Surprise!

Friends of my parents who I have known most of my life, came into town on Friday. I was invited to go out to dinner with them that evening. When I arrived at the time share where they are staying, they began showing me around the lovely apartment in the French Quarter. When they opened the door to show me the second bedroom, and turned on the light, there were both of my parents! What a wonderful Surprise!!!

Yesterday, we went on the Natchez, which is an old steam powered paddle boat, which gives wonderfully informative tours of the area along the Mississippi River. As I walked through the French quarter in New Orleans with four other Rhode Islanders, I noticed a lot of tourists wearing Philadelphia shirts, in anticipation for football game (for a moment elements of all of the places I call home converged.) In the evening, my parents and their friends came to meet the sisters I am staying with, and got a tour of the house, had chili (not dad) and King Cake. The piece of King Cake I ate, had a little plastic baby in it; next year between Epiphany and Mardi Gras, everyone is invited to a party I will host in Philly!

I am not a football fanatic, in fact I generally don't follow the game at all. However when I heard that team from the city I am currently living, would play the city where I have lived for the past 10 years and officially still do, I felt excited. I decided I would cheer for both teams, as I did, a couple of years ago when the New England Patriots played the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. In reality I did find myself cheering more for the Saints, because they have never ever even made it to the Super Bowl and were previously in the playoffs only one time in their entire history; I think it is in my nature to root for the underdog. I often question the amount of money and resources that go into professional sports when they are many basic unmet needs, however, although I would probably prioritize things differently myself, the Saints doing so well is providing hope and a sense of excitement and a pride to a city that is still in many ways in shambles, which is a very good thing indeed. When the Saints won I witnessed tears of joy in the eyes of some very faithful fans who have stuck by them for years despite their lack of success. I, who usually could not care less about such things, hope the Saints make it to the Super Bowl and win, if for no other reason than this city needs something to celebrate.

I am so grateful for my parents' visit. After a very draining week at work, I feel like I have been on vacation yesterday and today, which is truly a gift! Included are a few pictures I took this weekend.