Home Is Where the Heat Is

Engagement by the numbers:

• Gallons of sweat dripped- 28
• Mosquito bites- 1
• Catcalls received- 17.2
• Surprise adventures (aka times lost)- 5.85
• Times recognized as an out of towner- twice a day
• Crawfish eaten "properly"- .75 lbs give or take... mostly take

I saw a little girl on the trolley the other day that made me smile. She was the most precious thing I'd seen all day, though that isn't saying much. I'd trekked to the outskirts of the city, out of our lush Garden District all the way to the end of the world, or at least the end of the city, and still had not found my office. I was hot, sweaty and frustrated, with every intention of putting on my ipod and zoning out for the commute back to Loyola.

But, something about this little girl brought me back to why I was here. I think it was her hair. Parted razor sharp down the middle with two bush balls on either side of her head, it reminded me of myself at her age. But, this is definitely romanticizing myself at 5... My hair would have been more likely to resemble Don King's by this late in the day. There was as much cheese on her fingers and mouth as on the Doritos she was eating. Her mom followed her down the aisle and allowed the little girl to choose the seat right in front of me. They seemed completely engrossed in each other, and Javenique (assuming hers was the name tattoed on the back of her mom's neck) and her mother felt like they could have been my mother and I, transposed to another life. The mother-daughter moment felt so familiar, despite the surreal palm trees and street cars.

Much of New Orleans feels like this to me- as though I've been here before. I'm well aware that I stick out, since I'm almost daily asked where I'm from, and I sweat far too profusely to be a local. But, I love it here like I'm among cousins: the accents, the music, the seafood, even the air thick enough to slice with a knife. Old men here (at least the ones not too overly affectionate) remind me of my grandfather, and the accent is beautiful. I feel peaceful and comfortable here somehow, even when we're lost, or the street cars blow allergens into my eyes. I only hope by the end of this I've found something to give back to this city that I can tell is going to give me so much.

Oh yea, and it's hot.