One writing piece I worked on today at the @Capital District Writing Projec based on the prompt I posted this morning. I just revised it. : Traveling is always an interesting experience; I’d like to think that everyone who has traveled has some idea what I’m talking about. You meet new people, see new places, and have exposure to “different” foods and beverages. Traveling adds variety to the human life and it’s something I need to do more often. Although I tend to visit the same regions over and over again, each time I visit, I like to see at least one new site; sometimes it amounts to a lot more than one. This past February, I had the opportunity to visit Atlanta, Georgia as part of a day trip from my main destination, Augusta, Georgia. It was my first encounter with Georgia’s capital and my cousin decided on two places that I absolutely had to visit: the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca Cola. Prior to the day-trip, I could feel the anticipation building up. The excitement escalated when my cousin explained that there was a tasting room in which you can taste coca cola products from all over the world. She emphasized one beverage in particular, Beverly and insisted that it was a “must try.” So as we ventured through the Aquarium and then made our way through the World of Coca Cola, I kept thinking about this drink. Beverly. It sounded so sophisticated; a beautiful name. It’s not Coke, or Sprite, but pure heaven and the drink of high class citizens. Just thinking of the name now makes my taste buds yearn....Beverly.....mmmmmmm When we entered the tasting room, it was if a whole new universe had opened up. There were hundreds of people, each walking around with tiny cups trying Coca Cola products from around the world. Each station was centered on Coca Cola products from a continent. There was North America beverages, as well as stations devoted to South America, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the much anticipated Europe...where I would find, Beverly awaiting me. As a social studies teacher, the geographic nature of this “hands-on” learning activity was bliss. Each station gave way to me “thinking” about how geography affected the beverages of which regions and what the taste and design revealed about the region’s cultures. I loved Africa’s sodas, but after visiting Africa and a few others, I still yearned for Beverly. I headed to Europe and quickly found Beverly. I grabbed a cup and pressed the button. The elegant Beverly flowed into my glass. My taste buds could hardly wait...I was already imagining the heaven I would taste. Then my mouth met Beverly and my taste buds were confused...extremely confused. I gagged. Inside my head, I was screaming “How can this be? This is disgusting! Who the heck would drink such a nasty product.” This was not right. I felt betrayed. How could my cousin do this to me? Then my cousin resurfaced and inquired as to whether I had tried Beverly yet - well yes, I had. I let her know too. And then laughter ensued and I began plotting. I invited my dad over to taste Beverly....a man who likes everything.....who did not like Beverly at all and proceeded to entertain me with his faces and remarks. Since that day in February, I’ve come to learn that Beverly was an apertif in Italy...and is no longer produced....Gee, I wonder why? People actually drank that? I think that now when I travel, I’ll stick to names of products that I recognize. It just doesn’t seem like a risk worth taking these days....unless of course, I can share the experience with someone else.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 00:43:17 +0000
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