IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like really snowing! A LOT! And it has been since 7:30am. Big, fluffy, wonderful snowflakes that remind me of being a kid. It is supposed to snow all day. I'm at work and from my window I see covered rooftops and cars and huge, swirling gusts of white snow. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

James has been taking loads of photos, which I'll post tomorrow.

How to Gumbo

This fella works at the Crescent City Farmer's Market. We bought turnips from him. There isn't a huge selection at the market, but what is available is good. We get our milk from a local dairy there.
The farmer had a magazine from China that featured a step-by-step description with photos on how to cook Gumbo, New Orleans style. James is obsessed with finding the best Gumbo recipe, so he gathered evidence to see if the Chinese do it best.

Tulane's visit to Capdau

Prior to Thanksgiving, I took four of my graduate students to visit James' 7th grade class and Mr. Baker's 8th grade class. My grad students planned two presentations each - one answering the question 'What is Public Health?' The other teaching students about an area that they specialize in. The presentation in James' class was on HIV/AIDS - and the 7th graders had lots of questions about how you transmit HIV, the difference between HIV and AIDS, what are symptoms of both, and a question that was asked repeatedly was - How do you know if you have it?

The experience was incredible - to see young kids asking serious and important questions and getting serious and accurate answers.

This photo is of James' class showing off their 'This is Public Health' stickers, which is a student-run campaign to inform people in the US about what public health is and isn't. Foll0w the link above to watch the short video. You'll enjoy it - the kids did.

Minnie's reign of terror continues...

I was hopeful that the grits had worked, because I hadn't seen Minnie in a few days. But I wasn't surprised when I saw Minnie or a Minnie look-a-like scurry out from behind the microwave across the counter and into the hood of the stove - all while I was making a pot of chili. Minnie obviously has no fear of me nor of heat, so I guess we are going to have to step up our efforts to remove her.

Most likely, the little mercenary at James' school, won't be available to hang out in the kitchen waiting to slap a mouse, so I've been looking into traditional traps. I figure if the mouse has to die, it should be a quick death, not the slow, miserable kind that comes with poison or sticky feet or grits.... And the neighborhood stray cats are fed so well by our shotgun-double housemates that I doubt they'll leave the comfort of their flannel-lined porch box to chase a living food source. James is opposed to investing any financial resources toward the mouse's demise, but I don't see another way. Suggestions?

there's more than one way to skin a cat

or kill a mouse...

Much to our surprise - our little Minnie Mouse became a hot topic of conversation during one of our Thanksgiving dinners (yes, we enjoyed multiple feasts and were full for three days following). Our landlords immediately set out to tell us a variety of ways to rid our lives of the beast - some highlights were - sticky traps, which the mouse runs over and remains stuck on until it dies; a complicated contraption involving a paper towel tube, peanut butter, and a bucket (the mouse would scamper into the tube, which is balanced on the bucket in search of the peanut placed strategically at the other end of the tube - the mouse then tips the balance and falls into said bucket????; dry grits with a bowl of water nearby (the mouse is supposed to eat the grits, get thirsty, drink the water, the grits would then expand in the mouses stomach, and the mouse would die). I tried the last one for a couple of nights and decided that, ultimately, I was just feeding Minnie and all of her friends.


Yesterday, a student at James' school came up with an even more brilliant and successful plan when a group of field mice were identified at Capdau. Through the chaos of mouse chasing and fleeing, this fourth grader, walked casually up to the mouse, slapped it with her bare hand - killing it on the spot. She then proceeded to pick it up with a clean white paper towel and happily display it to Mr. McDonald, asking sweetly, "Is this what you wanted?"

back to work

After a week of freedom, filled with po-boys & other foods, ferry rides, and adventuring about, James headed back to Capdau this morning. I wonder what his students will teach him today.

mouse in our house

Who knew that when I wished for a new, little pet to love, it would come in the form of a teeny, tiny gray mouse? Minnie has taken up residence in our kitchen under the stove. She scurries about in the evening, sneaking out to grab a crumb here and there. She doesn't seem to mind if we are in the room as long as we don't make loud noises. I am trying to convince James to make her his class pet, though he hasn't taken the bait yet. Last week I thought a dog would be a great addition to his class. So far, I haven't convinced him that we should have cats or dogs living with us. But Minnie came of her own free will and she is too quick to be caught by human hands, so that means she gets to stay for awhile. This morning I was thrilled to find her teeny footprints scattered all over the surface of our oven in the leftover grease from the amazing tuna James cooked last night. A happy reminder to James that it is important to clean the stove after cooking:) Minnie is really improving our quality of life; she gives us something to talk about besides school and work, she provides hours of entertainment for James who expends a lot of energy trying to catch her, and she makes us keep things extra clean in the kitchen. And if all goes as planned, she may even be the thing that allows me to get a kitten. I'll keep you posted.

Po-boy fest reflections

Los Poboycitos













Amanda Shaw












Some thoughts on Po-boy Fest:
Too many people (like way too many - over 10,000 along a very narrow street - Oak St.)
Not enough po-boys... Is it possible that po-boy fest actually highlighted other types of food?
Excellent jambalaya!!!!!!
6 hours of nearly non-stop fantastic music - Los Poboycitos, Amanda Shaw & the Iguanas (there was another stage, but once we claimed a spot, we never moved again)
Perfect weather
James scored a great t-shirt
Great place to run into friends, co-workers and neighbors (because over 10,000 people were standing in a 5-block area....)
We actually went home and cooked dinner - most likely not what is supposed to happen after a food festival....

Trouble the Water

According to Kathy's recent comment, Trouble the Water, made the Oscar documentary short-list, meaning that they may be eligible for an Academy Award nomination! If you haven't seen this movie, please try to! It is worth your time, your energy and your $$. This film is about real New Orleans people and about Katrina victims and survivors. It is powerful.

And, on another note, Po-boy Fest, here we come!!!!

sensory overload

My brain has not been able to process all of the things that have been going on over the past week or two, therefore, though countless stories are yet untold - I can't even begin to put together the pieces to make sense of them. James and I are doing well - though never more ready for a vacation than we are right now. He gets a week at Thanksgiving and I am insanely jealous. We spent last Sunday sitting in the sun outside - not really doing anything - just being quiet - he may have read a little - we played catch late in the afternoon - I napped - other than that - I can't remember if we did anything. I could use a few more days like that. I'm actually looking past Thanksgiving to our Christmas break and dreaming of the time to find a warm, sunny spot of solitude. I love New Orleans - I am constantly amazed at what this city offers and what it demands.

Some photos of quiet things in and around New Orleans....

ship passing on the river...

the swamp.

View from my window

It's raining today. Clouds keep streaming by over the french quarter and toward the Mississippi.
The building on the left is the previous School of Public Health - it is not abandoned. I-10 runs along the top left of the photo. The Iberville Housing Project is central in the photo.
Old School of Public Health - my bribery/near towing incident took place where you see the line of cars parked. The white lines are the crosswalk - I was parked a few feet closer to the crosswalk than the silverish, white car.

Offering bribes?

You never know what you might do until actually faced with a situation. For example, I've never imagined myself offering a bribe. I've traveled a lot and haggled and given tips and understood that money sometimes equals better service, but I've never had anyone say to me "What can you do to make it worth my while?" That is, until yesterday when watching my Jeep get strapped to a tow truck to be pulled off to car prison for a parking infraction.

Earlier that day, I drove to work with loads of food for a morning meeting - I was thrilled to find on-street parking less than a block from my office with no scary signs warning me of tickets and towing. I parked, gathered my thing, and buzzed off to the office.

At one point during the day, I looked out from 23rd floor window down at my Jeep and noticed something envelope shaped on my windshield, but chose to ignore it because I couldn't see any problem with my parking situation.

When I exited the Tidewater building at 5:05pm, Mr. Tow-guy was lifting the back of my Jeep off the ground, as I realized the situation I began to run toward him and wave my arms for fear that I wouldn't get to him in time. I arrived just as he was climbing back into his truck to leave. I explained my mistake and pointed out that there was no sign. He didn't care and replied simply "You should know the law." I asked for clarification. "The law that says you can't park within 20 feet of a crosswalk." I asked politely for forgiveness - I explained that I normally bike to work - that I had heavy items in tow - that I was new to the city - that I really, really, really didn't want him to tow my car. Nothing worked. So, I stood there - refusing to leave - at which point he made his request for money.

I was instructed to discretely walk to the cab of his truck and lay $20 on the seat and he would inspect my vehicle while I did so. I pulled out all of the money I had in my wallet, $16, and laid it on the seat. He walked up and looked over my shoulder and shook his head - "You're really making this hard for me - all the paperwork - all the hassle. Go on. Go on home now. Don't do it again."

I scurried off, waited for him to release my vehicle, and quickly drove away. I wonder how others might have handled it. Me, I'm really glad I had money in my wallet and that my car was still there when I walked out, I couldn't imagine visiting a tow lot in New Orleans at night.

Po-boys I have known and loved

James is on a quest to discover the best all-around po-boy sandwich in New Orleans (or in the Irish Channel/ Garden District neighborhoods of New Orleans, because that is where we live). I've joined him on this journey, because it is interesting to try new foods and, honestly, nothing else makes him as happy as procuring a sandwich and eating all of it on a Saturday afternoon. A lot of time and energy has been devoted to describing po-boys by others There is even a Po-boy festival upcoming this month (James won't know until he reads the blog)>

In our journeys, we've found that the corner grocery stores actually make the best po-boys at super-low prices. This week, we had Vicki's. Her specialty is the catfish po-boys, no butter and no mayo. Vicki's is on Magazine St. which makes it a nice easy bike-ride from our house. This week we traveled from the grocery to the library on St. Charles to sit in the grass and watch people go by as we happily ate and discussed our food. I eagerly await James' update about the newest location that we'll try, though he's already selecting some as his favorite and we've visited those more than once. So, our survey may be wrapped up more quickly than anticipated. I'll keep you posted.

Duct tape

If you ask a kid to close his mouth because he is talking too much and then realize that the kid thinks he can't close his mouth because he doesn't understand that he can actually breathe through his nose without the assistance of said mouth - what do you do? You instruct the kid to hold his lips together with his fingers and practice breathing in and out through the nose and you follow with a demonstration. Which, interestingly, isn't sufficient for proving that the kid can survive with a closed mouth, because the kid tries to mimic your methods, but repeatedly and frantically lets go of his lips and gasps for air. However, if the kid (being the genius that only a kid can be) asks for some tape - to secure his own mouth for this new and exciting experiment - and you just happen to have some duct tape on the desk for some other reason. It's only for the sake of science that you peel off a couple of inches and hand it to the kid. The duct tape becomes a learning apparatus - a tool used to enhance a kid's ability to see clearly that a person with a duct-taped mouth, can, in fact, breathe through their nose and survive. If the kid is so thrilled by the experiment that he wants to leave the duct tape on his mouth for the remainder of the class - and you "reluctantly" agree. It is only for scientific purposes - to continue to gather data about how long a person can live and breathe with no air movement through their mouth. If class enthusiasm is at an all time high because of the duct tape experiment and other students beg to be included.... well..., science is pretty wonderful, isn't it?

A moment in history

James and I don't have a television or the internet in our home (our way of remaining sane and focused), so last night we ventured out to Parasol's, a neighborhood bar/restaurant, to watch the election unfold. While there, the people sitting next to us struck up a conversation. They were a couple from across the river in Gretna who decided to come to Parasol's because this was the stomping grounds of the gentleman's grandfather. This was his grandparents and parents neighborhood growing up - the family lived in close proximity to one another - all within a few blocks of the place we were sitting. His family moved across the river when he was a teenager, but he returned often to pay tribute to his grandfather. As he was talking, he suddenly pointed to the wall just behind me and said "Do you see that box over there?" We looked over to see an opening covered with particle board just behind the standing cooler/refrigerator, which now holds canned and bottled beverages. "Blacks used to have to order through that window. Even though the door was open - they couldn't come inside - they had to stand in line out there. My granddad used to tell me about that."

Half an hour later - James and I watched as Barack Obama won the electoral votes of our country and was announced the 44th President-Elect of the United States of America. We traversed three generations of a family's and a nation's history in just a few minutes and we watched as the world celebrated a victory that cannot be described with words.

little friends

Yesterday I arrived home and was walking through the kitchen, when I looked out of my window to see my neighbor and his little boys, waving their arms wildly from their driveway - beckoning for me to come outside. Not sure if it was an emergency, I rushed out the front door only to be met by my little friends who had already rounded the corner from their gate and were rushing toward ours.

I opened the gate and was immediately surrounded by small happy boys jumping up and down and yelling "This is for you - this picture is for you!" "This is for James - this picture is for James!" The smallest, having no school picture to share, jumped up and down and waved his arms back and forth saying "Hi Hector - Hi - Hi Hector!!! (Sometimes, they call me Hedder, but mostly they get my name confused with Hector, who is a character on their favorite cartoon - Thomas the Train)


The little jumping boys decided it was play and planting time, and tried to muscle their way into the backyard to dig in the dirt. I love my neighbors...

NOLA Halloween

After work on Friday, James and I sat on our front porch watching people go by. We hoped for trick-or-treaters, but was told that all of the kids in our hood pile up in cars and vans to head over to the Garden District where the candy is coveted - and the decorations are to die for.

At about 6pm, we set to work on our costumes, which involved painted faces and draped fabric - he in ghostly white, me in haunting black - (photos to follow) - After reaching a point of satisfaction with our outfits, we went back to the porch and actually had one little girl of about three years wander over to somehow imply without words that she had a bag and that candy belonged in it. She received a bounty being our one and only customer (and I didn't let James scare her - though he really wanted to).



Our neighbors were having a party across the street, so we decided to do front door delivery of candy. We must have looked pretty interesting - walking over - I saying "trick-or-treat" repeatedly and James booing - arms in the air. At some point, one of the group outside, yelled, "It's the neighbors! Get your camera!" Chaos ensued - children ran about - adults complimented our costumes - photos were taken - candy was shared.

We headed off to the french quarter on our bikes (not an easy task with the flowing fabric) - stopping to watch the Halloween parade and catch some beads - then to look at others in festive attire - arriving in the french quarter to the most fabulous costume party I have ever witnessed. Jellyfish with glowing tentacles, walking broccoli and cauliflower, giant carebears, presidential candidates, adam and eve, skeletons, forest nymphs, knights, queen elizabeth and her ladies in waiting, a television, it is a blur of one amazingly decorated person after another.

Hours went by and we only had to walk along Frenchman street and look at every person on display. This is the beginning of festival season in New Orleans.

Trick-or-treat

Ray Nagin Float


Teacher dress up



Mr. McDonald's students

public health

I’m currently in San Diego for the American Public Health Association Annual meeting. Learning about my new professional field – public health. I know it has been confusing to those who read the blog – I left UF and the International Center to come to New Orleans to be a teacher – and instead, took a job at a wealthy, private university as the manager of a leadership training program. Seemingly bizarre – I know.

Here’s the background – a year ago, I read a book “Mountains beyond mountains: The story of Paul Farmer – a man who could cure the world.” (title may not be exact) - the book opened my eyes to a world of public health inequities that I had never wrapped my mind around before. I was overwhelmed and inspired by Farmer, a doctor who focuses his work on curing infectious diseases in populations of the extremely poor – predominantly Haitian peoples. I started to investigate the organization, Partners in Health, that he founded.

I began taking Spanish classes (though still struggling with this) and reading more about public health both in the United States and abroad – with the idea that my interest in international studies, education, management, and even the arts could somehow fit together to lead me in the right direction.

I didn’t imagine that I would be a health professional, but possibly an administrator or educator for public health programming. When James and I decided to look into moving to New Orleans – I am interested in teaching in public school at some level, but I believe that I can have a larger impact by using the skills that I have outside of a typical school setting.

When applying for a variety of teaching positions, I also looked into the university setting and, on a whim, applied for a job that I in no way thought I was qualified for – a program manager for a graduate-level leadership training program in Tulane’s school of public health and tropical medicine. I went on the interview and took one look around and asked myself “what am I doing here? I didn’t come to New Orleans to work in a university,” and turned around to leave - at the same moment that the director walked out to greet me. Exactly two hours after the completion of our interview - she called to offer me the job.

Three months later, I am sitting in the San Diego airport waiting for my flight back to New Orleans. I’ve spent five days being filled with new information about public health in the US and abroad – meeting doctors, administrators, and educators. Learning how health policy is made and how public health initiatives are funded (or not) by the government and private organizations. Again, I’m overwhelmed and inspired.

My job has been a roller coaster of meeting new people, learning new terminology, revitalizing a program that was withering away due to nearly a half year of neglect, teaching a graduate level course, identifying and managing scholarships and their recipients. So much has been happening that I was wondering if I was working in public health or in just another office environment.

This trip and my regular interaction with my students over the past couple of weeks, have helped me to begin to ground myself in the reality that is my current career. I do not know where it will lead me, but I know I’m on the right path. You'll hear more about this as I weave my way through this new endeavor.

Mr. McDonald's Pocket Hood Dictionary

James' students have been teaching him how to converse with other people in the hood. One motivated student compiled the definitions into two dictionaries for him - a full-size and a handy pocket sized. Here are some of the helpful tidbits included.

Whats up? Whats popin? Whats good? = hello, hey, hi

homie, son, potner = boy

that what up. for show. = that's good

I got the munchies. I got that good. Where the grub at? What they got to snack on? = food talk

I starving dog. = I'm hungry.

Who dey? = calling somebody

Holla back. = Call me.

chillin. coolin = taking a break.

chill. = stop.

cool out. chill out = cool down.

peace out. see you. = good bye.

bounce. roll out. split out. get out. = leave.