Monday Musings

by Solveig Geesey

Our day started with an early morning and a walk to the much anticipated restaurant "Mother's.". This "southern home-cooking" gave us the exact energy we would need to get through the rest of the day.

The next activity for the day was to take a tour of an authentic Louisiana swamp. But before we could even begin our walk, Jocelyn and I realized we had forgotten our money back in the hotel and needed to go back and get it. Normally this would have been a minor setback but because of a miscommunication with directions it became an exhausting, overwhelmingly hot, neverending hike.

Finally we arrived at the swamp and boarded the tour boat. The tour was really fun and interesting. Our guide narrated the entire ride informing us of all the different kinds of wildlife and history of the wetlands. We were able to see over 15 alligators throughout the tour.

Our last stop for the day was the French Quarter. We ate beignets at Cafe Dumonde and had a final Cajun meal at Cafe Maspero. There were so many shops to go in and hundreds of unique cultural things to see.

Today definitely had distinguished highs and lows but, ironically, the song that kept coming into my head was the one we had sang previously at the gathering, "I get down, He lifts me up...". I believe although we had to go through some uncomfortable situations, it was these situations that made the good experiences even more memorable. God is amazing and has shown me throughout this week that he can work through whatever way he sees fit. That is why we always have to keep our eyes and hearts open, so we can be ready to embrace God's love in any form at any time. This trip was truly an unexpected blessing and showed me that even a city like New Orleans, one who has been hit with so much disaster, can be rebuilt and made new with the help of God.
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