Jackson, Mississippi

I had another early start to catch another bus. I have said this before, but I do think that I have seen more sunrises by getting up early on my travels than I have from staying up from the night before. There is something wrong with that situation!And I suspect it is not something that is going to be corrected any time soon.
From my CS house I walked in the opposite direction from which I had arrived so I exited the "bad" neighbourhood quicker than I had entered it. I've found that walking through a bad area in the early morning is not nearly as bad as walking through it at night. I guess bad people like to sleep late!! I got to the bus stop in plenty of time but had to flag the bus down as there was no bus stop and I had stood in the wrong place. The bus driver gave me a lecture about this and wasn't happy when I pointed out that there was no bus stop. She told me that I had to remember it for next time. Yeah right, there wouldn't be a next time. I don't plan to return to Memphis and if for some reason I do, I'll be driving and making it a day visit. I caught the Greyhound bus as planned, but it was full. Somair, my CS host in Jackson picked me up from the bus station and dropped me off at his place. As seems to be the norm for many American cities downtown was empty with nothing going on. All life seems to take place out in the suburbs requiring a car to access it. I spent the afternoon relaxing and not doing anything. Excellent.
In the evening Somair took me and his roommate Eva to a local Irish bar. The beer was good and the fudge brownie pudding even better.
Friday followed the same pattern as Thursday except with no travel. I didn't leave the house all day until the evening and we went back to the same bar. I don't think Jackson has many good bars and Somair said that all of his friends go to this bar. If it's good enough for them then it is definitely good enough for me. I met some more of Somair's friends and was very sad to hear that I had missed out on a chance to spend the day shooting an AK47. This might be worth returning to Mississippi for. Without realising it when I had contacted Somair I had gotten extremely lucky. He, Eva and another friend were driving down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and could give me a lift. This was excellent for me as John, the friend I was meeting down there isn't a timely person, which I have a hard time dealing with even when I expect it. The drive to new Orleans was uneventful and we arrived a little after 2pm on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday. I wasn't sure if I was ready to party. John is a major party animal and I didn't know if everyone with him were the same.