I’ve had a great time here in North Carolina (NC) and done/seen such amazing things...
I have met incredible people that showed me the American way of life.
On my first week there, I have travelled to Biltmore Estate through the Blue Ridge Parkway (I have been on Mt Mitchell, the highest summit east of Mississippi, almost 7000 feet high). I have driven to Asheville, a city west of NC, which made me think of San Francisco. I have been to Charlotte too, it was such a beautiful city. So much stuff about the African Amercan heritage... I have visited the African American Center, which was just awesome !! Guess what I have seen there ? A real KKK robe and hood (I freaked out when seeing it by the way), Jesse Owens’ 1936 olympic medal, Malcolm X’s 1964 diary (the one he wrote in 1964 on his pilgrimage to Mecca), the original 22-page draft of Martin Luther King’s Riverside Church Speech in 1967, a SNCC pin, Rosa Parks’ arrest card, the autographed first edition of Stride Towards Freedom (1958) or even Muhammad Ali’s robe (the one he had during his fight against Foreman in 1964) and so many other things... That museum was amazing but the best museum ever was undoubtedly the Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, NC... So moving to be somewhat part of history and see where the Greensboro Four launched the sit-in movement after ordering at the Woolworths lunch counter... I learnt so many things I did not know... Some decades ago, black people did not have the right to vote (because you only had that right if your family had, which was but impossible for slaves). Yet the fifteen amendment prohibited any US state from denying the right to vote (this amendment was ratified in 1870). Some states yet tried to get around that amendment and black people had to answer questions such as : if the US president or his vice-president come to die, who’s then in charge of the country ? What week day was Lincoln born ? Or how many bubbles are there in a bar of soap ? Such questions clearly aimed at preventing black people from voting... I have done/seen all these things on my first week here ! And not to speak of other amazing stuff, I have gone to a Knights game or have swum in Lake Norman...
On my second week, I have done so many other things. I have travelled to the Pacific Ocean : I have indeed been to Myrtle Beach (South Carolina). I have eaten Calabash and hush puppies, yummy... Besides, I have driven to Wilmington (North Carolina) and made a One Tree Hill tour through the city to see the spots where this famous US series used to shoot. So great !!
On my third week there, I went back to Charlotte and took so many pictures. Skyscrapers are particularly beautiful. The city is not so big so that you can easily walk from one part to the other. I have visited the museum of the New South which was definitely worth visiting. I have learnt so many things about Charlotte... Besides, I have been to Mooresville High School and met teachers who had met to talk about digital learning. So interesting... I have also driven to Atlanta and visited the CNN headquarters, the Coke World, the Aquarium... What moved me so much was to go to the Martin Luther King Center and to see the place where is he is buried. So moving...
To conclude, I have seen so many things... I have just had a terrific time !!!
