Wednesday, July 25, 2012

I'm on a Boat (made of cardboard)!


July 24, 2012
Little Rock, Arkansas

I feel like I can now honestly say I have had the real couch surfing experience and now I know exactly why so many people rave it about so much. I arrived in Little Rock at 7pm to meet my French host Adolphe and the entire night was a blast just as fun as any hostel experience.

With his merry bunch of friends, Adolphe and four or five others have signed up for a local boat making and racing competition unlike anything I've ever heard. I entered his apartment yesterday to see an almost 10 foot boat taking up most of the living room made entirely of Gorilla tape and cardboard. For the rest of the night I hung out with Adolphe and his friends (including one interesting Canadian Asian who claimed to have an accent in all languages) taping holes and finally painting the boat as best we could with clear hopes of winning the annual competition (or at least loosing with style) apparent on each of their faces.

To say the least it was a great chill night and after my 8 hours on the road I couldn't have asked for anything more. At Adolphe's apartment complex he had both a pool and a hot tub so before the night was through we made use of both. At no point did the night feel forced or awkward, instead it was more like new friends meeting back up to hang out. And this morning I was happy to see that I've had two other invitations excepted, so if they're even half as fun as last night, my trip home should be great.

Although I've heard only very little about it, Little Rock Arkansas seems like an incredible little city. Its clean, quiet, and quaint and I can only imagine how fun it is on the weekend or even Tuesday Adolphe says. Its definitely a great little place and if I wasn't so excited to head out for Memphis I could easily stay awhile, but “Walking in Memphis” it is. I've always wanted to visit the city and being only 115 miles away the excitement is building. I love music and food, so my love of BBQ naturally fits right in and I cannot wait to see what Memphis has to offer even if only for the night.

Without a doubt I pride myself on my open mindedness and I always tell people I'll eat anything and almost always try anything at least once (speaking of food I'm eating one of the most amazing versions of Eggs Benedict I've ever had from a great little trendy cafe in Little Rock called The Root). I love learning about different cultures and trying to understand peoples different beliefs and I'm pretty sure my next is going to test just how accepting I am of other beliefs.

Without giving too much away, the host contacted me on CouchSurfing after seeing my last minute advertisement for a couch in Memphis. He has over 30 references making him one of the most talked about and highly recommended hosts I've ever seen much less stayed with. Now for my interviews of which I've done 2 so far (have yet to edit and post them!) I normally try and look as best I can using only what I can find in my small back pack. The question on my mind though is will I attempt to dress up and look as nice as possible, or will I embrace his style of living and philosophy and be nude. I guess we'll just have to wait and see from the pictures.

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