The Krewe of Aphrodite had their parade through Houma last night. As I photographed one young lady at the top of her float, she must have found my flash either an interesting target or just plain annoying, as half gallon bags of beads were soon heading straight for my gear (head). I’m not sure where the phrase “throws like a girl,” comes from, because it’s certainly not from Louisiana.

First photo: Demari Davis, 4, sits on his cousin, Kaylan Harding’s shoulders to reach for beads, with his other cousin, Cayeman Crochet, 5, of New Orleans during the Krewe of Aphrodite parade at the Southland Mall on Friday in Houma. Davis is from Texas, but both of his parents active service-members in the U.S. Army, and are currently deployed in Iraq. He is staying with family in Raceland, and this is his first Mardi Gras Parade.

More than half of the Houma-Thibodaux diocese’s priests hail from other countries, a phenomenon that can be attributed to a decades-long shortage of American-born clergy. Read more of the article by Diana Soliwon on houmatoday.com I also learned from Father Vic why he feels so comfortable in this part of the country, even though he is very far from his native Philippines. He explained that many years ago, when Louisiana was still a colony of the Spanish, before the Acadiens had arrived many years later, there existed a trade route among the many Spanish colonies called the Acapulco route. While Louisiana was not a main stop of the route, the presence of Spaniards eventually resulted in a small settling of Filipinos outside of New Orleans, many of them “more native” to America than the influx of Europeans that followed in the ensuing years of French and later American settling.
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More than half of the Houma-Thibodaux diocese’s priests hail from other countries, a phenomenon that can be attributed to a decades-long shortage of American-born clergy.

Read more of the article by Diana Soliwon on houmatoday.com

I also learned from Father Vic why he feels so comfortable in this part of the country, even though he is very far from his native Philippines. He explained that many years ago, when Louisiana was still a colony of the Spanish, before the Acadiens had arrived many years later, there existed a trade route among the many Spanish colonies called the Acapulco route.

While Louisiana was not a main stop of the route, the presence of Spaniards eventually resulted in a small settling of Filipinos outside of New Orleans, many of them “more native” to America than the influx of Europeans that followed in the ensuing years of French and later American settling.