ROAD TRIP// Oak Alley Plantation

I think we all know at least one movie about slavery, either a very fictional one like Django Unchained or the more close to reality one such as 12 Years a Slave. Since these stories are all set in the South of the US, I immediately put them on our must-see list. As the Missisipi river makes its way down to the Gulf of Mexico, there are loads of plantations on each side of it. Some of the buildings are not there anymore, some are private property and some have been open to the public. Like this one: Oak Alley Plantation.

Like the name says, the main house is surrounded by amazing oak trees and the front of it has a whole alley of them . It is just as beautiful as in the pictures and even more sun when the sun comes through the branches. Magical, let me tell ya.

Most of the plantations offer self guided tours for a lot cheaper than the guided ones, but for this one we thought we definitely needed the guide to tell us about the plantation. We paid around 20$ each I think and included was the self guided tour across the property and the guided tour of the house. The tour was led by a woman in a sort of time appropriate dress, waving her hands around when she speaks about the former owners of the house. To be honest, it was not what we expected. We thought that the tour would fill us in about daily life at the plantation, all sorts of details about the people who lived and worked there, the whole slavery issue and so on. Instead, we now know all sorts of boring facts about the two families that lived on the plantation in the past. What we really wanted to know was not at all talked about except one or two lame sentences: "So all of this was made possible by the slaves that worked so hard..." or "and the 150 slaves that lived in the huts over there..."- it was ridiculous. They made it sound like the slaves were super excited to be working until they drop dead. So that tour was really not what we expected, sadly- the former slave huts were not either. They were almost brand new and only filled with a little of information and one brochure. Disappointing for sure. 

Before coming here I did read some review saying that all the plantations do is make money off a horrible past. And even though I thought it was going to be different and educating, it wasn't really. It was beautiful and fascinating and an experience, but you feel a bit ripped of in my opinion. 

Anyway, as much as we felt a bit torn during our visit, I also thought it was super exciting just to the see this super old beautiful oak alley and the view from the house.

Denise chasing a squirrel

Couldn't resist

ROAD TRIP// Houmas House

I really wanted to see more than one plantation (to be honest, all of them- but that wasn't possible), so we chose Houmas House to start with. We went for the self guided tour and just wandered on the grounds. It started to rain (or pour down) so we just hang out at the beautiful porch for a bit...

the beautiful main house

waiting for the rain to end

see the tiny red bird? they were everywhere!

everything was so lush

ROAD TRIP// Louisiana Swamp Tour

I guess I waited long enough, I need to share these pictures with you. After classes ended, Denise and I rented a car in Houston and went East. We stayed in Baton Rouge, and during the day we drove to Slidell to go on a swamp tour. Alligators, turtles and snakes were waiting for us!

I read some good reviews about their swamp tours, so we just went ahead and booked with them. They are still really old school with no internet booking and stuff

They can also pick you up from your hotel, but we drove to the landing where the boats leave from.

I just love all the trees with the Spanish Moss!

Our tour guide showing us a trap with crawfish (it was crawfish season)

Denise and me

their cute little office/gift store

turtlezzz hanging out

alligatorzz tanning

momma alligator hiding in the grass

We were really lucky to see a couple of alligators, as there obviously is no guarantee that you actually see them on every tour. The swamp is so beautiful and such a unique place,  I loved the boat tour. This should definitely be on your to do list when you are in Louisiana.

About: Having a roommate.

Me and my roommate

If you have read my blog before going to Texas, you will remember me having this crisis about having to accept a roommate. That's just how weird American college life is- they force Freshman to share a room with someone they don't know. They all have to fill out this questionnaire about themselves, saying when you go to bed, how tidy you are etc etc. I had to do that too and hoped for the best.

So Denise was the girl they matched me up with. Given that she is German, like me, and from the same University in Scotland as me, we were a bit disappointed as we actually wanted proper American roommates to have the full experience and meet as many different people as possible.

However, because we were a bit lazy and it was just too much of a hassle, we left it as it was.

And what can I say, this has been the BEST decision we ever made (or let it happen to us).

Because ever since she stumbled in to our room at 5.30 in the morning, we were best friends. Not just that though- we survived these 5 months, side by side, only being separated for 6 hours at most. Having the messiest and dirtiest room that even boys complained about, staying up until 4am talking and talking and talking, running to the vending machine in our pyjamas, but overall just making each other better people. It was an incredible experience that I am so glad I had and not just having a roommate in general, but being her roommate.

The thing is that you are never alone. Never by yourself. Privacy is something that's not really existent when you share a room. I was seriously afraid of that, as I am someone who likes being alone, just spending a day in bed doing nothing and not talking to anyone. I thought that it would be the most horrible thing, not being able to pick your nose (haha) or just run around naked in the room whenever you wanted. Turns out I was wrong.

Obviously there are roommates that can make your life a living hell and I saw that (unfortunately) happening to some of my friends, but if you have a roommate that is your (best) friend, your life changes in a weird way. All of the sudden I had this person that I shared everything with, that overheard my Skype conversations, heard me sleep, was there 24/7. And I sort of had to embrace it, I had to accept that watching movies by myself was not really happening anymore because there are always people in my room, wanting to socialize. I had to look more or less presentable all the time because if someone really wants to come in to your room, you can't just not open your door. If you wanted food, you HAD to go outside and on the tiny campus you would always meet someone you knew. So hiding from people because you are embarrassed about what you did last night was hard. Like really hard.

But you know what, I feel that all of this (mostly) changed me for the better. My roommate changed me for the better and (I think) I changed her too. Even though I think it's weird for people to share a room, it is an experience worth having. I realized that I don't really need to be by myself as much as I thought, I was much more spontaneous, socializing way more than I would have if I lived by myself, I was more open and friendly and chatty. I think I never talked as much as I did in these months.

So it all turned out pretttyyyyy good for me.

And now I am all by myself again. In a flat where I have my own kitchen, where I don't need to go out for days if I wanted to. And to be honest, it is weird.

It's also because it's summer and not a lot of people/friends are here in Edinburgh right now and I don't have a job. So being all alone is so strange and different after these past months- and I miss having her around.