we dare be brave

Rainy day

I finally found a room to sublet, I'm so excited to move to a space that will feel more my own.

I was going to move today but have been delayed by a rain storm. Hopefully it will let up soon. Going to watch a movie in the mean time.

A day in the park

I had a very fun and relaxing day today. I decided to walk down to Audubon Park where I was going to find a cozy spot to read. As I was walking, all I could hear was the sound of the birds chirping. I wanted to take my time and soak up all the quite time I could. During my walk, I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, taking in the moment.

When I got to the park, I stumbled upon a lovely pond. I was supposed to be reading but I was to distracted by the animals and my surrounding. I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Living arrangements in New Orleans

When I planned out my adventure in New Orleans, I never expected it to be so difficult to find a place to stay. As you know, I started out at the India House Hostel, which was a lot of fun. From there I went to live in the Marigny (French Quarter) in a shotgun with a girl from Portland, OR. Ayni and I got along great but I just couldn’t get used to the shotgun style. It’s been such a struggle to find a place to live, either it’s too expensive or it’s in the wrong part of town. I’ve been staying in Uptown since May 1st, with my foreman Brian (not real name) and another Habitat employee for the past 3 weeks now.

I love the guys I work with and I am grateful for my curring living situation, but I want to find a place that's more "me" and a little less like a guys' locker room. :-)

Southern Cuisine

In my earlier post, I touched on the food. Just before I left CA in Dec., I decided that I was really going to start watching what I eat and eliminate foods that don’t sit well with me. Moving to the South has made that really difficult. New Orleans specifically is famous for its Cajun style cuisine which is something I’m just not used to. Options are extremely limited when eating out. Standard menu items are usually fried, soaked in a stick of butter, smothered in a thick cream sauce, or doused in seasoning. Although most of it tastes really good, it’s just to rich for me considering that is different from how I normally eat. Also, I know it’s not good for me which makes it really hard for me to try and eat healthy.

I am amazed by all the shocking things I’ve seen on the menu. I’ve seen alligator, turtle, squirrel and possum. But I’ve only tried one. I had fried alligator. It tasted kind of like chicken only a little tougher.

Grocery stores aren’t the easiest to get to (nothing is really :-)) but I do try to prepare my food as much as I can. I’ve been craving fruit as it’s so warm but produce is really expensive; it almost seems like a commodity around here (except for Strawberries which are grown in Ponchatoula). Preparing lunches for the work site isn’t easy either. I’m still trying to find a balance!

Since being in the south, I have also tried crawfish. Yes, out of a trash can. :-) I was walking downtown and saw an out door cookout of crawfish. The gentleman offered me one to try, and I did. It was kind of freaky!