A little bit of Americana

On a day-to-day basis my life in Jackson is not that different to my life back home in the UK. I get up and I go to work. In the evenings I watch tv, read a book or hang out with friends. We live in such a connected world now that there are limited differences between cultures. Popular music and tv, the internet and 24 hour news cycles mean that there is less of the ‘new’ here than there might have been had I journeyed across  50 years ago. It also means that when there is a chance to experience something particularly American or Southern, you jump at the chance. 

For me, so far, that has been Superbowl Sunday and the Rodeo.

American football is not something I know anything about, but I had heard of the Superbowl and perhaps more importantly the half-time show. 

Here is what I can tell you about my Superbowl experience -  

Superbowl Sunday requires a gathering with lots of food (fried where possible!) and beer. Those are the essentials. 

There was plenty of food. Chips and dip, cookies and plenty of fried food were on offer. No use was made of any fancy deep fat fryer, and I learned that a big pot, a lot of oil, and a complete lack of concern for kitchen safety is all that is necessary to make fried chicken and cheese straws. A lack of concern for safety can be replaced with a lot of alcohol, but I found that only works on the chef and actually increases levels of concern in others!

The food was good, especially the dip. I love artichoke and spinach dip and this was no let down.

Of the football itself, I cannot say much except that it lasts forever (I think the game itself lasted for 3 hours). The pace is also slower than rugby and the game seems very disjointed – play for a minute or two and then stop for five, and so on. 

Beer, of the Bud Light variety, was also a mainstay of the event and it was in good supply! When I first arrived I thought it was too much beer for one game of football, but that was before I realized that how long a game lasts. A few hours in, I had changed my mind!

All in all, it was a good night. The football, it turned out, was of little import (I still know nothing about the sport) and just played away in the background. It seems to me that the biggest draws of the Superbowl are the adverts and the half-time entertainment. Sponsoring companies spend a fortune on celebrity commercials and they are treated almost like the newest blockbuster release. 

For half-time I need say no more than – Beyonce!

FYI, it was the San Francisco 49ers v the Baltimore Ravens, and the Ravens won.

…onto The Rodeo

I can’t think of anything more American than the cowboy. Be in John Wayne and his Dirty Harry blues, childhood games of ‘Cowboys and Indians’ or a gutsy rendition of ‘Oklahoma’, the cowboy is a familiar entity to us all that speaks of adventure, freedom and the open trail.

(By the way, ‘Dirty Harry Blues’ is a song by Jeff Daniels.Worth a listen.)

Alas cowboys do not walk the streets of Jackson and although ‘y’all’ is part of common parlance, it is rarely prefaced with a ‘howdi’. As such when I heard that the rodeo was coming to town, I knew it was time to put on some plaid, pull on some boots and get my cowgirl on :)

Along with cowboys, America is famous, perhaps unfairly, for rednecks and hillbillies. Well, they were out in force at the rodeo along with some ‘honest-to-god’ Christians and good old fashioned republicans. It really was ‘America the Great’ territory -  no liberal, baby-killing nonsense allowed!

The rodeo itself is a competitive sport based on the working practices of cattle herding and, in essence, is a test of those skills working cowboys and cowgirls would need to have on a ranch. The rodeo has events such as roping, steer wrestling, bronco riding, bull riding and barrel racing. We saw them all!

My favourite was the bucking broncos, for 2 reasons - (i) I love horses, they make me happy! (2) it was the  most exciting event. I had thought the bull riding would be the most memorable but none of the cowboys were able to stay on long-enough for it to really get going. They barely got out of the chutes. 

Bronc riding (and bull riding) is all about staying on for as long as possible and you really get into it. A cowboy has to stay on for 8 seconds for it to be counted. Watching, you really are willing the cowboy to stay on just a second longer and it can be quite ‘heart in mouth’ stuff. One cowboy got trampled by his horse when he fell off and he was taken off on a stretcher.

Watching the roping and steer wrestling is also really fun, although I sort of ended up rooting for the steer, especially this one –

Mostly though, I couldn’t get over the ‘real life cowboys’ aspect of it all. They looked like proper cowboys, right out of the movies! I never imagined I’d see real cowboys doing real cowboy stuff, I guess I didn’t think they really existed anymore :)

I will leave you with this (Can you name the musical?)…

“I'd like to say a word for the cowboy, the road he treads is difficult and stony.
He rides for days on end with just a pony for a friend.

I sure am feelin' sorry for the pony!”