The Accidental Tourist

I’m done. Exhausted, tired and spent. Story was changed again and again. Am I happy with result? Yes and no. I’m talk more about about it when i collect my thoughts. Just dropping a note to tell everyone that I’m still kicking it. Here’s my story. Check out the rest of the photographers too. Beautiful stuff. I was in awe of them.

http://www.mophotoworkshop.org/feb_mpw58_teamc/HTML/deanna_ng/index.html

Driving down Rollins St, (yes, I got lost AGAIN), a woman swinging a cat tickler caught my eye. Cat ticklers and that means there’s a cat around. Sure enough. I parked the car and walked back to the house. I met Marcia (the human), Angel and Luther  (the cats.)

It’s ridiculous but i spent 1 hour sitting on the porch on the 4th street just playing with a neighbourhood tabby when i should be out looking for stories. Bleah. It’s funny how you can be doing the same thing anywhere in the world. Yesterday, I was sitting in an all American neighbourhood. Kids on the sidewalk with their bicycles , 2 guys trying to fix their car and here I was sitting on the porch playing with a cat. Exactly what i would do back in Singapore, only  it would happen at a kopitiam (coffeeshop) or in the void decks of HDB flats and the weather would be much warmer. It felt like a parallel universe.

Back to Marcia, she’s a nurse who’s here in Moberly with her husband. What i do love about the Americans is they are so open with their life story. Marcia was originally from Boston and she trained to become a nurse when she was 50 years old. 50 years old! Can you imagine that? She always had a calling to be a nurse and finally realised her  dream at 50 by taking up a course in University of Missouri. She’s 70 now. When I’m 50, I want to be running a cafe or an inn by the sea. Ok, it’s just an excuse for me to move to the beach area.  An animal lover, Marcia took in Angel who is abt 6 mths old but this weekend, she’s bringing Angel to an animal shelter ’coz she can’t keep another cat. “Animal Shelter, did you say??”. ” Yeah, that’s in Columbia.” oh bugger, there goes my story. 

Luther, her regular cat, is the version of Telly in this pararrel world. He sits exactly like her and watches TV too. Marcia offered me a cup of coffee and educated me about nutrition and the American diet. I’ve never sat on someone’s porch and just have a conversation. Wait a minute. Oh yeah, we don’t have porches in Singapore.  Then again, this pararrel universe just feels unreal to me sometimes.  

Those of you who know me, know that i LOVE Greece. I spent a month just bumming around the islands. White washed houses, great seafood, cute guys and turquoise seas. Life can’t get better than that.

Sick of the cheeseburgers and fries, I was looking forward to some soulavaki and mousakka. Off to the Greektown in Chicago, I went. Boy, was i disappointed. 

Greektown was in the Westside of Chicago. Took the train to Halstead and all I found were restaurants and greek diners. How American! What happened to old greek ladies sitting infront of their houses??? What happened to hostile-looking but good hearted greek old gentlemen? I had a lousy greek salad and a HORRIBLE cup of tea in a Greek “Diner”. I din realised it until much later that I was the only girl in the Diner and surrounded by men who worked in construction.At that moment, I also remembered that Rough Guide Chicago mentioned that the West Side is not exactly a safe neighbourhood.  I wolfed down my salad and made a move to the subway.

Then i found it. My greek fantasy. A cute greek pastry shop with a cute greek guy to boot. Cherry on top of the ice cream. The shop is called Pallenia. I had a great almond cookie and a good cup of  coffee. My day was finally going the right way.

It is a pretty surreal experience to be sitting in the Democrat HQ in Moberly and helping them fit the lawn banners. Ladies who are retired were helping out in the HQ. I was told that Moberly used to be a Democrat State and have become a Repulican State in the last elections. Well, the locals do seem sore about it and are on their way to change things around here.

The one thing I’ve come to realise about the Americans. They love their sports and politics.

I’m a right hand driver in a left hand drive country. The firemen at the morley and rollings st junction this morning probably had their fill of laughter this morning when they saw me turn into the wrong lane. Thank goodness the traffic was light.

Driving was NOT been a breeze, contrary to what everyone told me. I kept looking out of the window. Acres of abandoned corn fields and blue skies with white fluffy clouds. Signboards that scream Girls’ Town Missouri , Bachelorcal Ville and Hooker’s Bar and Grill are distracting me constantly!  

There was a field of what I thought was Pine Trees. We were coming down a hill and suddenly the air in the car was suddenly fresher. It’s either pine or the colonge of my carpool buddy, Matt. The point is, the view was amazing. All that was in front of eyes were trees and I was having a “Sound of Music” moment. The hills were alive. Then it happened. There was a Macdonald’s signboard just sticking out of it.