Life on the Rhode. Rhode Island that is.

As promised, I finally broke down, overcame my writing insecurities and decided to enter the blogosphere. I’m making no promises that this will be a great read, but if you are interested in my life in Rhode Island, feel free to check in and read about it here.

The name of the blog, Lobster and Grits, is supposed to represent this north meets south phase of my life. Grits for me, the southern girl. Lobster for New England, the area in which I now reside. Lobster and grits taken from the classic South Carolinian dish, shrimp and grits. (Even though I only lived in South Carolina for 4 years, I like to think I can still halfway claim it as home.) And of course, since this blog will detail my experiences and life in culinary school, it's only appropriate that my blog have a food-related title. And no, I've never actually prepared lobster and grits, but I plan to. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I can’t believe that I’ve only been living here for a mere three weeks. I’ve spent 60 hours of the last 2 weeks in class, and 48 of those were in the kitchen. Since last Tuesday, my lab class of 17 freshmen culinary arts majors has been furiously baking up pies, muffins, cookies, éclairs, baguettes, croissants, and so many more delicious baked goods that I've lost count. And as culinary students, we are required by the university to taste everything. We even had to taste these raspberry and apple danishes. How unfortunate, right?

Life outside of the classroom is going well. I’m still discovering all that Providence and the surrounding areas have to offer, but with classes running until 8:00 p.m., little time is left for exploring. I’ve made a few trips to the major mall in Providence known as Providence Place (pictured above). Ladies, this mall is ridiculous. Aside from Anthroplogie I’m at a loss to think of a store this mall doesn’t have. And the 4th floor (yes, the mall has 4 floors) is a 16-theater cinema complete with a 3D Imax.

I was expecting a little bit of a culture shock when I moved here because I've been told repeatedly that Northerners are more abrasive and of course lack southern hospitality, but I've been pleasantly suprised. From what I've experienced, Rhode Islanders are very friendly. One of my favorite things to do here is ride the campus bus and strike up conversation with whoever sits down beside me. My friends here get a kick out of it because even when I'm with them on the bus, I always insist on sitting on a separate bench so that I can make a new friend. I like to think I've made a few this way.

One last thought that I'll leave you with is yes, I still do cook for myself. But it has only been 2 weeks. We'll just have to see how long I keep it up.