I have been coming to Tuscaloosa ever since I can remember. It's weird to me that something that should be so familiar is really quite foreign... When I am on campus, I feel at home, like I belong, but when I leave, it's a different story.
The city that I'm from is actually a very small city/ suburb. We have a town hall and jail(that no one ever really stays in...) and things like that but most everyone i know from my area just says they're from Birmingham. This area is the local I'm used to. Everyone knows everyones business and we have a "mommy mafia" who are the queens of gossip, but everyone is very open. Not everyone locks all there doors and with most of my friends, I let myself in. But here is totally different. I dont totally feel safe all the time, I dont know everyone around me, I dont know a lot of whats beyond campus. To me this is what local is... knowing and feeling comfortable where you are. Don't get me wrong, I love being here and wouldn't change it for the world... It's just getting use to and getting to know a completely different city. I would love and am going to try to do my best to get to know the Tuscaloosa area better, but since my home is just 45 minutes away, it's not going too well because most of the time I just go home for certain things I need that I dont know where to get here.
There are also things that I miss about home like the local family grocery stores that when you walk in you see about 10 people you know, and pretty much just going places and not feeling alienated or like a visitor. I guess just where I'm going with this is that the local that I am used to and the local I've been thrown into are totally different and Tuscaloosa just doesn't seem to be the kind of local that comes with home.