A tale of two cities.

"You all know about the two cities," said Common Ground co-founder Melik Rahim about New Orleans when speaking to the class tonight. "One that's been rebuilt and is gearing up for Mardi Gras and the Saints, and then another, where people are homeless, where people come not to live, but to die."

I got a glimpse of the first city today, after spending three days in the second. We went to the InterContinental hotel in downtown New Orleans to attend an academic conference. Our professor was giving a couple of speeches, and there were a few lectures and panels addressing Katrina-related issues. It was a strange experience, to step inside the hotel --- with its finely dressed servants, luxurious bathrooms, the soft jazz playing in the background --- all that opulence, just a bridge away from the ghost town of the lower 9th ward.

Once we settled down for the first presentation, a panel on the challenges posed by corrosion in rebuilding the Gulf Coast, I got sort of lost in the technical babble, and nearly nodded off to slepe. I felt guilty, sitting there listening to some academics drone on about something I didn't particularly care about, while I could have been gutting.

We had lunch at a nearby po'boy joint called Serio's, a place covered in football memorobilia. After lunch, we took a walk downtown, to experience the touristy side of New Orleans. We went down Bourbon Street, famous for its booze and bodies, and found that it lived up to its reputation, with signs offering a wide variety of margaritas and women alike.

Bored with it after a few blocks, we took a turn and went into the more sanitized, though no less touristy, areas of the French Quarter. It felt strange to be in this theme park of a town with gutting on our minds, but over time the class disparity became less jarring; at one point, I just sort of stopped thinking about it, and started to enjoy myself more. I stopped thinking and started snapping photos. It's one of the struggles you have ot deal with here: how can one balance work and play? Skipping gutting, even if needed (as it was, I felt, for tired old me), felt cowardly in a way.

The day continued and I spent time with Sarah, Greg, and Kate. After wandering around downtown, we went back to the convention, and sat in on another panel.

This one was abou rebuilding New Orleans, and in whose interests it is being rebuilt. This one was more interesting and more engaging; speakers and audience members both gave their input and generated a dialogue. Among the issues considered were New Orleans' ecological footprint; justice and the accountability of politicians; the historical political attitudes of Louisiana; the mayoral elections; and the feasability and purpose of rebuilding New Orleans, an Atlantis-to-be that is little more than a playground in the world economy, i.e., a matter of people versus business.

Finally, three professors gave presentations on the media, among them Professor Heldman. The first two were moderately interesting, but Heldman's, on the differenecs in media coverage of hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, was far more thought-provoking. She concluded that Katrina reports focused far more on so-called looting, though looting was present in both disasters, and that race generated the negative coverage during Katrina. "I wish Americans could understand that the looting was inconsequential," she said. "If you weren't there, you don't understand the desperation."

The day went on, and after dinner and our evening CG meeting, we met with Melik, interim director Brandon, and Ms. Sharon. We were all gathered around them in the dark, and Melik gave us a summary of the bleak situation in Katrina. "It is January 5th. There have been seven, some say twelve, murders this month, because people feel they have no other option. Unemployment is worse than before Katrina. The schools are in bad condition... drugs and teen prostitution are at an all time high. If you are white, rich, have corrections, everything you need is being offered --- but if you're black and poor, there's no help for you."

But there is hope, he said. "But we can change this. Go home and tell people about this. The military's patrolling the streets. Something has to change because if not, life as we know it will cease ot exist."

Brandon added on. "We can't allow disparities to exist. When a disaster happens, and disparity rears its ugly head... it's so bad."

"You can always beat hatred with compassion, and you can always beat violence with love. But you have to plant the seeds," said Melik.

Most of America has turned Katrina off. They assume that New Orleans is restored. And half of it is; there is a city here that is, though not bustling as it once was, thriving once again, with tourists packing its French Quarter restaurants. But there is another New Orleans that is still being abused by a government that does not care, by a city that would rather its poor blacks leave.

I guess that is the main reason I write this, to help spread the word. I don't pretend that I am presenting anything that will cause more impact, and I know that I am just a mouthpiece. But it's something, I guess, and it's a start.

There's a lot more to say, I will say it eventually hopefully. Most of what I write is just sort of watered down summaries I wish I could repeat all that I hear word for word. And I have been taking pictures, which I know are worth a lot of words, but I don't know when I'll have the time to upload them. Maybe in a few days, maybe not until I get back... until then, just keep reading and bare with me, and tell other people to read, too.

See you later.