THINGS I HAVE LEARNED AND OBSERVED IN LOUISIANA

1. Crawfish, while delicious, are quite difficult to eat. Also, I had to suppress the wave of nausea that came over me whenever I looked at their little beady eyes and had to pull off their little legs. Eating them was definitely a unique experience. It was also an experience that lasted a long time - I couldn't get the smell off my hands for a good 24 hours.

2. I have not yet seen Brad, Angelina, Shiloh, Knox, Vivienne, Maddox, Pax, or Zahara (thanks, Wikipedia) wandering the streets of New Orleans. However, I do spend most of my time in the city inside the Tulane Medical School building, and my guess is that they do not frequent that spot often. If I do run into them, though, you as my faithful readers will be among the first to know. Right after I ask them why on earth you would name a baby Pax. I wonder if he has playdates with Coco Cox-Arquette and Apple Paltrow and Sunday Rose Kidman-Urban?

3. Cemeteries are closed on Sunday. Weird.

4. I am a really great tourist. Example: the time I dropped about twenty gold dollar coins (thank you, Stephen Marbut) on the sidewalk while running toward the streetcar. Luckily, Carrie, Jason, Mandy, and I were able to pick them all up and still catch the streetcar in time. Of course, it turned out to be a pointless endeavor because the cemetery to which it led us was closed, it being Sunday and all.

5. People are awful drivers here. I mean, AWFUL. It's the weirdest thing. Also, not only are they bad, they like to drive below the speed limit in the left lane on the interstate. It doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. I am beginning to see where Carrie gets her road rage.

6. Beignets are DELICIOUS. And if the line is super long at Cafe du Monde, wait in it anyway. The knockoffs across the street at "Cafe Beignet" are way overpriced and way not good. They're like fried bricks. And they skimp on the powdered sugar. However, the other Cafe du Monde in Metairie still serves up the same delicious food and coffee, just minus the ambiance/crowds of the original. We stopped there on our way to our test friday, and both Mandy and I made As. You better believe it will be a tradition from now on.

7. It is so unbelievably hot. All the time. At 9pm last night, after we finished our evening jog/walk, it was still 93 degrees. And DARK outside.

lousiana: a summer update

I'm currently writing this from the sleepy yet charming little town of Luling, LA. When I say "charming little town," I mean, "the street this house is on is charming, but it is surrounded by a fence because the gas station across the street is a happening spot for shootings, apparently." But what's life without a little fear, right? (Just kidding. I feel perfectly safe here.) 

In case anyone has not talked to me or stalked me in awhile, I'm repeating histology this summer at Tulane in New Orleans. Another girl in my class, Mandy, is also retaking the course and because she is super awesome and has really lucky connections, we are living with the Sirmon family. Mrs. Joette Sirmon is really sweet and cool to let us live in her house with her for six weeks while we commute into New Orleans to take our class. Her son, Tim, who I have never met, is dating Mandy's older sister, so that's how this all went down. Her other kids, Carrie and Steve, and their spouses all live in town and are over quite a bit and we have had a lot of fun. There are a lot of dogs around, too - Sadie lives here, but Zoe comes over with Carrie all the time and Steve drops Batman off a lot too. Confused yet? Thought so. Anyways, it worked out really well.

As far as histology - the reason we are here - it's been quite interesting so far. By "interesting," I mean that it is still the absolute most boring subject alive - but at least it's EASY this time! There is probably about 1/3 the amount of material we had to learn last semester from Bhatnagar, Kayes, et al. Not only is the material pared down to a reasonable amount for learning, it is taught so incredibly well! Everyone knows how much I complained about histo last semester and how horrible I thought the teachers were. But after seeing an organized PowerPoint taught in a cohesive manner and realizing just how easy this subject is, I am in awe that anyone even allowed those other guys to teach anything, ever. As I have told several people, I feel kind of like I failed a calculus class that was taught in Chinese, and as a result was told to retake pre-algebra. So it's not the most exciting class ever, and kind of awkward that we pretty much know everything they are teaching us, but it could definitely be worse.

Oh, speaking of awkward, did I mention that Mandy and I are the only ones taking the class?  Yeah.  Chew on that for a second.  I need some pointers, friends, as to how I can make myself pay attention.  It's kind of difficult, but obviously we have to because it is like a one-on-two tutoring session every day.  Fun times. 

In more exciting news, Carrie and her husband Jason are going with Mandy and I to do super fun stuff in the city this weekend. On the agenda: shopping, riding the streetcar, the Insectarium museum, something called the Pharmacy Museum (which is a bunch of old timey medical stuff apparently? yeah I'm a nerd), a super cool cemetery, Cafe du Monde (of course), seafood, and umm, probably more that I can't remember. I am very excited. I love being a tourist.  Also I am excited to wear all the cute clothes I brought - I am not getting very much wear out of them because 1) I do not care to dress up when Mandy and me and one professor are the only people I will see all day.  Sorry.  2) It is umm, maybe the temperature of Antarctica in our classroom.  Possibly colder but I am not sure, having never visited there.  I am in desperate need of a warm sweatshirt.  I think I will go to Wal-Mart tomorrow and buy one.   (I hope they sell them here - the outside temperature is like, at least 100 degrees with 400% humidity every day. No kidding.)  

Well, I'm exhausted from my busy night - I read two powerpoints, watched six episodes of Scrubs, and ate a slice of peanut butter toast.  Luling wears me out.    Adios, amigos.