Written August 9 – 15, 2015
There is a banana spider (Nephila clavipes) who’s
built her golden web between a tree and a bush outside my bedroom window. I see
her every morning when I open the curtains and I’ve caught the cats observing
her as well. I learned today that they are “the only species of the genus
Nephila to be found in the Western Hemisphere”(1). I’m not disturbing her web
because she’s harmless and actually quite beneficial, eating mosquitoes and
flies and other pests. Sometimes they are called Golden Orb spiders and as you
can sort of see from the photo, they truly do weave golden thread! And according to the
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology their silk “surpasses the strength of Kevlar”, so
I’m duly impressed.
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| Unpacking Namiri |
Like my arachnid pal, I’ve been busy these first two weeks in Columbia building my web: unpacking, decorating, cleaning, exploring my
neighborhood, visiting campus, socializing with my graduate student colleagues,
etc. It was no easy task getting my two cats (Bageera and Namiri) here, but my mom helped tremendously
by flying them out with me and my Aunt Carol also helped by setting us up with
their necessities (and treats!) upon arrival in Charlotte, NC. They are adjusting, though they do not get along great with our temporary cat housemate, Mia. I wish that my mom could have stayed longer, though we got a lot accomplished in just 2 days, from getting my bed and immediate house needs, to doing some thrift store shopping and of course, checking out the local eats. These are just some of our delicious meals!
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| Me & my Seafood Mac N Cheese |
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| Mom & Scallop Salad |
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| Cherry strudel from Cafe Strudel |
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| Mezze plate from Arabesque Lebanese Restaurant |
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| Might be the best calamari I've ever had! |
My roommate (who I’ll call Steve because I don’t know if he wants me
sharing about his life on the interwebs) and I share a quaint and quirky,
historic, two-bed room house in the Shandon-Rosewood district. It’s pretty
quiet although just 2 miles from campus and very central to grocery stores,
restaurants & bars, a Rite Aid, a karate center, and oddly, three cigar
shops within 2 blocks of each other. A historic cigar neighborhood? Probably
not, but you never know. It is the South after all…
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| Front of the house |
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| Back yard, looking toward back of the house |
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| Living room, looking into the dining room |
Steve and I get along great. He also participated in WWOOF
abroad (in Italy) like I did in Turkey. He’s very passionate about sustainable
food and farm-to-table lifestyle and is excellent cook. Mostly I have just had
his pizza but honestly, pizza is all I need! I’ve also cooked some meals for
him and so it’s a nice balance. He and his best friend share a garden that they tend together at his friend’s home which
has been a huge success and delivered them quite a bounty this summer! We have
been enjoying fresh herbs and some eggplants from it and have plans to start
growing some more food in our own back yard soon. We have even fantasized
together about getting some chickens! One exciting event this week was finding
a handmade, three-bin composter on Craigslist which we set-up at the edge of the
backyard. Urban farm, commence! So if you know me, you can see why Steve is
such a perfect housemate match for me!
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| Herb garden and friend's doggie |
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| Homegrown 'maters |
I’ve been getting accustomed to my new bike and commuting in
a city where there a littler to no bike lanes, hills, and sometimes 90%
humidity. Getting my butt whopped into shape, which is of course not a bad
thing! I even took the bus yesterday despite other students telling me the
buses here are sketchy and not convenient. I found it quite the opposite. I was
the only on my bus as a matter of fact, and had a pleasant conversation with
the bus driver who warned me about the dangers of biking in Columbia, claiming
drivers would run me over. I did miss the last bus on my way back home and had
a very balmy 4 miles walk back home. Steve yelled at me for not calling him for
a ride, but I thought it was a good excuse to take in more of the town and get
some exercise. I crossed over a lovely little creek, Gill’s Creek, about 1.5
miles from our place. Perhaps I will explore it more when it’s not so humid and
buggy outside.
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| Gill's Creek |
Speaking of bugs, there have not been many roaches (Palmetto bugs as they are known down here) in our house so that’s a major plus! There are of course a million mosquitoes outside but I don’t spend much time in our yard as of yet for this reason. Other than the banana spiders, the only neighborhood wildlife I’ve observed besides the robins, sparrows, and wrens was a hawk (couldn’t tell what kind) and a family of three raccoons who crossed the road right in front of me on my walk home the other night. I was probably a little overly excited about the raccoons but it’s something I’ve never seen in Tucson before!
Another thing I’ve observed in my new habitat is that the
people here truly are very friendly and courteous. There is definitely truth to
the “Southern Hospitality” reputation. And it’s not just the “sir” and “ma’am”
everyone uses, but in general. People smiling on the street or lending a hand. I even had a man behind me in line at the gas
station offer to pay the extra 40-odd cents for my second Gatorade that was one
sale when he thought I didn’t have the money for it. (It was simply that I did
not want to carry a second bottle in my already overfull backpack.)
And yes, people talk funny down here. It’s fun to pick-up on
some of the slang and dialect that I’m not used to hearing. For example, here
are some “Southernisms” I’ve heard
spoken: sugar, sweet angel, right-quick, bless your heart, go on now n get, ya hear, and of course, y’all.
Next week is the start of classes and I’ll have another
posting up before that going over my field excursion over Aug. 16-17 with my
graduate cohort to the Congaree National Park, Huntington Beach and beyond!
Y’all be good now.
AMS
1. (1) http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-49_banana_spider.htm
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