Tunica is situated just a few miles South of Memphis directly alongside the banks of the Mississippi, River. Heading to Tunica is comparable to passing through the gates of hell and then to a forbidden Garden of Eden. Southern Memphis is completely desolate with abandoned decrepit buildings for miles on end and then out of nowhere mammoth Casinos light up the sky and completely change the atmosphere. I now feel safe to leave my tomato and basil in the car for the night. I chose the Gold Strike to stay and play for the night, being one of the two casinos in town that have poker rooms available. I got my room on the 21st floor of this bastion of false hope and went immediately to play poker, which I don’t technically consider gambling. It is the only casino game that is beatable. Saying this, I lost both days that I played. I got struck with copious amounts of bad luck that never ceased to go away. The worst was when I lost a pot where my opponent had about a 1 percent chance at winning when the money went in the middle. I won’t have to cut my trip short but the Red Cross might not get their yearly donation from me. The only thing good was the 9.99 buffet where I used all the space in my stomach to get back some that was lost at the tables. I ate ferociously and quickly, and randomly. I hit the shrimp and crawfish hard. With no more gamble in me, and no room to spare in my belly I happily left hell Thursday evening to Birmingham, Alabama where my Mom’s brother and their family live.
It just so happened that my family had previously planned to come to “the ham” this Easter. Our family has never gone out of Houston for Easter except this year. It’s crazy how my road trip coincided exactly with them meeting me here. I was far from homesick but I was still excited to see everyone when they got in on Friday morning. My family from Birmingham is truly awesome. They basically roll out the red carpet when we come in town. I have come here no less than 15 times and each time it’s a non-stop thrill ride until we leave. I was immediately praised by everybody on how my first two blog entries were skillfully written. My dad had actually printed it out, pictures and all and showed it to the rest of the family. The weather here was significantly colder than in Houston, at about 50 degrees that morning. I decided to take my friends Tom and Basil inside to warm up and keep them from dying.
This week is the most important for the Greek Orthodox faithful as we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Great Friday is explained here and has highlights here, 2, 3. For the 7 weeks leading up to Easter it is suggested by the Church to perform a fast or basically abstain from certain foods for the entire period, in a similar manner that Jesus did. For me, this is an exercise in self-control and by doing so will hopefully manifest itself to other undesirable indulgences that seem to be amidst in my everyday life. I have abstained from all non-fish meat this Lenten season and so in approximately one hour I will taste the succulent lemon and oil basted rack of lamb that my Aunt has prepared. Fasting actually makes meat taste much better. This might be taking a few hundred steps too far but, I suppose it’s similar to how a blind person would feel about their vision if it were to suddenly come back and see again. I am about to see meat again.
Today I went to Church to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Afterword we went to go play golf at Highlands golf club just Southeast of downtown. The course is immaculate and absolutely a delight to play on. It overlooks the entire downtown of Birmingham. Me and my bro swinging. I think I look worse but only cause my jeans make me look awkward.
Here are some pics of the Greek style house I spoke about in the last entry. 1, 2, 3, 4
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