Wednesday, February 21, 2007

New Orleans Mardi Gras

It's great to see the city of New Orleans getting back on its feet. My buddy Sal Caserta '93 from the Corps and architecture classes had lost almost everything in Hurricane Katrina (including his house) and is rebuilding as well. As we overlooked the French Quarter from the top of a building, I told him that his and the city's souls are intertwined. He invited me to ride in one of the largest parades in the world- Endymon, Saturday night of Mardi Gras along with the rock bands Journey and Styx. Jonathan Cain, the keyboard player and songwriter of Journey and Tommy Shaw of Styx are two of my favorite musicians. I thoroughly enjoyed having conversations with them about their careers. Riding in the parade was amazing! People of all ages were screaming for you to throw beads for five hours straight! The beads and throws are paid for by the riders like me, so it truly is a community enhancement donation from the riders. It's pretty costly, but so awesome to see people light up (especially kids) when you pick them out of the crowd to throw something. I also spotted several Aggies and later had a great lunch with the Ross Volunteers. Sadly, the door of our float opened up and Sal fell out and fractured his pelvis. His mom, dad, and I spent all night in the hospital. It will take him a while to recover, but just like the city of New Orleans, he will be back on his feet in no time.