New Orleans - Day 4 - Party Culture Brings Hope

Audobon Park looking great

Party places like Cat's Meow are opened, just not as many partyers

If this isn't a sign of the return of New Orleans tourism, I don't know what is!

The Party God

The Superdome plans to return

Today I went out with one of my medical school buddies who was very atypical for our school. He does not fit into the social architecture of the class but has a huge social network in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. He is a self made businessman and a party god.

He dropped me off in Audobon Park while he got a haircut, which gave me a great chance to spend some relaxing time walking around the beautiful scenery and to relive some pleasant memories. Audobon Park did well. It is in very good condition and has people frequenting its grounds.

Before we went out, I sat in his kitchen and talked to his mom, while he got ready. We got talking and I said I had learned French at one time, at which point she interjected that she was a French professor. Next thing I know, I am entangled in 25 minutes of speaking in French. It was tough for many reasons to return to this language including the facts that I hadn't spoken it in a while and I am in the middle of learning Spanish. I kept making stupid errors like saying y instead of et. All in all, it was enjoyable and made me realize that even though I already put in a lot of effort to learn French and German, the only way to keep up my level is to constantly immerse myself in them, through reading, movies, conversation, etc. It is a full time job to retain fluency in a language.

Being out on the town with this friend and his friends helped me realize that New Orleans was what you made of it, like any place. You could hide in a corner somewhere and barely leave your dwelling or you could go out and party, which is what we did tonight. This friend's raging world is full of partying and opportunity to rebuild a better New Orleans. My other friend's quiet world is full of hanging out alone with his wife and preparing for a move out of state.

So we went to the House of Blues Foundation Room, which was very exclusive. We ventured downstairs to a country concert which was filled with screaming fans shoulder to shoulder. Then we followed this up with another huge club in New Orleans. What I saw tonight was people who were there to party and were trying to make a good life for themselves. They were bringing back the spirit of New Orleans, which was always founded in a large party culture.