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BACK FROM THE BIG EASY
I finally came home from New Orleans last Friday at around 7:30 pm. And oh-my-gosh, to be able to see my room, lie down on the couch like a hobo and get full control of my TV's fate is like the most liberating thing ever. E-v-e-r.
My trip to New Orleans, in a nutshell, was just a big blur. I know I make it sound like I was at Bourbon Street every single day, getting hammered and partying it up like normal tourists do. But, I mainly just took naps and occasionally cried about being internet-deprived.
It was a fun/depressing trip - that's sort of oxymoronic, but I don't know how else to describe it. It was fun in a sense that, "wow, I'm in New Orleans and yeah this is fun," and obviously depressing because you can so tell that the New Orleanians were still affected by the whole Katrina ordeal. I saw so many abandoned buildings and buildings that were just falling apart. The city is still recovering and still rebuilding. The only people that were having a good time there were the tourists. That's because they were either getting drunk on Bourbon Street, or getting drunk elsewhere. Seriously, that's the extent of their happiness. Pretty depressing and shallow if you ask me.
I also felt no personal attachment to the city when I left, or even when I was there. I don't miss it at all. I woke up this morning and I felt like I never left home. My stay there was like a really long, exhausting dream. Don't get me wrong, I liked New Orleans, I just didn't love it. I seriously spent most of my time in my hotel room or in a conference hall. And when I did find the time to go out, it was either too dark, too wet or too dangerous to do stuff...So I just stayed inside my hotel room and watched some Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reruns (just a girl getting her money's worth).
On the contrary, my first night and my last two days at N'awlins were pretty good. The weather was wonderful and I got to do some sightseeing. I went everywhere with a couple of friends: Uptown, Downtown, Art District, Central Business District, Garden District and the French Quarter. A whole lot of walking! I couldn't feel my legs after that whole venture. I also loved the food - not over-hyped at all! The Jambalaya was beyond awesomeness, the beignets were just yummy and the red beans and rice with smoked sausage was too cool for school! I'd go back to N'awlins for the food. Yeah, that's about it.
The other four days were really brutal - like borderline inhumane brutal. Heh, what can ya do? It was a semi-business trip after all, and not a real vacation. I had to sit and listen (well, pretending to anyway) to the speakers at the conference. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I honestly didn't care. I know, I've got the apathy glow. The whole conference dealio was just bland, boring and bogus. The conference had more student attendees than the actual members, so that says a lot about the support (or lack thereof) this conference is getting from the industry. I understand that everyone's going through this economic madness but if you have more students than actual members...the problem goes beyond the economic condition. I don't know, I could be wrong. I'm real bitter right now.
Oh yeah, we lost by the way. I'm not bitter about that. I predicted it, I called it and people just refused to believe my prophetic claim. I was so prepared for losing that I became the happiest loser there.
Considering that my prediction about us losing came true, I feel like a winner. Oh, and I also met Kaba Modern!!! Winner.
My trip to New Orleans, in a nutshell, was just a big blur. I know I make it sound like I was at Bourbon Street every single day, getting hammered and partying it up like normal tourists do. But, I mainly just took naps and occasionally cried about being internet-deprived.
It was a fun/depressing trip - that's sort of oxymoronic, but I don't know how else to describe it. It was fun in a sense that, "wow, I'm in New Orleans and yeah this is fun," and obviously depressing because you can so tell that the New Orleanians were still affected by the whole Katrina ordeal. I saw so many abandoned buildings and buildings that were just falling apart. The city is still recovering and still rebuilding. The only people that were having a good time there were the tourists. That's because they were either getting drunk on Bourbon Street, or getting drunk elsewhere. Seriously, that's the extent of their happiness. Pretty depressing and shallow if you ask me.
I also felt no personal attachment to the city when I left, or even when I was there. I don't miss it at all. I woke up this morning and I felt like I never left home. My stay there was like a really long, exhausting dream. Don't get me wrong, I liked New Orleans, I just didn't love it. I seriously spent most of my time in my hotel room or in a conference hall. And when I did find the time to go out, it was either too dark, too wet or too dangerous to do stuff...So I just stayed inside my hotel room and watched some Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reruns (just a girl getting her money's worth).
On the contrary, my first night and my last two days at N'awlins were pretty good. The weather was wonderful and I got to do some sightseeing. I went everywhere with a couple of friends: Uptown, Downtown, Art District, Central Business District, Garden District and the French Quarter. A whole lot of walking! I couldn't feel my legs after that whole venture. I also loved the food - not over-hyped at all! The Jambalaya was beyond awesomeness, the beignets were just yummy and the red beans and rice with smoked sausage was too cool for school! I'd go back to N'awlins for the food. Yeah, that's about it.
The other four days were really brutal - like borderline inhumane brutal. Heh, what can ya do? It was a semi-business trip after all, and not a real vacation. I had to sit and listen (well, pretending to anyway) to the speakers at the conference. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I honestly didn't care. I know, I've got the apathy glow. The whole conference dealio was just bland, boring and bogus. The conference had more student attendees than the actual members, so that says a lot about the support (or lack thereof) this conference is getting from the industry. I understand that everyone's going through this economic madness but if you have more students than actual members...the problem goes beyond the economic condition. I don't know, I could be wrong. I'm real bitter right now.
Oh yeah, we lost by the way. I'm not bitter about that. I predicted it, I called it and people just refused to believe my prophetic claim. I was so prepared for losing that I became the happiest loser there.
Considering that my prediction about us losing came true, I feel like a winner. Oh, and I also met Kaba Modern!!! Winner.
22 March, 2009 | Dee said something at 12:26 AM
That's sad the the locals are still recovering from Katrina. Also, it's too bad the conference was boring and the team didn't place. On the positive side, it sounds like the experience was worthwhile in that it opened your eyes to life in a different part of the world.
Also, I second your statement on how happiness from getting drunk is "depressing and shallow." That goes for Torontonians too.
3:46 PM
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