Last weekend was the Louisiana seafood festival. It's a great opportunity to try things from restaurants that we will not be able to afford to eat at while in AmeriCorps. I was able to try a crawfish and spinach bread bowl, crawfish alfredo pasta, and deep-fried crab balls. There was also live music all day.

To beat the heat a little bit, we went down to the costume shop on Decatur. Kelley, Amy, and I posed together, and I think it's a good look for us. I've been telling some of you that I'm tanner than I've ever been, and here's proof. I think Mom might want to go back and see just how many Native Americans are in the family tree.
This is Kyle Woods, man, myth, and legend. He decided to relocate to New Orleans and drove down from Minnesota on his moped. Its top speed is 45 miles per hour. Kyle brought three pairs of clothes, a blanket, a pillow, and his iPod. He's been here a week and already has a job and a house. (The house is gorgeous, and I'll be posting pictures later.)

I found feather pants. Kelley liked them, too.

I told Kelley to give me her best model face. I think Elvis would approve of her choice of jacket.

Here's Kyle goofing around again. He was dismayed to find that he couldn't actually see out of the mask.

While AmeriCorps is fun, this past week has been extremely difficult. Our first paychecks were half of what we expected them to be. I've got precisely two dollars in my checking account to get me through next week, and I'm saving those dollars to be a McDonalds Dollar Menu-aire one of the days. Of course, I'd prefer to have money, but this is also a good experience. It's the only time that I'll actually (hopefully) experience poverty and make the tough choices about whether to buy gas or food. There's a safety net in knowing that I'm not actually going to starve, but it's still an experience that I know I'll take with me.

I've got a ton of great pictures from work that I'll be posting later. I've got a date today to go to the art museum, so I should probably start getting ready.