“New Orleans, though beautiful and desperately alive, was desperately fragile. There was something forever savage and primitive there. Something that threatened the exotic and sophisticated life both from within and without. ”
Nothing about this city makes sense. The city is quite literally under the water which surrounds it. It’s surrounded by swamps and alligators and way too many mosquitos. It’s constantly battered by storms and hurricanes. Yet through it all, the region has always been occupied, whether by Americans or Europeans or the Indigenous Peoples to the land. Despite it being so utterly inhospitable, there have always been people who have tamed the land, forcing life into it regardless of its circumstances. How vampiric.
We spent the first few days of our travels in New Orleans reading Anne Rice’s Interview With a Vampire. The novel, largely set in New Orleans, follows a cast of vampires over centuries in New Orleans. Through the immortal eyes of Louis’ the vampire, we see the city of New Orleans as he questions his morals and the developing world around him.
Much of our time was spent in the French Quarter, a historic part of New Orleans characterized by lively streets and historic architecture. We walked the same streets which Rice’s vampires prowled at night for kills, and peered through the countless alleyways in which they eventually escaped from onlookers.
““Our eternal life was useless to us if we did not see the beauty around us, the creation of mortals everywhere”
The French Quarter’s beauty is best encapsulated through the lens of a vampire. Vampires span across time and constantly force periods of rebirths. The beautiful architecture of the Quarter is made possible through history, the architecture receiving Spanish, French, Creole, and American influences. The Quarter famously endured through fires which damaged much of the city during the early 19th century. In our contemporary period, the city has also seen devastation through historic hurricanes. In the Quarter, many of the intricately designed buildings stand side by side with dilapidated buildings. The city’s unique complexion is equally defined by its historical influences as well as the catastrophes it survived.
Having strolled among such architecture, I have reflected upon vampirism and immortality, as Anne Rice has. What does it mean to live forever? Immortality is surely glorious, the ability to mighty withstand the unrelenting blows of time. Immortality means not only surviving through it all, but outliving those around you. New Orleans has certainly outlived the thousands of different physical, cultural, and ideological influences thrust upon it. Its current state is because of its immortality through it all, the good and bad. But does it ever get lonely? Infinity is an unfathomably large concept, so we tackle it in ways our own minds can start to comprehend it, like sucking blood and sleeping in coffins.
But why can us humans create so beautifully in a finite existence? Is our mortality the key to it all? Throughout the city, beauty is showcased itself in every which way. We’ve seen dozens of moving street murals, painted straight from the heart. We’ve sung along to street performers whose powerful voices come from the soul. We’ve eaten in the most incredible places, chefs pouring every ounce of passion into each dish. Even little chalkboard signs outside boutiques and coffee shops are drawn with exquisite attention to detail.
My favorite testament to this is Frenchman street, a quick streetcar ride away from us. It comes to life every night: drag shows, street music, staged music, painters, jewelry makers, and even a late night bookstore. The majority of these artists are people of color, queer, and/or marginalized in some way. We’ve learned in depth how this very city was built off of the marginalized. Beggars and coined “undesirables” were shipped off to populate a tiny French colony which then became a horrifying slave hub––New Orleans history. Yet, through it all, the city never stops radiating culture and celebration.
Mortality is perhaps the key to it all, a limited existence for which there is always room to create joy out of suffering.
““‘You gave me your immortal kiss,’ she said, though not to me, but to herself. ‘You loved me with your vampire nature’. “‘I love you now with my human nature, if ever I had it,’ I said to her”.”
Why is it so special to love as a human? Why does Louis feel the need to explain that he loves Claudia beyond his vampiric nature? A vampiric love is rather romantic. It’s a love that’s so utterly physical and carnal. It’s a love that transcends generations and civilizations. So why would a vampire feel the need to justify that his love is human? Perhaps it’s how humans can produce such intense love, in spite of the tragedies and imperfections of humanity.
This city is a testament to how humans love amidst hardship. NOLA’s beauty is bred out of suffering and tragic chapters of history. Even today, those effects are still seen, interwoven with the beauty. We watch and hear street artists, talented beyond belief, who must tirelessly perform to make ends meet. We embarked on a ghost tour which packaged the devastating tales of homicides, tortures, and suicides throughout the Quarter all into a two hour walking tour for some $ a head. We walked through the stunning Garden District with houses upon houses which would make Jay Gatsby jealous. This area was once plantations, and then became the escape for wealthy Americans from the Quarter. My next blog will continue to explore the darker sides to this city, as we bookpack through the black experience, dotted with unrelenting discrimination and systemic oppression.