Sadly, I must go

My time in New Orleans was much too short. Two and a half months is not nearly long enough to get to know a city, although I feel like I came close with New Orleans. My first impression was…unexpected. I must admit, that when I first got to New Orleans, I didn’t really like it. It seemed dirty, disorganized, chaotic, and dangerous. But the longer I stayed the more it grew on me, and the less these observations became true. Fact: New Orleans is disorganized and chaotic, but once you get used to it, that doesn’t seem to matter any more. Another fact: New Orleans may seem dirty, but it is nothing compared to St. Charles street after Mardi Gras. The character of New Orleans is so strong that all of the blemishes seemed to disappear, or at least become insignificant while I was there, and I slowly fell in love with it.

The Big Easy wasn’t like any other city in the US I had been to, and really confused me at first. One part typical American but also one part different. It was really hard to put my finger on it when I first got here, and I don’t even think I’ve managed to do it yet. But now that I’m not there, I’m nostalgic for it. For the potholes, for getting lost after taking a wrong turn on the one-way streets. When I got to New Orleans, I didn’t think that I would say it, but I miss the place. I miss the laissez-faire feeling of the Garden District and the chaos of the Quarter, the hipsters in Marigny and Bywater (and the amazingly colored houses!). I miss the giant trees of Audubon Park. I miss the glorious houses that line St. Charles, and dare I say it, I might even miss Decatur and Bourbon streets.

Yes, New Orleans has its trials and tribulations, but it has a resilience that you can’t find anywhere else. In what other city do total strangers greet each other on the streets? And where else can you find second lines or people dressed up as the “Chilean Winers” on Mardi Gras day? The answer is nowhere. The is nowhere else like New Orleans. As I often heard while I was there, “In New Orleans, we don’t need a slogan like “Keep New Orleans Weird.” We don’t have to try, that’s just the way we are!” And that is why I love New Orleans.