I woke up this morning disoriented. Why am I up at 8 o'clock? Then after a few seconds I remembered and realised why I had forgotten; I had been restlessly preparing til 3 in the morning for the adventure that lay ahead, my mind exhausted from all the excitement and nervousness.
I met up with Raffi at the Pavillion's parking lot, running a little late. But thanks to my mom's thrifty driving, we made it to the airport an hour before our flight left. American Airlines, charging nearly 4 dollars for a measly cookie, served as a grim reminder to eat a wholesome, hearty breakfast before a noon flight. After suffering through a nutritious can of tomato juice (which I only drank cause I heard from some fun fact that it tastes better in high altitudes) and a textbook lesson on intro differential equations, we arrived in Nashville.
Raffi's aunt, Cathy, greeted us outside the baggage claim with her warm southern presence and after we dropped our luggage off at her 'muggy' (and I hope I'm using that properly) Tennesseeian home, we were under way to Raffi's other aunt's house in the countryside. Through the partly sunny, partly rainy, humid weather we drove to the outskirts of Nashville and when we arrived, I was still only taking in the natural beauty of this place.
Raffi's other aunt lives on a 200 acre property, with a charming self-built home next to a small forest singing with cicada and crickets. I couldn't decide what was better, the company for dinner or the slow roasted bbq ribs served by the grillmaster followed by the homemade banana ice cream served with chocolate cupcakes. All I know is I was blessed with both at the same time.
Anyhow, to wrap this up, driving back to Cathy's, I was in truly meditative state. The delicious food settling in me mixed with the smell of the damp countryside trees and occasional tobacco bar testing out its harvest gave me a taste of southern comfort.
I now lay in bed, ready for what tomorrow's adventures have in store for us -- Knoxville and Asheville.
No comments:
Post a Comment