3 Stories from Louisiana
Two involve bars (the drinking kind) and one involves a little bird
No time to read? Listen to it instead. :)
PSA: The Your Local Macy newsletter has been renamed Macy Sees The World 🥳 !
Story #1: Novelty is a two-way street
When you hear the word, “bar”, what is the first word that pops into your mind? For some, that word might be “drinking”. For others, it might be “lively” or “crowded”. As for me, well, that word is now “surprise”. Let me explain.
While out one night with my host, I had the opportunity to try Daiquiri, a frozen, alcoholic beverage that kind of tastes like a slushie loaded with shots. We had the option of ordering from the drive-thru or in the bar itself. Being the ever-curious soul that I am, I flung open the car door and cried, “What are we waiting for?”
Surrounded by the strum of country music and overlapping chatter, I handed my ID to the bartender, a twenty-something-ish dude with an easygoing attitude. Or so I thought. One moment he was smiling politely at my card and the next, he was staring up at me, his eyes bulging from their sockets as if he just saw a dozen orange tentacles sprout from my ears.
“CALIFORNIA?!”
“Yes!” I laughed.
His colleague glanced over her shoulders. This guy and his grandpa on the counter swiveled towards me. And several other customers nearby paused their chatter to shoot us an intrigued look.
“What are you doing in Louisiana?!” He retorted.
I beamed at him and said, “To experience new things.”
(To clarify, I think he meant, “What are you doing in a country-themed Daiquiri shop off the side of a country road in the least touristy area of the state in the middle of the night?”)
I’m laughing now even as I type this sentence. Thinking about that moment gets me every time. I’ve had Louisianians express interest or surprise or confusion at the fact that I’m from California, but I’ve never had anyone appear so utterly bewildered nor have I ever felt so bewildered by someone else’s bewilderment. It’s a shot in the dark, but I think that there’s a slight probability that perhaps I might be the first Californian he’d ever served at that bar. #Repping, I guess?
This story highlights an important truth about travel.
It’s just as important to think about the impacts of traveling from the perspective of the locals as it is to think about it from the perspective of the traveler. I emphasize this because travelers aren’t the only ones experiencing novelty and interacting with new cultures. The locals are as well.
Each person is a product and a representation of the place(s) they grew up in or have spent of the majority of their lives. When traveling somewhere, you can’t help but carry that place with you wherever you go. Even if you try to assimilate into a new culture, the people of that culture will still see that place through you—Through your speech, your ideologies, your habits, etc.
Enjoying the ambiance of a country-themed bar and trying Daiquiri for the first time wasn’t just a new experience for me. My identity as a young, Asian-American Californian woman in this particular setting was a new experience for the barkeeper and possibly for a few other attendees that night. I don’t know precisely how our interaction may have impacted him, but I have the suspicion it may have enlarged his perspective of the world just a tiny bit. At the very least, it has certainly enlarged mine.
Story #2: “Have Fun.” — Dusty Roberts
This second story takes place in another drinking establishment, a little hole-in-the-wall bar (I swear I only went to four bars total during my stay) that’s been around for just about forever. It was the kind of place where it was just as common to see cowboy hats bobbing through the crowd as it was to see camouflage jackets strewn across tables and chairs, the kind of place that felt more like a scene from a Hollywood Western than real life.
One of the advantages of being hosted by locals is you have the opportunity to step into a different lifestyle and engage with the community in a way you might never have had you been exploring on your own. The reason why I was at that particular bar was because the husband of my host leads a country rock band, Fly-By-Nite. I’d been eager to watch them play ever since I’d learned this fact, and tonight was my chance.
To be honest, I don’t remember the exact songs that were sung (except Tennessee Whiskey because I’d heard it a couple of times by then and Sweet Home Alabama because it’s too iconic to forget). I don’t remember the faces of the people swaying around me. I don’t even remember what exactly I had to drink (probably something light like a beer). But I DO remember the joy of being totally and infinitely absorbed in the present.
Twirling on my toes, hand in hand with strangers I’d met only minutes ago, I lost track of everything except the music coursing through my veins and the ecstasy of dancing with careless abandon. I didn’t care who was watching. I didn’t care if my steps didn’t quite match the beat. I didn’t care that the people I was dancing with were of an older generation, that they have an entirely different background from mine, and that the only way we could probably relate to each other was through our laughter. I was making poetry with my body and loving it and that was what mattered. I was so consumed with the present that I dared to do anything.
A week later, I was having breakfast with the parents of my host, Diana and Dusty, and explaining to them why I’m traveling when a question sprang to the forefront of my mind.
Peering into Dusty’s eyes, I asked, “What advice do you have for someone in my stage of life, who’s just beginning to explore the world?”
Surprise flickered across his face. After a brief pause, he chuckled, then, said something that caught me equally off guard: Have fun.
Two little words. The wisdom they contain is simple yet so easily overlooked and so challenging to follow amidst the hustle and bustle of adult life. Had someone closer to my age given me the same advice, I’d have shrugged and thought, “Ok, I’ve heard that before.” But when someone with several more decades of experience and who’s wrestling with early-stage dementia tells you to “have fun” while you can, whenever and wherever you can, you’re left with no choice but to believe them, believe that fun is worth prioritizing.
Life is the most precious resource we own, yet how many of us squander it by chasing after things that don’t matter to us, that don’t grow us, that harm us rather than bring us joy? I want more moments of careless abandon. I want to be present in the present because right now, this very second is when we are alive and because every experience we experience takes place in the present. If I ever reach Dusty’s age, I want to look be able to look back on my life and smile with fulfillment. If life was a book, regrets are like typos we can’t fix. The best we can do is try to make as few as possible.
Story #3: The surprising benefit of being surprised by God
The morning I left Louisiana, my host surprised me with a pink, ceramic bird, whose size could hardly do justice to the honor of its significance.
“You know how I have a tattoo of a plant with flowers and birds on it?” She said.
“Yeah…” I replied, curious about what was coming.
“Well, the three branches represent my children because they are an extension of myself and will always be in my life. The birds are the Workawayers and exchange students we’ve hosted over the years. Though many of them are like family when they are here, I know they can’t stay forever; however, just as birds might return to a favorite tree, I can hope that they might come back to visit one day.” (I’m paraphrasing but this is the main idea of what was said).
Cradling the little bird in my palms, it suddenly struck me that God has been answering one of my prayers from 2020 and 2021 in perhaps the most unforeseeable, mind-boggling ways possible.
During the pandemic, I began praying that God will help me find a mentor, specifically an older sister in Christ to whom I can turn for general wisdom and situational advice. In the course of the past 12 months, God has given me a total of four such women.
The first was my mentor through my college fellowship, Lori. The second was my Oregon host, Anna. The third was my Louisiana host, DeAnna. The last and most current was my Florida host, Carol.
Lori, I could have foreseen back in 2021 because she was the kind of mentor I’d been envisioning (but that doesn’t mean our friendship isn’t just as special). As for the other three, let’s just say I had no intentions of finding a mentor when I set out to travel the world last Fall. In fact, this time last year, I had no idea that soon, I’d be traveling and that God would use this new lifestyle to place me under the wings of three more remarkable, strong, and loving women from all over the country.
Often, Christians discuss God’s characteristics as “loving”, “kind”, “fatherly”, “faithful”, etc. I would like to add one more adjective to that already lengthy list: Surprising. God, more than anyone I know, is surprising. He proves Himself to be wiser than our timing and more generous than we give Him justice. His plans are far bigger and more creative than even the best ones we can design for ourselves. And the funny thing is, when He proves that His way is better than ours, we still feel…surprised! We still marvel at the fact that He would give and grow us so much.
Being surprised by God with four mentors in a year has not only been a source of immense joy and gratitude but it has also strengthened my faith by giving me further reason to trust Him. As Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I don’t know what awaits in the near or the far future. I just know God is with me wherever I go.
If you believe in Christ as your savior, then the same is true for you as well. David has spoken for us when he said, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there…even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Psalm 139: 7-8, 12).
If you don’t have a relationship with God but would like one, know that He is waiting for you with open arms. Nothing you have done can keep God from loving you, for “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He doesn’t love because you have proven yourself. He loves because that is His nature. Leave a comment or DM if you’d like to know more.
Subscribe to learn what I’m learning
If you enjoyed today’s article, you’ll enjoy the rest of this newsletter. I collect insights on the eccentric, mundane, and everything in between while traveling the globe. Subscribe to get a thoughtfully crafted selection of personal stories and travel tips delivered to your inbox every Monday.
Know somebody who would enjoy this newsletter? Brighten up their day by sharing Macy Sees The World on social media or by sending them a direct link. Thank you for being part of this community!
You’re first story brought back a fond memory of my own first (and only) experience with roadside daiquiris in Louisiana. Your second story was a good reminder to me (a basically serious person) to have fun on the vacation I am starting today (thanks, I will!) Your third story made me a little envious about all the Christian mentors that have come your way. I have a good Christian community that I belong to, but not really mentors like you described. Then I realized that in a way, you were mentoring me today, and it made me smile.