From 901 To 423

    The adjustment from home to here has not been easy and there is a long list of things that I miss terribly. Here's a few:

1. The water sucks.
    When you refuse to drink out of the tap and people wonder why, they don't understand that Memphis water is truly the best water ever. If you're ever moving away from Memphis be prepared to purchase many water bottles or invest in a Brita. Your roommates won't understand until you bring them back a bottle of water straight from the tap.

2. Watch for One-Way streets.
    There has been more times than I'm willing to admit that I've gone down a street that I shouldn't have entered. Not only that, but those stop signs will sneak up on you if you're not careful. This could just be the result of being from the suburbs.

3. You still can't let your walls down.
    You think that since you're out of Memphis, that you're safe to walk around at any time of day. That's wrong. Story time: One day we decided to take a roommate trip to get ice-cream downtown and it was during broad daylight. While we were sitting in the ice-cream place, we were interrupted by a very strange man that decided to lean his whole body on me and he proceeded to ramble on about how great Santa Claus was. I'd like to point out that this strange man didn't have a pleasant smell to his body or breath. The manager of the store asked if we knew this man; obviously not. If he could tell anything about the situation it would be that the look on all of our faces was pure terror. Anyway, the manager proceeded to call the police and wouldn't let us leave the place until he felt it was safe. Honestly, we wouldn't have left anyway. An hour went by and we finally decided to head back to campus. We ran through the streets of downtown with our pepper spray ready to go. And we were relieved to find that this strange man was getting arrested with possession of drugs and public intoxication and freaking out college girls. Moral of the story: carry pepper spray everywhere. That is all.

4. Some people don't know who the Grizzlies are. 
    The other day I was checking the Grizzlies score while my roommate was in my room. She was surprised to hear that the scores were in the 100s because that doesn't usually happen in hockey. Yes, I typed that correctly, HOCKEY. She thought the Grizzlies were a hockey team. We are working on her knowledge about sports and such. People also don't understand the phrases, "Grit & Grind" or "We Don't Bluff." However, it does make for a great conversation starter.

5. The Sno Cones at Coolidge Park will never compare to Jerry's. 
    Quite honestly, no sno cone will ever compare to Jerry's. If you're ever craving a sno cone, that sucks, you're satisfaction will not be fulfilled because nothing is Jerry's. Not only the sno cones at Jerry's but also the cheese fries. That being said, a trip to Jerry's is necessary every time you visit home.

6. Getting something at a restaurant with "Memphis" in the title will never taste like Memphis. 
    Whether it's BBQ Nachos, a BBQ Sandwich, or a BBQ Taco...it won't taste like Top's, Central, or the basic, Rendezvous. You should also steer clear of anything with Elvis in the name because it will probably let you down.


7. All hopes of seeing Justin Timberlake out and about are demolished. 
   While JT doesn't visit often, he visits. And if you didn't know that JT was from Memphis, you're probably not from Memphis. And if you are from Memphis and you didn't know that, you should be ashamed of yourself. No matter where I go when he's in town, I'm always hoping that he'll be there. What famous people came from Chattanooga?


8. There's not a street like Beale Street. 
    There isn't a street in the 423 area that has people flipping in the middle of it or a street that you can casually walk in the middle of without getting run over.


9. My camera roll is no longer filled with pictures of sunsets. 
   I'm sorry, Chattanooga.You're gorgeous. However, your sunsets and sunrises do not compare to those in Memphis. I have to Google pictures of Memphis in order to get my daily fix. Thanks to the people I follow on Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram that post pictures of sunsets regularly.


10. No one will take the place of the people near and dear to your heart. 
     One that thing really sucks is that I don't have my family down the hall and I don't get to see my siblings every weekend. Not only my family, but also my friends. While I continue to make new friends at school, no one can replace the spot they have in my life and my heart.

One thing is clear: I love Memphis and all of the weird things that come along with it, however, I love Chattanooga as well.