Back Where I Come From

Culture has always interested me. I think that's why I love history so much. While I know that "my citizenship is in heaven" I love learning about how people live, how their traditions and "ways" have come about, and to learn from the downfalls and successes of cultures.
I'm thankful that growing up I was able to spend time in many different cultures. I was born just outside of New Orleans (or as locals say "Naw'Lins"). If you know anything about New Orleans you know it's RICH with culture, a culture like NO OTHER! When I was 2 we moved overseas. I loved living in other cultures with people from MANY different countries. I was able to witness women with babies wrapped to their backs while carrying fruit baskets on their heads, men who knelt on their mats every day as the mosque called over the area, children holding on tightly as their family of 5 rode together on mopeds. These things didn't seem unusual to me until I left and realized it's not done the same way in the States. Our family was blessed to live in these places along with people from cultures that were very different from where we were from (some even being just from different parts of the U.S.) We lived together, learned from one another (including some VERY good cooking), and we were a community.
I'm very grateful for the way I grew up. While my childhood growing up was rich with this exposure to cultures though, the majority of my life has been spent in one place, the South...the DEEP South! I'm a Mississippi girl, but not just a Mississippi girl, a Mississippi Gulf Coast girl, the place where Cajun culture from the West collided with the rich Delta "Country" culture of North Mississippi.
Being back "home" has brought me to appreciate this cutlure. A culture where catfish, crabs, and crawfish are as common as chicken on the dinner table, Spanish moss is our backyard decor, we only have two seasons: HOT humidity and COLD humidity, Katrina water lines are clearly marked and remembered, "ain't" and "ya'll" are IN FACT correct grammar :), people go to the bayou just as much as the beach, as Hank described it "we's them ole boys raised on shotguns; we say grace and we say ma'am....(you can finish the rest :) ), gumbo is only cooked one way: slow and spicy, and "tea" is only a word when its preceded with "sweet".
As I've spent the summer driving roads I've been down MANY times, looking at places that have changed drastically while others look the same as when I was 10 years old, there's been a nostalgic feeling of appreciation for this area I've called home. I would never let where I'm from DEFINE who I am, but I know it's influenced me tremendously. The South is not by any means a perfect place, but I am proud to call it "home".
All that said, I just wanted to share a bit of where I'm from and the things I'm soaking in as I prepare to head out.

Thanks for reading!

And Ya'll come back now, ya hear!