Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras!
I am late updating the blog because since Friday evening until this afternoon, I have been spending most of my time uptown by the parade route.

In Philadelphia, people call today, the day prior to Ash Wednesday, Donut Day and someone will typically bring donuts to work.
The Irish call today Strove Tuesday and eat pancakes.
Well, while I deeply respect the cultures of my community and my family, neither tradition compares with Mardi Gras as it is celebrated in New Orleans. Prior to coming here, I had a vague and inaccurate image of the holiday (I actually did not even think of it as a holiday.) It is so much of a holiday that my office was closed today and everyone also had the choice of taking either Monday (Lindi Gras) or Ash Wednesday off as well (since we were not at work nobody could bring in donuts, but not to worry we have been eating king cake for a month at work, and someone brought delicious donuts to the parades this morning.)
My previous inaccurate image of Mardi Gras was of a crowd of drunk people wearing beads. In reality, It is an experience which one must have to understand. It felt to me like a giant family party that the entire city celebrated together which lasted days. Most of the time is spent sitting outside waiting for the parades while meeting people, eating, cooking outdoors, laughing, catching up with others, walking up and down St. Charles Ave, and watching children play. It is a peaceful and happy occasion.
Many locals, especially the sisters here, have pointed out that much of the publicity for Mardi Gras, for example what is typically shown on the national new, shows the French Quarter. There are no parades in the French Quarter and most of the people there are tourists, who tend to get drunk and act crazy. The real celebrations however, are the parades which are truly family events.

A week ago there were tornadoes which touched down in parts of the city. I was fortunate not to be in an area directly effected. There was some serious devastation in neighborhoods which are in the process still of rebuilding from Katrina. My initial reaction to this was a sense of discouragement. A week after tornadoes people are celebrating Mardi Gras. This may have seemed strange to me before, but I am realizing more and more that while we should not deny the pain of such events, we also need to celebrate whatever we have that is worth celebrating and there is always something to celebrate. I believe that healing happens when people come together to be together, and Mardi Gras seems to be that for the city of New Orleans.