A tourist existence

So Monday marked my first full week in Fargo. WOW! I feel like I haven't stopped since I got here and I haven't even begun to meet with students yet.

This weekend I had a chance to explore some of what Fargo has to offer. It is actually a really neat city. Fargo is big enough to provide its citizens with a pretty nice mall, a Target (always important), and tons of restaurants, but at the same time its small enough to have a cozy community feeling. I especially like the look of my neighborhood and the downtown areas. The landscape here is completely different from Georgia. Fargo is in the middle of prairie. By prairie I mean completely flat land with few trees. There are wheat, corn, and soy bean fields everywhere. It is really beautiful and as soon as I figure out how to attach pictures to blogs I'll share the pictures I've taken with you. Plus, I absolutely love how so many people bike in the area. I really wish that I could have my bike with me here so I could join them.

On Saturday morning, I met a new friend, Tracy, at a local coffee shop downtown. It had amazing character and great coffee. I wish all of my coffee drinking friends could have joined me. On Sunday, I attended a Moravian church service at Bonanzaville. Bonanzaville is a village created by the historical society of Fargo from historic homes from the area. It is really neat to see what village life might have been like so many years ago.

Sunday evening I had the chance to try several of the dishes native to the area. I had potato lefsa. It is a tortilla or crepe like bread made originally in Germany, I think. I also had my very first piece of "be-bop-a-rebarb rhubarb pie." Rhubarb is a fruit or vegetable that looks a lot like celery and that has a sour taste. It is usually paired with strawberries, but this particular pie was made with apples. It was really quite tasty. And speaking of food, for those of you who knew I was worried... Fargo does have a DQ.

More to come as I continue to explore the area and begin my job...