How an Idahoan Survives the East

     I have officially lived in Virginia for an entire month and I am still alive! Living on the opposite side of the country has definitely been a new experience for me; from the flora to the fauna to how I do my hair, Virginia is NOT like Idaho. I've had to make a lot of adjustments; one of the hardest: settling for crappy potatoes.

     But really, I often realize that I really am 2,100 miles from home, and not just because of the food. (Grits are even more disgusting then they sound.) On my short road trip from the airport to Buena Vista, the only thing I could think of was Guns N' Roses' song, Welcome to the Jungle.

     It's not just the flora that makes me think of a jungle, the fauna does as well. Mainly the bugs. They are HUMONGOUS. I have never seen such large bugs. Ever. I swear everything is the size of my palm. This beetle we found in the parking lot? Yeah, the length of my palm.

Spiders don't usually scare me, but I almost died via spider last weekend. The spider was right next to the key slot by the door at my dorm, and my roommate and I accidentally brushed against it. In this picture it's the middle of the afternoon, so the spider is all curled up, but I seriously thought it was going to kill me. Again, it's almost as big around as my palm, I was just far away when I took the picture.

     Obviously, the moisture is also new for me. It's always foggy in the morning. Really fogging, not just a little wispy. Along with the fog is the humidity. People over here say that it hasn't been humid the past few weeks, but I know differently. 56% is humid in my book. The humidity affects the temperature a lot-even though it has been up in the 70's the past two weeks, I freeze in the mornings. Yes, yes, it's not the 45ish that Blackfoot has been having, but this is different! It gets in your bones. Winter is going to be interesting...

The humidity also means that I have had to change the way I take care of my hair, which I was not expecting. Until a week ago, I could NOT leave my hair down, or it would turn into a limp afro. Not an actual afro-which I could work with-but a limp afro. Last week one of my roommates and I finally experimented with several products, and I can leave my hair down again, thanks to this lovely stuff! (Like any of you really care, but since this is my blog, I can write what I want.)

     Even if I had a car, I don't think I would hardly ever drive. First, the hills. People here call them mountains, which I think is a bit of a stretch, but there is no flat. The infrastructure is crazy as well! Just the five miles to the Wal*Mart in the next town over was interesting. Because of all the trees, you can't tell that there are a lot of people around, but the roads tell a different story. It's not that there are big towns-Buena Vista has maybe 6,000 people, most of which are over the age of 60-but there are lots of little towns all over. I don't have a picture of that, but you know, stairs are good too.

    Another thing I have found interesting is the cemetery. Last Saturday I went and helped paint a fence over there, and I couldn't believe how big it was for such a teeny town! But then I realized that people have been living here a LOT longer than they have been living out West. I really wanted to go look around and find Civil War graves, but then we had to go. So the next time I make a trip to the cemetery, it's happening.

This is my roommate Isabelle and I after painting a black fence. We were actually a lot more black than it looks like.

                                               

     So a few of the practical lessons learned so far: carry bug spray or large newspapers, use hardcore anti-frizz products, and learn to like hills, inclines, and stairs. Oh, and people actually do talk in a thick accent like in the movies. I'm afraid I have a really difficult time taking them seriously.... 

     Hopefully next week I'll have pictures of the beautiful orange mountain/hills. They're almost turning!