Fried Egg

Aside from grits, southerners  also have another food craze that I am not all that familiar with. They get friend egg on their burgers. No matter what burger place you are at it is offered. I have never ordered it on my own burger but I've had a bite of a friend's and I didn't hate it. Who knows I might make it my new guilty food pleasure.

Trees!

A dead giveaway that you are no longer in the north is the emergence of palm trees! I look forward to mini palm trees in South Carolina that turn into beautiful tall ones once I'm in Florida. While driving down here it lets me know I am close to my destination. Palm trees are a staple of warm/ tropical climate, and as I've said before I thrive in warmer climate. They are just so different from the boring old trees back home in Maryland and I find them very beautiful and relaxing. Another tree that I have only really seen down here is spanish moss trees. They are eerie but in a beautiful that I can't quite explain.

Palm trees at Panama City Beach

Spanish Moss

I would like to discover more trees and plants that Florida has to offer. I would love to take a trip very soon to the Botanical Gardens. It would be amazing for a future blog story!

Brunch

Brunch is the mixture of the words breakfast and lunch and is usually eaten during the late morning. I personally don't often eat breakfast so this trend was foreign to me until I came to Florida. My southern friends love to grab brunch on the weekends after a night of going out or just to catch up. It has actually became a thing for us and many avid brunchers to hit the best brunch places in Gainesville. This weekend my girlfriend and I went to Flying Biscuit. I had never been and I thought the concept was cool. This place is basically built for brunch. They open early in the morning and close at 4. Perfect for serving their brunch lovers. Anyway, I enjoyed one of their classics, "the flying biscuit breakfast" and my girlfriend got the same with a side of grits. Grits are another thing I feel like are very southern. I've heard of them but have never really wanted to try. It seems like every breakfast menu in Gainesville though has cheesy grits as a side. Who knows maybe one day I'll give them a try. Until then I will brunch on.

(Scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, seasoned potatoes and a biscuit on top)

(Delicious mocha coffee)

Snow!

The worst thing about living up North was by far the snow! I like warm weather and cannot stand the freezing cold, but nothing makes it worse than snow. Sure it's pretty to look at and Southerners are always in awe when they get to see it but for people who have actually lived in states where it snows there is nothing fun about being trapped in your house, having to shovel inches of snow and hoping that the roads have been plowed so you can make it to work or school. Driving in snow is one of the scariest things you can do. This week the North is expecting a snow storm that could bring two feet of snow. People are going to be up to their knees in snow. This brings me back to my decision to attend college in Florida. Friends always ask me why I chose the University of Florida and I tell them plain and simple, "I hate the snow." Okay, maybe other factors contributed to the decision but the weather definitely played a part. I asked my family to send me a picture of the snow so far and they sent me these photos:

The cars are literally buried in snow. They would not even step outside to take the picture because they would just sink in the snow. I am grateful for the lack of snow in Florida, although it's still cold it's nice to know I don't have to shovel 2 feet of snow.

From Maryland to Florida

Greetings!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Ariane. I am a 20-year-old telecommunications broadcast student at the University of Florida. I was born in Togo, (west) Africa and immigrated to Maryland when I was 8 years old and that is where I have lived the majority of my life. I temporarily moved to Gainesville, Florida to attend college. Attending an out-of-state university and one that is 12 hours away from my hometown that is, has been an experience. Some may not consider Maryland to necessarily be a northern state but given that I've been told I speak like a "yankee" I think I can consider myself a Northerner. For the two years (going on to three) that I've been in Gainesville I have noticed some subtle and not so subtle signs that I am no longer up north.

The first things I noticed obviously was the changes in physical environment. We don't have palm trees in Maryland with the exception off the fake ones that can be found in Ocean City. We also don't have rain showers at the same time everyday unlike in Rainesville. Don't even get me started on the humidity. When it's hot in Maryland it's often hot and dry. This is not so in the Swamp. Not everything in Gainesville/ the south is negative from what I've experienced up north. In fact, I can't really say that I have any complaints about the differences. People down south are a lot nicer and more polite. It must be the southern hospitality. Boys hold open the door for ladies, the youth give up their seat for the elderly and young children and people say things like "bless your heart". I can tell that I am going to have a lot of fun with my new blog. Stay tuned as I continue to tell you about my southern experiences.

-Go Gators!