Katrina hit when I was living in Vegas after spending seven years falling in love with New Orleans. At the time, I worked at night, so I knew of this quiet truck stop bar outside of town where I could unwind a bit at four am before heading home. It was there that I saw the hurricane played out on national television. I was among Americans, the bartender was from Baton Rouge, and we cried openly. No one had any reservations about showing our complete sadness for the event and for all of the people involved. We all felt very helpless. I wanted to return, but everyone told me it was a bad idea, and I couldn't have helped anyway. We were frustrated with the media, they never told us where Nola flooded, it was all canal St. and the super dome, and the ninth ward. But, I didn't know that mid-city had flooded until I returned to the city, or that so many of the levees had failed.

One thing that really affected me as we watched the total un-organization of the government agencies involved, was the X's they put on the houses to signify that it had been searched, by whom and for what, people, pets, ect. When I saw those in my neighborhood after moving back, my heart went out to the city once again. We cheered when we saw the outpouring of support and love from the American city's that were able to help, using their airports and planes to fly supplies and water down here. Chicago was a tremendous help,and we all felt proud and American when we saw that. We might be rude to each other normally, but when shit hits the fan we are the first to help out, even when our government fails, or because they do. When I spent New Years of '06 in Chicago, among the crowd out to look at fireworks a special silence and remembrance came over us when loud random music suddenly blasted Louis Armstrong's walking to New Orleans.

When I moved back to New Orleans in 2008, I did buy a picture book about the storm but I did not go on any tours. I didnt know how I felt about that.. I recently participated in a couch surfing exercise where international travelers of my choosing are invited to my house so I can play tour guide. Its great fun here in this wonderful city of ours. Between 2010- 2012, travelers from all over the world were asking me where the most damaged areas of Katrina were and if I could take them there. It was strange. It became very clear to me that this was an international event and people from the corners of the globe were affected by it.

I think we all remember how to be human, and that we are all connected to this humanity, when things of this magnitude and nature come upon us and are completely out of control. Just as the Tsunami in Polynesia, and natural disasters around the world, mother nature is so powerful and immense we can only sit and stare in her awe and terrible destruction. I am proud of New Orleans for surviving her wrath, and proud of all the people affected by Katrina all along the coast who got through it and showed us the ever enduring strength of what it means to be human