Feeder 3.1

When one references to the South, certain expectations come to mind. Such expectations stem from the rich heritage and history felt by most southerners. Throughout the years, the people of the South have attempted to maintain these expectations. Though they began as strong beliefs, these expectations have not been able to fully survive the modern times. In the texts of Tony Horwitz’s Confederates in the Attic and Bobbie Ann Mason’s Shiloh & Other Stories, the authors portray the idea that these southern expectations are diminishing through generations in the social institutions of race, family, and gender.
Race is one of the most prominent controversial issues when it comes to southern expectations. Historically, due to the southern institution of slavery prior to the Civil War, the topic of race relations and civil rights has been a heated one in the South. This progress is seen Horwitz’s Confederates in the Attic. In the chapter “Dying for Dixie,” racial tension is the main subject. A young Michael Westerman has recently been shot and killed by a black man for flying the rebel flag on his truck. The comparison between generations in this text is taken from this situation and the scenario that Horwitz is put in at the beginning of the chapter. He starts the chapters by going into “Redbone’s Saloon.” The men in this bar brandished t-shirts that displayed racist comments and pictures. By beginning the chapter with these details, Horwitz is setting up Guthrie, Kentucky to look like a racist town. Using a majority of the chapter to describe the events leading up to and following the murder of Westerman, Horwitz portrays the town as a place that has not been able to move past a politically and morally wrong view of African-Americans. However, there are two instances where Horwitz is able to compare a younger generations’ perspective to that of the men in the bar and the people of the town. In the first instance Horwitz describes what he calls the paradox between the generations. He explains that Westerman used to play basketball with those who would later be charged with his murder and that, at the high school, a black student had been voted homecoming queen. The second example is described during the trial Westerman’s trial when his wife, Hannah, testifies. Leading up to this point, Westerman’s death had been seen as a martyr’s sacrifice to the people of Guthrie. He had died for the Cause. But when Hannah is asked why he flew the flag, she responded with “it matched his truck and made it look sharp” (Horwitz, 120). This showed that Westerman had not really been concerned with the meaning of the flag or offending anyone, but only flew it because it matched his truck. These instances prove that the underlying southern expectation of racial inferiority is diminishing through the generation.
The deterioration of southern expectations involving family values is also shown in the texts by Horwitz. In Confederates in the Attic, Horwitz describes the people of Salisbury as almost obsessed with their genealogy. There is a rich tradition of knowing where the family came from and, particularly in this book, what reference they held to the Civil War and the rebel cause. This led to ancestral clubs, such as the Daughters of the Confederacy or Sons of Confederate Veterans. To be a member of these groups, one must be able to prove ancestral ties to the Confederacy. Horwitz then describes the group Children of the Confederacy, which prepares children for Confederate citizenship. When talking to a local who was also in the Daughters of the Confederacy, Horwitz finds that at the age of 18, children grow out of the Children of the Confederacy and move straight to the UDC or SCV. This ancestral tradition is beginning to weaken as Horwitz speaks with the president of the C. of C., Beth. Beth tells Horwitz that she doesn’t “agree with all this ‘South is great’ stuff. I’m sure there were some good things about the North” (Horwitz, 39). This shows that the enthusiasm for the family tradition of the Confederate cause is diminishing in the younger generation.
The southern expectations concerning gender roles in are also shown to be lessening through the generations in the text by Mason. This story shows a family having Christmas dinner. The generational contrast occurs between the actions and words of the grandfather and parents and those of the four daughters. When at the beginning of the story Carolyn decides to bring her lover, Kent, to dinner as a date, this sets the southern outdated expectation that a woman showing up to an event without a date is pitied, or as Carolyn put it, uncomfortable. This expectation is further supported when Iris chose to convince Ray to come to the Christmas dinner, even though they do not live together any more. Saying that she did it “for Mom and Dad’s sake” (Mason, 98) shows the generational gap between the diminishing southern expectation of staying together and keeping one’s vows and the more modern acceptance of divorce. The southern expectation of the female’s role in the house is also challenged when Carolyn is annoyed by her mother’s habit of worrying too much about the cooking and about her lack of fancy napkins. Her mother still lives in the times when, as Pappy describes, “the menfolks would eat first, and the children separate. The womenfolks would eat last, in the kitchen” (Mason, 101).
Through these texts, it can be seen that certain southern expectations are diminishing from generation to generation. The effect that these southern qualities have on institutions such as race, family, and gender are lessening year after year. The texts show that what traditions held by older generations cannot keep up with modern times.

Response to "Dying for Dixie"

My initial feeling after reading this chapter of “Confederates in the Attic” was amazement at how people could still act that way. I was astonished that there are still people who are that ignorant. The whole over-production of the death and funeral of Michael Westerman made it seem as though the people of Guthrie had finally gotten a reason to justify the feelings they’ve had for so long. The beginning scene in the bar is just so outrageous. I honestly did not believe people like that still existed, but I’ve been lucky enough to have a Southern heritage that doesn’t involved using those words or pressing those beliefs on others.

As in my last post, I feel as though some things were left out in order to influence a certain picture into the reader’s mind. For a majority of the first 16 pages of this chapter, “Dying for Dixie,” Horowitz describes the town of Guthrie only through the shooting of Westerman – how the town reacted, how each family reacted and so on. In general, these descriptions left me thinking that the whole town was ignorant and stuck in the past. On page 104, Horowitz explains to us another part of Guthrie’s history. He tells us that Westerman and the man who was to become his murderer used to play basketball together and that Westerman’s mother worked in a factory that was evenly divided between black and white employees. Horowitz also tells us that interracial dating is common at the high school and that they had recently voted a black student as Homecoming Queen. These were the first signs of “normality” given by Horowitz to describe the town and people of Guthrie.

Autobiography

I've lived in the south my whole life. I was born in a small town called Mills River, located in the mountains of North Carolina. To me, my southern heritage means a lot. I feel like now that I've left my home town for the first significant amount of time in my life, I see how southern my little town really is.

For this post, I'll talk about my family because I feel like family is a huge aspect of southern heritage. My extended family all live within 10 mintues of my house. Both sets of my grandparents are natives of the town, as were their parents. My grandpa lives on 10 acres of farm and I used to help him harvest his hay, sugar cane, and corn before he grew too old to take care of it. He taught me how to drive a tractor and I used to go fishing in his pond. My grandma even had a secret recipe for bread.

I've never lived in a neighborhood and always had a big yard to play in. I still attend the same methodist church that I have all my life and that my whole family has always attended. My parents got married there and I like to think I might do the same. I went to the same elementary, middle, and high school that my dad and his parents went to.

My favorite "southern" aspect of my family is that we're all so geographically close to each other. It gives me a sense of security and more importantly a greater sense of what a family really is.

Response to Cats of the Confederacy

My first impression of the Cats of the Confederacy was that it was selectively told. In describing the scenes he experienced, it seemed to me that Horowitz chose certain details to focus on and that there was possibly some part to the story that he was leaving out. In the scene where he sat in on a Sons of the Confederacy meeting, Horowitz mocks the people in the meeting by explaining how they introduced themselves by rank but “none of the men wore uniforms.” Horowitz also does this in portraying the scene of the Children of the Confederacy event by juxtaposing the Kmart to the “faux-plantation” as a comparison of reality and fantasy.

I also feel like a lot of the things he observed are very true. From reading the chapter, I get an overall sense of pride from the neo-confederates that stems from the thought that the South’s prime was during its rebellion and its uprising. When visiting the color sergeant Mike Hawkins, Horowitz asks if Hawkins thought “there,” meaning the past was better than “here,” meaning the present. Hawkins replies by saying that he felt “like it was bigger somehow … I just feel like the South has been given a bum deal ever since that War.”

I was surprised to read that the president of the Children of the Confederacy, 12-year-old Beth, didn’t agree “with all this ‘South is great’ stuff” and that she was actually more fascinated with the Jews oppression in the Holocaust than in the Confederacy.

Event #2 - baseball game

Today, I attended the baseball game against UNC-Charlotte. This game was a non-conference game. It was drizzling and humid throughout the game, which aren’t the best baseball conditions. Not only was the weather poor, but the game time had been changed earlier in the day to account for the forecast of bad weather. I think it’s these two things combined that account for the lack of fans, but I also think that the lack of fans allowed me to experience the most dedicated Carolina baseball fans. I got my ticket for my seat, but didn’t sit down and instead stood under the overhang of the newly renovated baseball stadium. Not having been to a game in the old one, I couldn’t compare the two stadiums.

The language during the game by the fans generally included short, sporadic yelling either as encouragement for their team or as an argument toward a call made by the umpires. This is fitting for the audience in that they were there to cheer on the team. We ended up losing by 1 but most of the fans were dedicated enough to stay for the singing of the alma mater. This showed the amount of support the baseball fans have for their team, win or lose. Going to this baseball game has added to my experience at the university because it gave me the opportunity to cheer for a team that isn’t as glorified as the football or basketball teams. Also the fact that it was drizzling gave me the opportunity to see the true tarheel baseball fans and experience their dedication to the school and the sport.

Observation #3

My third observation took place at lunch at Lenoir Dining hall. During this time, I was having lunch with my friends, which included two Morehead Scholars and three non-Morehead scholars. The conversation was very casual. It started with the normal “How was your day” and we talked about how our classes were going just as we would with anyone else. The only time during the conversation that it was obvious, to me at least, that the three Morehead Scholars were in fact Morehead Scholars was when we started talking about our plans for the week. Everyone’s responses included things like intramural games, tests, or parties. One of the scholars stated that they were going to a reception on Friday night and was unable to give much more detail than that. When the subject changed, I noticed that scholar ask another whether they were going or not. The scholar’s inability to give more detail on her reception and the fact that she only asked the other scholar at the table if he were going makes me believe that the reception is a Morehead event. She also chose not to further discuss the reception, which argues that she was trying not to call attention to her being a Morehead Scholar.

Observation 2

For my second observation, I observed my suitemates, who are Morehead Scholars, and friends of there who are also Morehead Scholars as they watched TV in their dorm room. The atmosphere was very friendly and upbeat. They were watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, both of which require a certain level of intelligence on the subjects of politics and other worldly news. The conversation consisted of many things one might here in conversation between anyone such as classes, weekend plans, and the status of our fabulous basketball team. However, a few key subjects that I was looking for were brought up. One thing I was listening for was discussion about meetings or banquets. The group began talking about their next meeting and what it would consist of. Another thing I was looking for was talk of study abroad trips. My suite mate is studying in Brazil with a fellow scholar who happened to be over at the time, so discussion on details of the trip was brought up. Other minor clues of Morehead-speak were their mention of people I had never heard of. Overall, the night consisted of mostly common conversation with a few flags that would give away their Morehead Scholar status.

Observation Hour 1

The first observation took place in a restaurant on Franklin Street. In this scenario, I was observing current Morehead scholars as they took Morehead scholar finalists out to dinner. These potential scholars were seniors in high school. The finalist were shy and hesitant to talk at first, seeing as they were in the presence of current scholars and the ever-intimidating college students. As the dinner progressed, the current scholars began asking the finalists questions, like where they were from, what they liked to do in their free time. After the initial “meeting each other” conversation, the group progressed into more Morehead-related topics. The current scholars began describing their college experiences so far, talking of the required meetings and banquets. The finalists asked where the scholars would be studying abroad. Though one does not need to be a Morehead scholar to study abroad, one does need to be a Morehead scholar to study abroad with no expenses. When answering the question, there was no mention of money, and they also spoke of their fellow scholars with whom they would be traveling with. There was no mention of “cousins” or any other code, showing that they were not trying to hide that they were Morehead scholars when with the finalists.

Revised Mircoculture Hypothesis

The microculture I plan to observe is the Morehead scholars. Morehead scholars are a group of students selected as high school seniors who show outstanding achievements in leadership, academics, and in other non-academic areas in both their school and community. As students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, these students receive full four-year scholarships, laptops, and stipends for travel and other miscellaneous activities. I was a nominee for the Morehead scholarship as a senior in high school and my suitemates are Morehead scholars. They piqued my interest because they are a group of the academic elite here at North Carolina and for that, they receive certain privileges and are, in turn, held to certain standards.
Because of the benefits they receive and their high achievements, Morehead scholars are often put on a pedestal by the rest of the student body and are therefore isolated. My hypothesis that I plan to test is that Morehead scholars, when in the company of non-Morehead scholars, will attempt to blend in by not discussing Morehead-related topics, such as their trips abroad or their meetings and conferences they attend. I am doing this hypothesis because, in speaking with my Morehead scholar friends, they feel the need to try to blend in with non-Morehead scholars. Most do not want the attention, plus no one is technically supposed to know who a Morehead scholar is because they are not supposed to tell others that they are scholars. This study would be of interests to the larger UNC community because it would be an inside look at a very secretive group that most know of, but do not know much about. Also, it would give the Morehead scholars a chance to be understood more instead of being held as high as they often are.

Microculture Hypothesis

The microculture I plan to observe is the Morehead scholars. Morehead scholars are a group of students selected as high school seniors who show outstanding achievements in leadership, academics, and in other non-academic areas in both their school and community. As students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, these students receive full four-year scholarships, laptops, and stipends for travel and other miscellaneous activities. I was a nominee for the Morehead scholarship as a senior in high school and my suitemates are Morehead scholars. They piqued my interest because they are a group of the academic elite here at North Carolina and for that, they receive certain privileges and are in turn held to certain standards.
Because of the benefits they receive and their high achievements, Morehead scholars are often put on a pedestal by the rest of the student body and are therefore isolated. My hypothesis that I plan to test is that Morehead scholars, when in the company of non-Morehead scholars, attempt to blend in by not discussing Morehead-related topics, such as their trips abroad or their meetings and conferences they attend. I am doing this hypothesis because, in speaking with my Morehead scholar friends, they feel the need to try to blend in with non-Morehead scholars. Most do not want the attention, plus no one is technically supposed to know who a Morehead scholar is because they are not supposed to tell others that they are scholars. This study would be of interests to the larger UNC community because it would be an inside look at a very secretive group that most know of, but do not know much about. Also, it would give the Morehead scholars a chance to be understood more instead of being held as high as they often are.

Disruption

The space I disrupted was the Union. When I observed the Union, I saw that, unless with a group, people mostly keep to themselves and don’t generally interact with others. This is especially true in the line for Alpine bagels. For my experiment, I decided to cut the people in line for Alpine. I also included a few of my friends in this experiment, seeing as there are only so many bagels I can buy. In this experiment, we would be testing if the people in line would step out of their comfort zone and out of the norm to interact with me and my friends when we cut in line. To start the experiment, we would just walk up to the line, especially when it was long, and casually slip in around the middle. Initially, those around me just stared at me for a while, probably trying to decide if I had actually just cut in line. The reaction of those around us varied. Mostly, those in line just politely told us that they were already in line and asked if we would move back, to which we kindly obliged. Once, the people in line either didn’t notice, or decided not to mention it. Overall, the people standing in line stared and, when they felt like their bagel-obtaining rights had been breached, asked if we could kindly go to the back of the line.

Observation #2: the Union

I’m sitting in the back of the Union. People are scattered throughout the sitting area. These people are either sitting with a group socializing, sitting by themselves studying, or sitting by themselves relaxing, seeing as it is a Friday afternoon. The big screen TV in the corner is running the string of Sportscenter and there’s one person watching it as he’s pretending to listen to the girl talking to him. A lot of the students sitting by themselves are on their laptops, possibly studying or facebooking, or doing the Daily Tar Heel’s crossword so as to give them something to do while sitting by themselves. Most people sitting in groups are talking about the terrible week they’ve had and what they plan to do this weekend to celebrate making it through such a week. Surprisingly enough, there is no one in line or behind the counter at Alpine, but I guess at 3 p.m., the bagel rush is kind of dying down. A girl asks me if anyone is sitting in the chair next to me and, though two or three people had been in and out of it, I told her “No” so she could sit by herself and read.

Observation #1: IM basketball

I decided to observe the gym before my IM basketball game tonight. Wollen gym is a very large space and allows for free movement; therefore, it is suitable for basketball games. The people in the gym included players, fans, and campus rec workers. The campus rec workers generally interacted with other workers and occasionally with the players as a part of their job. The players basically just interact with their own teammates unless they happen to know others from other teams. The games involve a lot of physical contact. After teams score, they cheer, but if something bad happens, players usually either yell at the refs, the other team, or their own teammates. After the game, the players from each team shake each other’s hands and congratulate each other. People sitting around the edge of the gym are either cheering for teams or waiting for their game to start. In this personal space, the norms would be playing basketball, running, or socializing with other IM basketball players.

post 11: eh

yesterday was one of the most monday monday's I've had all year.

To start it off, I had anatomy lab at 8 am. I'm starting to get over the deadness and the humanness of #1 and #2 now, so it wasn't entirely terrible. But the smell is something that's going to take me a little longer to get used to. So I got out of there around 8:30, which is just enough time to not be able to do anything before my 11 class. So I went up to the gallery to study for my theater class. That was when my day started looking up. I made a 96 on my theater exam, hooray! My day was getting better!

False.

I had a sneak-attack spanish exam at 1. Those are my favorite kinds of surprises. But the good part was it was only the oral part, so I only failed part of it, woo.

As I was walking down the stairs from the Union on my way to the dorm, the U was driving away. This is small, but on monday, that was terrible.

My athletic training observation hours, however, saved me. I'm required 50 hours of observation before I apply to the school next fall so we sit in the training room and watch athletes get treated or wait for someone in intramurals to get hurt. I was there from 6-9 for intramurals and no one was getting hurt. So I had a good three hours to do some legitimate work, not to mention the baseball team's athletic trainer was there, who was not the worst thing to look at for three hours, and he helped me study anatomy.

Overall, eh.

post 10: Hooray Relay!

So today was friday!!!

Nothing special happened today. Unless you count the fact that I've just realized that the Chik-fil-a in Lenior serves breakfast and that the chicken biscuit I had this morning was the best thing I've had in months.

I then went to the most pointless drama class. It was seriously the biggest waste of my life. We have an exam on Monday and today's class was supposed to be filled with test-related questions. All we ended up doing was answering questions he's answered 3 times already and watching our professor perform a audition monologue - not test related.

To top it off, today was the final day to turn in Relay for Life team members. Of course, I had a last minute addition to my team consisting of 15 brothers in my boyfriends fraternity (in need of service hours) plus a couple stragglers. I had previously asked a Relay person if I could turn in the sheets without paying the $10 registration fee because getting $150 from NC State in a matter of 12 hours is something that I am not yet capable of doing. She said yes. Today, she said no. Wonderful. So they offered to allow me until Monday to get the money to them. How generous of them.

Needless to say my Friday has been stressful and kind of filled with bitterness.

But I am going to a chips show tonight. Hopefully that'll perk me up!

post 9: ugh

the week = not even half way over..

so it's Tuesday night and so far the past two days have been like everyone else's last-week-extravaganza of exams. I had an anatomy exam this morning and honestly, if you look past gen-ed requirements, this class is the only one this semester that really matters for me. I have to make a B or higher to even continue in the major. So I've been a little stressed out to say the least (the butt-print in the library and the 98323219 notecards in my bookbag can account for that).

To top it off, right before the exam this morning, I failed once again in swimming. We started the backstroke today, and I about drowned. Turns out I cannot swim backwards and stay above water (for breathing purposes) at the same time. Plus, surprise surprise, the student stores goggles are less than satisfactory. Who knew the bookstore wouldn't sell sufficient swim gear?

But the good thing is I get to wake up at 8 am tomorrow to participate in a research study!

False - this is not a good thing.

post 8: goods and bads

this week has been stressful, right?

But I can't really say much, I only had one exam. It was a spanish oral exam though, and for me, that's like having a biology and chemistry exam...ish. There's only so many times I can say excellente and fabuloso before my grade starts dropping.

Also, I epically failed in LFIT again, except this time we weren't even swimming, we were in a resistance training lab. First off, I get the bungee with the most difficulty without knowing they were different. So I couldn't do anything without either looking really weak, or just looking stupid trying to lift my arms over my head. Finally, I was able to do one of the exercises and the bungee comes out from under my foot and hits me in the face. Awesome. I quit after that.

The dook game was definitely a highlight. And when I say the dook game, I mean the actual game. Yes, it was thrilling and certainly an experience, but running from Hinton James to Franklin St. was less fun in practice than it was in theory. And also, the fear of being caught on fire or trampled on was kind of overwhelming. I'm still confused about the victory fires?

Thank goodness for the weekend.

Event #1: Performance at Memorial Hall

Tonight I saw “Talk Sex with Sue Johanson” in Memorial Hall. This show was absolutely brilliant. Not only was she able to entertain us with talk of how to best pleasure our partner, but it was also quite the educational experience. She shed light on an idea that I had not thought of – the difference in expectations of growing males and growing females. She explained that it is more acceptable for a male to discover his body on his own than it is for a female. Now I’m not trying to gross anyone out, but is that not the case? This doesn’t apply to every single male but, in most cases, is it not the male that speaks more openly about sex, while females try to “be the nice girl.” For example, Johanson said that most sex education programs are cloudy in their explanation of female anatomy, but not for male anatomy. So much so that many females don’t know their own anatomy. It’s a disturbing thought.

This event adds to my experience as a university student because honestly, who doesn’t want to see 78-year-old talk about sex. It was a great experience because it made me enter an atmosphere that I wasn’t particularly comfortable with and it made me find humor in the reality of the subject instead of the perverseness which is what we most encounter. Her language was fitting. Johanson started off with the anatomical backgrounds of the male and female reproductive systems giving the talk a scientific initial feel. This gave off the impression that she took the subject of sex very seriously. But she was also able to reach her audience of late-teen’s/early-twenties by joking around with the scientific jargon. Rhetorical devices she used include alliteration and mostly repetition, especially when trying to convey an idea she felt strongly about. Overall, the performance was educational and entertaining, but still mostly awkward.

post 7: new stories

the last couple days haven't really produced anything blog-worthy.

Tuesday was a highlight because I was able to receive phase one tickets for the Maryland game. It was really awesome until I realized my luck was not as fantastic as it seemed and I got stuck in front of the infamous i-know-everything-about-basketball fan. No lie, this has happened every single game I've been to. But there's not much that can ruin a Carolina basketball game so I wasn't too worried about it.

Thursday was a lowlight (ha!) because I had been determined to make it a good day, which never works out. I woke up early so I could get to the union to read and eat a little breakfast before my swimming class. I also had to buy goggles, which they conveniently sell in the bookstore believe it or not. It wasn't until I had finally relaxed and started reading my new for-entertainment-and-my-sanity book, Death by Black Hole, that I realized that instead of swimming, we had an LFIT lab, in which case my swim suit, towel, and goggles were worthless. This also meant that I had to make my way to the end of the world (HJ) and back in 30 minutes. Thank goodness the buses were on my side. I made it back with 2 mintues to spare.

As for the 'new stories' teaser in the title, I'm thinking of starting to tell a story in this blog. The story of one of my friends, who shall, because you'll think she's literally insane, remain nameless. Her story is a story of epic proportions; of love and loss, of creepiness and kindness. Look for it to begin in the next couple posts. I hope you enjoy.

post 6: Relay!

this weekend was a somber weekend.

I had to make the unfortunate four hour car ride home to mills river, nc for a friend's funeral. Tom was diagnosed with bone cancer our senior year and had made it an amazing nine months before the cancer moved to his lungs. The doctors gave him a couple weeks to live, but he wanted to be home with his family. Soon after he was unplugged from his pumps, he died. I wasn't really wanting to go home, but going to the funeral was important to me.

On the bright side, I got to see a lot of my friends at the funeral and then later during the weekend. One of my friends and I visited a friend who plays volleyball at a local college. She had been doing conditioning and whatnot all day so we just relaxed in her room watching the Sound of Music and HSM2, emulating the singing and dancing styles of both the Von Trapp family and Zac Efron.

All in all it was a nice, short visit home. I can't help but prefer my mom's cooking to ram's head (crazy, I know). Plus sleeping in my own bed and getting the opportunity to take a real bath are things I'll always enjoy. On the way out the door, mom also slipped my a $20 bill reminding me that I get money when I come home. She is a master in coercion.

I'd also like to use this opportunity to plug for my Relay for Life team. If yall don't know what the Relay for Life is, it's a fundraiser sponsored by the American Cancer Society to raise money for cancer research. I'm captaining a team (cleverly named team Team!) and we have dedicated our relay to my friend Tom Randall. We'd appreciate any help from yall, whether you'd like to join the team (it's only $10), donate, buy a luminary, or just with your prayers.

For more information, please visit team Team!'s website: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/teamTeam

post 5: lower extremities

today was an average day, at best.

swimming is starting to become a drag but on the bright side we got to use flippers today. So for the first time I felt like I didn't suck at swimming, until I realized that most swimmers swim just as fast without the rubber jet packs on their feet.

after almost falling asleep in anatomy, I went to the daily grind to get my favorite, and possibly the most unhealthy, coffee. It was only after the purchase that I realized I had been on my way to the section of the library that does not allow drinks. So I hoped on a bus and headed over to SASB, Carolina's gift to south campus studying, for some legitimate work. About 30 minutes into my Spanish, I closed my book, deciding that I would really never need to know how to tell someone that I'd like los boletos de ida y vuelta for my viajar that I plan on taking por avion.

Now here I sit, eating my suitemate's Cheez-it's (that she may or may not know I still have), contemplating on the importance of my lower extremities. I "learned" them all in anatomy today, but have no desire to remember them. So to my tibia, fibia, my metatarsals, and my pelvic brim, I send my apologies. I do not care about you.

post 4: cadavers

Good news, the first two days of this week have been more exciting than the last two weeks. Hooray!

The excitement started yesterday morning around 7:30. My roommate's damn alarm that has been waking me up too early for the past 5 months finally came in handy when I realized my I had not set an alarm for my 8 a.m. lab. So, rushed with adrenaline, I made it to my first anatomy lab in Fetzer. We first sat in a classroom where my TA answered questions from the three students in the class. After there were no more questions, she quickly asked "So, wanna see the cadavers?"

Of course, the answer is yes. But I wasn't sure how my stomach could handle it so early in the morning. We walked in the next room to a severely sterile stench and a slight whiff of... death? My TA turned on the vents and started unwrapping her cadaver that her class last semester had gotten to disect. It wasn't too bad, he didn't have skin anymore so we were just looking at bones and muscles and a nerve here and there. She also let us see the inside of his skull, which made me wonder where the brain was (the sketchy ingles bag on the counter answered that one for me).

After examining #1, our attention was turned to the pile of towels and coverings behind us; introducing dead guy #2. This one still had skin, so my stomach was immediately on edge, but to make it worse, #2 had a lot of body fat. uggghh. Needless to say I wasn't too upset to be leaving. But I'll just have to get used to, I'll be in there for the next 6 mondays with #1 and #2.

The only reason why today was more exciting than previous Tuesdays is because I wasn't an epic fail in beginners swimming this morning. But that's just a small victory for me.

Yet again, I've had a semi-boring weekend. Though it could be considered "relaxing" the first couple times, it's about to get on my nerves.

On Friday, my friends were all invited to various cocktails, plays, and dinners so I decided to take the night as a "Tricia" night. I went to the gym around 8 when no one was there so I could finally get a treadmill. These college students and their new years resolutions are really hindering my workout schedule. Then I went back to the room and took a long, hot shower because no one was banging on the door, waiting for their turn. I read my new book "Death by Black Hole" for a while and then turned on the TV only to find "Men in Black" on TBS. Incredible, I know. But then my roommate, that I have a really awkward relationship with, came in awkwardly early and kind of ruined my Tricia night. I went to sleep at 11:30.

Last night, I visited my boyfriend at state. State is just always a big downer, but the boyfriend part helped :)

So this is my vow, plead, word, whatever that next weekend I'm going out and doing something worthwhile. There.

Oh, and I've decided to do urinating on a jellyfish sting as my folk belief.

Snow in chapel hill and the inauguration of Obama? could anything else possibly happen today? (besides my epic fail in beginners swimming, of course). Though it was a rush trying to get to a tv somewhere that didn't have a bagillion people already around it, to sit down and watch the 44th president be inaugurated was something I'll never forget.

I thought the election night festivities were about as liberal-college-scene as things get, what with the first African-American president, not to mention he was democratic, winning the popular vote and college students rushing the streets in celebration. I even watched his acceptance speech in a local bar. Hip, I know.

But as I sat in the basement of Graham Hall, surrounded by my peers and with my tongue already burnt from sipping my oh-so-collegiate Starbucks coffee too quickly, I realized the historical change that was taking place in front of my eyes.

So despite the creepy pronunciations of Malia and Sasha throughout, the stumbling during the oath (which I'm convinced was the Chief Justice's fault), and the sketchy poem at the end, the inauguration proved to be as historical as it was supposed to be, and I'm glad to have experienced it here at Chapel Hill.

And by the way, my suite mates had a snowball fight with Ed Davis and Will Graves today. That's what else happened today. One of the greatest days in history: January 20, 2009.

I'm new to the blogging scene so I guess I'll begin by getting the getting-to-know-me stuff out of the way. My name is Tricia and I'm 19 years old. I'm majoring in Exercise and Sports Science. I love to read and ski and my favorite bands are Nickel Creek and DMB. My favorite food is mac n' cheese and I have two dogs and a cat. That should do for now.

So this weekend was probably the most anticlimactic "first weekend back" for me. But I was happy for it seeing as my suite mates made sure this past week was the most exciting "first week back" of my life. We went out literally every night. It was worth it though, now all of that's out of my system and first week of class doesn't really matter right?

Friday night consisted of an intense game of apples to apples with OJ and queso dip. Saturday started bright and early at 9 a.m. so my suite mates and I could eventually end up all over college gameday at 11 (which we did). That night we got your typical student phase 4 tickets to the basketball game where I witnessed my Carolina basketball team crush, Danny Green, block about 17 shots. Amazing. Sunday I slept for about 15 of the 24 hours and "studied" for about 2.

In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my boyfriend came to see me (he goes to State, boo i know) and we saw Slumdog Millionaire, which was brilliant and I highly suggest it. Tonight my friends and I will be attending the women's basketball game. I'm especially excited because I played against one of the starting guards, Cetera DeGraffenreid, in high school. Her team always destroyed us, but it's nice to see a familiar face.

Tomorrow, however, I am not looking forward to. It's the first day of swimming in my beginner's swimming class and even though we're just learning to float, I can think of other things I'd rather do. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. Later!