Throw me sumpin' mister!

Went to Mardi Gras. John, Kim and I had a realtivley low-key, but nonetheless fantabulous time. Our cousins, aunt and uncle were so accomodating. We hung out on St. Charles doing the family thing Monday night - snagged TONS of loot from Proteus and Orpheus (Scarlett Johannson is not that great in tperson - cute, but eh.) They had incredible throws - beanie babies, cool stuffed fish and excellent heavy beads - no cheap stuff. Tuesday we made it to the other end of St. Charles and set up the ladder between very eclectic groups - white physicians and families to our right and two African American families to our left. Lots of kids - which was nice to see. Every one got along well - although I think someone was pilferring throws rom us. We're missing some stuff we know we caught and placed in our bags. Oh well - just plastic crap, right? Anyways - lookie what I got - a sacred Golden Coconut from the Zulu Krewe (and no, I didn't have to "work" for it. I think it was my eyes - and my I (heart) NOLA shirt. OK, so the girls didn't hurt my chances!) I am extremely happy about that souvenir!(As I understnad it, each member of the Krewe has a set number of coconuts - the higher you are in the krewe the greater number of coconuts you get to give out. Colors matter, too - nautral is the most common, then black, then (aaahhhhh) gold. For a white chick to get a golden coconut is pretty awesome, IMHO.) Zulu wears black-face, which is kinda' freaky the first time you see it. They also had some white riders this year - in black face, too. They lost several members in Katrina and many are still displaced. I'm impressed they rolled at all.

Rex was next - they also had great throws. No one was stingy this year. Thanks to Lance's darling little boy, I snagged a stuffed Bouef Gras, a traditional symbol of the Krewe. I headed back to LaPlace with Lance after that while John and Kim headed to the Quarter. Wednesday morning, I met John and Kim at Cafe' du Monde. After beignets, we wandered around a bit, taking pictures and spending money. I bought muffalettas, mufflateta relish, t-shirts, hats, magnets. I felt compelled to buy stuff - to help out theshop owners and city. As I stuck the "I {fluer-de-lis} New Orleans" magnet on my car, some locals walked by and said "Woo hoo - tourists!"

I'm sure lots of y'all (given anyone really reads this) are wondering about the state of the city. Well, it's better than you think and worse than you can imagine. There is TONS of work being done - shops are open, buses are running, houses are being rooofed. But the sheer magnitude of the destruction is hard to comprehend. Block after block of what Jared called "dead houses." I saw Lakeview but could not bring myself to go to the 9th Ward. People want to come home, but what can they come home to other than uncertainty right now? 98,000 FEMA trailers have been requested, but so far only 45,000 have arrived - after 6 months. :( The area is pulling together, though. There was a very cool vibe in the city - and I don't just think it was because it was Mardi Gras. I hope this is the jolt the city needs to get tourists (i.e money) back south. Brian and I hope to take the kids down this summer when the aquarium and zoo reopen.

Speaking of Brian, his "band" iscoming over in a bit, so I better go start cooking! Á bientôt!