Exploring Troy

Yesterday Sharon took us for a drive around the local area. We saw the houses where she and David lived when they first married. I'm fascinated that so often there are no fences at all between neighbours - it has a real 'village' feel, with green lawn joining the houses into one community. We saw the church where Sharon worships: it was originally a German church with a little German school house next door. Sharon says her minister and his wife ride Harley Davidsons.

We visited two branches of the Bank of Old Munroe where Sharon works. The banks are very welcoming: not just the people, but they have comfortable chairs, displays of children's art from the local school, a community notice board, and free food (hotdogs in one, chips and soda in the other). It's a community bank, and was established in 1906 so it's not a new idea as it is in Australia. Sharon makes a point of introducing her three Australian guests to all her friends and workmates, and then says to us "now say something" so they can enjoy our accent. She thinks it's cute when we say "bloody" - as in "bloody beautiful, mate".

We also managed to squeeze in a couple of secondhand/consignment shops. In one Betty found a plate that she says was worth much more than the $3.50 she paid for it. In another we chatted to the young girl who owns it, whose ambition is to be an actress and have her own sit-com (kind of a Christian version of Sex in the City).

We had lunch at Harry J's steakhouse, and drank more Bud. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this tipping business. I'm glad to report that my ANZ Travel Card is working perfectly so far.

Back home at Sharon's we sat down for a game of scrabble, but had to leave for rehearsal before we finished (Betty is ahead on points right now).

The Sommet Centre is part of a University, and set in beautiful grounds with lawn and trees and deer and fountains. We warmed up in the foyer, had a quick guided tour of the rooms we'll be using, and then sat in the theatre to watch the tech rehearsal for the five finalists in the talent competition River Blenders have been running. The MC interviewed each of them. She's very good - encouraging, and professional.

Then we went back to our warmup/dressing room to rehearse with Vicki, so we missed hearing River Blenders singing their songs for the first half of the show. I thought our tech rehearsal went pretty well, considering, and we were finished by 9:30 pm.

Sharon took us home for a much-needed cup of tea and plied us with cornbread, chocolate and chocolate brownies. I've been reading a book she lent me which is a romance by one of the River Blenders, and finished it before I went to sleep.

Today (Saturday) the sun is shining and it's stopped raining. It was lovely to sit at the breakfast table in the sunshine. Breakfast was a bacon and egg croissant. Over the last few days we've been exploring differences between American and Australian English. We pronounce 'coupe' (as in cars) as coop-ay, and Sharon and David say coop. Sharon wants to buy a duck-plucker that was advertised at an auction because her son is a passionate duck-hunter. This got us on to talking about chickens and the chicken coop that we saw at the house they owned before they bought this one last year. "No, it's chicken coop-ay" said Betty! We all fell about laughing.

Today we're doing our laundry and pottering about getting ready for the performance tonight. I brought my wig to wear, but Sharon has offered to fix my hair instead. This week has gone so quickly, it's hard to believe this is our fifth day here. I'm so glad that the River Blenders invited us to visit: staying with Sharon and David has been wonderful, and I feel like I've got to know a little bit of America much better than I ever could as a tourist.