homeroom

From the outside it probably looked like an insanely impulsive move to uproot my life in New York, quit my job, kiss all my friends farewell, buy a car, and then drive it 1300 miles south to start all over in a city where I knew six people…New Orleans baby! However, if New York can be equated to a steak, I’d say it’s well done, and I prefer rare. So I left a relatively happy life in Brooklyn, but one that felt disconnected from a sense of community, one where I had to plan weeks in advance to hang out with a best friend who lived a block away, and one where 400 square feet of living space compressed by 7 foot tall ceilings with a balcony was considered great. New York is a bitch, and man do I love her, but while she fed me, she sucked my energy and in the back of my mind I needed to make an exit strategy.

I moved to the Big Easy two months ago, just in time for Hurricane Gustav, after visiting some friends for a weekend last April. A couple of opportunities fell into my lap at that moment, and I felt compelled to jump on them. I was offered a part time teaching position at The Department of Landscape Architecture at Louisiana State University, a job managing a vacant lot program with the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, and a 2000 square foot shotgun style house that shares a porch with one of my best friends. On top of all this, there was just some strange magnetic attraction to the place that I couldn’t resist…perhaps the Live Oaks lining the streets dangling Mardi Gras beads from years past is what did it for me.

This is what I’ve learned so far…on the surface New Orleans is covered with linen table clothes, adorned with chandeliers and crystal decanters, but just below this surface is a fluid and volatile culture, bogged down in history, cowboy to the core, wearing its heart on its sleeve, drunk and grappling with the reality of just how fragile its environment really is. It’s raw alright, but I like it like that.

If you are ever down here, please look me up, because I’ve learned a bit about Southern hospitality. In the meantime, check out the links below to find out more about where I work.
NORAWORKS and LSU Art&Design
Cheers,
Abigail