Day 33 to 38: Knoxville, Tennessee Yess! (and also Bloomington, Indiana!)

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We’ve spent these past few days in Bloomington, Indiana with my grandmother, Anne. We ate more Laughing Planet burritos, which I was so happy about. We ate Turkish and Ethiopian food, which were both super tasty! We got to see my Aunt Amy and my Uncle Joaquin, and little baby Iago is adorable.

One day, Anne and I went to go to the movies and saw the new movie, Bandslam, which was good, and we also saw an opera performance by some Indiana University students. Most of the songs that they sung were in French and Italian, but the last mini scene was Hansel and Gretel. Yesterday my Aunt Katie came and we ate at Laughing Planet.

We went to a roller derby in Bloomington, it’s a mix if athleticism and theatrics. It takes place in a gym where ten women are skating around an oval track marked by tape. Four people from each of the two teams are skating around trying keep the other team’s jammer from getting through. A jammer is the team’s smallest and quickest player. If the jammer gets past the big group of eight players, four of whom are trying to push her out of the way, she gets a point for her team. The first jammer to actually get a point for her team becomes the Lead Jammer. If she gets any penalties against her, or she goes out of bounds while trying to get past the group, she’s not the Lead Jammer. You can tell if someone’s the jammer because they have a star on their helmet. The jammers start after all of the other players start, and they start farther back. We were sitting in the seats right behind the Suicide Seats. If you sit in the Suicide Seats, you are more likely get seriously hurt if someone gets pushed really hard into the crowd. We actually met some of the skaters at a grocery store earlier that day, and they told us about the derby. Some of the players names are: Snide Piper, Raven Furies, Kung Furious, Lotta Trouble, and Math Murderer. It was so much fun, I want to be one of the skaters!

Today, we picked up my sister from her friends’ wedding in Cincinnati and we were going to camp in southern Kentucky in a campground in Levi Jackson State Park, but it was too deserted because school has started in Kentucky. From what we saw, it looks like a really nice campground with a pool with water slides. Instead, we are staying at a hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee. We are very excited to see Asheville, North Carolina tomorrow!

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Comments

[LE]

I miss you guys
Life is very, very quiet here now. I miss all of you being here; but I am so fortunate and happy to have spent this past week with you. Your entry about your time here is excellent. You captured much of the flavor of your visit here. Too bad about Levi Jackson State Park. Have a wonderful time i Asheville. Remember to eat at the Laughing Seed and visit the Malaprops bookstore.

[Maria]

Ellie, you rock!
This is so cool, Ellie. Can't wait to see you when you return from your burrito tasting trip! : ) xoxoxo to you and your family, Maria