Louisiana...not so lousy after all

So, I finally made my first trip over to see where Robert is living and working for now. I had to go to his business Christmas party and be the good little Southern Wifey, which I thought would be pretty hard, but I knew I had to do it. And, while I was there, I got see some interesting parts of Louisiana that I didn't really know about before. I'm not sure I can be logical in my thoughts on the last 36 hours, but I'll try. I took the more scenic route from New Orleans down to highway 90 West instead of trying to fight what I understand to be horrible traffic in Baton Rouge. I am SO glad I took this route because I got to see the agricultural side of Louisiana. It was really quite beautiful and it was really neat to see the cane fields in all different points in their growth process: from newly tilled to burning off the leftover stalks. I even got to see it being harvested and carried away in huge truckloads! It was so cool! I also had lots of fun driving over the swamps and rivers (or creeks?) along the way. It was just beautiful-even with all the moldy trailers, beat up trucks, and randomly falling down houses along the way. When I reached Abbeville I met Robert "in town" which is basically Wal Mart, Chilis, Macdonalds, and a few gas stations. It's not bad, just ugly. Robert took me to his trailer by driving through the old Down Town, which was really cool because it reminded me of home (Maine) if it weren't a tourist town trying to be too pretty. It was rundown, but it had character and a very old, classic feel to it. Then, just outside of town, on the way to Robert's trailer and the Yard, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere...nowhere being rice fields during the summer and crawfish ponds during the winter! Apparently they pump water from the bayous into the spent rice fields and then grow crawfish in them! Isn't that neat? It is really odd to just come upon miles of ponds with a house every once in a while. Neato! And whenever there was a house there were beautiful Live Oaks...GORGEOUS!

When we finally got to Robert's trailer, which is down a road, through a field and around the corner from a tiny RV park, we were about 20 minutes out into the middle of nowhere, which I Find really funny considering his Yard is 3 more miles further down the road.:) The trailer, which is, yes, covered in mold on the outside, isn't quite so bad inside. Aside from the turquoise walls in the majority of the house and the horribly ugly bathrooms and the lack of wall decorations it really isn't that bad. The trailer is very big with a great kitchen and living room (although it is very EMPTY) and an awesome TV and pretty good air conditioning system. Bud (Robert's former boss and roomate) has a bedroom and bathroom on one side of the trailer and Robert has a bedroom and bathroom on the other side of the trailer. The mattressses and furniture and towels are all new...but it's so hard for me to see Robert living in such an unhomey empty space! If Bud didn't do such a great job cooking dinners so Robert has something to eat when he comes home...I don't know what I would do. I am just going to have to get a few things to make the place a little better...even if it's just for my own sake on my few visits there.:0

The Christmas Party was so much better than I thought it would be. I was dressed in my best Pretty Southern Wife outfit with a very nice display of cleavage to live up to the image that I have apparently acquired by being Robert's 26 year old wife...yeah, apparently Robert is the Hero of the yard for having such a lovely young wife.:) I think it's hilarious! But, I figured I would play the part for the night and I was surprised at how well I did with the small talk and the circling of the room to make sure I spoke with everyone. I was a little thrown off by the first questions of "Are YOU French?" and the ridiculous showings of money by a few of the wives, but, once I was introduced to everyone and they all got to observe me for a few minutes they loosened up and I was surprised to find that, underneath the makeup, the expensive jewelery, and the "french" accents and last name pronounciations, these folks were crass and hilarious and major drinkers! Robert had been warning me all night about his boss Jason, who apparently has a bit of a dirty mouth and a love for embarrassing people. I was a little nervous because I'm not exactly good at being teased or being quick with a comeback, but I held my own and I guess he decided to behave because we just really had a lot of fun. It would have been a really awesome night if I hadn't been so tired from the 5 hour drive that I actually became physically shaky at about 10 o'clock and had to go home or who knows what would happen. BUT I made it through the whole night without spilling anything, dropping anything, tripping, or making any verbal mistakes! I really couldn't believe it! And all the people that Robert works with are really really nice, so I'm relieved to find that out. I also think they all really liked me, so that's a relief too. I felt super guilty about being the first to leave because I was trying so hard not to be my tired self, but Robert was okay with it because he had been up since 4am.:)

This morning we went to the Global Maritime Yard, which was really cool for me because I've never been in a place like that. Granted, it's not really a Shipyard, but it's still cool, small, but cool. Robert's building is the main focus of the yard, so, as soon as we walked in he had his guys pulling him aside to ask questions and give reports on progress...it was so great to see him as the Guy In Charge and to see how all the guys really respect him and everything. It was also cool to see what he does every day; they were putting some of the walls onto the building as I watched. They have to do so many different things to get these jobs done! WOW! And I got to see what Bud will be doing once Robert gets the structural stuff down: these marine living quarters are actually pretty cool-just a stripped down version of living quarters on a cruise ship. I am SO glad I got to see the yard and what Robert does every day! It makes me feel so much more a part of his life when he's gone.

After the yard we drove down the road that Robert lives on and found an amazingly beautiful swamp and met a few armadillos, which was cool because I've never seen one ALIVE on the side of the road before.:) I wish I could have stayed another day, but I'm sure I'll get another chance to take a trip over there.







THINGS I THOUGHT WHILE IN LOUISIANA:
1) Southern LA is Big Truck Country...you haven't seen anything until you go there!
2) There is a heliport behind the walmart in Abbeville...WEIRD! But, I guess it's because there are lots of oil rigs off the coast.
3) I just cannot get over the weird accent that Cajuns have. It's indescribeable, really. It's almost like having a lisp, but not quite, and I swear that they do it just to be different. It's weird.
4) I really LOVED the drive on hwy 90-long, but really pretty!
5) They have these crazy drawbridges that go STRAIGHT UP! The first one I came to was so big that I thought I was coming up to an army fort entrance...freaked me OUT!
6) There are some awesome fallen down buildings, which are still half standing next to brand new houses which are next to gas stations...the houses in Abbeville were so oddly set: like tornadoes keep coming through and dropping houses from all over the country into these little LA towns.
7) They're opening a new Lowe's in Abbeville!










I'm sure there more, but I can't remember. I'll add more later.