South of the Border.

This past weekend I visited UNC. I got to see quite a few friends, and I spent time with the American Studies and Folklore department meeting students and learning about the Folklore MA program that I will begin in August. On the road between Charleston and Chapel Hill is South of the Border, a "destination," gas station, and confusing interstate exit.

I didn't remember having ever stopped here, so I was excited to see what exactly this place as. I have since learned that as I child I begged my parents to stop here on our many trips from Virginia to Florida, but I have no memory of that. 

I knew that the stop included a statue (or really quite a few statues) of Pedro - a caricature of a man from Mexico. I did not expect just how embellished the stop was with stereotypical depictions of Mexican culture. In addition to the images at the stop, the interstate features billboards for miles advertising South of the Border. One of them stated simply SHALOM and had Pedro waving. I was riding with a friend who works for the Hillel at the College of Charleston. We found the billboard both confusing and amusing in its odd conflation of cultural references. 

And if you are wondering, #sobPedro is a refernece to South of the Border. Pedro is not crying.