Single What? Female...

Ottumwaaaaa!

(to the tune of "Tradition" from Fiddler on The Roof)

OttumWA! Ottumwa! Ottumwa! OttumWAAAA! Ottumwa! Ottumwa!

And yet it is not quite that thrilling.

All right, first I have to acknowledge my snobby New Englander moment right when I got off the train. When one gets off the train in Ottumwa, Iowa, you not only enter the train station, but also the Wapello County Historical Museum. There is large glass case holding a collection of black and white photos depiciting items and more photos that are in the museum. There is also a sign that reads "See what it was like to live 50 to 150 years ago!" I read that and think "You youngins..."
Hotel Ottumwa is walking distance from the train (as is everything else by the look of it), and is a lovely old fashioned hotel, save for the Tom Tom bar which has large screen TV's and serves cocktails such as Papoos Juice, Kochese Cocoa, Tomahawk Tea and don't forget the Bloody Pocahontas (made with Clamato!). I'm not sure Chief Wapello (who, according to the menu, started giving away parcels of land to the government in the 1840's) would approve.
The bar is definitely a neighborhood place and I definitely got the feeling that they could tell right away that I was not from there. The bartender eventually warmed up to me and I figured others might as the night wore on, but well, looks like getting an interview here might be more of a challenge.
I did speak to Scott though who, after confirming that it was obvious that I was not from here ("you have all your teeth...and their WHITE."), while talking about his days in North Dakota and St. Louis, mentioned that in St. Louis, the way folks ask "What are you?" is by asking "What high school did you go to?". Apparently the high school defines neighborhood, class, race and ethnicity all at once. I will be in St. Louis closer to the end of this run so I will look into confirming this.

posted by funkweee @ 10:03 PM