This weekend was no exception. Saturday I walked to the end of the French Quarter with Holly to go to the Frenchman Street Bookfair. While the bookfair was not exactly my type of bookfair (many anarchist and liberation books, mixed with some book about an alien abduction with a few New Orleans books and recipe books and many hurricane books), we passed a church yard sale on our way there. On the way back, feeling extremely disappointed by the lack of books we wanted to buy, we stopped at the yard sale. That's when the fun began - a huge tent full of books - 5 softcover for a dollar and 1 hardcover for a dollar. Just in case you don't know me well enough... I bought 8 books! I couldn't fit any more in my bag!
We stopped back at the house to grab some lunch, then took the bus down St. Charles to Napoleon to go to the .... St. Charles Streetcar party!!! The streetcars, many having been destroyed in Katrina and the lines being messed up, have not run up St. Charles since before Katrina. While one ran from Canal to Lee Circle, this pathetic attempt was only used by tourists because it only really ran about 5 blocks. However, on Saturday, they opened it from Canal to Napoleon!!! You probably are questioning my excitement over the opening of a form of transportation that I can out walk, however, this is really one case where you have to be here. When so much else seems to be floundering, opening the streetcar is a symbol of the city. Now, if they could only make many of the destroyed neighborhoods a symbol of the city too...
A few weekends ago, I went with my friend Alana and her Dutch friend to the much publicized 9th ward. The most shocking thing about the whole experience was how unfazed I was. Yes, there was debris everywhere and many abandoned houses, but it's almost what I've seen many other places. In comparison to the Hoffman Triangle area, it's somewhat nicer. That's not saying a whole lot though. There are few schools open and even fewer shops. Below are some of the pictures I took.
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