Houma

April 17, 2022
Population: 33,053

It was Easter Sunday, in one of the most religious states in the country. How does an atheist Japanese classical pianist fit in here? How would I, clearly an outsider, make my way into spaces where people are hanging out on Easter?

After a suffocatingly humid 8-mile run and bath in the Mississippi River, I decided to do as the locals do and attend a church service. I was hoping to make friends with strangers, but people quickly dispersed afterwards to go home to their Easter feasts, and I began to worry how long it would be until I actually played piano for Louisianans. But we quickly were learning that when doubt creeps in, it’s best to take a break, smile, and redirect our course of action with a food or beer break. In this case, a traditional Louisiana crawfish boil.

We drove 120 miles to the city of Houma in southeastern Louisiana, which showed visible damage from Hurricane Ida (2021). We hardly saw anyone downtown, much less any gatherings, so I decided to walk up to one stranger I spotted and ask for his advice. Asking strangers for advice - something I hadn’t mustered the courage to do yet, and what the bulk of this tour would be shaped by. 

The man kindly got in his car and led the way to a spot. Although the spot wasn’t a good fit for us, we repeated this process of talking to more strangers in more locations until we hit gold - a park where people were having big Easter egg hunts and barbecues. We picked a place to set up the piano - a concrete landing pad underneath a beautiful tree (ah, the trees in Louisiana!). As I drove the van over the grass field, I accidentally drove the van over an easter egg hunt that a family had set up!!!! As a family waved, yelled, and ran over to stop me, I frantically apologized and explained what I was doing. I was worried they were livid, but actually they immediately volunteered to move the piano for us, excited to hear me play. They told me they immigrated from Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico within the last 20 years. They’d lost the roof on their home in Hurricane Ida, but they’re happy to live in Houma where they’ve been able to find work.

Although almost all families were busy with their own Easter fun and didn’t come over to where I was set up, I got to play for the matriarch for a large Black family gathering. They told me they are direct descendants of Louisiana slaves. New Orleans was the biggest slave market in the United States before the Civil War.