I spent last week in New Orleans for a work conference. No need to be impressed. I in no way contributed to the scholarly world of small business and entrepreneurship. I just helped with registration.
A group from my department went and we stayed in the Marriott on Canal Street. It was the perfect location, within walking distance to the river, French Quarter, Bourbon Street, and streetcars. Our conference was there as well, so I just had an elevator ride commute. It was perfect!
I had no expectations in terms of how hard I'd be working, who I'd hang out with, or how much free time I would have. But let's just say the first two days I never saw daylight and only ate when my boss let me order room service. I was dealing constantly with feisty entrepreneurs-turned-professor and at times I wanted to bite some heads off. When I had an afternoon off on the third day I was all too ready to take a walking tour of the French Quarter by myself. I loved every minute of it.
This pink mansion was the home of cotton broker Germain Musson, the grandfather of Edgar Degas the French painter. Only this school year did I learn that Degas came to stay with his American relatives for a year. It was amazing to be in the same place as one of the great French Impressionists and in my own country!
On Sunday, my last day, I rode the streetcar for $1.25 and exited right in front of the New Orleans' ward building. There was a group of about 12 of us, all from out of town, standing on the corner confused that the building wasn't open only to learn that it was Stake Conference. We were all bummed.
Life lessons learned:
I have to admit that I am getting more and more used to being alone in my city wanderings, as I seem to have different priorities and interests than a lot of people around me. I'm the only one I know who actually explored the French Quarter while we were there. Sad, huh? Everyone else was interested in drinking and flirting and networking.
I met some great people on this trip including an ADORABLE lady from Nashville who confided in me that she had gone to BYU (was a cougarette!) and had been married in the Temple. Then got divorced and stopped doing the church thing. I pretty much want to be her best friend. She's so cute and fun. I invited her to church with me, but she decided not to go. I also fell in love with someone...kinda not joking. It was an hour or two I will never forget. He is completely not available and I will never see or have contact with him again, but I'm grateful for moments like that that give me a glimpse of what I'm looking for and what I have to look forward to and strive for...But the real deal will be ever better.
There was some high school drama on this trip and I was reminded of the importance of how to treat others. I saw some true colors, both good and bad, in myself and my coworkers. You'd think I would have learned this in high school but I was reminded once again that it is more important to be nice and accepting of everyone than to concern yourself with cliques. Viciousness is real. I was proud of myself for standing up for who I am and living accordingly.
3 comments:
Those pictures are awesome and I am so wanting to go see the Bg Easy now! Side note: You are amazing!
New Orleans is one of the last two great Americans cities I have to see. thanks for sharing the pics! I'm just like you, I'd rather be out exploring than wining and dining.
Before I type anything interesting, I'm typing on an iPad, so I may appear illiterate!
You made me laugh out loud with your "no need to be impressed" comment! When I was a working girl in the non-hooker sense, I had one and only one business conference. And while I was glad to have had that "grown up" sort of experience, it was SO INCREDIBLY LAME AND NOT AT ALL PRESTIGIOUS. It was a yearly eBay exposition with hundreds of booths and thousands of brusque and skeptical east coasters listening to our sales pitches. Just know that selling girls scout cookies made me want to cry with anxiety, so hawking computer software was even more full of angst ("I'm only the technical writer!" I kept wanting to cry.) but Maggie, it was in BOSTON. BOSTON!!! I was in heaven. Everyone wanted seafood and a baseball game, but my roommate and I walked street after street of heavenly brownstones and later I went with a few other employees on a self-guided historical walk. I'll confess I actually stood in tears in front of the North Church. I'm so with you on the love of historical things. And new Orleans has beyond incredible architecture and local flavor.
And urgghh, but travel and close quarters really bring out the ickiness in us, don't they? I catch myself feeling snotty or judgmental or cliquish every so often and think, "really, Megan? REALLY???" good for you for being bigger than that. It's hard for us girls to conquer those nasty bits of ourselves sometimes. Especially when squished together with people we might not entirely like. Read: every vacation with my sisters-in-law. No matter how wonderful they are individually, there's always drama when we're together.
And oh, but I can relate to the falling-in-love bit. Can I moritfyingly admit that the person I fell in love with who was not available (and frankly, neither was I!!!) was Phil, our buddy from Paris? He told me once if we hadn't been dating other people at the time, he totally would have gone for me. And for awhile, I was quite distracted by that, because he's very different from my husband in some ways. But I really and truly made the right choice with Karl. It is bittersweet and yet really wonderful to find someone and, if nothing else, know what you'll look for later when the time is right. Love is seriously painful sometimes, isn't it?
Okay, please disregard all spelling/grammar mistakes in this comment. I hate this iPad keyboard.
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