Southern Cuisine

Just got to the New Iberia, Louisiana, MDS site. It was a long drive from Henderson, Nebraska, but we're here. We pulled onto the site on Saturday evening. Upon arrival, we found my parents a place to stay in Franklin, LA. The two hotels in town were booked up because two buses of National Guard had just pulled in and booked everything up. However, this encouraged my parents to get a room at a Bed and Breakfast place in town. The place looked amazing. There was a man and woman from Holland staying there as well. They were enjoying the evening on the back patio when we arrived, so we made small talk for a while and ended up talking exclusively about cycling once my trip came up. I kind of feel bad completely taking over the conversation when I bring up the trip I'm about to venture out on. It's been happening a lot lately and I feel bad for my traveling companions, as they end up hearing the same details of my trip about a hundred times over. Anyway, the man said that he had cycled from Amsterdam to Paris when he was younger, but thought Europe sounded like a much safer place to bike. My breadth of experience is limited, but I haven't found the U.S. to be that bad. Maybe I'm just used to it.

When we left our Dutch friends, we needed supper, so we ate at Landry's Seafood and Grill. It was amazing. The waitress showed us the quickest way to the meat. I had never ripped the head off of a crayfish before. I've got pictures. Actually, as I was taking pictures of my food, the waitress went and got two BIG crayfish and threw them on my plate. She seemed to find humor in a rural Nebraska boy learning to eat the local cuisine. She told us that the price of some of the sea food is going up because of the oil spill. The locals are saying that the New Iberia/Franklin area shouldn't be directly affected by the oil spill, but they're still concerned about the possibility of a tropical storm or hurricane blowing the oil inland.

We are spending Sunday in a pretty leisurely fashion. The day started off with a trip to Macedonia Baptist Church. It was a much more lively service than I'm used to at any of the churches that I've been a part of. One thing that stuck out to me was when the Reverend said he was thankful for today because we've never seen it before and we'll never see it again. Kind of an obvious statement, but I'm hearing it as I'm about to set out on a 6 month journey. I started thinking more in the direction of how I reflect back on a given day. DO I even reflect on my day? It's hard to be thankful for a day I don't even remember. Am I doing anything worth remembering? I mean, I think this trip is, but before that? Well, I'll ponder that as I go I suppose.

I'm working on some last-minute details for the next week or two of my travels and making sure I have everything I need for the trip and nothing that I don't. At the onset of this trip, my heaviest bag is my food bag. I don't think I'll ever have this much food on my bike again. I've got options though! Refried beans, black beans, rice, hummus, spaghetti with sauce, oatmeal, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, applesauce, peanut butter, beef jerky, Cliff Bars, and seasonings to keep it all tasting different each time. Most of the things listed above are dehydrated, so we'll see how they taste when I bust out the camp stove. Tortillas and/or flat bread will be a good source of carbs once I've got room to carry them.

I should be arriving in New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon and Pass Christian, MS, on Wednesday. We'll see how that goes!

What does cycling have to do with MDS?

So, at the beginning of this academic year, I knew that on May 21st, 2010, I was going to be leaving my job as a Resident Director at Hesston College (Kansas) and thus also leaving my residence of the last 3 years. I got my BA in Bible/Religion/Philosophy from Goshen College (Indiana) just before coming to Hesston, and as I thought about leaving this position, my mind ran in several different directions when I would think about where my future may take me. As I pondered the next few years of my life, I thought back to two summers ago when I rode my bicycle with a friend (who was mid-way through the Trans American cycling route) from Hesston, KS, to Boise, ID. We did a fair amount of camping along the way and visited friends where we found them. The length of my ride was determined by how much time I had available at that point. In planning for my next transition, I knew I wanted to go on a big ride, I just didn't know how to set a goal for this trip. Then I spoke with one of my students at Hesston, Rudy Litwiller, who told me about his brother (and my former classmate at Goshen) Nathan “Chuck” Litwiller's adventure in his Volkswagen Bug. He and a friend got in his car in Illinois and ventured out to touch all of the contiguous 48 states in 8 days. When I saw a map of their route, I knew what I was going to do with my bicycle trip. Chuck, you have inspired me.

Now that I knew the “what”, “when”, and had a rough idea of the “where” for my first 6 months after leaving Hesston, I needed to answer another big question: Why? I'm walking away from what has been a pretty good job. I'm relatively financially stable, I have a matching couch/loveseat/armchair set, and a well furnished kitchen with table service for 8. I'm selling almost all of it, stashing the remnants with my parents, and disappearing on my bicycle for 6 months or so. Was there any greater purpose than just my own selfish ambitions of taking a 6 month vacation while I was unemployed? I didn't know if there was, but I knew there should be. After seeking council from various friends, and a bit of deliberation of my own, I decided that I wanted to do something for Mennonite Disaster Service. I'm a fan of Mennonites. They've got a pretty well established network of congregations and conferences, and I'm pretty well connected in the Mennonite world already, having grown up in Henderson, NE, gone to college at Goshen College, and worked at Hesston College. MDS became my focus because I like the way they do things.

I have spoken with and seen individuals from a wide range of theological/political/ideological philosophies that have worked with MDS in some form. Their ministry is practical. They don't go into an area that has been decimated by a disaster to beat people over the head with their Bible until they “convert”, rewarding the conversion with a new house. Their ministry IS building that house. Jesus says we're supposed to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the prisoner. MDS meets the needs of people caught in awful situations and empowers them to take further steps to increase their standard of living, all while not being shy or quiet about why.

Helping to meet the needs of individuals that have no other options after a natural disaster is something that I believe anyone of any faith background can get behind. I'm not saying that MDS is perfect or that they're the only ones doing things “right”, but they are definitely doing some great things for a lot of people.