Ticking one off my bucket list..

I weekenden var der en lille drøm som gik i opfyldelse for mig - jeg var nemlig til NBA kamp i Atlanta!

Jeg har spillet basket siden jeg var 8 år gammel (tro det eller ej), og jeg har altid gerne villet ind og se en rigtig NBA kamp, og det stod højt på min liste da jeg fandt ud af at jeg skulle til Georgia i et år. 

Heldigvis var jeg ikke alene om at have dette ønske, og Nadine fra Schweiz som også var med i New Orleans, ville også rigtig gerne ind til en kamp. 

Billetterne var, som forventet, ikke billige - vi skulle nemlig ind og se to gode hold: Atlanta Hawks og Toronto Raptors, og vi ville også gerne sidde så vi faktisk kunne se noget og ikke helt oppe under taget. 

Inden kampen var vi på verdens største drive-in restaurant, The Varsity. Vi valgte dog at gå ind og spise, da vi faktisk havde taget toget (JA toget!) derhen. (Atlanta har rent faktisk offentlig transport - wow!). 

The Varsity er kendt for chilli cheese dogs (hotdogs med en slags "chilli" con carne på), og i øvrigt deres "frosted orange" som er en blanding af en slush-ice og en milkshake med appelsinsmag. 

Det var en fedtet omgang, og ikke umiddelbart min type mad, men nu har jeg prøvet det også :-) 

Kampen var desværre ikke alt for god set med Hawks-øjne, eftersom de tabte med omkring 30 point - til gengæld betød det at rigtigt mange udvandrede de sidste 5 minutter af 4. periode, og Nadine og jeg endte således på 10. række hvorfra sidste billede er taget. 

Vi havde indlogeret os hos nogle andre GRSPere på Georgia State University som ligger i Downtown Atlanta, og havde på den måde en god base for en fortsat god weekend :-) 

Hvis jeg lige hurtigt tæller så er to af de ting som jeg rigtigt gerne ville opleve, nu rent faktisk lykkedes i løbet af de sidste 2-3 uger, og det er uden tvivl blevet væsentligt nemmere at få disse oplevelser til at lykkes fordi jeg nu har adgang til en bil. Så det er altså virkelig fantastisk!

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This weekend a small dream of mine came true - I went to an NBA game in Atlanta!

I have played basketball since I was 8 years old (believe it or not), and I have always wanted to see a real NBA game, and it was on the top of my bucket list of things I wanted to do when I found out I was going to spend a year in Georgia. 

Luckily I wasn't the only one to have this wish, and Nadine from Switzerland, who was also on the trip to New Orleans, also really wanted to go see a game. 

The tickets were, as expected, not cheap as we were going to see two really good teams: The Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors, and we also wanted to have decent seats and not have to sit all the way up under the roof. 

Before the game we went to the world's largest drive-in restaurant, The Varsity. However we did chose to go inside to eat as we took the Marta there (woho! public transportation!). 

The Varsity is known for their chili cheese dogs and frosted orange, which some of you might know. If not, a chili cheese dog is a hotdog with a kind of chili con carne on top of it, and the frosted orange is a mix of a milkshake and a slushee with taste of an orange. 

It was a greasy experience, and probably not my preferred meal, but now I have tried it :-)

The NBA game was unfortunately not the best seen from an Atlanta Hawks viewpoint seeing as they lost by around 30 points - however, it did mean that a lot of people left the arena the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter, so Nadine and I ended up on the 10th row, which is where the last picture is taken from. 

We were staying with some other GRSPs at Georgia State University, which is right in downtown Atlanta, so we had a good base for a great weekend. 

If I just quickly count, two of the things I really wanted to experience coming over here, has actually happened within the last 2-3 weeks, and it has without a doubt made it a whole lot easier to actually get these experiences now that I have access to a car. Just to say, that is pretty amazing!

L.E.A.D.

I torsdags havde jeg fået en fantastisk mulighed for at komme lidt nærmere på hvad der sker lokalt i Valdosta og Lowndes county (kommune). På grund af et afbud, blev det nemlig muligt for mig at deltage i den årlige L.E.A.D. dinner som er arrangeret af Valdosta Rotary klub. 

L.E.A.D. står for Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner, og hovedformålet er at samle penge ind til familier med direkte forbindelse til politiet her i området, som kan komme ud for at have et akut og ekstraordinært behov for finansiel hjælp. 

Billetprisen var 100$ pr. person, hvilket muligvis vil skræmme mange væk i første omgang, men det lod ikke til at have skræmt nogen væk - hele 500 personer deltog i arrangementet, hvilket må siges at være rimeligt imponerende.

Udover at samle penge ind, blev arrangementet også brugt til at hylde en politibetjent fra hver enkelt afdeling som indsamlingen går til: Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, Valdosta Police Department, og Georgia State Patrol.

Aftenen gav et virkelig godt indblik i hvad der ellers foregår her i Valdosta. Til tider kan det nemlig godt virke lidt som om campus er sin egen lille "by i byen".

Jeg ville gerne have kunnet vise et billede af de tre betjente som blev hyldet, men havde desværre ikke mulighed for selv at tage et billede, og det ser ikke ud til at være kommet på nettet fra de lokale medier endnu. 

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Thursday I had an amazing opportunity to get a little bit closer to what is happening locally in the Valdosta and Lowndes county community. Because of a last minute cancellation it became possible for me to attend the annual L.E.A.D. dinner put together by the Valdosta Rotary Club.

I'm not entirely sure how common the LEAD acronym is outside the Lowndes community, but it stands for Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner, and the main purpose of the event is to raise money for families with a direct relation to the local law enforcement, who at some point has an immediate and extraordinary need for financial aid. 

The ticket price was 100$ pr. person, which you might think could scare away some participants, but it didn't seem to have scared anyone away - more than 500 people participated in the event, which I must admit was very impressive!

Besides raising money, the event was also used to award a police officer from each department taking part in LEAD: Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, Valdosta Police Department, and Georgia State Patrol.

The night gave me great insight to what else is going on in the community. At times it can seem kind of isolated here at campus where it is almost as if it is a "town within the town". 

I really wanted to be able to share a picture of the three officers who were awarded on the evening, but I wasn't able to take a picture myself, and it doesn't look like the local media has put it online yet. 

New roommates

Onsdag vågnede vi op til nye roommates på værelset.. 

De var flyttede ind lige pludselig - og helt uden at spørge om lov!

Ca. 500 termitter (og flere på vej) havde nemlig valgt at de gerne ville lave en ny rede på vores værelse... 

Så vi måtte have fat i personalet, og heldigvis, i løbet af 30 minutter havde vi besøg af nogen som kunne sprøjte os fri for termitter, og i det mindste sørge for at standse problemet. 

Jeg tror aldrig jeg har set en termit før, så nu er jeg da blevet den oplevelse rigere! Og de to herrer som kom for at sprøjte for dem, kunne også belære os yderligere om termitterne - som de sagde "så er det jo en institution for læring!". 

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Wednesday we woke up to new roomates in our dorm.. 

They had moved in all of a sudden - and without even asking for permission!

About 500 termites (with more coming every second) had decided that they wanted to make a new nest in our room...

So we quickly got a hold of the residence assistant (who by the way could tell us that it was termites), and within 30 minutes we had someone come by to exterminate them, or at least stop the problem for now. 

I don't think I've ever seen a termite before, so that must be my "something new" for the day! And the two gentlemen who came to exterminate them could even teach us more about the termites and how they work - as they said "this is what they call institutional learning!".

International Pancake Day!

I går var der international pandekagedag! Og selvom amerikanerne, dvs. IHOP (international House of pancakes som er en kæderestaurant herovre) insisterer på at holde national pandekagedag den 3. Marts, så fik jeg altså lavet en 14-15 pandekager i går aftes som Basak og jeg delte. 

Vi spiste ikke dem alle sammen selvom de var meget lækre :-)

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Yesterday was international pancake day! And even though the Americans, and by Americans I mean IHOP insist on having a national pancake day on March 3rd, I did make about 14-15 pancakes last night, which Basak and I shared. 

We didn't eat all of them even though they were very delicious :-)

February 14th 2015

Det kommer nok ikke som nogen overraskelse for nogen at Valentins dag er KÆMPE stort i USA. 

Og ikke bare KÆMPE stort, men altså virkelig, virkelig KÆMPE STORT! 

Her ser i f.eks. indgangen i Walmart den 13. februar 2015 - de ved hvad kunderne vil have! 

I stedet for at gå på date sammen med ca. alle andre i hele byen, tog jeg i stedet en tur til Athens hvor vi skulle fejre en af de andre GRSPeres fødselsdag. 

Valentins dag - den 14. februar blev tilbragt hos en rotarianer i godt selskab med 25-30 andre GRSPere - så jeg synes faktisk det var en ganske god måde at tilbringe den på. 

Jeg kan ikke komme udenom lige at kommentere på hvad den 14. februar 2015 ellers bød på af nyheder hjemme fra Danmark. 

Selvom vi var i et område stort set uden dækning og kun med sporadisk wifi, så gik der ikke mange minutter før hændelsen på Østerbro nåede os i Georgia, både på facebook, men også på CNN som tilfældigvis kørte på TVet i kælderen. 

Jeg må indrømme at det er rigtig underligt pludselig at se mit lille land trække overskrifter på de internationale medier. 

Efter at have været i USA i lige over 6 måneder, har jeg virkeligt fået øjnene op for at værdsætte mit lille, fredelige land, hvor store problemer i virkeligheden er ret små set i et større perspektiv. 

Det er sørgeligt og måske også en smule skræmmede at se ting som disse ske derhjemme, og opleve dem på afstand, men jeg håber uden at gå for meget ind i diskussionen (da mit blogindlæg ellers ville blive aaalt for langt), at en hændelse som denne kan være med til at vende den negative udvikling som jeg synes at have set over de sidste år. 

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It probably won't come as a surprise to anyone back in Denmark that Valentine's Day is HUGE in the US. 

And not just HUGE, but really, really HUGE! 

We don't really celebrate Valentine's in Denmark, however most shops are of course trying to commercialize it as a way of making more money. 

Here is a picture of the entrance to Walmart on February 13th - they sure know what the customers want!

Instead of going out on some date like everybody else in town, I went to Athens to celebrate one of the other GRSPs' birthday.

Valentine's Day - February 14th, I spent at a rotarian's house with the great company of 25-30 other GRSPs - so I would say that is a pretty good way to spend it. 

I can't get around not commenting on what February 14th also had to offer in terms of news from Denmark. 

Even though we were in an area with pretty much no reception and only very little wifi, it didn't take many minutes before what happened at Østerbro in Copenhagen, reached us in Georgia, both on Facebook, but also on CNN, which just happened to be on in the basement where we were. 

I must admit that it is very strange to see my little country make the headlines of international news stations. 

After just over 6 months in the US, I have come to really appreciate my little, peaceful country, where the usually big problems actually are really small problems when put in a larger perspective. 

It is sad, and also a bit scary to see things like this happening back home, and to experience them from this distance, but I hope, without getting too much into the discussion (since that would make this post waaaay too long), that an 'event' like this can help turn around the negative development that I believe to have seen over the past few years. 

1$ tacos and a movie

Nadine, Flora and Nadine's roommates

Torsdag aften var der forpremiere på en meget omtalt film som vi naturligvis var en flok tøser der skulle ind og se.. 

Først skulle vi dog lige forbi den mexikanske "La Jalisco", som er et lille supermarked hvor de også har et lille spisested. La Jalisco har nemlig tacos for 1$ hver torsdag, og i øvrigt også amerikanske flaskeøl for 1$. 

Så det blev til 4 tacos og 2 øl for lige under 7$, hvilket må siges at være en god start på aftenen og en anbefaling værd :-)

Jeg vil afholde mig fra at give anmeldelser af filmen - dem er der jo nok af på nettet i forvejen, men den skulle jo ses.. 

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Thursday night was the premiere on a very talked about movie, which of course we were a group of girls who had to go watch it.. 

First however, we had to go by the Mexican "La Jalisco", which is a small supermarket where they also have a small restaurant in the back. La Jalisco have 1$ tacos every Thursday, and also domestic beer for 1$. 

So I got 4 tacos and 2 beers for just under 7$, which I must say was a good start to the evening and worth a recommendation :-)

I will refrain from making any reviews of the movie - I think there is enough of those online already, but I guess it was one of those you just had to watch..

Bye bye NOLA

Mississippi River

View of the St. Louis Cathedrale from Jackson Sqaure

Hot sauce tasting at the French Market - my kind of stuff!

Flora, Sian, Thomas, me, Nadine

På vores sidste dag i NOLA startede vi med en tur på "Café du Monde" - Verden's café, som er rimeligt berømt og altid super travl!

Det eneste de serverer er kaffe/the/kakao og "beignets" - franske doughnuts/klejner - kald dem hvad du vil :-) 

De franske beignets kommer i øvrigt dækket i florsukker! 

Efter en sund og nærende morgenmad gik vi en tur langs Mississippi River inden vi var en tur på "fransk" marked.. 

Der var ikke specielt meget fransk over det, udover at der var en enkelt delikatesse hvor man kunne købe lidt franske oste m.fl., til gengæld havde de massere af gode sandwiches som vi fik prøvet af inden vi gik tilbage mod bilen og satte kursen mod Valdosta. 

På turen til parkeringshuset blev der tid til et gruppebillede på Bourbon Street samt et par fotos af husene og balkonerne i det franske kvarter. 

New Orleans er en smuk by, og min absolutte yndlingsting er hvordan man - i hvert fald under Mardi Gras - kunne høre et nyt lille jazzband spille på hvert gadehjørne.

Hvis man ønsker at opleve Mardi Gras, men ikke er helt klar på at det bliver totalt fyldt med mennesker, så er weekenden før, weekenden før, en rigtig god mulighed for at få massere af Mardi Gras stemning, imens man stadigvæk kan komme frem og tilbage :-) 

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On our last day in NOLA we started by going to "Café du Monde" - the World's Café, which is pretty famous and always busy!

They only serve coffee/tea/cocoa and "beignets" - French doughnuts - or at least similar to :-) 

The French Beignets are by the way served covered in powder sugar!

After a healthy and nutritious breakfast we went for a walk along the Mississippi River before we ended up at the "French" Market..

There wasn't exactly a whole lot of "French" there but a small deli with French cheeses amongst others.  However they did have a lot of yummy sandwiches, which we tried out before heading back to the car and set the GPS for Valdosta. 

On the way back to the parking deck we stopped at Bourbon Street to take a group picture, and we also got some snapshots of the houses and balconies in the French Quarter.

New Orleans is a beautiful city, and my absolute favorite thing about it was how - at least during Mardi Gras - you would hear a new jazz band playing on each corner.

If you want to experience Mardi Gras, but don't want to go while it is over crowded, the weekend before the weekend before is a really good opportunity to get the Mardi Gras atmosphere while still being able to actually get back and forwards :-)

Alligator, jambalaya, gumbo, and crawfish étouffée

The famous St. Charles streetcar

Parade in Uptown

New Orleans food culture (alligator to the left!)

Back to Bourbon Street

Men først skulle tømmermændene fra fredagen lige gåes væk med en tur i en af New Orleans' parker - Audubon Park som byder på en golfbane i midten, og en zoo i enden. Vi sprang dog både golf og dyr over, og nøjedes med at nyde den friske luft, hvor vi i øvrigt stødte på nogle (for en dansker) meget sjove skilte til cyklister... Tænk sig hvis man kun måtte køre 10 mph på cykelstierne i Danmark! 

Vi tog en kombination af busser og streetcar hen til parken - turen langs St. Charles er en smuk måde at opleve lidt af byen på!

Herefter var vi en lille gåtur fra dagens første optog i Uptown/Carrolton hvor der i øvrigt også er mange smukke huse. 

Vi fik samlet et par perlekæder inden vi fortsatte turen tilbage mod French Quarter hvor vi havde fundet en restaurant som tilbød lidt forskellige lokale retter som f.eks. alligator, jambalaya, gumbo osv. 

Jeg fik naturligvis prøvet næsten det hele med alligator, rejer og gumbo til forret, og jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, red beans and rice samt alligator sausage til hovedret. - Der var IKKE plads til dessert! (før lidt senere hvor vi tog på Starbucks for at få varmen og se optog igennem vinduet - heraf billedet af en "cake pop med saltkaramel).

Vi sluttede endnu en gang aftenen på en anden lille fantastisk jazz club, hvor vi faldt i snak med nogle venlige (og fulde) herrer som købte drinks til hele gruppen. Inden vi vendte hjem var vi lige forbi nogle af vores venner fra fredag som havde hotelværelse med balkon ud til Bourbon Street - på den måde fik vi også oplevet hvordan det er at kaste perlekæder, frem for at prøve at fange dem ;-P

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But first the hangover from Friday had to be "walked off" with a trip to one of New Orleans' parks - Audubon Park, which has a golf course on the middle and a zoo at the end. Vi skipped both the golf and the animals, and instead enjoyed the fresh air where we found some (to a Dane) very funny signs on biking restrictions... I can't imagine what it would be like if you could only go 10 mph on the Danish biking paths!

We took a combination of busses and streetcar to get to the park - the trip along St. Charles is a very beautiful way to see a bit of the city!

After the park we were just a short walk away from our first parade in Uptown/Carrolton where they also have a lot of pretty houses. 

We gathered a few beads and then headed back towards the French Quarter where we were going to have dinner at a restaurant that offered some local cuisine like alligator, jambalaya, gumbo etc.

I of course tried almost all of it with alligator, shrimp and gumbo as appetizers, and jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, red beans and rice and alligator sausage as my entree. - I did NOT have room for dessert! (until a bit later when we dropped by Starbucks to get warm and watch a parade through the windows - hence the picture of a cake pop with salted caramel). 

Once again we ended our evening at another amazing little jazz club where we got to talking to some friendly (and "tipsy") gentlemen who bought drinks for our entire group. Before heading back to the hostel we met up with some of our friends from Friday who had a hotel room with a balcony over Bourbon Street - that way we got to experience what it was like throwing the beads and not just trying to catch them ;-P