Webheads & Friends in New Orleans 2011: March 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011

RANDOM SIGHTS FROM NEW ORLEANS

New Orleans appearing out of an early-morning fog on the Mississippi

Hitching posts in the French Quarter

There are many small parks with statues--this is Benjamin Franklin.

A gilt statue of Joan of Arc donated by Charles de Gaulle to the people of New Orleans. Apparently it is affectionately called "Joanie on a pony."

My favourite store sign--it reminds me of the student who asked me if I could recommend a curse!

The founders of New Orleans--the French, the Jesuit, and the Native American.

The Creole Queen--a diesel powered river boat.

The steam calliope on the Natchez--it played while people were waiting to board for a cruise.

The only steam-powered river boat left on the Mississippi--the Natchez. Note the guy in the foreground--he could hold these poses for ever!

SATURDAY EVENING

Nellie in the French Quarter

Terry, Vance, Nellie, & Keith

We did catch up with the St. Joseph's Day parade in the French quarter later in the evening--it wound it's way through densely packed streets. It was an assault on the sentences--the floats with the backdrop of the garish neon signs of the French Quarter, the noise that reverberated through the narrow streets, and the smells of alcohol and baking. We finally found a small outdoor restaurant.

ST. JOSEPH'S DAY

All the girls appeared demure--lots of white dresses with red and green touches.


A float getting ready--most of them seemed to have commercial sponsorship.

Just two days after St. Patrick's Day, it was time for another parade--St. Joseph's Day--which is ostensibly an Italian-American celebration. Despite the name, it didn't appear to have too much to do with religion! The pictures of the floats are from the pre-parade afternoon. The garters on the men's arms are to put on girls legs later on in return for a kiss.

Decorated horse-drawn tourist carriage.

A latter-day Roman Chariot perhaps!

FRIDAY

Jeff, Vance, Aiden, Nina and Tom

Dinner at Mulate's--Tom joined us for his one and only evening in New Orleans. We had met Evelyn for the first time earlier that day, and she also managed to find us that evening.

Monday, March 21, 2011

More photos

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Friday at the EVO session in EV

Marcela and Malcolm - EVO Moderators for Reflection & Practice Session w/Laine

Sandra and Laine (note the new webheads T-shirt w/logo!

Thurs night dinner photos

Proof that Tom stopped by! Jane and Veronica delighted!

Claire, Laine & Mary

Veronica, Nina and Claire perusing the menu -
options included alligator, pork cheeks, and other "chochon" choices. Yummy!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Friday

My second and last day at TESOL. Up early, here breakfast at the hotel, then went to a session by Ellen Rosenfield of UC/Berkeley on "Teaching ITAs to Use Lexical Bundles," where I found myself sitting next to Colleen Meyers, who co-authored by 006 textbook! Then to the EV to volunteer for 2 hours. Next Jennifer Lebedev and I went to the Exhibitors Hall to check out the publishers. I had lunch with Jennifer courtesy of Pearson, and I had the chance to meet Beatrice Mikulecky, author of the ReadingPower series, which I love. So that was really nice. After that a few more sessions ("Decoding What Students Say" and "Functional Tone Choice in Office Hour Simulations") and by then I was feeling sick again and came back to the hotel to rest (and blog). I returned to the CC for one last session on "Exploring Pronunciation CALL Products for Advanced Speakers" and then back to the EV to find Vance, Jeff Nelson (whom I had not met before), Veronica and Tom Leverett. Vance and Jeff had a reception to attend, so Tom, Veronica and I walked along the river side (there is a big mall-like thing called River Walk that stretches along the banks) to the ferry terminal. We were going to take the ferry across the river and back, but when we realized we would not be back in time to meet at the restaurant we had chosen, we just walked slowly back and waited for them to return. Aiden joined us. It was a long wait for a table at Mulaté's, a Cajun restaurant across from the CC, and then a long wait for our food, but the Cajun band, La Touché, played wonderful zydeco music while many customers danced, and we were with friends, so the time passed pleasantly. We were almost ready to go when Evelyn caught up with us, so we stayed a while longer, but around 11:00 we finally called it a night (except Evelyn, who was meeting some friends for salsa dancing!). It's after midnight now. I am being picked up at 7:30 to leave for the airport. Another convention over. See you next year!