Sunday, February 17, 2019

Today, we woke up (early, surprisingly), and reheated some waffles that CELSJR house chef Martha made for us earlier. At about 8:30, we set off for mass at St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson square. Afterwards, we walked around the square to a staircase that led up to the bank of the Mississippi river. Then, went to Café du Monde for beignets and Café au Lait. We waited in the long line to be seated. During our wait, Brendan, Ethan L. and Joe were conscripted by a local jazz band to join as back-up singers in their busking octet. They did remarkably well. They were almost as great as the beignets.… After chowing down on our beignets, we moved on to the French Market; here, we bought artwork, sunglasses, trinkets, gator meat, and other whimsical objects.

In front of St. Louis Cathedral following Mass

Outside Cafe du Monde, debut performance of Brendan, Ethan and Joe! 

Following our adventure through the French Quarter, we headed back to the CELSJR HQ, where we prepared ourselves for our first encounters with Mardi Gras festivities. We chose to spend our time playing Blackjack, Jurassic park Uno, and basketball, with the winners getting first shower rights (there is a dearth of hot water). We headed off to our Marti Gras party, hosted by a friend of CELSJR, followed by our first Mardi Gras parade, “‘tit Rex.” This parade is a petite version of the Mardi Gras parade staple “Rex.” The prefix ‘tit, is a diminutive abbreviation of the word petite used by Cajuns to denote the younger of two people who share the same name; it is thus pronounced “T Rex.” The parade was also literally petite, with the floats being roughly the size of a Radio Flyer red wagon. The bands were loud and flamboyant, as the mirthful crowds surrounded them.

Mardi Gras Parade 

We returned to our dormitory in the CELSJR HQ, and after another round of Jurassic Park Uno, set off to the Midway Pizzeria, where we were faced with a gauntlet of decadent pizzas. In a series of unfortunate miscalculations, we were left with overfilled stomachs, and sizable doggy-bags (or boxes, we guess). On our arrival back to our dorms, the winners of our past tribulations took the first, and possibly the only hot showers ­–it’s important to note that the water Is either as hot as Mustafar’s magma rivers, or as cold as the Hoth ice shelves– of the night This, sadly, is where our story ends.

So if we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended.

Thank you, and Goodnight!

Patrick Bole, Ethan Tran, and Puck…