New Orleans in the Early 80's

I chose New Orleans from all the rest of the U.S. as my training ground before going to live outside the U.S. It was, and I believe still is, the U.S. city that is the most unlike the rest of the U.S. I had only been there as a tourist once before that, and something about the place appealed to me. But I really didn't understand why until I lived there.

I was very curious about a city that was more than 50% black. Whether in the northeast, where I was raised, or in California, I was all too aware of how separate blacks and whites lived and worked. I had gone to extremes in California to put black people into our daily lives after my husband and I had adopted a mixed black/white child. But in New Orleans, I reveled in the daily interaction of whites and blacks -- in my neighborhood, in my job, in my friendships, and in daily life all around New Orleans. Clearly, the black people of New Orleans felt a sense of comfort and belonging to New Orleans that was different from anyplace else I'd been.

Although the crime rate was high, people in everyday life were generally friendly and casual. Waitresses seemed to assume that everyone's name was "Honey," or "Sweetie." Being poor in New Orleans was acceptable, with fewer people out there to gouge money in any way they could. There was music and happiness, even at jazz funerals going down the streets.

And the food -- that was definitely way above the normal fare of any other U.S. city. I once read that the school system in New Orleans bought more spices for their school lunches than any other place. Even the food at the cafeteria of the local hospital around the corner from my home was cheap and delicious. People cared about what they ate and how it tasted. Being poor was no excuse for not eating tasty food -- gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish, po-boys, and on and on.

After the boring cookie-cutter houses of California, I delighted in the architecture of New Orleans homes. I lived in an old big house that had been divided into a duplex. Fortunately, my unit retained the large entryway with a curving wooden staircase to the second floor reminiscent of Gone With the Wind. In fact, a dramatic poster of Rhett and Scarlet on the wall above the staircase was close to a gorgeous old stained glass window. There were several rooms upstairs, none of which had a boring square or rectangular shape. I bought some unusual used furniture that looked like nothing I had ever owned before. A balcony outside the living room on the second floor gave a panoramic view up and down Prytania Street. I once watched a marathon race go up my street from the balcony. The runners made shimmering waves below as they passed en masse.

My choice of walks was often on the streets of uptown mansions, each one individual in design and decor so that you could easily tell it was well loved by its owners. And there was a beautiful park and pond nearby where I tenderly set down my tadpole after he turned into a tiny, air-breathing frog.

Unlike inconvenient California that required cars for even the simplest of errands, you could actually walk to stores and take the quaint trolley either uptown or downtown. Once downtown, I ate sweet beignets and drank incredible coffee and loved to wander around the used bookstores and unusual shops of the French Quarter, and along the river. I learned about the Cajuns and the Creoles, and voodoo. I have always hated zoos, but the Audubon Zoo was a definite exception to that rule when I lived in New Orleans. Not only did it give me the feeling that the animals were well cared for, but it was the only place I could see the Lone Ranger ride by and fire silver bullets since the tv shows of my childhood. I don't remember quite why the Lone Ranger visited the zoo, but it was most likely one of the many, many festivals that New Orleans enjoyed every year.

New Orleans was the kind of city that loved laughter. The Jazz Festival and Mardi Gras were perfect examples. For the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, there were parades of outlandishly, garishly, overdressed people on floats, throwing cheap, colorful beads in profusion. On Mardi Gras day itself, everyone who wanted to dressed up -- a grown-up's Halloween -- and happily walked up and down the streets spreading good cheer. The televised version of Mardi Gras usually emphasized the overcrowded, bizarre, and sexual sides of the French Quarter's celebration. But up from downtown, the celebrations were family style fun.

The rain could be torrential, the heat blistering, the crime rate unnerving, and the cockroaches very aggressive and territorial -- but for me New Orleans lived up to being the most unusual place I could have lived in the U.S. More importantly, I felt a unique spirit in that city of black and white residents who loved it. And that spirit is showing its power once again as it rises from the tragedy of Katrina.