A few weeks ago Mom and Dad came to visit! It was probebly one of my favorite weekends in this city so far. We went ALL over! I tryed asking my guests and friends in the city which places to take my parents while they were visiting and instead of getting a few famous places that a lot of people recomended i got a lot of different recomendations (infact almost no one suggested the same places). So i figured where ever we went would be good and it was! I think my favorite night spent with them was Saturday night becasue we were out to see the night life. It started off with littereally running into a parade that was marching through the French Quarter. Dad got us each a Hurricain drink (basically a really fruity, very alchoholic drink, famous in New Orleans) to enjoy while the parade went by. Mom picked up the hang of bead catching really fast and walked away with lots of flowers. We then walked through the Quarter to get to a bar/music venue. This place had been recomended to be by one of my roommates and was a great success! The live music was amazing. I knew Mom and Dad had to hear the live music in New Orleans becasue it just has a different level of heart. I think they both loved it, especially Dad. The second round of drinks probebly helped with the enjoyment.
After the concert we went to a famous burger place and each finished our own gigantic hamberger and backed potato! Both delicious! Upon Mom and Dad's request we walked down Bouben St. on our way back to the hotel. Definetly something you should expereince once but only once, haha.
Mom and Dad came to work with me on Monday, starting bright and early at 7:00am, with donuts and coffee. I was on shower duting that week and put mom and dad to work cleaning the showers. They worked very hard and met so many people! It was probebly a little overwhelming but they made it and everyone they met loved them. I think my favorite response when i introduced my parents to my guests was how shocked the guys were to hear my mom was my mom and not my sister. They showered her with wonderful compliments and kept looking at me to say, "Oh i see where you get your good looks from now!" Dad may not have recived as many good looking coments but he did get the MVV (Most Valuble Volunteer) award! He fixed at least three of the broken showers with his engineering/MacGyver skills.
The week after Mom and Dad left was a long one. Most of the student volunteers who come to help with showers were on spring break. I went from all the wonderful help in the world on Monday to no help the rest of the week. I was on my feet a lot. But the week led into a really fun weekend. In New Orleans St. Patricks Day has a big parade! What a surprise, New Orleans having a parade for a holiday?! We were at a friends house for most of the parade because he lives on the parade route. He has a balcony/roof that overlooks the street. So we all crowded on and had the best view ever! Being that it was a parade there were of course lots of beads being thrown. We all caught tons of green beads, not that we need ANY more beads in the house. Along with the green beads we were catching Irish Spring soap, Lucky Charms cereal, onions, potatos, large cabbage heads, and basically anything that had any reference to the Irish.
(Anne and i become pro Cabbage catchers!)
Sunday was the third Sunday of March which is also known as Super Sunday (around the same time as St. Josephs day). This is a day when all of the Mardi Gras Indians come out together to parade in their costumes. You can get right up close to them and take pictures or watch the performances. The Indians are apart of each of the 'Krewes' (the 'Krewes' in each parade during Mardi Gras). The tradition of dressing up and creating these elaborate costumes was started to thank the Native Americans who had helped free slaves. "The Mardi Gras Indians named themselves after native Indians to pay them respect for their assistance in escaping the tyranny of slavery. It was often local Indians who accepted slaves into their society when they made a break for freedom. They have never forgotten this support." (http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mardigrasindians.html)
(This was one of my favorite Indians because his outfit was incredible. All of the costumes had an amazing amount of detail but this one in particular caught my eye. The man wearing the costume looked like he was taking his job/role very seriously.)
The week after was another long week. It rained a lot! But that did not stop the guests from coming with more needs, questions, concerns, and general comments. Anne, Emily and I each had a moment or two during the week when we really just needed a minute to sit in a quiet corner and breath. It was a week that reminded me how wonderful the people i work with really are! I would not have been able to survive without Anne's great humor and ability to help me step back to understand the bigger picture. The long week did lead into another fun weekend though! Stephanie and Emma were asked to help out at a Beer Garden, to represent St. Arnold beer and they brought me with them. Niki (one of the FJVs works for St. Arnolds) was on a trip this weekend and asked if we could got to the beer fest in her place. St. Arnold is a beer that is based in Houston, is available all over Texas, and has made its way to Louisiana. The Beer Garden was a big beer tasting event right outside the Superdome. We had a lot of fun working it! I am pretty good at poring from a tap into a 2oz tasting cup, I can describe 5 different St. Arnolds beer in fancy beer lingo, and bs my way through just about an question regarding the St. Arnold beer company. Of course we also were able to do some tasting of our own. Stephanie, Becca, and I walked around with our little tasting cups and tried lots of different beers from all over the world. I came to the conclusion that i really am not a huge beer fan although it was fun tasting so many different types. I enjoy beer somethings but i really don't like the taste of hops...which is very distinct taste in most beers.
Over all it was a very fun day that ended with a surprise. Emma told us that the vendors at the Beer Garden were given a hotel room at the Hyatt to stay for free Saturday night. She said we could have it if we wanted! Which of course all 5 members of my community were down for. The Hyatt is near the French Quarter so it would have been super easy for us to enjoy the hotel treats and be able to go out to our favorite bars without having the long commute home. Of course by the time we all got to the hotel, turned the TV on, laid out on the big cozy bed, there was no chance we were going to get up for anything but snacks. All 5 of us lounged in the hotel room until about noon the next day. It was brilliant!
Later on Sunday we all went to a Crawfish boil. It was the first for us this year and my first one ever (I think)! I loved it! The food was so good and fun to eat. The Crawfish were as fresh as could be and our hosts had a ton. We all ate until we were stuffed. In the pot with the Crawfish were potatoes, half ears of corn, big cloves of garlic, and lots of Cajun spices.
I learned how to get the meat out pretty fast but i never mastered how to not make a mess. I had Crawfish juice all over me. I do not think the vegetarian of the group was ready for the ripping off of the heads but she did enjoy the meat. Everything was so good! Even the tables were set up for Crawfish eating. Big round ledges were attached to the top of heavy trash cans, so you could lay the Crawfish out, break them up, throw away the shell, eat the meat, and continue the process over and over, all while standing in a circle chatting and enjoying the company.
It has been a very very busy couple of weeks! Some hard days at work and long nights. But my weekends always seem to come to the rescue. Although not very relaxing, my weekends have been full of adventures which is exactly what i have needed. Maybe i will sleep a little this weekend...maybe, haha.
I hope all is well with you!
p.s. A Santa Clara Immersion trip is here this week and it has been fun seeing some familiar faces :)
