New Orleans

This afternoon, I flew down to New Orleans to meet up with a friend of mine who is moving. I offered help keep her company on the three day drive from the state of LA to the city known as L.A.

Miche is what I more often than not call this friend of mine, partly because any name that can be condensed to one syllable works best for me. Maybe its the business I work for where I mostly refer to my friends and coworkers as babe, lady, hun, sir, or the nickname of thier chosing. Or maybe it is the busy New York life style. Maybe I am just to lazy or not obligated to say the whole thing.

Anyway, from what I have seen in the papers or heard on the news I expected New Orleans to be leveled to the ground. But as I was landing, I looked out the window to see a surprisingly bumbling city. Just below me was a bridge over a bay that was so long that I couldn't see the whole thing from my window. I later found out that this bridge was over 24 miles long and the longest built over any body of water.

The airport was busy with people coming and going home from their busy holidays. All of the stores and newstands inside the airport were open and there was no visible damage.

I met up with Miche who brought her mother and boyfriend to greet me. As I waddled my way to the car, arms full of luggage, I saw more buildings and business intact. Despite my preconcieved view of the city post-Katrina, most of the city looks ok. Houses stand in numerous rows and grids. Resturants and malls are open. There are FEMA trialers scattered in the city and its suburbs but people seem to be continuing to pick up the lives that were altered by disaster.

Two things I hadn't heard of or even considered upon my arrival to New Orleans: mold and normalcy.

The entire city sat in water for weeks with no where for the water to go. As you drive through certain parts of the city, there are visible water lines across the buildings, lamp posts, and signs. Miche's boyfriend had to move into a house around the corner from his own because more than half of his house, though barely damaged, was covered in mold. From the outside houses and resturants look functional, lived in, or at least liveable but inside they were rotting. Each building had to be gutted and rebuilt before it could be functional or inhabitable.

One can only guess or ask around to find out which places have reopened. If you need to get a cup or coffee, buy a book, or get your oil changed. You may end up driving around in circles for hours finding a place that provides the service you are looking for. Tonight we went out to dinner and four or the restuarants we stopped taking names at 8pm despite a huge crowd or guests. At 8:12pm, we finally managed to find a resturant that would take us but they had both a limited staff and menu. And to my dissappointment there was NO bread pudding. SOLD OUT! What do you have to do to get a decent dessert in this town?