I've always depended on the kindness of strangers

I think this phrase never rings truer than when you are travelling. Really, think about all the times you have to ask some random person if they know when the next bus is coming, where is that cafe you read about in Lonely Planet that's supposed to be on this street, and do you know where I can get vegetarian food in this city? And if you didn't take English 30 in Alberta, then I'll let you know that the title is also fitting given that it comes from the play "A Street Car Named Desire," set in New Orleans. (See this for the line in the movie by Blanche, and if you hold out to the end you'll hear a good "Stella!" too.) Another title I thought of for this post was "Janna takes on NOLA!" Janna is a hybrid of Janice and Anna. NOLA is a hybrid of New Orleans, LouisiAna. Anna is my amazing friend I met last year in university, and we are often found together at school so some people in our program refer to us as Janna just to simplify things. We went to NOLA for the TESOL International conference March 16 -20. TESOL is a hybrid of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. The conference sessions we chose were informative and we got free dictionaries at the trade show. Okay. Now why we really went...



WE LOVE NEW ORLEANS. Love it. The weather was perfect. The people are friendly and service is great. The food is fantastic. The architecture and design are beautiful. Everyday we took the same walk from our B&B in Marigny to the French Quarter, and we noticed something different every time.
Our B&B was outside of the super touristy French Quarter, but I think it still had all the charm and some really great places to eat. Oh, eating! Heaven! The food is heaven! Consult me before you go to NOLA, because I know where you should go to stay and eat. Back to the B&B, called Lions Inn. The breakfast wasn't anything special, but the beds were super comfy and it had a nice big backyard with a pool, lounge chairs, and lots of greenery. Ed, the host, was so soft spoken but so helpful (hence the title of this blog). He was always available to answer our questions and gave us some really great tips about where to eat and bike. That's the other thing, this place had touring bikes we could borrow, and on our last day we just hopped on and toured around our neighborhood in the sun.
We really felt that while New Orleans seemed very friendly and happy and welcoming, it also seemed to have an edge to it as well. It's hard to describe, but it shows itself once in awhile, like in some of the graffiti art or how the iron work on homes is beautiful in the day but downright creepy at night in the light of gas lamps. Maybe it has something to do with the Mardi Gras culture or the fact that Voodoo was (is) big here. Either way, we always felt safe, but sometimes a little creeped out.




NOLA is also famous for its above-ground cemeteries. The land is too boggy, so they keep their dead above ground.



One of my favorite things about travelling with Anna was her ability to slow down and appreciate really subtle things like the smell of blossoms on jasmine trees only open in the evenings. This is us at the St. Patrick's Day parade, sorry for the lame photo quality.


Food time! It looks gross but I swear it tasted delicious; a grilled shrimp po'boy from a hole-in-the-wall joint.

Good southern food: sweet potato fries and the best crab cakes you ever ate.


These are yummy little deep-fried beignets covered in icing sugar from Cafe Du Monde. Famous AND tasty...


No wonder this place flooded, it's surrounded by water. Here's a few teens on what we think was their grad trip, taking in the ol' Mississippi.

This is just quirky, and it's just for Bethany. Someone decorated their entire truck in a "redheads" theme.


We came across this haunting 'x' more than once. After Katrina hit, rescue crews travelled from house to house and left their mark by spray painting a big x at about the water level of the building. In the top section they left the date, on the left was the initials of the state the crew was from, the bottom was the number of animals found dead and the right side was for humans. Fortunately, this house was empty when it was found.

This was tiled into a sidewalk:

Who's Mahalo?

Love love love love Hawaii. I get it now. I get the obsession, why people who go need to go again and again. It's beautiful, it's friendly, and it's American. There is something for everyone; beaches for beach lovers, adventures for adventure lovers, Obamas for Obama lovers.
It's easy to catch the aloha spirit in Hawaii, partially because people really say "aloha" and other Hawaiian phrases all the time. The title of this blog is a bit of a joke. One night we decided to go to a movie. Right before the show begins, a screen flashes up which reads, "No smoking permitted in the theater. - Fire Marshall". I probably made some lame remark to my aunt Yvonne about why is that even necessary anymore, blah blah blah. The next screen flashes up and it says "Please do not talk during the show. Mahalo". I turn to Yvonne and say, "Who's Mahalo?" "Uhhh...Mahalo means "Thank you" in Hawaiian." But I don't speak Hawaiian, so you can understand why I was confused, right? I was picturing some large Hawaiian man who works at the theater and occasionally checks up on audiences to make sure people aren't chatting. Or, maybe Mahalo is the Polynesian god of communication who frowns upon disruptive conversation. Anyways, the point is... I don't know what the point is but I won't forget what mahalo means and I was more inclined to use that than the English version for a week after I got home.

We stayed at Hau'ula, which is about half way between Honolulu and Waimea Valley on the north shore. An ideal location in my opinion; while it was usually overcast where we were staying, a 20-30 minute drive north or south usually brought sun. The waves are the biggest at this time of year on the north shore, so we enjoyed avoiding getting crushed in the surf or watching others do the same. At Sunset Beach and Pipeline Beach, we didn't even bother swimming, since signage on the beach indicated it was unsafe to do so. I love bumming it on the beach, so this is my number one highlight.


Other highlights include...

Eating prawns at a shrimp shack. Yummy!


Going on a "Hole in the Wall" Food Tour of Honolulu. Our guides were hilarious and they showed us some great eats in the city that we never would have found on our own. If you're going to Oahu, I recommend it. This is a photo of me at the "Look Funn Factory" in China Town.

The Polynesian Cultural Centre. Who doesn't love traditional song and dance? It was very entertaining and exceeded my expectations.



Turtles!


Hiking in the Waimea Valley.


Perhaps the best part of the holiday was spending quality time with my family. I'm glad we took this opportunity to take a long trip together when everyone was in a position to do so. Thanks for the fun times!

Some Bits I Missed

In my last entry I neglected to mention two key events that took place. One was the sprint triathlon that I completed in June with my mom. If you need a reason to stay in shape this winter, sign up for a triathlon next summer. If you are signed up for a triathlon, you are highly motivated to exercise knowing that in the near future you must cross a finish line in front of a bunch of people. I pushed myself in ways I didn't think possible. I actually became a runner, using a great running program called Couch to 5k. Before I couldn't run for more than two minutes, and now I can run for 30. I implemented my own interval training program for swimming; when I started I couldn't swim more than four lengths without dying, and now I can swim 20. I bought a new fancy bike which I love, and have tried to put it to use commuting and running errands instead of taking my car. The race itself was a blast - it's HARD and there were times when I questioned why I had ever thought this would be a good idea, but overall, I really enjoyed it. It's exhilarating to race against the clock, and no feeling compares to crossing the finish line after you've pushed yourself in ways you didn't think possible before. Everyone within the sound of my voice, I strongly encourage you to try a sprint triathlon! You won't have regrets!
No photographic evidence from this one!

The second event I neglected to mention was the visit of my dear friend Laura, hailing all the way from Hong Kong. I was so happy she came, because a second trip to Hong Kong wasn't in the cards this summer! Our outings mainly involved eating at various locations including Leva Cafe for pizza, Da Capo for gelato, Lagano Skies for Ethiopian cuisine, Original Joes because it was the only place open on a holiday, and the Duchess Bake Shop for delicious desserts. We basically experienced the best of everything this city has to offer gastronomically in less than two weeks. The worst part about friends visiting is that they leave. Miss you Laura!