New Canaan Country School New Orleans 2025
April 21, 2025
When we arrived in New Orleans we were met with a comfortable heat and blue skies and then right on queue, it began to violently rain. Twas cold but we remedied our chilliness with some warm Vietnamese food. We took a little walk around the Bayou Sauvage where we became soaked, but ran for cover laughing and smiling with joy. We then headed for our swamp tour where we were a little cold and had a wardrobe change into sweats and dry clothes due to torrential downpour. We bought yellow and pink peep colored ponchos that were extremely stylish. After we got onto the boat, Mrs. Carroll impressed us greatly by conversing in German with a family of Swiss-German folks on the tour with us. The ponchos proceeded to rip until they were practically unusable, but we were grateful for the temporary insulation they provided. We saw a huge alligator named Sydney, many unique birds, and some friendly locals. We then proceeded to name the rest of the gators we saw after Australian cities as well: Melbourne, Perth and Canberra! We saw an alligator fight a raccoon over the marshmallows we were feeding them. We then headed to the Garden District, ate hotdogs and watched Family Guy. As we headed back to our cabins, we listened to Cha Cha and Merengue music – Matt might teach us how to dance to them later in the trip! Then we arrived at our cabins and realized that the previous tenants had likely cooked many a crawfish, leaving a rather interesting smell, but nonetheless, the sunset reflecting on the bayou took our breath away.
By Clare and Caroline
April 22, 2025
We started off the day with an early wake up to see the sunrise. It sucked us in like a palette of colors and we stared at it till it had risen. As a cabin we walked over to our teachers cabin and made sandwiches and had some protein packed eggs for breakfast, they were expensive. We left the cabins around eight and headed straight over to the Mardi Gras recycle plant. The recycle plant helps to employ intellectually disabled people. Once we got there, we were met with warm welcomes. We immediately got to work sorting beads. We did them by size and had a fun time while doing it. After we switched sections and started working on small toys called trinkets that are also thrown, they were kept in giant bins, we met a friend named Jabari and he ate lunch with us.
In the afternoon, we went to the Tree of Life where we got to talk about the history of it and why it means so much to the people of New Orleans. We talked about how old the tree was and how the massive oak was growing its branches into the ground. After that, we spent some time relaxing in the area playing football, walking around, and climbing the branches where we proceeded to rest. Then we drove to the sculpture garden and got to see the wide variety of different pieces they had to offer us. We then got back to the cabin and ended the day with tasty tacos that I prepared and nachos for dinner. We’re now going to bed to prepare for our exciting day tomorrow.
By Miles and Val
April 23, 2025
We started the day by taking a wonderfully humid walk to breakfast in our floating cabin on the bayou. After the scrumptious meal, we promptly departed to Whitney Plantation. We arrived and viewed the enslaved people’s quarters; we learned that these quarters were used until the 1970s because after Emancipation they were for wage-earning workers. We also learned about the horrific conditions the enslaved people faced as sugar-cane workers. Then we saw the big house. The plantation owners who built the house had commissioned a formally retired European painter to paint the exterior wall of the house to look like Italian marble in order to flaunt their wealth. We viewed the gardens, which had been built not in the 1800s, but in the 1970s. We then headed to lunch where we enjoyed Po boys and Gumbo. After lunch we headed to Studio BE. We enjoyed the art which included portraits in spray paint of civil rights leaders such as John Lewis, MLK, and Malcom X. Once we departed the studio we went to the French quarter where we explored the historic neighborhood. We then met back up at Jackson Square and headed to enjoy live jazz music and eat empanadas. After eating our delicious empanadas, we walked back to the festival where we were serenaded by various DJs and a live band while we browsed the arts and crafts for sale. On our way back to the van we were fortunate enough to watch a Lamborghini being towed due to the fact it had illegally parked. Finally we ventured back to our temporary abode to relax and sleep.
By Asher and Ella
April 24, 2025
We started the day off doing the usual making and eating breakfast and got into the van to hit the city. After a little drive, we arrived to the hurricane Katrina and Mardi Gras museum. We walked each and every inch of it seeing all the beautiful things it has to offer and admiring everything it had in there. It really made you think about how much suffering these people had to go through from this terrible disaster. The class then wrote a reflection from the questions we were asked about to look back on everything we had just learned. Matt then got us some very good beignets from Cafe Du Monde that the whole class really enjoyed and we got powdered sugar all over our clothes.
After the great time at the Katrina museum, we all went upstairs to see a different exhibit of the Mardi Gras krew costumes. Then we walked to Congo square in Armstrong park. We talked a little bit about how Hurricane Katrina connects to modern civil rights. We walked Treme district where we went to Li’l Dizzy’s cafe. We were able to get some delicious fried chicken smothered okra. After that, we walked to the New Orleans African American Museum where we tried the calas which is the original recipe for beignet. Which is used “fried rice” but it is not what you think. We also looked at more Mardi Gras upstairs. Later on, we went to a cemetery in order to experience the unique New Orleans methods of honoring people who have passed. Since the water table is so high, people are interred in mausoleums and tombs above ground rather than in the ground. We walked around incredibly ornate tombs filled with names of people from all over the world. It was an interesting and stark contrast to the way enslaved people were remembered at Whitney Plantation.
Next, we drove all the way across town for some bowling! We all had a lot of fun battling against our chaperone Matt. We also played in their arcade and soon we had to go back to the cabins. Overall, it was a great day and I would do it again!
-Nico and Nate
