Guest post by a DukeEngage Student
As a Duke student nearing the end of my eight week stay on the Louisiana Coast, I can honestly say that all the people I’ve met here live up to this picture’s message: everyone has been incredibly good natured and kind hearted.
Before coming down here, I had never had anyone sincerely invite me over for dinner without even knowing my last name. Down in the Bayou, however, we Duke students have had multiple of these invitations. Last weekend, we took up the offer of a family we met Cajun Dancing who’s lived in Southern Louisiana for at least seven generations. They had us over for a delicious meal including jambalaya, gumbo, craw fish stew, craw fish pie, macaroni and cheese, homegrown corn and green beans, and peach tea. It was fantastic! My only regret is that I didn’t have a bigger stomach.
Wonderful people exist all over the world, but I’ve never met more of them concentrated in one place than I have in Louisiana. This culture of friendship deserves to be preserved and the kindness of these people should be reciprocated by all of us doing our part to protect their coast.
