Hello! My name is Everett, and I’m a rising senior studying Biomedical Engineering and English. I’m truly scared typing the words “rising senior” because I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, but working with my partnership in New Orleans has given me much to think about these last few weeks. I’m working at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum teaching a Kid’s Cooking Camp which focuses on introducing children to the culture, history, and nutrition surrounding the food they are eating. We’ve had two successful camps thus far, and I have to say I’m learning more from these 7- to 11-year-olds than I ever thought possible. Here’s an obvious statement: everyone eats; however, I don’t think many of us take the time to consider the cultural connections or origins of the meals we eat. The food of New Orleans, as with food many places, is connected to colonialism, slavery, and poverty. I’m thinking more about these crosswires and hoping to get the campers doing the same.
This city really does feel different. Surging and fierce, the Mississippi River keeps the city in check from the French Quarter to Uptown. A bulge, a swell and the rain washes in. The beads glisten in the trees, the boys beat buckets as drums in Jackson Square. When I run in Audubon Park, the bugs graze my sweatslick flesh in the burning shade. I like it here; I hope the city likes me back.