I'm not used to having this conversation. Maybe I should be.

I forget that outside of New Orleans, a number of people question the city's right to even exist. And also look at Hurricane Katrina as solely a judgment/wake-up call to the U.S., instead of a devastating event that affected people's lives.

I mean, I'm the last thing from a Louisiana native (born and raised in Washington), but I've lived in New Orleans for the majority of the past two years. And yeah, I live on-campus, I go to a school that has a majority of out-of-state students, but we all chose to come to New Orleans, you know? We're part of that group of people that go, "Yeah, New Orleans is important, and we love it, and we want to live here and tell people it's okay to live here and that there's nowhere else like New Orleans in the world." So that's what I'm used to hearing from other people, along with all the New Orleanians who were living in the city when Katrina hit and then came back. 97% of Tulane students who evacuated for Katrina and did their Katrina semester at another school came back to Tulane and to New Orleans. (I don't know the figures for other GNO schools, but I guess they'd probably be similar?)

I forget that everyone doesn't love New Orleans. I forget that some people believe that New Orleans shouldn't even exist.

(I forget that some people don't know basic geography and HELLO NEW ORLEANS IS NOT THE ONLY CITY IN AMERICA OR HEY THE WORLD BUILT ON A SWAMP. Gods, I think I just stared at him blankly when he said, "That's what you get for building on a swamp!" because I had no idea how to respond. And then I changed the subject as quickly as I could.)

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Am five episodes into Rome S1 right now. Octavian is my favorite. Also Caesar and Atia; I just keep wondering what crazy shit she's going to pull next. And Pullo! I really want to like Vorenus, but it's not quite working. I do feel really sorry for his wife; she's trying so hard. And I am curious about Octavia; I feel that she has hidden depths.

(I know so little about Roman history that most of this is new territory for me, sadly. No, I haven't even read the Shakespeare. I really need to take a Roman history class; I have a pretty strong grasp on Rome past about 300 or so, about when it turns into the Byzantine Empire, but most of my background is ancient and classical Greece.)

In conclusion: still hate people. Taking Japanese makes all other foreign languages seem easy because you don't have to learn three new alphabets. (Quote from Latin: "Why did they even bother inventing English? All the words are the same!" Not my quote; Latin full of vocal majors and pre-med people.) Geology is so boring I may weep. (Seriously, a memo to the rest of the class, I really really hope plate tectonics isn't new to you, because I think I'm on go-round number four or five.) Tomorrow I have a lab, also likely to make me weep; please to not be going for the full three hours, yes? On the bright side, Friday I only have Latin, not geology. Desperately want to bake cupcakes.