It’s hard to classify myself
because naturally I look at classifying myself in a negative way. I want to be
different I don’t want to be lumped together with everyone else just because we
are members of the same cohort. Yet I recognize the reality of who I am and what
comes with being who I am. I am proud of my culture and I embrace it as such.
I am a Ragin Cajun who loves the City of New
Orleans. Gumbo runs through my veins and as the great Beyoncé Knowles said “I keep
hot sauce in my bag”. What exactly comes
with the culture of the Bayou? First and foremost food!!! Crawfish, and “Scrimps”
in fact all seafood and anything you find in a swamp especially Gators! If you
live in New Orleans you don’t call the city by its actual name. You refer to it
as either Nawlins or Nola. We have distinct accents and we absolutely love to
party. Our culture is celebrated annually during Mardi Gras where on average
1million people flock to the city. Another defining part of New Orleans is the
music, Jazz in particular was born in the New Orleans. Great artist such as
Louis Armstrong put New Orleans on the map and really popularized our culture
I am proud of
where I’m from. My city has shaped who I am. Even through disaster New Orleans
remains strong and as boisterous as ever.
This blog seems to be about identity and culture. I find it interesting how the writer says who they are and then summarizes what the main point of the blog is. I can relate to this because my family is from Puerto Rico, but I've adapted to the American culture. The American culture has been blended into my culture and Ive learned to live with both.
ReplyDeleteThis blog seems to be about identity and culture. I find it interesting how the writer says who they are and then summarizes what the main point of the blog is. I can relate to this because my family is from Puerto Rico, but I've adapted to the American culture. The American culture has been blended into my culture and Ive learned to live with both.
ReplyDeleteWhat brought you here from New Orleans? I have a best friend who is from the NO suburbs, and she describes the area as "wonderfully oppressive." It's a town that just sinks through the skin, she says.
ReplyDeleteYou say in paragraph one that you want to be different than others--is that just different than here in Northern Virginia?
I would disagree with your friend, id say a lot of people gave up on the city after Katrina but over the past few years there has been a bounce back. Mardi Gras brings a lot of money to the city and big events such as the Sugar Bowl keep New Orleans on the map. To say it as lively as pre-Katrina may be a stretch simply because the city is not as heavily populated with the same level of wealth, because of this their is not the constant celebration that New Orleans is famous for, people are busy working. When I say the city is bouncing back I say this because wealth has returned to the city and money has been invested to lower crime rates,(which was a huge problem post Katrina and most likely part of the reason your friend sees the city this way). its not the state of Louisiana that has really helped the city bounce back its the wealthy people and companies who have been there for generations. My immediate family left because my father got a job working for the Federal Government. For the most part my whole family remains in New Orleans and I visit multiple times a year so I have seen the transformation from directly after Katrina to now.
DeleteWhen I say I want to be different I mean I want to be seen for my opinions rather than where I live, how old I am, or the color of skin. don't get me wrong I understand that people aren't only looking at me for the cohorts I fall into but there are large generalization about young people and even if I did fall into those cohorts I would want an assumption to passed simply based on my demographics. so to simplify, I don't want to fuel the generalizations by just going with the flow.
It definitely was difficult for me as well to classify myself because I think of it as a negative action. When I moved to northern Virginia I was a preteen and I struggled within myself on trying to stay true to who I was in New York and accepting the new Virginia version of myself. I have learned that I can do both.
ReplyDeleteI am very interested in the reason for you coming to Virginia and was it because of the hurricane?
I moved from New Orleans a few months before Katrina because my dad got a job in the federal government, most of my family is still in New Orleans, our old house was destroyed so we were lucky to leave when we did!
DeleteI moved from New Orleans a few months before Katrina because my dad got a job in the federal government, most of my family is still in New Orleans, our old house was destroyed so we were lucky to leave when we did!
DeleteNew Orleans has always been an interesting place to me. I am a food fanatic, although I'm not a big fan of seafood, I feel like I would be in love with some of that cajun food. Mardi gras is an event that I would like to attend in my lifetime, seems like a blast and I'm sure it would be fun throwing some of those beads at the ladies. Hopefully some day the area gets back to how it was financially pre-katrina. The area seems very active and from what I have heard the people have a great southern hospitality!
ReplyDeleteNew Orleans has always been an interesting place to me. I am a food fanatic, although I'm not a big fan of seafood, I feel like I would be in love with some of that cajun food. Mardi gras is an event that I would like to attend in my lifetime, seems like a blast and I'm sure it would be fun throwing some of those beads at the ladies. Hopefully some day the area gets back to how it was financially pre-katrina. The area seems very active and from what I have heard the people have a great southern hospitality!
ReplyDelete