Monday, February 15, 2010

Learning in Louisiana

Attended First Baptist Church in Eunice, LA on Sunday and made a couple new friends in Al & Nanette, our Sunday School teachers. They took us out to lunch at the Krazy Cajun for some Shrimp "A-2-fay" and taught us some things about southern Louisiana. Prior to meeting them we thought crawfish and shrimp were very similar....boy, were we wrong!!

Shrimp come only from the sea but crawfish, affectionately called "mud bugs"...which cured me of ever wanting to order them!!!... can live in water or dirt. In fact they leave little mounds called "chimneys" all over people's lawns.

There's a lot of rice farms around here and big, warehouse size rice drying operations. One of the side crops for the rice farmers is trapping crawfish. When they flood their fields, they lay down traps for the crawfish. Ya gotta love Louisiana they know how to grow their entire dinner at one time...the local staple?...what else? Crawfish and rice!

We also learned that Mardi Gras is not just an event in New Orleans but is celebrated throughout Cajun Country. Saturday is the boucherie (hog slaughter)...let the cooking begin! Then Sunday afternoon was the children's Mardi Gras and we got to go run and jump with the other kids!



Lundi Gras is a day of dancing, drinking eating and general partying and then on Tuesday morning (Mardi Gras) horseback riders will re-enact the medieval tradition of a procession of beggars. They will ride through the countryside stopping at farms, chasing chickens and getting ingredients from the people to make a community gumbo. To learn more about the history of Mardi Gras click here.

The food here is delicious...diet begins Ash Wednesday (first day of lent). What a wonderful corner of America we have landed in. The people have been so friendly and gracious...and patient with all our questions. Thank You, God, for allowing us to experience this beautiful culture within our culture.

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