And now, for your weekend update!

Enormous Morgan and tiny Petra heading into Lake Ponchartrain

Dear readers (BOTH of you), sorry for being MIA the last week. It was a particularly exhausting one due to multiple groups of volunteers and my coworker being out with a family emergency. There was nothing particularly poignant that happened that comes to my decidedly not-fresh mind, so I'll just start with the weekend activities.

I had Friday off from work, so Zoe, another girl from my program, and I joined in on an expedition run by the Broadmoor Improvement Association (http://broadmoorimprovement.com/) to bring seventy "at-risk youth" to the aquarium. I'm not sure what qualified the kids (who were between four and seventeen) as "at-risk;" they all seemed like normal kids to me. The aquarium was beautiful and lots of fun. Animal imitations were aplenty. Note this terrifying shark impersonator:
As well as an eel enthusiast:
That night we headed to Tipitina's, an old bar and music venue on Magazine Street. That night was Latin music night, which spawned decidedly great music. The highlight of the night was running into Lina, a friend from high school who is in the city teaching high-acheiving sixth-graders science. The not-highlight of the night was backhanding a cigarette while attempting to high five someone. I have a huge burn on my hand. So much for positive energy.

On Saturday we went swimming in the (possibly very polluted) Lake Pontchartrain. Given that I'm from Massachusetts, I was shocked when the water was as warm as your average bathtub. Needless to say, it was a wonderful day.
Petra, Balint and I wading in.

Esther, Petra, Balint, and Zoe's stomach enjoying the sun.