noelleprice (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} noelleprice) wrote,@ 2006-09-20 23:08:00 |
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The Rayne, Louisiana Frog Festival
The city of Rayne, in the heart of Louisiana's cajun country, is the self-proclaimed frog capitol of the world. Here's one of the mosaic/murals that greets you as you pass under the highway into Rayne proper.
I think this is definitely one of those times where a picture is worth a thousand words... so I'll keep my descriptions brief.
For starters, there are the frogs. They have races and jumping competitions, and general appreciations of all things frog. And there are rides and t-shirt stands... this one flying some typical regional banners...
And then there was the music... the first band was zydeco and sang almost all of their songs in French... though the songs themselves hailed from a variety of original genres, adapted to the cajun style. The second band was pretty much straight-across southern rock... except that the lead singer happened to play accordion.
But what it's _really_ all about is the dancing. Now I don't dance, for reasons both genetic and experiential. I try now and then, but generally only at weddings, after an appropriate amount of alcohol, and certainly not partner dancing that involves anything like "steps", under any circumstances. But I can still really enjoy watching. Especially when the couples are so colorful, and you also see girls dancing together, adolescent boys with their grandmothers, very pregnant women cutting a rug with their husbands... I think maybe if I was born cajun even I would have learned to dance.
And just in case you're inclined to feel sorry for me as a spectator to the action... you should see the dinner I got with this show...
You've probably never had boudin. I hear you can't really get decent boudin anywhere outside a hundred mile radius of this very spot. So all I can do is tell you that it is a kind of sausage made with either crawfish or pork and quite a bit of rice, and it is good... no, better than that... keep going... Put it this way: every time I open up iPhoto and see the thumbnail sketch of this picture in with all the others, it still makes my mouth water.
The city of Rayne, in the heart of Louisiana's cajun country, is the self-proclaimed frog capitol of the world. Here's one of the mosaic/murals that greets you as you pass under the highway into Rayne proper.
I think this is definitely one of those times where a picture is worth a thousand words... so I'll keep my descriptions brief.
For starters, there are the frogs. They have races and jumping competitions, and general appreciations of all things frog. And there are rides and t-shirt stands... this one flying some typical regional banners...
And then there was the music... the first band was zydeco and sang almost all of their songs in French... though the songs themselves hailed from a variety of original genres, adapted to the cajun style. The second band was pretty much straight-across southern rock... except that the lead singer happened to play accordion.
But what it's _really_ all about is the dancing. Now I don't dance, for reasons both genetic and experiential. I try now and then, but generally only at weddings, after an appropriate amount of alcohol, and certainly not partner dancing that involves anything like "steps", under any circumstances. But I can still really enjoy watching. Especially when the couples are so colorful, and you also see girls dancing together, adolescent boys with their grandmothers, very pregnant women cutting a rug with their husbands... I think maybe if I was born cajun even I would have learned to dance.
And just in case you're inclined to feel sorry for me as a spectator to the action... you should see the dinner I got with this show...
You've probably never had boudin. I hear you can't really get decent boudin anywhere outside a hundred mile radius of this very spot. So all I can do is tell you that it is a kind of sausage made with either crawfish or pork and quite a bit of rice, and it is good... no, better than that... keep going... Put it this way: every time I open up iPhoto and see the thumbnail sketch of this picture in with all the others, it still makes my mouth water.
