I emerged from the subway on a balmy Monday evening headed for the bus station address I had been given. I felt a twinge of apprehension when I stepped out slap bang in the middle of Chinatown.... And it only grew as I finally found the tiny little hole that was the bus station I was looking for. All the signs were written in Chinese and I was the palest person in the entire area! The situation did not improve once I was on the bus... Although I was granted a bit of luck in having an empty seat next to me, which meant I could stretch out (a little!) and sleep for most of the sixteen hour ride! But it wasn't hard to understand why the ticket had been so cheap... No leg room, no toilet paper in the toilet (which was basically a mobile long drop) and no wifi or plugs to charge my phone (other bus companies offer all of the above). By the time we arrived in Nashville the bus stank to high heaven and I was on the verge of fainting as I had been breathing through my shirt for the last two hours.
My host in Nashville was very conveniently located close to downtown which is where all the touristy stuff is, which was a stroke of luck! My first Nashville experience was salsa dancing, which took place at a gay club. At the end of the night, they had a drag show which we watched a bit of. It was absolutely hysterical and quite impressive! Flick flacks, cartwheels, real cleavage, a porn star and bizarre outfits were the order of the night. It was a lot to take in! The next night was even better though...
We hit the town for a night of music in Nashville's infamous honky tonk bars along broadway street. What a blast! We started out at a place called the Big Bang Dueling Pianos. It was a similar idea to A Handful of Keys. Two pianos with two very talented pianists who play and sing popular songs and requests from the audience. I thoroughly enjoyed it! We wandered in and out of bars along the street, eventually coming to Coyote Ugly! It was very empty because it was still quite early, but I was invited to dance on the bar (which of course, I did) and was lifted up and helped back down by a very large black bouncer. I felt like I was in the movie! :) there was an annoying persistent drunken fella who wouldn't leave me alone and the large bouncer kindly escorted him out of the club without me even asking! I giggled :)
On Friday I spent the day exploring the town. I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and soaked in all the musical history I possibly could. Saw Elvis's Cadillac and gold piano! Almost died :) along with all the history of everyone from John Carson, Elvis and Dolly Parton to Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift! There were hundreds of amazing and beautiful instruments in the display cases, old cars and even a few guns! Also an entire wall of gold and platinum records and a room of brass plaques for all the Hall of Famers. I tossed a R5 coin into the Hall of Fame fountain and made a wish. Maybe one day... :)
Next I headed to the Johnny Cash museum and walked through the pages of his story. It was awesome! I did some boot shopping (who in their right mind would NOT buy cowboy boots when in the south?) and found some awesome boots! They'll come in handy with my Western riding later this month! I was also introduced to a South African writer and actress, Estelle Condra, who has been living in Nashville for over thirty years now! She is blind and such an inspiring lady. It was nice to pull some Afrikaans out of the cobwebs of my mind and chat with her about home :)
On Sunday I went to the Tennessee state fair. An experience like no other!!! Redneck central and it was hysterical. I saw a 524lb pumpkin, a 273.5lb watermelon, onions the size of my head and chillis the size of my forearm! I watched pig racing (video available on Facebook for any interested parties) and almost wet my pants because I laughed so hard! They take this stuff so seriously! I had a unicorn painted on my face and won a bunch of stuffed toys at various games. Rode almost all of the rides for free because all the ride operators were South African boys who took a shine to me the second I spoke Afrikaans to them... They would literally pull me to the front of the line (which was usually about thirty or forty people long!) and pop me on the ride! It was priceless to see the shock on their faces when I spoke Afrikaans to them. One or two needed a few seconds to recover before they could even respond. Lolsies! Some of the rides were hectic... The megadrop being the hecticest (haha) of all! It's the ride where you are seated facing outwards around a very tall spire, the platform of seats is pulled up, released at the top and you plummet (with your heart beating at the top of your skull!) straight to the ground, stopping mere seconds before total annihilation. Our ride was even scarier because we waited at the top for so long. They kept pulling us up and letting us down a few inches as if something were wrong! Needless to say we were all completely terrified by the time the ride dropped! But phewee what a rush! :) I also ate my first corndog and had freshly squeezed lemonade. Yummy!
On Wednesday night at 10pm, I hopped on the Greyhound to Dallas to meet up with Nicolette, my first violin teacher! It is from Dallas that I am writing to y'all now, but I will put the Dallas news in a separate post. Missing you guys like crazy!
Stay classy c",)
No comments:
Post a Comment