January 16. My Plans For The Spring Semester Saturday, Jan 17 2009

Last semester was my first semester being a freshman college and I admit that it was very intimidating. On the day of my arrival, I sized up the overpowering building with fear of not being able to achieve my goals.

Then I saw my mom drive away from me, as is kicking me out of the nest and I knew from that day forth I would have to grow up quick. Yes I had a rough start with my classes and I wanted so badly to just throw in the towel and give up but I hung in there and stuck it out. Turns out it wasn’t so bad in the end and I believe I made a name for myself. Coming from a 51 in chemistry to a 83! That is an amazing achievement and I am very proud of myself. This semester I have Chemistry II and Biology on the same plate and I am a little bit doubtful about whether or not I’m going to be able to pull this one off, but I honestly believe I can make this happen just like I did last semester. There is 2x the amount of information that I need to cover but if I keep a good head on my shoulders, I will make myself proud all over again.

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WNOM 7-8 Monday, Dec 8 2008

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The way that he had described the city after his return to the city after Katrina was as if he had seen through my very eyes, or vise versa. As I’ve return towards the city via the I-10 West from the path from Ohio, I had seen trees blown over, windows smashed, roofs destroyed, and water lines as higher than windows. The scene which I saw after returning was not as worse than the scene of actually being in the city right after Katrina passed and the city was flooded along with slowly raising waters. Near the center of the city by Claiborne and Esplanade, I was standing knee deep in water. The sight of looters would send fears into our hearts because my family was the owner of one of the stores in the city which was completely looted to the shelves. There were plenty of attempts which were done WHILE we were still present within the store in a single day. The route upon which I had returned to the city from wasn’t nearly as bad as Chef Mentuer Hwy right after the disaster, which has asphalt raised and splattered randomly in piles as high as two feet and ripped gas lines which would roar loud enough to cause some to go temporarily deaf. The sight of everyone’s precious New Orleans was worse before the return, but the anticipation of seeing your home after returning is the worse. My house right after Katrina was actually in OK condition. The flood waters had only submerged the rear side of my house and the main part was completely dry, however after our return to the city the water line had marked about one foot in the main side of the house. This wasn’t as bad as other neighborhood from which I have acquaintances and friends, but the mold damage had probably been of the same extent. The whole experience of Katrina was one that many will grow stronger from, but I feel as if it was a hit upon all the residents of the city that would leave a scar that was forever deep.

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WNOM 5-6 Monday, Dec 8 2008

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In chapter five, Piazza describes the type of neighborhoods that New Orleans has that would be considered quite unique with the combination of the rich and the poor neighborhoods within such close proximity to each other. He also talks about the crime which he compares to other urban cities, but from five separate personal experiences I would consider this city’s crime rate to be slightly higher to much higher than other urban cities that I’ve lived in. In all honestly when I lived in south Philadelphia for a couple of months, I would consider it to be at most equally dangerous to live there than in New Orleans. Along with the police system to my knowledge, this city is quite dangerous to live in at times.

The police force is another subject which I feel very shaky talking about. When the call goes in about a mugging or robbery at gun point either in action or subsequently, there will be a police patrol vehicle out and searching in less than two minutes. However, when it comes to crimes or problems such as vandalism, accidents, theft, or break-ins, the police would take from twenty to hours to come to the scene. During these long waits, a call back to the station would nearly always result in a responds that would inform the caller that a “shift change” is in progress, which I find it highly disputable that shift changes would last for couple of hours.

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WNOM 3-4 Monday, Dec 8 2008

In chapter three, Piazza talked about the various famous people who had made the music of New Orleans as it was. He also supplied an surprisingly list of musicians which either had their career start in the city or has the soul and music of New Orleans infuse into their own music. He had gone on to talk about a few other obscure bands within New Orleans that he had experienced a few times over years and one being a group of men under the name of the Wind Tchoupitoulas.

In chapter four, Piazza shares his experiences with the Jazz Fest, the annual festival which takes places at the New Orleans Fairgrounds. His description basically goes through it as if it was a slice of the culture which is New Orleans. He talks about the three days of eight hours of the music and food which the Jazz fest has to provide. The music supplied to the audience and attendees of this festival would include: “jazz, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, New Orleans R&B, a little country, some flat-out rock, straight blues, rockability, and a sampling of Caribbean, Haitian, Latino, and African music.” This music would be the slice of pie that envelopes New Orleans day in and out. Tom Piazza states that the festival constantly underlines the music and culture of New Orleans as a whole. He also personally recommended some food and which booths from where they came to the reader. He continues to guide the reader through his routines and how he would spend an entire day of Jazz Fest.

Jazz Fest is truly something to experience ever year, but I, myself, had only been to the festival twice. I had thoroughly enjoyed both visits culturally through the music and the food that Piazza has also enjoyed along with much more.

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WNOM 1-2 Monday, Dec 8 2008

As Piazza had described his vivid memory of the area where he knows best and the photos of portraits of various people. He states that the very thing that had made him deeply interested in New Orleans was the music. The genre of Jazz was his interest which had connected him with the rest of the culture which runs through New Orleans. The culture would include “culinary, social, historical, literary, and architectural” aspects of the city. He described how he was once so mesmerized by the sounds of jazz that he had followed the parade of musicians for nearly half an hour. He later goes on about how New Orleans was made of people of many occupations and cultures. And that New Orleans isn’t something that you could read out of a book but something you have to experience for yourself. And the book would talk about what the world would lose once New Orleans was gone.

In chapter two, Piazza goes through his history with New Orleans, but it leans towards the particular subject of food. He named a few of his friend’s favorites and goes on about his history with the food of New Orleans. He begins to list various restaurants he’d been to along with many that he wants to try among the most famous and obscure restaurants. The second part of the chapter refers the music of New Orleans as it is. Piazza’s immersive knowledge of upon where in the city where on was to find the true music and life of New Orleans. He also shows to the reader that music was an essential part of New Orleans life as he described a funeral which included a band to play for it.

The first couple of chapters show his immense attraction to this very city through his joy of the music and the food, which is upon many things that make up the life of New Orleans. The music and the food of New Orleans share an equal importance in his heart and which he thinks that most should remember New Orleans mostly through that connection.

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Jarvis Debarry Monday, Dec 8 2008

I was among the many that wasn’t unable to hear much of his speech towards the freshmen class, however I did hear from others that he was a great speaker and motivational as well. I’ll be sure to read your blogs if it’s about the event with Jarvis Debarry!

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Xavier’s Social Community Monday, Dec 8 2008

Making friends could sometimes be a very difficult barrier to overtake. I was able to make a whole lot of friends during this semester alone. Majority of these friendships that I’ve made was through the help of recent acquaintances during that time. So, I think that in a setting which everyone doesn’t quite know everyone that this scenario would be quite common. Most of the new friends that I’ve made is mostly only through school. There are a few which we would actually go out with and do other activities outside of just school and studies. Despite this, most if not all of them are very nice and cool to be around and wouldn’t mind really to spend more time out of school with them. Sadly, there already a couple of people which I had already grown sick and tired but they’re people that I’ve met before and had grown bad relations towards over the years. A great majority of my new friends with the exception of about twenty people actually had lived or had been living in New Orleans. Now, I feel as if the city doesn’t seem as small as I’ve felt it been before now especially when I notice that the city, or at least the places that I usually go, are swarmed with current Xavier students.

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The Election and citizenship Monday, Dec 8 2008

What citizenship means to me. The context which I see citizenship most commonly used in refers to some sort of patriotic symbol. Or something that defines one’s alliance to a nation. I see it as something that is able to define my rights, or rather yet laws that defines my humanly rights.

I wouldn’t say that as part of my citizenship that I MUST vote life if it was a requirement on my part, but I should be able to vote on the fact that I am of age and am a proper citizen of this nation. I was unable to vote because I was unregistered when I had approached the polls. It doesn’t make me regret that I wasn’t able to vote or feel what others feel after they had voted for their first time. But I do feel as if part of my citizenship was denied to me and it is sadly disappointing.

I was out at the polls by about three o’clock pm and had stood there patiently waiting for almost an hour. By the time the man in front of me for the hour had went into his booth, I was rose with high anticipations of my first experience of voting just for the candidate of my choice. After they had told me that I wasn’t registered for some reason, I was almost completely crushed by the news. I had asked them to check it over three times until I felt that I was holding back the line too much and had left to go home and watch the news. At the end of the day, I was glad and filled with joy from the results of the election.

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New Orleans’ communities Monday, Dec 8 2008

Towards the east there is a Vietnamese community that I live in. There are many businesses that are owned by Vietnamese and are mostly located on one road. Of those businesses there are salons, grocery stores, and entertainment shops. Along the streams, there are vegetables and fruits that were grown usually by the oldest of the community. And among the older of the populous here, everyone knows everyone.

There are the Magnolia projects and the lower ninth ward which both have very bad reputation on their social and economic standing. Most businesses that could be found near these neighborhoods would be corner stores that would sell food and bare nonessential groceries along with many bars and liquor stores. Usually it is the minorities below the poverty lines that lives in these neighborhoods and due to this reason these neighborhoods lack the public eye towards such improvement such as much needed renovations. They could also be described as victims of city planning.

Within the more wealthy neighborhoods such as the one down St Charles, there are many mansions and homes which often cost over one million dollars. These neighborhoods would often obviously be the much wealthier voting class. The businesses that could be found here are usually grandiose hotels and fancy restaurants.

Other than that of the Vietnamese neighborhood, I don’t know much about the other neighborhoods except that of the ever so famous French Quarter and Bourbon Street which in the past had many eccentrics and interesting “French Quarter Characters” along with many entertainers/performers.

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Xavier’s Social Community Monday, Dec 8 2008

Making friends could sometimes be a very difficult barrier to overtake. I was able to make a whole lot of friends during this semester alone. Majority of these friendships that I’ve made was through the help of recent acquaintances during that time. So, I think that in a setting which everyone doesn’t quite know everyone that this scenario would be quite common. Most of the new friends that I’ve made is mostly only through school. There are a few which we would actually go out with and do other activities outside of just school and studies. Despite this, most if not all of them are very nice and cool to be around and wouldn’t mind really to spend more time out of school with them. Sadly, there already a couple of people which I had already grown sick and tired but they’re people that I’ve met before and had grown bad relations towards over the years. A great majority of my new friends with the exception of about twenty people actually had lived or had been living in New Orleans. Now, I feel as if the city doesn’t seem as small as I’ve felt it been before now especially when I notice that the city, or at least the places that I usually go, are swarmed with current Xavier students.

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