This is such a freakin' cool idea for a post. I always see all the different countries Jammers are from and think, man, if we ever got together, we'd NEVER run out of things to ask each other, haha.
Laura, I'm going to run away and come visit you in Hollaaaaand!! I've always wanted to go there. I've only been to Europe once and we ran out of time before we made it there.
Phren, I love you for living in my favorite country EVAR. When I'm done with my literature degree, I plan to take some time off to live in England for awhile. <33333 Plus, you know what they say about Yanks...we're bonkers for a pretty accent.
So let's see, if you live in Jamaica, that's pretty far from where I live in the U.S. so I'll tell you about it too!!
I live in Arkansas and have for my entire life.
Myths: Not EVERYONE is missing the majority of their teeth, sitting on their front porch barefoot and strumming a banjo. (Okay there are some of these people but not ALL, hehe)
We do not deep-fry ALL of our food. Well, a lot but not all of it, haha. Ever had fried pickles before? Mmmmm.
Truth: It does get unbearably, swelteringly hot down here. The humidity in the south is so thick in mid-summer that you could cut it with a knife. My fiance is from South America and he swears up and down that a lot of our denser forest areas look and feel quite a bit like South American rainforests. Same general temperature and air consistency.
If you get away from the towns and cities (Ehh, what we call cities anyways, even the state capital isn't that big), the scenery is absolutely incredible. We have some of the best fishing and hunting in the world. We also grow rice and have diamonds!!! Most people don't know that, hehe.
Northern Arkansas is the nation's leading producer of chicken. (Tyson's is based here.) So all along the outskirts of the towns there are huge, enormous chicken farms. Everywhere. You get used to the smell if you live here long enough. o_O
The odd thing here in northwest Arkansas is that Walmart is based here. They have built up the business college at the University of Arkansas here in Fayetteville and poured endless amounts of money into the local community. Now, this might sound like a good thing because now we are actually experiencing art, theater, and culture in a place that previously was almost entirely rural. However, it's very strange to see a place that was almost entirely farm land when I was a child becoming a metropolis. We still have such odd extremes here. You can still see old farmers driving their rusted pick ups through town with a shotgun in the floor board and a couple of bales of hay in the back.
Then you can look across the street and see the billing for the upcoming theater and symphony season. It's kinda strange.
It makes for a really fun lifestyle if you're big on outdoor stuff.
Note: The actions and statements of the Clinton family in no way represent the opinions of the residents of the state of Arkansas. Hehehe.
Seriously, though, it does get aggravating sometimes. Last time I was in Venice, I was attempting to communicate with a clerk in a glass shop (I speak really rough Italian) and when he asked where I was from and I said Arkansas, he spread his arms, grinned really big, and yelled," BILLY!" (As in "BILL clinton") I was mortified.