Cajuns, Angola Prison and Sugar Cane

We had a week to make it back to Louisiana for a Cajun family get-together (we're the token Yankees). We had hoped to take a leisurely drive south, stopping in Memphis to pay homage to Elvis and drive down Highway 61 and see the blues joints....but wouldn't you know it, on Monday, the slider started acting up (making huge bangs when it extended/retracted and the motor wouldn't stop running). So, we decided that we had to make a return trip to the factory (John now calls this thing the "motor-homing pigeon"). So from NYC to Indiana- we drove non-stop for 2 days....got to the factory, they squeezed us in on Wednesday and on Thursday morning, we were back on the road- driving 1000 miles to get to Louisiana. What a ball-breaker!

We arrived exhausted, but ready for a party with the Cajuns. It still amazes us how well the Cajuns live. The generations all party together and they have such a wonderful sense of family and fun. This was a chance to meet all of Brenda's brothers and sisters, their kids, and a whole mess of other friends and family.

Once we recovered from the "Paarty", we were heading to the Angola Prison rodeo -truly something not to be missed. Angola Prison was the subject of the movie, "Dead Man Walking" and was known in the past as the prototype southern prison farm. The inmate profile is unique-- 76% black, 68% lifers (51% in for homicide), average age 38. It's Louisiana's only maximum security prison- and the largest in the US. All the physically able inmates are required to work- for 2 to 20 cents per hour- most in the prison's farming operation. They have a beef herd of 1,500 cattle and a license tag plant, silk screen shop, metal fabrication shop and a mattress and broom/mop factory. In the American tradition of living a Godly life, they have what they all "Faith Based Rehabilitation" complete with "Bible College". In addition to the prison facilities, they have a Museum and golf course.

Every year in October, the inmates have a rodeo. Before the rodeo, you get a chance to walk through the booths- manned by prisoners and their families- with food (great jambalaya and other heart clogging southern dishes) and crafts. The most difficult part of the exhibit was the craft area- where the inmates, behind barbed wire, sold their crafts to the public. The crafts were simple- mostly woodwork- plaques with Spiderman, Mickey Mouse figures on them, etc. They would talk through the barbed wire to prospective buyers and negotiate their prices. Then, family members would take the money and package the item. I only made it through one row and had to leave. It was all so sad.
(Photo from newsday.com)

But, the rodeo--what a sight! The prisoners actually built the 10,000 seat arena. They start with the Angola Rough Riders- the only prisoner precision riding team in the U.S. During the week, these "cowboys" work on the farm handling the horses and livestock. The events included the typical bull ride ("The Bust Out"), "Bareback Riding" on a bucking bronco, "Bull Dogging"- where the inmates try to wrestle a 500 pound calf to the ground.. But, unlike a typical rodeo, this one had events like the Wild Cow Milking (where inmates try to hang onto a rope tied to an angry cow long enough for one of them to milk the cow. John's favorite was "Convict Poker" - four inmates sit at a table in the middle of the arena playing poker. A bull is released and, provoked by the clowns, attacks the table, The last man seated wins. The bulls went wild, throwing tables and inmates in the air. The grand finale was the "Guts and Glory"-- where they tie a poker chip between the horns of a huge, angry Brahma bull. The arena is filled with inmates (all in striped shirts). The object is to get close enough to snatch the chip from between its' horns. You have to be truly insane to even consider getting that close to an angry bull- but the chip is worth $500 to the inmate lucky enough to get it off without getting gored. For some amazing photos of this event, check out Rene Perez Photographs

The next day, another of our Cajun friends, Huey (the charming Cajun cowboy, who is the best dancer I have ever seen!) took us for a tour of his sugar plantation and then to the sugar mill where the raw sugar is processed. I got to ride in the combine as they were cutting the sugar cane (up close and personal with Huey's adorable young son).
Then it was off to the sugar mill. It was an amazing collection of huge machinery and since we were with Huey, one of the sugar farmers, we had full access to the entire factory...from cane delivery to the final product (and got to taste the raw sugar ready to be shipped for further processing). It was absolutely fascinating.

The rally was great fun. We danced our brains out (even though we had forgotten quite a few steps over the summer). We've got the Cajun waltz down - and can hold our own with the best of the Cajun dancers. The rest of the dances are still a bit rough....and John was quite a hit when he was dancing with Brenda to the tune of "Play that Funky Music White Boy". Since it was sweet potato harvesting time (sweet potato = American yam), they had a sweet potato baking contest and I was recruited as a judge. Little did I know that these women (and men) took the contest VERY seriously and I'm not sure I made any friends with the decision (fortunately, they had an outside home economist to lead the judging). It was amazing to see what they could do with sweet potatoes. My experience eating sweet potatoes has been the traditional sweet potato casserole we have in the north at Thanksgiving (mashed sweet potatoes baked and then covered with melted marshmallows). This contest had sweet potato tarts, sweet potato stuffing/dressing, sweet potato crunch and even a sweet potato cheese ball.