A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to a pediatric psychology conference in New Orleans. Our group consisted of me, another undergrad, three grad students, and our professor. I think we were the biggest group there. We got a grant to go, so all we had to pay for was a few meals and, of course, dessert in the form of beignets. However, to get the cheaper flights, we had to leave Provo at 4 in the morning! We met up at 3:45 for our 6 o'clock flight. It was survivable.
The food in NO was seriously amazing. I would go there again just for the food. I tried gumbo, jumbalaya, gator (it was in sausage form), beignets, humongous, shelled BBQ shrimp, and the famous NO pecan pie. I don't know why that's a thing, but it is. Beignets are French and we were in the French Quarter, so that was quite fitting.
I guess the conference was pretty cool, too. We went to a bunch of different poster sessions during the three days we were there. (And we each presented in one). There were some pretty cool presentations too. We heard about how pediatric psych applies to the medical field today, the different psychological issues that kids with chronic illnesses face along with their families, how health projects in different countries are going, etc. We also got to pick a professor at the conference to eat lunch with on Saturday with a handful of other students. This was especially beneficial for the grad students who might want to intern with that professor or work with them on research, but it was also great for us undergrads to figure out where we want to go to school. I ate with a woman who teaches in Novia Scotia. I had not even considered leaving the states for grad school, but that could be pretty cool.
The weekend we went just happened to be the Jazz festival (or maybe they planned the conference that way on purpose.) So Friday afternoon we went to that. We just wandered from stage to stage to listen to different musicians. We even got Dr. Jensen to dance! But the video is on Mark's phone and I have not yet seen it. :(
All 5 of us students went for a short run Friday morning, which was amusing. There were a few other runners out in the area, but not a group of 5 that took up the whole sidewalk. We slowed poor Mark down, but I think he wanted to protect us in scary New Orleans. We went down by the river walk and saw them setting up for the Jazz fest. It was really pretty. I wanted to take a ferry ride, but the breaks we had between sessions at the conference were only an hour or two long and most of the ferry rides were 3 or 4 hours I think. They were probably expensive, too.
We did have a humorous occurrence when a man asked Kara and I if we wanted to try out. We saw that it was a strip club, so Kara said "nah, we're good." "I know you are. That's why I want you to try out." We just kept walking. I think it made Dr. J concerned for our safety. He didn't want us wandering around by ourselves. If it weren't for things like that (and hurricanes), I would think NO would be a pretty awesome place to live. Actually I'm sure other areas would be really cool to live in as long as you weren't in the French Quarter, which is where we were the whole time since our hotel was basically in it.
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| Sanita, me, & Kara in front of Sanita's poster I think |
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| The whole group! |
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| At the Jazz festival! |
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| The waiter puts a bib on for you before you eat the BBQ shrimp. That's service! |
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| Tina and I trying on Mardi Gras masks We did get stuck in Dallas on the way home after our flight got delayed, but we eventually got home at 2 or 3 in the morning. But our 72 hour adventure was definitely worth it. Thanks to Dr. J. for letting us go and getting us the grant and making all the travel arrangements and putting up with us for the weekend!  |
