A Foreigner's feeling about New Orleans

[glarius]

New Orleans is unlike any other North American city. I'm a Canadian
who has never been there and I wonder how many others feel as I do. I've only seen New Orleans in movies, but there has always been something mysterious and magical about that city to me...A sort of warm, welcoming eccentricity that made me know I would love it if I ever went there....And now, all those people dead...all that destruction....Will it ever be the same again?...I sit here and watch the pictures on television and cry....It's so sad.:cry:

[SmokingJacket]

1. You would love it. It is eccentric, beautiful, crazy.

I don't know if it will be the same, but much of it is still there, and people will continue to live there, because so many people love it.

[noahmijo]

2. To me Canadians are neighbors/friends not foreigners

:pals:

[glarius]

3. You're right....foreigner doesn't fit

:pals:

[kodi]

4. closest thing we had to Paris

.

[Spazito]

5. Oh glarius, I feel the same...

I, too, had yet to visit New Orleans, it was always a place my husband and I wanted to visit and I almost did last year but, sadly, I put it off, oh, how I wish I hadn't. It was magical in my eyes as well, so colorful, so full of life, of music, so full of a joi de vive, so very unique.

I can only hope with all my heart that, for all those who lived there and loved it so, that it will come back even bigger. I know the heart to do that will be there.

[Arugula Latte]

17. I'm feeling the same regret.

I was to go there for the first time in late December. I had been anticipating receiving a New Orleans guidebook in the mail when Katrina struck. The trip was to have been my 40th birthday present.

[G_j]

6. JAZZ

maybe not born in NO, but it found it's home there.
One of America's finest gifts to humanity IMO.
Beautiful passionate music, a peaceful gift to the world. I am very sad.

make music, not war!

[glarius]

8. I agree wholeheartedly about jazz....my favourite music

It will never be out of style!

[Cleita]

7. I was only there once, but the thing that's different about

New Orleans, I think is that it started out French rather than puritanical English like most of our cities back east. Then of course, the other flavors came in but it never lost that French thing of fine cooking, music, Mardi Gras. It also became a melting pot of other cultures that were squashed in other parts of the country. It's just my humble opinion, since I didn't spend much time there, but I noticed that I always got along really well with Cajuns that I met in LA.

[tlsmith1963]

9. Birthplace of Jazz

And it has a culture unique to America. It *is* very sad.

Btw, I think Canada is great. With the way things are going, I wish I could live there. I am very ashamed of America these days.

Tammy

[Dudley_DUright]

10. Hey glarius

New Orleans is a wonderful city to enjoy music and great food. It is more like a European city than your typical US city. I don't know if it will ever be the same again, but I sure hope so. If it does recover, I highly recommend a visit someday. Of course, Canada has some nice cities as well. I particularly enjoyed my visit to Vancouver last Christmas. Thanks for the kind thoughts. :hi:

[enki23]

11. it was beautiful, and miserable, and vibrant, and decaying

you missed out. i never lived there, though i've spent a fair amount of time there. we were starting to lean toward moving there, if i could get into the med school, when my fiancee finished her internship up here in central louisiana. now... well, i suppose maybe i could find a way to put my degree in environmental tox. to good use...

[DemBones DemBones]

12. New Orleans is the closest thing we have to

a European city within the U.S. For one thing, it has some history; it wasn't all built last year, you know? And food is taken seriously in NO. But it's more than that; it just feels like Europe. I hope they can capture all of that in the rebuilding. Unfortunately, it's been getting more ticky-tacky touristy in the past fifteen or twenty years and I fear there will be pressure for more of that.

[Rowdyboy]

13. Perfect description....we had to cancel a trip there last fall at the last

minute and I'll always regret not getting in one last visit. We wered going to stay in a romantic b&b mansion in the Garden District.

Now, it'll be a decade at the least. I am so heartsick.

[SoCalDem]

14. If re-built, it will be a "planned",community..Think Disney

:(

[elare]

15. I'm a Canadian who's been there

I honestly think that everyone, myself included, who has ever been to New Orleans has died a little inside this week. I was only there once, but it was a wonderful 5 days. I don't know if it'll ever be the same, but I hope it will. We went in 2001 and have been telling everyone we know that they should go there at least once in their lifetime. We'd always planned on going back someday.

[Lisa]

16. is it anything like the old part of Quebec city?

I've only seen photos of New Orleans, and had always wanted to go, so I could compare them.