As of Wednesday I'd officially completed my year as a USM student. Since then has been the mixture of
-relief that work is done
-frustration of packing, sorting things for third year abroad, making sure I'm organised etc
-stress of everything that comes with a year ending, let alone one abroad.

A friend took Anna and I shooting in the woods on Thursday, which was loud and not easy. I tried one shot and it blasted me backwards haha!

A lot of people have left or are leaving tomorrow, I've said many goodbyes in the past few years and I've fallen into the routine of sucking in all the emotion and just hugging someone as if I'll see them in a couple of months. Maybe it's the British in me not wishing to express any sort of feeling. It'll probably hit me at some point and I'll be a watery mess. But I am excited about my last year at Keele! But I have also started having nightmares about waitressing.

Looking forward: I don't return to England for a month and between then and now I am camping in Florida, going to Vegas, Los Angeles then finishing in New York... so a road of adventure.

Looking back: my year spent at Southern Miss has been beyond all my expectations. I've gained so much and changed in so many ways, I can't even begin to explain. In addition to learning a lot about myself and what I've been taught in classes, I've learnt a enormous amount about British culture and what it means to be Southern. Life in Mississippi has been great, interesting, weird... and I've gotten two different perspectives of college living on and off campus. I would strongly recommend studying abroad to anyone, it's the best opportunity I've ever had and something I will remember and talk about forever...

Some pictures of my favourite memories

New Orleans

For the second time in a fortnight we went to New Orleans. On this occasion, it wasn't for Halloween (though we still saw a couple of people in fancy dress) and we didn't go out for the party (though we still saw many drunk people. At noon.).

When we arrived we got the most amazing Po Boys from this small little place at the outskirts of anywhere. I can't remember what the place was called but it was the best sandwich I've eaten since arriving here- bread actually tasted like bread, rather than some odd dry American brioche! I had beef, it was a dream.

We then looked around a cemetery. An interesting experience and more of the Southern Gothic. However creepy it sounds, it's an interesting cultural experience, seeing graveyards in other countries, places and religions.

We had a nosy around the Garden District; lovely posh houses, including the home of Anne Rice! I would like to live in one of these homes if anyone fancies buying me one?

 

A nice, free thing to do is the free ferry ride, it was quick but the views are just as great as from the steamboat.

The French Quarter is the part of New Orleans I'm most familiar with as I stayed there when I went on holiday (the Hotel Monteleone, where Truman Capote and Harper Lee use to drink in its carousel bar) it was particularly vibrant this Saturday with people getting their fortunes read and selling art in Jackson Square. 

 We ate Beignets at Cafe du Monde, so tasty. 

From the French Quarter we wandered into Bourbon Street, which is a difficult place to describe; A strip that is an odd hybrid of Vegas, the red light district of Paris and a British student village with amazing live music coming out of every venue, a lot of people wearing little clothing and a craving for hand sanitizer after you leave it.

 There were a couple of topless painted ladies holding signs saying 'Tits for Tips', which when I looked away I was facing the Cathedral. This was all at 4 in the afternoon, with our tutor. Surreal. 

  Anyway, I think I maybe content with never visiting Bourbon St. again as I've been a few times and it is a bit of a smelly, disordered tourist trap... I sense that New Orleans is probably full of amazing bars and venues outside the street and it would be interesting to explore these places.

We stayed in the Holiday Inn which had a pretty amazing view

The next day we went to a plantation house but it was $20 to look around so we just took sneaky pictures outside it, hohoho. These photos AND MORE are available on my flickr page!

So there's New Orleans, in all it's sober glory. It is a beautiful city and very different to a lot of other places in the South and in America. It has a really interesting history which really visible.

It kinda sucks that we missed the last Football game this weekend (there's one at Thanksgiving but I'm away and I don't think anyone is tailgating) Golden Eagles are now ranked 20th!