Sunday, January 10 - We've been in Cajun country for 5 days, and have gained a great deal of appreciation for the local culture. New Iberia, Breaux Bridge, Opelousas, Eunice, Mamou...if you come here some day, plan to spend a few days. Visit the museums or displays or events each town holds proud. Make sure you have a Saturday morning available in either Mamou or Eunice. Drive into the countryside and get a sense of the sugar growing area around New Iberia, and the rice growing area to the north, where we are now.

Think of the history. Kicked out of Nova Scotia in a most cruel way by the Brits in 1755, families torn apart as mother, father or children were placed on different ships going to different places. Ending up in France, or Haiti, or New England or the Carolinas, where they weren't welcomed. Many eventually ending up in Louisiana, then under Spanish control, coming in 1765 and for the next three decades, this before the Purchase in the early 1800s. Here they were welcomed, given land, and a chance under difficult conditions to start a new life.

Today, many of the people living here are true descendents of the early settlers. They are proud of their communities, proud of their heritage, and happy to share it with anyone who comes along. The small cities have excellent museum displays that outline their history, and must be visited. Their music captures the spirit, the language, the customs, and still serves as a central factor in family and community. Not unlike our Maritimes, music seems to be instilled in the individual from an early age. Last night at the local theatre, where we went to see a live radio broadcast being produced, people went to the front and danced. We went to a free cajun music performance in the afternoon, featuring a 16 year old accordian player and his band. And people danced. Same at the restaurant in Breaux Bridges. And get this. Yesterday morning we went to Fred's, a little bar in Mamou, where music starts at 9 on Saturday morning and goes til 1 p.m. The place was already full when we got there, the band going full tilt, drinks being served, and you guessed it...people dancing. Saturday morning.!!! Packed with people!!

For the outsider, the music eventually blends into similar form. One tune may be a waltz, another the two step or the one step, but without being familiar with the tunes, they start to sound the same after awhile. For the locals, they know the tunes, and welcome their favorites. And they dance, especially the older folks, some of whom hobbled to the front of the theatre but immediately got the two step going. Even the little kids were dancing at the front of the theatre last night.

The Saturday morning thing, by the way, occurs in this area in two little bars where the owners persist in providing a place for music. In Mamou, when Fred died, his kids kept the place going by opening it on Saturday morning, because they worked during the week. It was packed with locals, Canadians, even a couple from New Zealand. The other venue, just outside of Eunice, is less party and more performance, we were later told. But I suspect there was lots of dancing as well, just not as much of a party atmosphere.

No doubt there is change happening. For a lot of younger folks, work must be found in larger centers, and that's no different than where we live. However, the strength of the culture and the family unit remains strongly intact. No doubt departed children come back to Mother's and Grandmother's cooking and to the music and the dancing. The language still exists as well, for many of the older folks. Some don't speak French, like the lady in the museum whose mother wouldn't teach her the language, because she wanted to be able to talk to her friends without her kids knowing what she was saying. But the 85 year old darlin' hosting in the Cajun Hall of Fame speaks both French and English, because each parent spoke one of the two languages. French was suppressed in Louisiana in the 1900s, until the 1970s, and there were no French schools. Kids were punished if caught speaking French on school property. That's changed, Now speaking French is being encouraged. All of the music is sung in French, old French mostly, I think. Parisians would probably look down their noses at the language used here, much as they would in Quebec or New Brunswick.

We didn't get a chance to hear Zydeco. Breaux Bridge is the center of that music form, as well as Lafayette, but there wasn't anything going on locally, and we didn't want to go into Lafayette to a show that started at 10:00 p.m. We'll save that for another time. Today, we move on. We have still been debating whether or not to proceed west, as the weather is very cool, in many places below normal. It's tempting to go back to Florida where we know we'll have warm days. But we'll likely push on into Texas today. Stay tuned!!