Mace, sex, bars and drifts...

One week down and so much to tell! I'll get better at this blogging thing, but for now I'll just spit everything out so everyone can see the hazards and absurdities of my new life.
To start, let me share with you a few unique things about Hastings...

1. Do not adjust your computer! All stoplights in Nebraska are on their sides. Why? Don't know.
2. Believe it or not, Duncan Field in Hastings hosted the American Baseball League National Championship in 1956. Only three people have hit a ball out of the park--one was Bo Benkowski.
3. Nebraska is now having it's coldest year since the 80's--and the wind chill makes everything even colder! Plus we get crazy piles of snow in the road called "snowdrifts." I didn't know what a snowdrift was before coming here. Wednesday night I ran into one in the dark and had to be pulled out by a big truck and a chain. Here are a few pics of the wind and the drifts they make.

And here's the drift I got caught in. Yes, it spans the entire road...4. You know a big storm is coming when the alert bar at the bottom of the screen not only lists the schools closing for the day, but also the bars that will be closed...
Here in Nebraska the best restaurants are in bars. But the girls from ward told me there are some more risky bars that I shouldn't go to: The Kennel, The Tank and The Hideaway--basically anything that sounds like prison.
Bullseye's is supposed to be really good. I'll try to go there this week.
5. I thought while heading to Nebraska that mace would be enough to halt any danger--apparently not. I met the three other singles in my ward and we had dinner together. They informed me that possums are one of Nebraska's dangers that I carelessly overlooked. So, what does one do when confronted by a possum? "Just scream and run away." I was told. "Will the possum attack me if I stay still?" I asked. "Probably, but just scream and run away." It's an age old technique here in the midwest. I wondered if mace would do the trick to a malice ridden rodent. "We should probably get you bear mace," was the reply. So much to learn...6. And learn I did. For instance, I learned what really determines the sex of a baby. During dinner someone brought up some parents who were discontent with the sex of their child and raised their son as if he were the daughter they dreamed of without telling him his true identity (yep, those are the midwest stories). "That's just awful!" I exclaimed like the justice seeking journalist I am. "Yea," said one of my new friends, "especially since you can change the sex of the baby just by eating certain foods while you're pregnant."

(hear those crickets? wow, even when I tell the story they're in full force.)

The speaker was so vehement in her remark I simply said, "huh, I have never heard that." I'll just leave it at that. I don't think she'd believe me anyway...There is so much more to tell about my adventures this week, but I have got to get to bed!

Love and miss you all!