It is very rare to find a city that you just instantly fall in love with on the first visit being there, a city where in the first week of being there you are infatuated, you just can't leave, at least not for a while. Some find that in New York, Paris, San Fransisco, Washington D.C., I've even heard Cincinnati (that is a shout out to my roommate Forrest). I have found my love in this city of New Orleans, a city so backwards, upside down, and slow moving, you just have to sit back and laugh sometimes at the insanity this city brings some days.
A state that still follows the law books of its French and Spanish origins, Mardi Gras is the holiday of choice, and corruption just gets a shrug of laughter and a saying of "welcome to New Orleans." One has to sit back and wonder how this city still manages to be functional, the answer is really simple, New Orleans accepts its faults, mess-ups, weird quarks, slow moving pace, and willingness to persevere in the worst of times. This state and the city of New Orleans were built on a swamps, has survived hurricanes, Jim Crow, corruption to unnecessary extremes, and still yet is a place where people want to go and live. I would say that this city and state are built for the eccentric, those who don't mind that things just don't make sense all the time, and that government is sometimes just messy and backwards here. I think people here also just accept things as they are, and they have also learned to just accept people for who they are; human beings, we all make mistakes, and we all have skeletons in our closets.
A city in love with itself, a city so in love with its historic roots, that when disaster strikes, the historic districts are always first on the list to save and make right. Whether that means getting power back on in the French Quarter or that means fixing Treme, or putting the eyes of the public on Central City as a neighborhood in need of help. Yes, New Orleans, has some priority problems, but what city doesn't. What makes New Orleans different, is that it accepts its problems and screw-ups.
I love this city for all of its crazyness, its weird quarks, the people who treat you with all the respect they would like to see in return, not a single judgement about who you are or what you do in your personal life. As conservative as southerners are sometimes, I like these people, if you just avoid talking politics and religion, and accept them for who they are, southerners can really teach you something. Slow down and enjoy life for what it is, stop rushing around and just live life for what God is giving you. I think us northern folk are so quick to judge those who think a little slower, and who may see life a little more conservatively then others, that we forget they know life just as well if not better then we do. I understand that New Orleans is a uniquely liberal city in the deep south, but I have been to other parts of the state, and I still have found some pretty interesting people, who offer an interesting perspective on life.
Anyway, that is my thoughts for the day.
Peace y'all.
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