Tiny big city : Little Rock, AR

Before I get to my Little Rock story, I'd like to say "hello" to my followers in Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Malaysia, Denmark, and Australia...if you get a chance, let me know how you heard of my blog!

The only other non-US viewers are Spaniards and I know they're probably just my crazy family and friends but hola a vosotros tambien!
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Little Rock, Arkansas.  Each place I go, I ask as many people as possible the same questions: "Do you like living here?", "What are you favorite and least favorite aspects of this city?", and, of course, "What should I eat?"  As opposed to most reactions in the other cities, Little Rock respondents all pretty much had the same opinions.

"It's alright.  It's fun for a short while but it is a really tiny, big city."

"Little Rock is a very green place and you can always go hiking, fishing, or swimming within a short distance from the city." / "It's really small and you tend to know everyone."

"Catfish."

Little Rock really is a small, big city.  It's a "big" city compared to most other places in Arkansas but it's "tiny" in that it can't really compare to other cities that we Californians think of.  Upon arriving in the city, I was greeted by my very relaxed, very madrileña host with a big glass of sangria and the smell of tortilla española without me even having to mention it.  I found her on couchsurfing.org and instantly chose her because of her semester abroad in Madrid and love of travel so it didn't seem so strange to pretend we were Spaniards in Arkansas.  Her friend came over and, in deciding what to do, going downtown was never an option.  They thought a local bar would show a more typical crowd and were also aware that they may run in to someone from work if they went downtown.

The two girls work for the AP and NPR and continuously told me about how they run in to state senators and representatives all the time.  At one point, the governor's assistant texted one of the girls to mention Beebe's specific interests in music because they were heading down to Riverfest (the city's "big" music festival full of b-list artists and "Arkansas' finest").  Once I finally made it downtown for a brief moment the next day, there really was not a lot to see and the city itself does not cover much ground.  The only thing I can think to compare it to is to take one part of downtown Sacramento and claim that it is its own city.  Little Rock is a quirky place and definitely has cute bars and eclectic restaurants but it doesn't take long to understand why people get bored with the city quickly.

After my first night of going to Midtown Billiards and having a long, very liberal discussion with the two girls about racism in Arkansas and attempting to have our idea of the greatest social experiment between races (which failed), I woke up late but was ready to see the most interesting and touristy places in the city.  Per my father's suggestion, I walked about 5 blocks to see the governor's mansion "and envision what it must have been like when Clinton was there."  It's located in the middle of a neighborhood and pops out of nowhere so I felt like I was snooping...then I was a little weirded out by the big bust of William Jefferson Clinton in the front yard but I still snapped a picture while they were setting up for an event.

Next stop: Little Rock Central High School.  I drove about a mile to the school and hit the visitor's center first.  Before starting the mini-tour of the mini-museum, I met up with a friend from SMC, Michael Cullen, and his friend, Molly, from the volunteer program that they both belong to (check out City Year).  We spent some time catching up on each other's lives and discussing the civil rights movement.  The center is jam-packed and you could easily spend 20 minutes inside or an hour.

We then walked across the street to the high school.

Unless you skipped every American history class and have been living under a rock, you have seen the iconic images of the Little Rock Nine trying to walk in and out of this school.  It was a Sunday when we visited but that allowed us to walk right up the stairs to the front doors where we shared an interesting discussion with a graduate from '06.  He described to us the enduring racism that is there but also his overflowing pride from having the opportunity to attend such a historically important school.

While walking back to the car, I snapped a photo of the gas station.

This gas station is across from the school and was the reporters' makeshift headquarters during the press frenzy of the Little Rock Nine and everything that involved them.  Thanks to Mike, I found out that it was the only place with a public telephone which obviously made it the perfect location for timely news reporting.

Mike also braved Riverfest crowds and accompanied me to the Clinton Presidential Library.

Yes, it really does live up to its reputation.  It's not a "library" but a museum of everything Clinton accomplished.  I received a discounted ticket (mistakenly, I think) and Mike got in free thanks to City Year and we wandered around for a short hour, watched the movie, and enjoyed everything from the Oval Office replica that is exact in every detail to how Clinton had it during his presidency, to the various gifts from foreign leaders.

We grabbed a beer at a pub downtown and I made my way back to my host's house.  That night I tried catfish for the first time.  Most people who aren't from the south have told me that it's "dirty" and not very tasty.  I actually enjoyed it and probably would not have even realized it was fish if I was 10 years younger.  It's served fried (it looks like chicken strips) and with french fries and hush puppies.  Plus, in a southern place like this, how can you go wrong?

They even had fake flying catfish - FTW.

Trudging back to the car through the throngs of people walking to Riverfest, we decided we all had catfish food comas and we were going straight to bed.  And that's what we did.

Because I didn't hear back from my host in Memphis, I changed my plans quickly to drive to New Orleans instead where I knew I'd be staying with my close friend, Christo, whom I've visited here a few times.  The drive down took me through Arkansas, a small part of Mississippi, and finally through part of Louisiana.  After getting lost multiple times, I finally was on my way, but still felt as if I were taking all the back roads.  My GPS reassured me that I was headed south and making good time so I figured I would just enjoy the view.  I'm not sure why any of you would ever make this trip but if you have to go from Little Rock to New Orleans then I definitely recommend the route I took.  I went through tiny towns, passed hundreds of churches, wove along the Mississippi for awhile, and even stopped for a sandwich, sat outside on their dock, and amused myself by watching the hilarious man sitting next to me toss chips to the turtles and birds below.

I would have taken the drive a bit slower but I have yet to break my promise to my mum about driving from one city to another at night...but I felt like I took enough time as I could.  How can you dislike the drive when you pass places like this?

I also have a video of what it looks like when I'm driving through the tiny towns here in the south but didn't put it up because I don't want to excessively bore you all.  If you'd like to see it then just let me know.  I'm pretty sure I was listening to Jason Mraz when I taped it so at least you can have a musically delicious soundtrack.

So...here I am in New Orleans for the third time.  Christo, as usual, made a lovely Christo concoction of crawfish, noodles, garlic, and butter for dinner and I assisted with the salad.  It's now almost 2pm and I've done exactly nothing.  I'm especially thankful to not have a whole lot of touristy things to do left in this city...it gives me a lot of time to relax, sleep, and just wander around.  Or, like tonight, cook!  When living in Sacramento I tried to avoid cooking since everything my mum makes is delicious but I've missed making some yummy food myself.  Tonight shall be a Spanish feast for me, Christo, and his roommate, Steve.

I'll be here for about a week but will update regularly still.  After that, I'm fairly certain my next stop will be Birmingham (then Memphis and finally Louisville where I pick Kyle up) but feel free to send suggestions of places my way!