你你，在想啥？

以下是我在2001年春天，為了presentation所準備的outline。那時，剛從New Orleans的Mardi Gars遊玩回來，雖然不是在最盛大、最瘋狂的那天，但已經讓我記憶深刻。所以，決定在課堂中present這個題目，和同學分享我的見聞。

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I. New Orleans
         A. location:
                  New Orleans is a city, state of Louisiana, in southeastern Untied States
                  It is bordered on the north by Lake Pontchcrtrain.
                  The city is built on a bend in Mississippi River.
                  It is called 'the Crescent City' because of its shape, formed as it is in a snug curve along the banks of Mississippi River.
                  It is also called 'the Big Easy.'

         B. history:
                  The French Quarter is the earliest settlement of the city of New Orleans.
                  The French Quarter was founded in 1718 as a wilderness outpost for France. I think that why it is called French Quarter.
                  It is one of the oldest and most extraordinary neighborhoods in the U. S.
                  You can see much different architecture in the French Quarter from other American styles.
                  The first residents were a mixture of Canadian backwoodsmen, company craftsmen and troops, convicts, slaves, women of uncertain virtue, and indigents. All of them were come from France. First, these French settlers moved to eastern Canada. Because the English took control of their settlements after a war with France, they left and moved to New Orleans.
                  In 1762 France ceded Louisiana to Spain. The New Orleans was under Spain's control until 1800. The French emp0eror had negotiated its sale to the United States. In the winter of 1803, New Orleans became one part of America.
                  Its unique history creates its distinctive culture.

         C. culture: their heritage has combined the influences of European, African, Caribbean and American forefathers into how they live, what they eat and how they 
                  In New Orleans, you can see two words that you might never know before, Creole and Cajun. Creole is a group of people. They are descended from the French settlers. Strictly speaking, New Orleans Creoles are progeny of early French settlers, ‘born in the colony,’ not in Europe. Cajun is another group. From the beginning, Creoles were strictly cosmopolitan city dwellers; Cajun were rustic, self-sufficient country dwellers. Cajun lived along the bayous and amid the swamps. They were also French speaking.

         D. features:
                  1. food- traditional French style
                           cafe au lait, beignets (French doughnut), gumbo, crawfish etouffee, red bean rice, jambalaya, po'boy (sandwich), fried alligator tail
                  2. cemetery-cities of the dead
                  3. bayou-swamp, alligator
                  4. voodoo-
                  5. music- New Orleans' citizens of African descent provided a special contribution in making New Orleans the birthplace of jazz
                  6. Mardi Gras- the most famous festival

II. Mardi Gras
         A. what is it
         B. history/ in New Orleans
         C. features
                  1. parades-
                  2. symbolism of colors- Purple represents justice, green stands for faith and gold signifies power
                  3. beads-

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後來的報告，就是直接拿照片給老師、同學們看，邊看邊說明。我只記得老師一直追問我，到底有沒有在Bourbon St.做出啥瘋狂的舉動！至於到底有沒有？恩，年代久遠，忘了！

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 Big Easy，（from:http://www.crescentcity.com/dictionary.htm）

        This is an euphemism for New Orleans, like the "Crescent City," that is attributed to Betty Guillaud, a gossip columnist for the Times Picayune, in the '70s as a term of endearment and an answer to the then I Love New York City hype. If it's the "Big Apple" then New Orleans is the "Big Easy," where everything is slower, simpler and easy-going.