Back From the Bayou

Ibn Battuta said ‘traveling—it leave you speechless, then turns you into a story teller. The National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages annual meeting and the ACTFL Convention proved just that. From my arrival in a torrential downpour, to Cajun music on a centuries old patio, to beignets and café du lait with colleagues from Massachusetts and Kansas, I two stepped from one cultural lesson to another. Surrounded by the slow N’Awlin’s drawl and the smell of the river, I immersed myself in the French, Spanish, African, Native American, Mexican fusion that New Orleans is and has been for centuries. History is living here, and if you pay attention, it still speaks. While the city itself provided a professional development experience, I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to bring back to Nebraska the benefits of the contacts, relationships, materials, and resources that were developed at our meetings in New Orleans.