Note: This blog was formerly Ms. enPlace, which I wrote for almost 7 years. After taking almost 3 years off, I changed the focus a bit.
This is my story of life in Louisiana. Living in Cajun country.
In many ways Cajun culture is unique.
Our food is different...etouffees, gumbos, jambalayas, boudin, cracklin', boulettes, rice & gravy.
We eat weird things (and we don't care if you think it's weird)...alligator, frog, ponce, hog's head cheese, turtle, tasso.
Meals are events. Crawfish boils, boucheries, cochon de laits. If there's even a small reason for cooking up something and inviting people over, we jump on it. Mother's day. A birthday. A Friday. The weather's nice. We love to cook, eat, and spend time together.
We have our own music. Cajun chank-a-chank full of accordions, fiddles, and French words I don't understand. Zydeco with accordions, washboards, and soul. Swamp Pop for when you want to hold your baby close and dance.
There's a secret code. We say things that we understand, but other people don't. "Ya'll get down" has nothing to do with dancing. It means ya'll come on in and stay a while. "Saving" the laundry doesn't meant something is about to go very wrong with your unmentionables. It means we're putting the laundry away.
We hold tight to our traditions. Cajun Mardi Gras (much different from New Orleans Mardi Gras) is still celebrated with masked riders and lots of community involvement.
We will always ask about ya' mama an 'em and make a quick pass to visit.
In many ways Cajun culture is just like your culture.
Scratch the specifics.
You have special foods where you live. Might not be gumbo, jambalaya, or boudin. But I'm betting there's something special to your area. Maybe even something other people find weird. And you eat it anyway.
I bet ya'll gather for events too. Maybe you don't boil crawfish on Mother's day, but maybe you BBQ or take mama out to eat.
Maybe you've never listened to zydeco, but there's likely some regional music where you are.
And admit it, ya'll say funny things that outsiders question.
Traditions. You have them too. So maybe no one is riding around on horses in costumes and masks begging for gumbo ingredients. But ya' got something, I'm sure.
And when you talk to neighbors and friends, I'm guessing you ask about their family's well-being. (And if you don't, you should.)
When you live it everyday, sometimes it's hard to see what you have that's special. I didn't realize what we have down here until I lived outside of Louisiana for about 12 years. I didn't realize the uniqueness of my culture…the people, the food, the music, until I didn't have it.
So here I am living in the middle of rural Cajun country. I literally live next to crawfish ponds, rice, and sugarcane fields. We raise chickens. We grow a decent size garden. We cook outside on nice evenings as often as we can. It's all going to be laid out here.
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