Connecticut

I’ve only been here for a few weeks, but I’ve already come to realize that Connecticut (at least New Haven) is a weird place.

It isn’t just that they have tag sales instead of yard sales, or that recycling is required by law and failure to do so is punishable by death a fine, or the sparsity of their Redboxes, or the number of jerks that think their noisy motorcycles make them the shiznits of New Haven, or their abundance of normal Walmarts and shortage of Super Walmarts.

It might be the driving. People always joke and say that California has the worst drivers, or Virginia has the worst drivers, or has the worst drivers, but I swear, Connecticut truly has the absolute worst drivers. For example, let us say that you want to make a left turn, so you pull up to a red light in the left lane. Before your car stops moving, someone drives around you on the right, and turns left in front of you. At a red light. This isn’t a fluke event, I’ve seen similar things happen several times in the few weeks I’ve been here. The road signs in general appear to be less than suggestions for what the driver should be doing. Going slower than 65 MPH in a 55 MPH zone will get you honked at, even if you are in the far right lane. It wouldn’t be appropriate to post on my blog the things they do if you drive that slow in the left lane.

But before you think I’m super negative and hate Connecticut, I’d like to mention a few of its perks. It has a wide variety of grocery stories that carry a wide variety of fruits, veggies, and other yummy food, including our beloved Koala cookies that we weren’t able to find in Williamsburg. Everything (including several other states) are within a few hours drive. The Manhattan temple is only a 2 hour train ride away. I got to hear the Blind Boys of Alabama in concert for free on the Green just 2 miles from my apartment. Fireworks are legal, and the big city firework display is visible from my apartment window. Our ward is awesomely weird with a mix of college students and locals, and we go to church in some sort of converted four story building that has neat architecture and fancy molding. Most of the classrooms (even the nursery) have ornate fireplaces. The city has one of those fun R2D2 mailboxes (actual photo). We found an Indian restaurant that we absolutely love. The LDS Institute of Religion has a good amount of people, and has an air hockey table, pool table, foosball, and a decent library.

Anyways, Connecticut is weird, or at least, Connecticut is very different from the other places I’ve lived. But I love it!