10 Weeks, 22 states & countless new foods

I decided to play a little game (with myself) whilst I'm here, to see how many different States I meet people from. So, here's my 10 week update. So far I've met people from 22 of the 50 states. The odds are against me to complete all 50 in my remaining time here, but I'm still on the lookout!

 

1)      Alabama – Kady, Catholic chaplaincy

2)      Alaska

3)      Arizona

4)      Arkansas

5)      California – Sr. Marija Joseph (who’d have thought a nun would be the Cali representative!)

6)      Colorado

7)      Connecticut – Vanessa, Connecticut retreat

8)      Delaware – Caroline, Connecticut retreat

9)      Florida – Michaela, next door

10)   Georgia

11)   Hawaii – Jocelyn, lives on same floor

12)   Idaho

13)   Illinois – Andrea, Catholic chaplaincy

14)   Indiana – Nate, Raven’s friend

15)   Iowa

16)   Kansas

17)   Kentucky

18)   Louisiana – Mallory, Catholic chaplaincy

19)   Maine

20)   Maryland – Natalie, Connecticut retreat (from Baltimore!)

21)   Massachusetts – Ben, guitar player & singer

22)   Michigan

23)   Minnesota – Dr. Mark Hulsether, Contemporary Political Theologies lecturer

24)   Mississippi

25)   Missouri

26)   Montana – Cody, Philosophy class

27)   Nebraska – Anne, Dan & Elizabeth; my American family!

28)   Nevada

29)   New Hampshire

30)   New Jersey – Tyrin, RE class

31)   New Mexico

32)   New York – Yris, Connecticut retreat

33)   North Carolina

34)   North Dakota

35)   Ohio – Sierra, flatmate

36)   Oklahoma

37)   Oregon

38)   Pennsylvania

39)   Rhode Island

40)   South Carolina – Virginia, Connecticut retreat

41)   South Dakota – Leah, Connecticut retreat

42)   Tennessee – everyone else I’ve met!

43)   Texas – Nate, David’s birthday party

44)   Utah

45)   Vermont

46)   Virginia

47)   Washington – Sophie, lives on same floor

48)   West Virginia

49)   Wisconsin

50)   Wyoming

As well as this, I've now travelled to/through 9 different states: New York, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut.

I've also been keeping a track of new foods that I've eaten here..
My all time favourite is hashbrown casserole (in the process of learning how to make it so I can have it at home!) Other contenders are Corndogs, hush puppies, jalapeno poppers, grits, ranch, smores and candy corn.

There's so many sayings and different words they use for everyday things.
One that tickles me every time is when you ask someone the time, they don't say 'one o'clock' or 'half one' they say the top or bottom of the hour.. also, they like to be very specific and don't round up or down, so you get a precise 7.14 or 8.22 which sounds funny to me.