It was a sticky October day just two months after Hurricane Katrina and I was shaky all over from the many cups of coffee I drank earlier that morning. Perhaps my nerves were bad from the stories I had been hearing on the news and from all the chatter in the car as well, but thank God I was not driving. I had previously been to New Orleans only a handful of times before this trip so I asked my friends many times, \"are we there yet\" but I soon found out that we were there when I heard gasps and \"oh my god\'s\" from everyone in the car, including myself. Therefore, my reaction on my first trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was one of shock.\r\n Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans, was where I first saw destruction and became really sad. I have always been an emotional person so when I caught a glimpse of trailers, lots and lots of FEMA trailers in front of houses, I began to shed a great deal of tears. To think that people loved their homes so much to come back so fast and try and start over just overwhelmed me. I knew that I was not that tough and was going to have to toughen up some if I was going to be moving here in two more months. I was going to have to make this my home so the two girls and myself searched for signs of life in the almost desolate city. \r\n Throughout the rest of the trip, we noticed hundreds of cars that were stranded on the side of the interstate that you could tell had been flooded. There were also water lines deeply stained along the sound walls and buildings. Most of the buildings uptown were missing many windows and the Superdome\'s perfect white arch was now flawed and discolored. The first thing I thought about when I saw the dome was the poor people that were trapped there not so long ago. I also said that I would never step foot in there after all of the tales I heard that went on in there, however that was a joke because I was there in less than a year and was so amazed at how fast it was back on its feet and how much stronger I had become. By the end of the trip, I embraced New Orleans as my new home that needed a little more tender, love, and care like the residents who were fighting for their beloved city, and I knew that I was not moving here for nothing. \r\n\r\n