Louisiana
Michael lives in a warehouse downtown next to the French
quarter among all of the high class hotels. The warehouse has four floors. His family renovated the fourth floor into a
home. The third and second floors are filled with supplies and boxes, while the
first is only an entrance room. The entrance room has the steepest and scariest
steps I have ever seen or climbed.
On the first night we had our first New Orleans experience,
which was very different. We walked through Bourbon Street, which is packed
with strip clubs (we did not and will not enter!), bars, and restaurants.
Michael referred to Bourbon Street as “the Disney world for perverted adults”. The whole street is lined with strippers and
bouncers standing at the front of the clubs trying to convince pedestrians to
enter. After Bourbon Street we walked down to Frenchman Street which was very
interesting. Frenchman street was filled with weird jazz dance bars, and all the
people dancing inside are definitely high.
On the second night in New Orleans we once again hit the
town. We went through Jackson Square down to a couple of shops where Michael
has friends. Jackson Square is filled with psychics and fortune tellers who
will tell you your future for a buck or two. We walked into a cigar shop run by
an Israeli woman, named Esther, where she, like any Israeli would,
forcefully sold me a cigar. We chatted with her for a bit, and then walked next
door to another store. Jonathan the clerk at the store next door, apparently
also an adept psychic, pulled out a deck of tarot cards. He placed the cards on
the table and asked me to slice the deck. After arranging the top five cards on
the table he begins to explain what each card means, represents, and how it affects me in my life. We learned that
the tarot cards are based heavily on Kabala and Judaism, and even has Hebrew on
the cards. I don’t believe in all the Voodoo magic that New Orleans is so
famous for, but it was still fun.
On Friday we met an amazing fellow traveler from Israel by
the name of Yishai Schuchalter. He is of American decent, and speaks fluent
English. He finished his military service, and went on a trip just like us. But
unlike us he was at his trip’s end and we are only in the beginning. He stayed
with us until we left New Orleans.
For Shabbos we went to the Chabad house of New Orleans. We
surprisingly found out that for a city of its size there not many religious
Jews there. We stayed by an Israeli Chabbadnik by the name of Uzi. Uzi’s wife
is an amazing cook, and I overate. Overall Shabbos was pretty much uneventful
which is nice and relaxing.
After Shabbos we hit the streets again, entering a couple of
college bars in the university district. By the end of the night I was feeling
sick from overeating on Shabbos, and had to go home.
We woke up on Sunday morning and decided to continue our
drive to Houston, Texas. Yishai gave us tips for our trip, and Michael wished
us luck. Then we were off to continue on our adventure.
Louisiana has many swamps, bayous, and rivers. The state has
extremely long bridges that carry you over its endless swamplands. We decided
to stop at a bayou on the way in order to find an alligator. We believe we did,
but we could only see its eyes sticking out of the water while it was swimming.
Louisiana is extremely beautiful and mysterious at the same
time. New Orleans properly portrays the feeling of the colonization of the area
with its diverse architecture. New Orleans is heavily influenced by many
different styles including Caribbean, French, English, Spanish, and even
African architecture. New Orleans has its own culture called Cajun, and has an
aura feeling quite like Jerusalem’s. Between the Voodoo, tarot cards, Bourbon,
and Frenchmen Street it was an amazing experience. I recommend everyone to go
to Louisiana, because there is no place like it on Earth.
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