The Journey

Tomorrow I embark on a 3-day paddle trip down the Bayou!

The Bayou is a fork of the Mississippi river that runs through the southern part of Louisiana. Though, the Bayou is also the name for the entire region surrounding this body of water. The Bayou was once a bustling transportation and trade route. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, settlers from all over the world joined the resident Native Americans along the Bayou. The Bayou region took on a unique culture ...part of this culture is called "Cajun culture". Many residents of the Bayou region still refer to themselves as cajuns. For years pirates and traders swarmed the coastal waters. But, after the damming of the Bayou Lafourche from the Mississippi in 1904, the water quality and the Bayou's significance in the eyes of the public began to erode. In the 1950s the Bayou was reconnected to the Great River, but with much less flow than that of the old days. Though, the Bayou is no longer a major transportation route it is the source of drinking water for over 300,000 citizens. Although, the lower Bayou still sees much commerce and residents all along the whole water body use the Bayou for fishing, crabbing, and boating, the environmental importance of the Bayou is still largely ignored. And, this wetland region is disappearing faster than any other place on Earth! A half-acre of coastal land turns to open water every 15 minutes!! To learn more about the Bayou click here.

The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program started a paddling trip down the Bayou in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of this unique environment. It is 54.4 mile 4-day canoe paddling trek and camping trip! We are only staying 3 days though.

There are five of us going: Granny, Taylor, Taylor's brother Patrick, Taylor's friends Franics & Chris, and me.

I will not have internet access for the next few days. But, I will keep a journal and post entries when I return.

Sincerely,
Jessica Rimington

This afternoon Taylor and her grandmother ("Granny") took me to the French Quarter of New Orleans!

On our drive there we passed an odd collection of what appeared to be small stone buildings. "Do you know what that is?" asked Granny. "No," I replied. "That's a Louisiana cemetery," she explained. "They have to put the tombs above ground in case of flooding." New Orleans is a city below sea-level that is constantly threatened by the possibility of floods. "Yeah, so you don't get floaters...dead floating bodies," added Taylor's brother. This visual image was enough to make me quite thankful for above ground tombs!

Taylor and I got out of the car to look around the old cemetery. We suddenly saw all these men in orange jackets running toward a specific tomb. There was some sort of security alert. Taylor and I followed the men and then snuck up behind to see what they were looking at. One of the tombs had been broken into and robbed! You could see straight inside the tomb!

The French Quarter was everything that I had imagined it to be. Narrow streets of old French-style apartment buildings... balconies that house potted plants whose leaves drape down the front of store buildings...little cafes that overlook the Mississippi river... large oak trees... live jazz music ... palm readers and vendors in the street... and open air markets. Taylor and I walked up and down the streets and occasionally went into a shop. I kept imagining I was back in time...like the Mark Twain era... what would the French Quarter have looked like then?

We stopped and watched a live jazz band and I got my palm read. The palm reader lady was very serious about her business (as most palm readers tend to be)...she was relatively accurate...but the things she said were very general and could apply to most anyone. She even offered to channel a dead relative for me!...but that was additional money so I passed on the offer...haha.

We met Taylor's boyfriend for a snack at one of the cafes. I had a bignette for the first time! A bignette is a dough-like pastry with lots of powered sugar on top. It is a typical dessert product in New Orleans/Louisiana...but is not common food any other place in the U.S. It was delicious...but very filling!

When it started to become dusk, we met Granny by the park and went to visit their family friend who lives in one of the large apartments in the French Quarter. We walked up a narrow staircase and then entered their friend's nicely furnished house. It is a beautiful apartment! His name is Alan and beyond being a business man he also runs a nature preserve in Costa Rica where he lives part-time. We were able to go out on his balcony and look down at the main street of the French Quarter!

Sincerely,
Jessica Rimington

The Lake Area Middle School students wrote two very detailed and thoughtful Declarations today! They took the entire process extremely seriously. I introduced the concept and then stepped back to let them start...and they immediately went up to the board and drew a concept map. I could tell Ms. Meredith was very proud of her students. The Declarations were well written, articulate, and informative...but the part of the day I found most interesting was listening to the discussions as the students worked on the Declaration. I heard some very insightful conversations. They debated everything from gang violence, to the effect of littering, to whether a crime was really a crime if it did not directly hurt someone, to the benefits and draw-backs of different teaching techniques and approaches.

Taylor helped me film the students for the documentary to send to their sister-school. And, a group of students took me on a tour of Lake Area Middle School... one student operated the camera...while the others described different parts of their school. They filmed everything (even the boys bathroom). I think the Mongolian students will really enjoy watching the Lake Area Middle School documentary.

One student (who is interested in film production) was our primary "documenter" for the day...he took great pictures and even conducted his own interview!

It was sad to leave the Lake Area Middle School! The Real History Youth Group in Ulanbaataar is lucky to have them as a sister-school!

Sincerely,
Jessica Rimington