My Vision of New Orleans

Well, how can I start? In the first moment when I discovered  that I was going to be an exchange student and I am going to live and study in other country, my heart stopped for a short time and in a second I thought  of all the work that I had to get it. It was kind of hard to leave family and friends behind, but it was my dream to study in another country. Even better, I was going to study in the United States of America. New Orleans is the city that the Brazilian Government chose for me. This is the place that I will really began to learn American culture.

 When I arrived I was really excited with the idea of living here in New Orleans. I read about the culture, Bourbon Street, food, Bourbon Street, lifestyle and Bourbon Street. A lot of people told me about this place, and they told me that I was a lucky guy, because of the opportunity to learn the unique culture of New Orleans, especially because of the music. With this of information I packed my bags and took the flight to here.

When I arrived, I think I was much too excited. I passed by people smiling and saying “Hi!” to everyone. Some people looked at me with a strange expression, others spoke in English much too fast and I did not understand anything. But the most of them smiled back at me and I think they knew that I am a tourist excited with the idea of living in this popular city.

Like I predicted I love the city. In the first week I tried to go everywhere. I failed in my attempts but I went in a lot of wonderful places like City Park, Audubon Park, New Orleans Museum of Art, The National World War II Museum, and some others cool places. When I went to the French Quarter and eventually to Bourbon Street I was surprised by how many musicians were playing in the street. Because of my research I already knew that New Orleans was the cradle of Jazz, but I did not think that I would find musicians playing for coins in the street. This thought made me a little sad because I am a bit of a musician, I play guitar and I love music. I wish to learn saxophone here.

One thing that I did not comment about yet is the food. When I tried in the first time I did not like it because sometimes it was too sweet and other times it was too spicy. But one food that I loved since the first time that I tried it was the famous gumbo. It is really good and tastes delicious. Other food that I learned to like is barbecue sauce. Everything with barbecue makes it better. 

Eventually my lifestyle changed too, but not too much because I am still wearing my favorite colors but not my favorite brands. Now I use more kinds of clothes. I am more dynamic when I need to choose a shirt.

In conclusion I want to say that I appreciate living here. Some people complain all the time about this city or about food, music, people and culture. But these people do not deserve to live here. This a city with a bad past because of the Hurricane Katrina. But this city also have a promising future, this city survived a natural disaster, this city restored their culture with strong hands and faith. This city will always be in the heart of this Brazilian guy. Thank you for everything New Orleans.

Fernando Massarotti

02/04/2014