Random Musings...
Thursday, July 06, 2006
·Welcome to Rhode Island·
Well, here we are in Rhode Island! I've been here for about a week now, and I'm still trying to get used to things. I'm experiencing major culture shock, almost as if I had moved to another country. Everything is so different here. I was warned that things are quirky here, and they sure are!
First of all, the roads here are crazy. Not only are they extremely bumpy and full of potholes, but there is no rhyme or reason to them. They split, fork, change names, suddenly turn into one-ways, wind around, just everything! The first few times I asked people for directions here, I wondered why the hell they couldn't just give me clear, turn-by-turn directions. For example, if I were to give someone directions from my old house to my old office, I would say, "Turn left onto 43rd St, Right onto 20th Ave, Left onto 34th St, Right onto Radio Rd, Left onto Museum Rd." Well, here, EVERY TIME, it goes more like, "You go up this way, kind of keep going straight, but it's more like left, go two stop signs, veer right, you're going to kind of go around, make the second right, you're going to see that big building, keep going, then turn left." NO ONE gives street names, and those "kind of go this way" things drive me insane. One thing I will say, though, is after driving around a little bit, I can see why people don't use street names. The names change every mile, it seems! No joke. Half the time there are no signs anyway. I've never seen anything like it. And the parts where it's "Go straight, but really right," well, it's because there seem to be no right angles around here. Not even in downtown Providence! It's total craziness. I'm sorry, but I will definitely miss Florida's straight roads, wide lanes, and clear signs.
The other thing, the accents here are CRAZY! I think it has to be the ugliest English-speaking accent there is. Everything sounds so harsh and even the most polite of people sound like they're giving you attiude. Water=Wata. Park=Pack. Car=Caa. River=Riva. You get the idea (=idear).
Everything here is old, which is really different. Old in Florida is 1980's. Here, it's 1780's. The average home around us appears to be about 100 years old. Some parts are pretty junky, but downtown Providence as well as several surrounding neighborhoods are just gorgeous. It has been neat to walk down streets lined with houses that are older than this country.
It's very picturesque here too. There is water everywhere. Every now and then, there will be a rolling hill that gives you an beautiful view. Most surprising were the frasier firs in the park next door to us that, to me, are Christmas trees. I was amazed to find Christmas trees just growing on their own next to my house, and Andrew just scratched his head. Mmm...they even smell like Christmas.
The restaurants here are amazing. We've been told that people drive here from Boston for dinner. We've gotten great seafood and great Italian that has definitely lived up to the hype. I can't wait to keep exploring more.
Ok, this post has taken me several days to write, and I'm just going to go ahead and post it to get it up there so I can start putting regular posts. In the meantime, Anna hopes you all had a wonderful Fourth of July holiday...
Posted at 9:22 AM
Comments... Hoorah, glad to see you back! So it seems as if you and little Anna have some adjusting to do. Hope you will soon have it feeling like home.
jennifer
p.s. She is SUCH A CUTIE!!!!!!!! Wow, a darling little girl.
The pictures of the town you posted look beautiful! It must be so exciting to be experiencing something so different and new.
Posted by: 11:13 AM
Post a CommentOh I am glad you made it to RI safely!
You will come to love RI it is beautiful!
Anna is getting so big!
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