
We got the check and left. We watched the rest of the game in a sports bar, decided it was a bad day and went to bed!
On Sunday we went to the Martin Luther King Center, we took the Marta there. As in:
"Imma beat your ass on the train, we on the Marta and I do ma thang" (I'll post the video link for those of you that don't know..)
Basically, it's full of sketchy characters; crackheads, schizo's, drunks, no tourists.
The MLK centre was cool, there was a massive, colourful mural by different artists, museum, the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he preached, the crypt where he is buried and the eternal flame etc..
Then we went to the World of Coca-Cola, because Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola, we got to taste 64 different types of Coca-Cola products and with a bloated belly and sugar rush, we attempted to make our way home to T-Town again.
It was fun, traumatic, tiring, but we did it and we definitely have to go back with people who know what they are doing and try again!
Video: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/411648/
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Football.
Not real football. American football! (And yes, the exclamation mark was necessary)
So, the football season kicks off this weekend and everyone is so excited. UA has the best college football team- they won the championship last year. The campus stadium has a capacity of 100,000 people…bigger than Wembley (90,000.)
The football players have celebrity status, and to meet and mingle with them is the goal of most girls. Naturally, I have already rubbed shoulders with them ;) My roomate’s friend is a player’s girlfriend so she introduced us and they are HUGE! Some of them have already been scouted to play for the NFL (Google it lol) so, essentially they will be national celebrities when they graduate!
Tickets are like gold dust round here, they range from about $30-500 depending on who they’re playing, but I am determined to go to a game because apparently the atmosphere is amazing. They shout ROLL TIDE all the time, in any situation and if you do, you’re guaranteed to get someone to respond or pat you on the back. I also heard that one guy came to this uni from out-of-state (which is very expensive to do) just to get regular tickets to the football games. Serious fans here man.
And not only will there be 100,000 people at the actual game, there will also be thousands of people ‘tailgating’ on the Quad. The Quad is a big green where the university clock tower is and people come from all over Alabama, pitch a tent/marquee where they cook food, drink beer and watch the game on a big screen. This is where I’ll be. And to be honest, it sounds just as exciting as watching the actual game in the stadium!
And….what else coincides with the kick off of football season? My 21st Birthday!!!!! I hit the jackpot again, because I got to turn the big 1-8 (legal drinking age) and I get to do it all again in the US for the big 2-1!!
Because it’s such a momentus occaision here, we are putting in some serious celebration time. On Saturday we're tailgating/watching the game/ going to the after parties. On Sunday we are having a big ‘cook out’ aka a barbeque and on Monday- which is Labor Day and my actual birthday- we are going for a meal and having a block party. Yes, I’m going to be wrecked for 70% of this weekend. Bring it on. (Don't worry mum! lol)
I was also planning to head back to Atlanta to taste some of the nightlife but…we’ll see what everyone can afford etc. The guy who I met in Atlanta emailed me asking us to ‘pass through the studio’ if we do go, which will be siiick. He also told me we’d be working with DJ Scream for the song that he wants my voice to feature on, and he’s quite a well-known DJ in America (well, in the South anyway), so I’m being hooked up big time. How cool am I?
ROLL TIDE!! ;)
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Classes...
I must have been really good recently, because karma is paying me back in kind for a change! My schedule is the best; I have no classes before 11am, none after 3pm, Wednesdays and Fridays off and don’t start on Monday until 5pm! Booyah!
My classes, intellectually are less challenging than Birmingham (UK!) which is great, because I can finally keep up/ be ahead! American university is a lot like school: my tutors know my name and stop and talk to me, we get homework and they keep checks on your attendance (downside). Which again, is great, because I loved school and I thrived in that atmosphere. I’m hoping this year will inspire me to love education again and be a kick up my ass (‘ARSE’) for my 4th and final year.
Another perk is that they test you in small doses throughout the year. Which is definitely better because you don’t have to revise heavily for something you learnt in the first week and have blatantly forgotten by the time exams come round!
Without wanting to sound too much like an English snob, I do sound very intelligent and worldy compared to my fellow students. What I mean is, they are slightly dim. Let me give you an example of how dim:
X: “Wow, where are you from?”
Me: “Bedford, in England.”
X: “Awwwsome! So, did you have to learn English to come here?”
Me: “No. I’m from England. England…English…see the connection there?”
X: * blank face * “Yeah, cos you sound really fluent.”
BANG. That’s the sound of me shooting an imaginary gun in my head.
One of my classes is ‘Latinos in the South’ and it’s a service-based class, which means I get to go out and do some voluntary work that helps the Latino community in Tuscaloosa. I noticed, fairly quickly, that Latinos here are the lowest down the class scale…any construction work, cleaning work and other manual jobs are occupied by the Latino community, before school starts and after football game weekends, they send a bunch out to clean up the university campus. 200+ Latino workers file out like worker ants, then they disappear as quickly as they arrive and everything looks pretty again. It’s shocking. Some of the staff are protesting to have this stopped, thank Christ.
My other classes are pretty cool too, they’re discussion based and sometimes get a bit heated (like the Social Inequality class) which…I love! And the other two are literature modules, but I don’t have as many books to read as usual so all is good and well!
My classes, intellectually are less challenging than Birmingham (UK!) which is great, because I can finally keep up/ be ahead! American university is a lot like school: my tutors know my name and stop and talk to me, we get homework and they keep checks on your attendance (downside). Which again, is great, because I loved school and I thrived in that atmosphere. I’m hoping this year will inspire me to love education again and be a kick up my ass (‘ARSE’) for my 4th and final year.
Another perk is that they test you in small doses throughout the year. Which is definitely better because you don’t have to revise heavily for something you learnt in the first week and have blatantly forgotten by the time exams come round!
Without wanting to sound too much like an English snob, I do sound very intelligent and worldy compared to my fellow students. What I mean is, they are slightly dim. Let me give you an example of how dim:
X: “Wow, where are you from?”
Me: “Bedford, in England.”
X: “Awwwsome! So, did you have to learn English to come here?”
Me: “No. I’m from England. England…English…see the connection there?”
X: * blank face * “Yeah, cos you sound really fluent.”
BANG. That’s the sound of me shooting an imaginary gun in my head.
One of my classes is ‘Latinos in the South’ and it’s a service-based class, which means I get to go out and do some voluntary work that helps the Latino community in Tuscaloosa. I noticed, fairly quickly, that Latinos here are the lowest down the class scale…any construction work, cleaning work and other manual jobs are occupied by the Latino community, before school starts and after football game weekends, they send a bunch out to clean up the university campus. 200+ Latino workers file out like worker ants, then they disappear as quickly as they arrive and everything looks pretty again. It’s shocking. Some of the staff are protesting to have this stopped, thank Christ.
My other classes are pretty cool too, they’re discussion based and sometimes get a bit heated (like the Social Inequality class) which…I love! And the other two are literature modules, but I don’t have as many books to read as usual so all is good and well!
Day One!
Ok, so…I am finally going to commit to blogging my time in America. Partly because I can’t be bothered to repeat the same stories to different people and partly because…it’s good writing practice!
I AM FINALLY IN THE US OF A!!!!
I’ve been waiting for years to say that and I wasn’t really sure how I felt about this big move until the day came and I was like: SHIT I’m really going!!
The ‘rents decided to feck off on their holidays a week before my departure (not mad…much!) so I thought the airport good-bye would be less emotional….WRONG. My sister broke down at the final good-bye and I had to make my way through airport security a snotty, teary mess! But, it was to be expected!
Ok, so the journey… As I was waiting to board at Manchester airport I saw a troop of men walking past, one of them pushed his fellow traveller, so he was nearly forced to travel up an escalator and make his own way back. The group cheered: “Weeaaay!” and patted each other on the back. Ah… a final snippet of English male interaction!
The plane journey was a tad non-descript…feeling tied from the early rise and drained from crying, I slept for 6 of the 8 hours and woke up to some food… pizza with rugola and mozzarella and some bonafide Italian gelato. Things were getting better already!
When I arrived at Atlanta I looked for the correct boarding gate and made my way to C30… The monitor said ‘Charleston, West Virginia’ and I immediately started to panic, internally of course. There was no-one to work this one out for me and I hate asking people anything! Just then an airport worker (quite a handsome one if you ask me) offered to help me and found that I was at his gate, gate C36 which was next door to a smoking area…hooraah!
I was sat reading my book when a tannoy went out: “Can a Miss Giovanna Lucarelli please make her way to the boarding desk.”
Shit.
I made my way over, sheepishly.
“I just need some contact details please. Your cell number, Facebook name or e-mail address.”
Ha. I was shocked, relieved and impressed all the same time! I think I’m going to like America after all. When you’ve been up since 6am, been through an 8 hour flight and stink like an ashtray, and someone still wants your number…you can’t help but be flattered.
I finally arrived at Birmingham, Alabama and made my way to the Holiday Inn for a much-needed shower and some rest in a HUGE bed. Tomorrow I would become an official UA student!
“ROLL TIDE!” (I’ll explain that later)
I AM FINALLY IN THE US OF A!!!!
I’ve been waiting for years to say that and I wasn’t really sure how I felt about this big move until the day came and I was like: SHIT I’m really going!!
The ‘rents decided to feck off on their holidays a week before my departure (not mad…much!) so I thought the airport good-bye would be less emotional….WRONG. My sister broke down at the final good-bye and I had to make my way through airport security a snotty, teary mess! But, it was to be expected!
Ok, so the journey… As I was waiting to board at Manchester airport I saw a troop of men walking past, one of them pushed his fellow traveller, so he was nearly forced to travel up an escalator and make his own way back. The group cheered: “Weeaaay!” and patted each other on the back. Ah… a final snippet of English male interaction!
The plane journey was a tad non-descript…feeling tied from the early rise and drained from crying, I slept for 6 of the 8 hours and woke up to some food… pizza with rugola and mozzarella and some bonafide Italian gelato. Things were getting better already!
When I arrived at Atlanta I looked for the correct boarding gate and made my way to C30… The monitor said ‘Charleston, West Virginia’ and I immediately started to panic, internally of course. There was no-one to work this one out for me and I hate asking people anything! Just then an airport worker (quite a handsome one if you ask me) offered to help me and found that I was at his gate, gate C36 which was next door to a smoking area…hooraah!
I was sat reading my book when a tannoy went out: “Can a Miss Giovanna Lucarelli please make her way to the boarding desk.”
Shit.
I made my way over, sheepishly.
“I just need some contact details please. Your cell number, Facebook name or e-mail address.”
Ha. I was shocked, relieved and impressed all the same time! I think I’m going to like America after all. When you’ve been up since 6am, been through an 8 hour flight and stink like an ashtray, and someone still wants your number…you can’t help but be flattered.
I finally arrived at Birmingham, Alabama and made my way to the Holiday Inn for a much-needed shower and some rest in a HUGE bed. Tomorrow I would become an official UA student!
“ROLL TIDE!” (I’ll explain that later)
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