November sure was a busy month! Between friends and family coming to visit and Thanksgiving flying by, I can't believe it's already December and the semester is coming to a close. I was lucky enough this month to do some of my favorite things in the city: go to a Saints game and attend Poboy Fest, one of my all-time favorite New Orleans festivals (quite a feat, considering the fact that there are so many). It’s been a little harder to be a Saints fan this season as compared to other seasons, but I’m trying my best to stay optimistic for future games!

Thanksgiving was another great opportunity for me to learn about and enjoy all of the wonderful things the state of Louisiana has to offer. My grandparents live in a tiny town outside of Lafayette called Abbeville, where my mother and her siblings grew up. You drive through a few hours of sugar cane fields in order to finally reach a small cluster of buildings surrounded by other sugar cane fields. A few of the radio stations broadcasted mostly in Cajun French, which felt very much like being in a foreign country. However, if you’ve never tried boudin and/or cracklins, please stop whatever you are doing and attempt to find some. Two specialties of the Atchafalaya River basin that you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else, these are some of the tastiest (and fattening) foods I have ever tried. I ate so many cracklins that I made myself sick. I just couldn’t stop! Thankfully, the geographical distance that generally separates myself from the cracklin supply is substantial, so I think I can hold off until next Thanksgiving.