Erica Zeno
Food
I can’t leave New Orleans before writing a little about the food here. Let’s be honest, I spend a good amount of time perusing menus and pictures of food on the websites of our Dining Out For Life restaurants. If I had copious amounts of disposable income, I would make it a point to eat out in New Orleans as often as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I always look forward to cooking with Zoya and Stephanie; we always make delicious meals! It’s just that dining in this city is unique. What impresses me the most is a chef’s ability to use or prepare food in an interesting way. (This is probably why I’m obsessed with the show Chopped.) Many restaurants here will take a southern staple, like grits for instance, and make them “fancy.” At Cochon, a Creole restaurant, I had a macaroni and cheese casserole and braised pork cheeks with grits, pickled chiles and crab broth. The whole meal was amazing! The grits were especially delicious. They were definitely the most fancy and expensive grits I’ve ever had! I’m used to grits with my breakfast or homemade shrimp and grits. We try to eat out on the weekends and so far, we’ve found some great places! I can’t believe we are halfway through our program! There are so many restaurants I still want to try!
One of the perks to working in the development department of NO/AIDS is that we are one of the only departments whose computers have access to all forms of social media. We are using Facebook as our main platform to inform the community about Dining Out For Life. I enjoy maintaining the organization’s page and tracking its progress since we've started our internship. It felt really good to turn in our social media plan to our supervisor last week. This is the first time anyone has developed and written out a specific social media plan to market events. They even intend to use it for future events. It’s nice to know that our work will have a positive impact on the organization in the future!
A Festival
Growing up I heard a lot about the huge Essence Festival in New Orleans. Although I wish I had the time (and money) to go to the whole thing, I am very glad that I made it to a small portion. I had no idea Essence Festival was more than a music festival! A group of us went to the enormous Convention Center, and attended two empowerment sessions. The sessions were free, which was awesome. Given all of the problems in New Orleans, namely the inequalities and poverty, these empowerment sessions had the potential to impact someone who is struggling. I’m not sure what the demographics were of the Essence audience, but I feel like these sessions could give someone that needs help some hope. The first session was about managing your personal and professional life and making sure to empower your children by communicating openly with them. The second panel we saw was my favorite. Bishop T.D. Jakes was there and he took us to church! Seriously. You could tell he was a preacher because he would start to get riled up and then say “Oh, don’t get me started,” and the audience would LOSE IT. He is one of the most inspirational speakers I have ever heard. He focused on the combination of instinct and intellect and the roles they play in achieving one’s goals. The session really made me reflect on my goals and the steps I need to take to make them happen. I could literally write a novel about how much his discussion moved me but instead I’ll post some of the things he said that I found particularly profound.
“You don’t have to explain creation to creative people.”
“Instinct and intellect are the wonder twins of destiny.”
“God should not have to set a bush on fire next to your couch for you to find your purpose.”
- Bishop T.D. Jakes
“You don’t have to explain creation to creative people.”
“Instinct and intellect are the wonder twins of destiny.”
“God should not have to set a bush on fire next to your couch for you to find your purpose.”
- Bishop T.D. Jakes