October 24th

On our way to Houston, we stopped at the Oak Alley Plantation about an hour to the west of New Orleans. It was a fascinating (and quite tragic) glimpse into life in the 1800s, especially following the story of a plantation family and their slaves who once lived there.

The grounds were stunning, with majestic oak trees and a beautiful main house. We also learned about the economics of the plantation and the role slave labor represented. (Later on when we visited Ghana, we learned about where the slaves came from and how they were ‘exported’…) After having visited the slave quarters, the main house no longer looked as beautiful and majestic…

October 25th

We spent the whole day at the NASA Space Center. It was such a cool experience. We listened to an astronaut share his stories about life at the international space station and did two tram tours: one to see the mission control room from the first Moon landing and another to visit the present-day astronaut training centre. We also got to see a full-scale model of the shuttle carrier aircraft — an impressive sight!