When I informed my mom’s friends that I was moving here, all of them, who had never visited this city, told me it was no place for a good girl. a) I’m not a “good” girl, whatever that means. b) If your father has been nowhere other than the upper, seedy end of the French Quarter, it is by no means a place for children. However, there are 200,000 residents of NO right now (who were all once children) and the city plays host to three world-class hospitals with birthing centers. The public school system deserves a lot of derision, but these academies along with the many private schools and music academies across the city produced some of the most talented musicians, dancers and artists in the world.

Amitabh: Home is where the spirit thrives the most (and what Salil said).

Home is where the heart is. I was born in Cleveland, grew up in rural Mississippi, and live in San Francisco, but my heart belongs to Washington, D.C.

It’s not how long you’ve been there, it’s how much you love it.

I think the same holds true for relationships.

Anyway, Maitri–great post, looking forward to reading more. Many years ago, I helped open the Passport Center on Canal Street, and got to spend a significant amount of time there. I love your city, too, even if it’s not my home.

This is not meant to be an offensive or obnoxious question so please forgive me (nor am I trying to detract from your main point); but it seems your roots in New Orleans are pretty shallow (not more than a few years?) Yet your tone makes it seem that it is your ancestral city or something. How did you develop such strong feelings and self-identification with this town in such a short time?

Really? When I was 15 or 16 or so I expressed a wish to visit New Orleans, but my father claimed that “it is no place for children”, and the same line was used last year when again I made clear my desire to go there.

As much as I love the Great Lakes, I think we have a bit more water area and volume here. In all honesty, I was going to say the Dirty Coast, which is what we call ourselves, but hey.

The only good desi restaurant in NO is my house or those of friends. Nirvana was alright, but the food quality has plummeted since the storm. With a larger customer base than usual (everyone eating in the dry area), they’ve had to up on quantity vs. quality.

There are a few vegetarian restaurants, but my teetotalling vegetarian family (yours truly is the culinary black sheep) was hard-pressed to find tasty veg food outside of home. However, they found other things to keep themselves occupied.

As a tea totalling vegitarian, I feel doubly lame.

http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/ http://www.thirdcoastpress.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Coast

BTW any good desi restaurants in the N.O.? We road tripped a few years back after college, but us vegetarians had to resort to liquids (messiers jack, johnnie, and the captain prevailed). There’s always Big Masi’s House in Baton Rouge tho…

rasudha: Come help rebuild by reliving your crawfish experience! Rebuilding is a symphony playing in the background of daily life here.