Logan_CP#4

J Logan Matthews
CP#4
Sep 13, 2014 (1:00PM-4:00PM)
Osceola Ridge Apartments & R.A. Gray Building

I met with Paterne again this weekend. This was an extended session because the museum we went to was larger than I anticipated. I had never been to the R.A. Gray Museum of Natural History before but I heard Gale mention it one day in class. I might have been there many years ago but I have since forgotten what it was like. In review, I think it proved to be an excellent place to take your conversation partner to demonstrate the parallels in their culture and our own.

I had originally planned to pick up Paterne from his apartment at noon but I could not reach him by phone or knocking on his door. I decided to break for lunch and by the time I had entered the parking lot at the public library to acquire my Spanish reading log material, he had called me back. It turned out that his phone was off while he was on a walk, likely to the store. I had originally thought that it might be a good idea to show him around a grocery store but I think his sister has already done that since she has more experience living here than him.

So I drove Paterne to the museum and spent some time trying to find how to enter the visitor's side of the parking garage. Along the way we asked each other questions about the road layout in the Ivory Coast as well as the university system here and abroad. There was no fee once we had entered the museum, and the first exhibit was Florida's early prehistory. The first thing our eyes came upon was a giant animatronic Armadillo which Paterne found interesting enough to immediately take a photo of. We later mosied through to the native american sections demonstrating their tools and building techniques. There was also a mammoth on display which I tried to patiently explain that it was like modern day elephants but extinct. He told me that the Ivory Coast got it's name from the bounty of elephants they have and their tusks.

The next exhibit focused on the Portuguese and Spanish discovery and colonization of the Floridian and Caribbean regions. At some point he asked me if I would like to "discover" the Ivory Coast. After suggesting the more appropriate usage of "see," I replied "someday." That exhibit slowly transitioned into the eras of the Civil War, steamboats, and early 20th century Americana. Whenever we came upon an interesting object I tried to break down the parts and usage in simple terms.

The last exhibit was a quilt gallery where I was able to ask the ladies sitting at the info table about the usage of exhibition and exposition, because Paterne thought exposition was the better fit. After we decided on exhibit we quickly perused the gallery and left to walk through the shop. I remember explaining the difference between alligators and crocodiles to Paterne before so it was helpful that their were toys within reach. After we left the museum, Paterne was hungry, so I helped him order some burgers at the McDonald's drive-through before dropping him off.