Fifty Things I Love About South Dakota

I love Jordan but other bloggers have said it all. So here are my top #50 reasons why I love South Dakota.

1- Only 3 months after you move to South Dakota people will refer to you as the Jordanian because you're the only one living there.

2- You will start understanding what it means to be "endangered species"

3- They sell great beef testicles.

4- There's a lot of Mexican food even though there are no Mexicans.

5- The airport has one terminal, and you can arrive there just half-an-hour before your flight.

6- You'll recognize at least 3 people on the 20-seat plane.

7- Just like Jordan, everyone here has a relative in California.

8- When it's minus 20 degrees all streets are open, everyone goes to work and school and nobody complains about anything.

9- You're one of those very few people who has a passport.

10- Work is always within a 10-minute drive.

11- Everything is always within a 10-minute drive.

12- If you're 14 you can get a driver's licence.

13- All chicks are originally Scandinavian heritage. Enough said.

14- The smell of of horse shit in the street brings back memories from your grandfather's farm in Dibbeen.

15- If your car is stuck in the snow, random strangers will stop by and help you out instead of stopping by to rob your car (like they do in Arizona).

16- In the middle of a snow storm people still drive with their 1960s cars.

17- South Dakota is a diverse state. We have some Asians and also a black couple: Richard and Mary. Nice couple.

18- If anyone in the world is stalking you, you can totally hide in south Dakota and they'll never know how to reach you.

19- A traffic jam means there's a high-school baseball game somewhere.

20- If you're taking a leak at the airport bathroom and your luggage behind you falls on the floor, a nice person behind you will lift it up and hold it for you until you're done pissing.

21- No roaches. They're all dead from the cold weather by October.

22- No matter how cold it gets, it makes you feel better knowing there are people who are more screwed than you are. Thank God for giving us North Dakota.

23- In the snow, to keep the car heated, people keep their cars turned on and leave them to go shopping at the mall. (again, cars don't get stolen)

24- Old people are taken care of by their kids and grandkids.

25- A mother may need 10 seconds to remember the date of birth of one of her kids because she has ten of them.

26- All women over the age of 60 have milked at least 1000 cows in their lives.

27- If you drive on the freeway for longer than one hour you will certainly hit an animal and rip his body into 10 pieces.

28 - Kum and Go is the name of a big grocery store chain.

29- When a plane is in the sky everyone looks up.

30- You can tell the animal by smelling its feces.

31- Scotland, Arlington, Buffalo and Corsica are only two-hours away.

32- The car salesman works part-time as a nurse and on weekends as a bar tender.

33- You can insult anyone's mother or wife but never ever say anything bad about country music.

34- People pray in church for God to protect their cattle.

35- The whole state shares one area code: 605.

36- People wear snow boots (Bostar) to weddings.

37- It could be minus 10 degrees outside but sunny all day long

38- Even though everyone hates the French here, the capital's name is Pierre.

39- And I can tell exactly if you're a South Dakotan by the way you pronounce Pierre. ( and I'm not gonna tell you.)

40- Pierre, a very small city, has two time zones. Over there people can save an hour each day just by driving 4 miles to work.

41- Being a Middle Eastern in South Dakota is exotic. You're one-of-a-kind. People have never seen one like you before. Even if they think you're a terrorist they'll love and you protect you because you're so rare and special.

42- I've been living here 6 months and have already heard this a 100 times every time i travel, "You are the first person I meet who is from South Dakota"

43- The only reference people know from South Dakota is the movie Fargo. (and mind you: Fargo is in North Dakota, and the movie was actually shot in Minnesota).

44- You will have days where every woman you see is pregnant.

45- Everyone here has eaten at least one animal that they could not clearly identify what it was; they just shot it and had to cook it before dark.

46- People believe everything the doctor says even if it has nothing to do with medicine. (In case you visit me here, pretend that Gandhi was born in Jordan).

47- The Valentine gift is a brand new snow shovel.

48- The four seasons are only two, they're called winter and July.

49- When someone tells you, "you've got plenty of pop in your sac" that's not a compliment. They're just saying you have a lot Coke in your grocery bag.

50- Half the town is your family. The other half is your in-laws.