July 24, 2012
I would like to announce that I successfully cooked myself dinner tonight! I sauteed onion, tomato, squash and eggplant in olive oil, then mixed in Ragu for an extremely delicious spaghetti. I also spread pesto on a tortilla and baked that, AND I made sweet potato fries! I am so proud of myself for these extensive culinary accomplishments.
July 22, 2012
My last weekend in New Orleans! This summer has gone by so quickly. But I’ve seen and learned and done so much that it feels satisfyingly long too. This being the last weekend is definitely a bittersweet thing. On one hand, there are still things I didn’t get around to doing, plenty of restaurants I didn’t have time to visit, projects at work I don’t have time for. But on the other hand, I have been here for a solid eight weeks and I feel like I’ve made the most of it.
July 20, 2012
Thursday morning before work, Elisa and I ate breakfast at a really cute French bakery in the Quarter. Then we went to a Catholic Charities commodity drop where people were picking up boxes of free food. We walked from car to car, handing out flyers and explaining one of our outreach programs targeted at Louisiana Purchase cardholders. MarketMatch is a program where we match the dollar amount someone charges to their Louisiana Purchase card. So if they swipe their card for $20, we give them $40 in market tokens. It’s yet another wonderful program to bring low-income people to the market.
July 18, 2012
I thought about driving to the beach for a few hours on Monday. But from what I’ve heard, the closest beach with nice water and sand is Orange Beach in Alabama, three hours away. When my alarm went off at 7am, the thought of driving all that way by myself wasn’t enough motivation to make me get up. So I slept in and spent the day catching up on emails, writing letters, doing laundry, etc. Being about my business, as my high school history teacher would say.
July 16, 2012
You’d think that in a group of 12 college students, at any given time I’d be able to find at least one person willing to explore this city with me. I have found that is not so. The challenge of motivating friends to leave the house has been my biggest frustration this summer. I’ve learned that my housemates have vastly different priorities than me, and eating out in this food capitol doesn’t seem to be one of them. Or visiting major attractions, or spending a significant amount of time anywhere other than work and home. Krissi is the one person I can generally count on to be up for trying something new, so I’ve spent more time with her than anyone else.