Day 31. Humans of Louisiana

“I Love it Here” 12×12, oil on canvas, $150.00 [creativ_button url=”http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/denise-hopkins/i-love-it-here/372116″ icon=”” label=”Buy Now” colour=”red” colour_custom=”#2e7bd3″ size=”medium” edge=”rounded” target=”_self”]

I met this lovely human on Magazine St at Araña which just so happens to have an incredible spicy watermelon margarita. I’m amazed at how New Orleans gets to people.

“About fifteen years ago, I lived in Australia. I didn’t speak English. I was about nineteen years old. I was there to live three months and ended up staying for two years. When I moved back to Brazil, I had nobody to practice English with, so I started teaching English at an American English school, and two years later I was awarded teacher of the year, and they gave me a ticket to anywhere in the US I wanted to go. I had met this guy who was from Brazil who was coming to work here. And so he did, and while he was working, I would come to visit him in Pensacola. I went to check the university to see the campus. I’d never been to a university in America. I found out there was a scholarship, so I went back to Brazil. Six months later, I applied, got accepted. I moved. The guy and I broke up, I stayed. A year later I came to Jazz Fest. That was 2006. I met a guy from here (New Orleans), we started dating long distance. We dated for four years. In between then, I moved to Italy for a year and he came and proposed while I was there, so I came back here and we got married. Our marriage lasted one year. So I went back to Brazil for a while to get my head back into place, and everyone said you need to get away from New Orleans. You need to be in a safe place. I just felt like I belonged in New Orleans, so I came back and kind of fought my way back in and have been here ever since, and life is amazing. I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.”