So, after a pretty intense 3 months of studying, exploring and living as an American, it was
time for thanksgiving break - a week spent with family, christmas movies, football
and copious amounts of food. Since I don't have a family here, my friend and roommate,
Cami, was very generous and let me borrow her family for break and took me home to
Pleasantville, where home cooked food and Christmas movies were in abundance -
couldn't get much pleasant than that eh?! (Sorry, I have to make the most of the awful
Pleasant puns).
Leaving on Friday afternoon we started our trip equipped with laundry (yes, student needs
translate across the pond) and drove through the cornfields accompanied by oh-so fitting
country tunes for about 2 hours, until we reached Pleasantville, Iowa.
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| On the road |
On getting to pleasantville (blink and you've missed it) we made a quick stop at grandma's
to say hi and avoid the school rush (which doesn't last too long - in Cami's whole year
throughout school there was around 70 of them). Grandma Darlene offered us a hug, pop
and freshly baked cookies as soon as we arrived, which were all warmly welcomed - I'd
been craving a little bit of homeliness! Darlene is just brilliant - she uses words such as
'dog-gonned' and 'holy smokes' (two of many fabulously country words). I wanted to make
a list so that I wouldn't forget them all, but it wasn't too practical.
After a snappy journey through the rest of Pleasantville (very swift journey - Cami wasn't
joking when she warned that the town doesn't even have a stop light) we drove up a dirt
road to Cami's house. The house was built just for the Deforests (like a lot of families do
around here) 12 years ago and is on a big plot of land. Their house is so welcoming and
immaculate - a real homely place. That night we sat down to their big wooden table with
Shelly and Dave (Cami's parents) and Cami's young niece and nephew with a good ol'
plate of chicken, mash potatoes and gravy.
Most of my week was spent doing family/girly things, which was quite perfect. One night
we went to Cami's old high school for 'Lock in', which is a night when the dance team
stay ALL NIGHT perfecting their routines for the regional competition. Unlike some
dance teachers I've had, who are characters that are on the brink of being made into the
stepmother in a Grimms' Fairy Tale, Miss T was very welcoming to me, the outta towner.
I got to take in the American high school, and got embarrassingly excited when I saw the
hallways looked like the set of 'Saved by the Bell'.
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| I got to see the last bit of a basketball game too! |
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| The dance team |
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| Cafeteria (not canteen) |
home for break. It really showed me how much of a small town it was and how everyone
knows everyone - every time a car/truck/tractor drove past, Cami and her friend
gave a friendly wave. It felt like a movie!
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| The town's church |
potatoes, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie), Cami and I drove back to Iowa city for
the football game on Friday morning!
The Iowa Hawkeyes game was bloomin' freezing - no, seriously, it was -10c and if it was
socially and legally accepted I would have had a hip flask of something stronger than hot
chocolate (like the kind man at the Warrington Wolves match who passes his hip flask
around - unfortunately he didn't make an appearance). I only lasted the 1st quarter - yes,
you can think I'm a wimp all you like, but I couldn't feel my feet and apparently I'll always
be a Hawkeye, so I was there in spirit.
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| Hot chocolate and wooly hats were essential! |
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| Yep, I even have black and gold sneakers now. |
Thank you to the DeForests for a great Thanksgiving break - when (not if) I go on a Jack
Kerouac kind of road trip, it's safe to say I'll be making a stop in Pleasantville!
Hannah x
