Current Location: New Orleans USA
Hi Everyone
This past week I have been living it up in New Orleans, Jazz capital of the world and home of the world's craziest everything. Just this morning I asked what something on the breakfast menu was at my hotel and they told me (no kidding!) that is was a banana dipped in vanilla ice cream then covered in whiskey and then set on fire .... this is what they eat for breakfast! Now since I have been here I have listened to a whole lot of jazz, dabbled in a little bit of voodoo, road on a steam boat down the mighty Mississippi and learned to cook Gumbo and Jambalaya at the New Orleans school of cooking (which I can earn a diploma from if I cook this stuff for friends back in Canada and send them photo evidence) but really only one word can describe my experience of this town:
Potential
New Orleans already has a lot of tourists but the whole city could be so much more. The french quarter is full of beautifully restored old buildings right next to some incredibly run down buildings. and the view from my Mississippi rive cruise was the worst I have seen since I cruised down the Nile (more on that in a later post). The pavement on the street is terrible, there is a distinct lack of vegetation (some business try to remedy this with plants on balconies) and the whole place reeks of a lack of TLC. Now some may claim that this may be down to damage from Katrina, but the French Quarter was relatively untouched by the storm that devastated the rest of the city. Nope, these problems come from something more underlying here, within the mentality and culture of the Americans that live here.
Now I know that some of my American friends out there think I am Anti-American. I am not. I am critical of the United States, especially when they do something that doesn't make an ounce of sense, like elect Bush or the whole second amendment thing, but I give that same criticism to any and every country I go to, even and especially Canada, where I currently call home. However, the United States is a country I like, and the Americans are some of my favourite people in the world, so before I become slightly critical, let me sing their praises a little.
The United States is a country that gave us the modern concept of liberty and democracy, the science and technology coming out of this country is an amazing testament to the ingenuity of its people and the quality of some of its educational institutions. The world has a lot to thank the Americans for. When it comes to being a traveler, the hospitality and kindness that Americans have showed me (especially in the South) is second to none and I know that when I am traveling with Americans, I always know I will be in good company.
One thing that is very noticeable, however, is how individualistic Americans are and how untrusting they are of their government. No country in the world has a perfect government and no people in the world trust their government fully, but the complete lack of trust and the want of Americans to stand one their own two feet is rather unusual in the world. I have seen plenty of election campaigns in many countries and the only country I have ever seen where people demand tax cuts when the government is in deficit and debt is the US. The operating budget of local and state governments is tiny per capita compared to their counter parts in other counties. I believe this may be why New Orleans is in the state it is in because the local government either doesn't have the money or the desire to fix these problems and beautify the town. Perhaps this doesn't matter to the locals and who am I to judge if it doesn't. Its a very English and European thing to want to live in pretty towns and cities and its the local government's responsibility to ensure they do. In the United States people drive big cars and own lots of stuff, perhaps they value that sort of stuff. This is not my culture but it is their culture and their country.
Their also seem to be an unprecedented number of adds on TV about lawyers and insurance ....
But anyway ... I'M ON HOLIDAY! So enough of this drab. I have been having an absolute blast here, the city has an amazing charm to it and it is somewhere I would definitely like to come back here some day ... It was certainly better than spending this time in Edmonton (did I say that out loud?)
I will be back in Canada soon so my next few posts will be about the great white north. So I will see you all then
A la prochaine
Tristan
