Monday, August 1: The Mississippi‐Mekong Partnership
we visited the office of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Louisiana Water Science Center. Mr. George Arcement, Director of the partnership which was created in December 2007 following Hurricane Katrina and its impact on the vulnerable Mississippi River Delta. Comparative studies with other large deltas are essential to understanding and predicting the effects of climate change, engineering projects, land use, hydrological change, and other anthropogenic impacts in these sensitive ecosystems. Center staff have worked extensively on this project and has visited Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. USGS National Wetlands Research Center then give us novel knowledge about wetland losses, restoration, and management because they are regarded a serious concern. The center develops and disseminates scientific information needed for understanding the ecology and values of wetlands and for managing and restoring wetland habitats and associated plant and animal communities.
The Baton Rouge Center for World Affairs has arranged a welcoming ceremony for our group in the Baton Rouge Museum of Modern Art. It was preceded by a presentation of Honorary Mayor’s Certificate for each one of us. After the presentation, we were allowed to explore thew museum before we had another discussion about Coastal Protection and Restoration with Ms. Jennifer Mouton, a Coastal Resources Senior Scientist.
That was the first day of Ramadhan, and doing fasting in New Orleans was a big trial for me, Fahmi, Rendie, and Angga. The weather there was so hot and humid, and the duration of fasting is a lot longer. In Indonesia we do it approximately starts at 4am to 5.30pm, but there we did it from 5am up to 9pm. Our mates from the other countries asked us many things about Islam when they figured out what we were doing, and we tried to answer their queries, so that day we did not only learn about environment but also culture. We were invited to Baton Islamic Center to have a breaking of fast. In Missoula, there was no Moslem community, but there were several in Louisiana, and the one invited us was the largest. There, we had a discussion about Islam; the Leader of that community discussed the similarities between Islam and other religions relate to religious conflicts that people often heard of (that Islam is always associated with terrorism), and also how Islam teaches its adherents to treat the environment.
Tuesday, August 2: Viet Nam Community and Hurricane Katrina
We came by Mary Queen of Viet Nam Community Development Corporation where Ms. Diem Nguyen, the executive director, explained several things about the impact of hurricane Katrina to the Viet Nam people in New Orleans. This corporation was established in May 2006 to assist Vietnamese-Americans in New Orleans East rebuild their lives and their community after hurricane Katrina. Before Hurricane Katrina, 90 percent of Vietnamese homes in the New Orleans area had extensive gardens behind the houses. These urban gardens are an important link with Vietnam and traditional life, especially for older people who may speak no English. After hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans East neighborhood, this corporation worked with the community to design a 28‐acre Viet Village Urban Farm. The Viet Village design won the 2008 Analysis and Planning Award for Excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects and is an example of sustainable technology. Approximately 12,000 Vietnamese live in New Orleans today, primarily in three concentrated communities in New Orleans East, Algiers, and Avondale. Many were fishermen and farmers in Vietnam and continue to earn or supplement their living with these skills in Louisiana.
That evening we had no scheduled activity, so I, Fahmi, and a friend from Vietnam decided to visit the Audubon Aquarium of America. Although the entrance ticket was more expensive than the Insectarium, but what we could saw in there was extremely cool. The museum is divided into sections based on the habitat; there was Amazon, Mississippi, Pacific, Yellowstone, and other ecosystems, each of which has different characteristics and features. After finished seeing the whole museum, we purchased some souvenirs too. Because that was our last day in New Orleans, we decided to spend the evening to try every possible experience in Bourbon Street. We took a walk in Bourbon Street for the last time; we joined the street music and dance, join the crowd of people coming from everywhere to snatch toy-necklaces thrown away by people from the upstairs of some cafes, and visited some gypsy shops. For fast-breaking we went to a typical New Orleans restaurant suggested by our bus driver, where we ate the famous southern America menu, the Jambalaya. If Missoula was a peaceful and nice place where the downtown closes at 7pm, then I guess New Orleans is its total opposite; it is always crowded with all-night parties, and it never sleeps.
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