Thursday, March 3, 2011

N'arleeens!



 “Any drunks?” the cab driver asked, turning her head from the right to the left before entering the crossroad. The city is crowded with people celebrating Mardi Gras (yes, it’s that time of the year and believe it, we really tried hard to avoid it, but had no idea Mardi Gras lasts 2 months!)


We knew that the people here have a sense of humor the minute we entered the city: “Wind of change” sounded out of the jukeboxes. And after Katrina, things have changed indeed: thousands had lost their houses,1500 dead, and Brad Pitt discovered his passion for good deeds.

5 years later, traces of Katrina are still clearly visible in the poorer neighborhoods - and in the supermarkets, where you can buy things like the "Hurricane Cocktail mix". 
Also recent catastrophes are reflected in the food industry: one restaurant advertised with a "BP" menu, where you can order everything from oily fish to dirty bird. Yummy!

And if that’s not exciting enough, you can have a little boat trip through the marsh lands, cuddling snakes and chasing alligatores (or the other way round, if you like).








Great concerts at 10 am in the morning, Cajun kitchen for lunch and a lazerkasoo show at night. Lazerkaso show?! Yes, the Lazerkasoo man already sold quite a few, so we’re finally not the only ones any more, running around, humming and shaping and being asked: hey, got some dope in there?








 This city swings!!


 And we might stay...