Walking in Memphis- Day 3

I am apparently the only person who was out the previous night who comes to an early session... but I am excited, in true geek fashion, about a symposium on magical thinking. I spend a bulk of the day, like the good graduate student that I am, learning a whole lot about diversity, narrative, homophobia, and the like. Self-Disclosure, L. and I take off for an hour or so to examine the Memphis waterfront. Though it is hardly epic in its beauty or anything, it is still a little symbolic to know that you are standing on the banks of the Mississippi, with all its history.

Apparently this hulking pyramid is a big attraction, for some reason or another.


The Mississippi


Riverboat! *Princess busts out her musical dance number*


The King


Memphis is a funny city. It has this amazing musical history and all these incredible old buildings, yet it is clearly a town that is falling apart at the seams. I've never seen such a desolate downtown. Really the only people walking the streets are homeless. There is no evidence at all of day-to-day life... no groceries stories or families or apparent residences. I assume they are all hiding in the suburbs, away from the poverty of downtown. It seemed tragic to see these beautiful buildings that should be libraries or post offices gutted. There were condominiums selling downtown for $60,000- you can't even get a wood shed in the shittiest area of town for that here! It's just a really sad city, overall. Maybe that's why it inspired such creativity.




We head back to the conference for yet more learning. Later, we meet with my supervisor and some other profs and grad students. We can't get into the restaurant we planned, so we go back to the Mexican restaurant, partially because of my raves about the amazing server. Unfortunately, his evil twin decided to work for him that night. My lovely smiley server had turned into a growly rude man! And he actually yells "Don't forget your change!' at me when I left him a deservedly not so great tip. On the bright side, I do now have in my possession a picture of one of the top researchers in my field with a sombrero on!