Listening to: Ellis Marsalis
Eating: Gumbo, Jumbalaya, Red Beans and Rice, Beignets, Soft Shell Crab...too much really
Watching: Treme
There is a strange sadness that permeates the air in New Orleans. It is almost a romantic sadness that lingers from the rich history of its people and the city as a whole. New Orleans is the city of grand Napoleonic architecture, of the sadness of Tennessee Williams, of Jazz music that penetrates your soul and of drinking so you can't remember yesterday, nor think about tomorrow. My Mum and I sat across from the former abode of Truman Capote and breathed in the stifling hot air, the sounds and smells that inspired genius and the heart break. There is undoubtedly beauty in the tragedy.
An Environmental Disaster
There is a silent sense that the New Orleans tragedy will not be defined by Hurricane Katrina. New Orleaneans are quick to quip that Katrina was an environmental, and not natural, disaster. It was the Federal Government's failure to rebuild the levies that caused the flooding that engulfed the city and wreaked devastation. Katrina was not an act of god but an act of human disregard.
The emotive accusations of blame got me thinking about was the incontrovertible relationship between natural disasters and vulnerable people. Certainly an element of this relationship is that poorer people are less equipped to deal with natural disasters- their homes are not as well built, they are less likely to have transport that allows them to evacuate and they are less likely to have insurance to repair the damage caused. An earthquake in Pakistan can and will cause a much greater deal of damage than an earthquake in New Zealand, where the buildings are structurally sound. The poor will be hit by the hand of disaster much harder than the rich.
But there is also undoubtedly a 'don't care' factor. Many argued that New Orleans was poor and corrupt before the hurricane which placed them in the 'don't care' pile for the Federal Government. When Haiti was hit by the devastating earthquake in January of this year, many a phone caller to ABC radio proclaimed there was no point in providing aid when the money would likely go into some fat man's pocket. These sentiments were only increased after the Pakistan flood. It is as though society has decided that there are places beyond repair in this world and we have convicted them to life without bail.
Where to from here
Our bus driver showed us the school Sandra Bullock had built and the Artists village Harry Connick Jnr had initiated and Brad Pitt's Make It Right homes in the 9th ward. He had us all shouting (clearly NOT Mum and I) 'who dat' and 'two dat' and he forged some tears on the brims of his eyes when describing the Giants super bowl win. But I kept wondering if much had changed. Five years later BP had allowed a leak to cause immeasurable damage to the Gulf with relative impunity. Is New Orleans still relegated to the 'don't care' basket? Is the suffering part of its appeal? Is the tragedy that shapes the romance indeed a tragedy in itself? I can not proclaim to know the answers to these questions.
What I do know is that New Orleans is a beautiful city. Its vibrancy reaches into the travellers' very core. I hope that as a society we can breathe new life in every city, or country, that bares the scars of disaster. I know that no place is beyond reconstruction, new life, and new hope.
Watching: Treme
There is a strange sadness that permeates the air in New Orleans. It is almost a romantic sadness that lingers from the rich history of its people and the city as a whole. New Orleans is the city of grand Napoleonic architecture, of the sadness of Tennessee Williams, of Jazz music that penetrates your soul and of drinking so you can't remember yesterday, nor think about tomorrow. My Mum and I sat across from the former abode of Truman Capote and breathed in the stifling hot air, the sounds and smells that inspired genius and the heart break. There is undoubtedly beauty in the tragedy.
An Environmental Disaster
There is a silent sense that the New Orleans tragedy will not be defined by Hurricane Katrina. New Orleaneans are quick to quip that Katrina was an environmental, and not natural, disaster. It was the Federal Government's failure to rebuild the levies that caused the flooding that engulfed the city and wreaked devastation. Katrina was not an act of god but an act of human disregard.
The emotive accusations of blame got me thinking about was the incontrovertible relationship between natural disasters and vulnerable people. Certainly an element of this relationship is that poorer people are less equipped to deal with natural disasters- their homes are not as well built, they are less likely to have transport that allows them to evacuate and they are less likely to have insurance to repair the damage caused. An earthquake in Pakistan can and will cause a much greater deal of damage than an earthquake in New Zealand, where the buildings are structurally sound. The poor will be hit by the hand of disaster much harder than the rich.
But there is also undoubtedly a 'don't care' factor. Many argued that New Orleans was poor and corrupt before the hurricane which placed them in the 'don't care' pile for the Federal Government. When Haiti was hit by the devastating earthquake in January of this year, many a phone caller to ABC radio proclaimed there was no point in providing aid when the money would likely go into some fat man's pocket. These sentiments were only increased after the Pakistan flood. It is as though society has decided that there are places beyond repair in this world and we have convicted them to life without bail.
Where to from here
Our bus driver showed us the school Sandra Bullock had built and the Artists village Harry Connick Jnr had initiated and Brad Pitt's Make It Right homes in the 9th ward. He had us all shouting (clearly NOT Mum and I) 'who dat' and 'two dat' and he forged some tears on the brims of his eyes when describing the Giants super bowl win. But I kept wondering if much had changed. Five years later BP had allowed a leak to cause immeasurable damage to the Gulf with relative impunity. Is New Orleans still relegated to the 'don't care' basket? Is the suffering part of its appeal? Is the tragedy that shapes the romance indeed a tragedy in itself? I can not proclaim to know the answers to these questions.
What I do know is that New Orleans is a beautiful city. Its vibrancy reaches into the travellers' very core. I hope that as a society we can breathe new life in every city, or country, that bares the scars of disaster. I know that no place is beyond reconstruction, new life, and new hope.
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