Monday, July 6, 2009

My introduction to New Orleans

Someone asked me for a story the other day and i thought, "How fun!" so here's a story that i want to tell!

About 2 years ago i moved to New Orleans to do some relief work with a team for a year. As an introduction to the city my roommate took us to the Quarter to show us all the cool spots that you dont see unless you actually live there. We were obviously too cool to do touristy things there.

As soon as we got down to Frenchman Street we noticed that traffic was blocked off and there were no signs of why... until a man ran by in a red dress. Then a few minutes later, three more men ran by in red dresses. And then after that there was a flood of people running down the street, all in red dresses! Men and women alike! My friends and i had to get out and investigate and when we asked someone what was going on he responded, "It's August and we're running in red dresses and drinking lots of beer."

And in that one statement, from a man wearing a red dress, i discovered the key to understanding New Orleanian culture. Sometimes, it's not necessary have a reason to enjoy things. Sometimes, celebration is allowed to be spontaneous and free and sometimes, there's no better place to find it than in the moments that really arent all that special.