Oh wait…I forgot.

I should be reading The Sun Also Rises, but I’m at work, and people won’t stop talking. So here’s part two of Friday in New Orleans.

So. After the Apple store, etc, things got interesting. Sneha and I went uptown to meet a classmate neither of us had seen in ten years. We went to the PJ’s near Magazine and Jefferson, where we hung out almost every day after school. That was weird in itself. I hadn’t talked to this classmate at all, and Sneha had only begun talking to her recently. I was so convinced things would be awkward since we didn’t exactly get along while we were in high school. Ten years makes a huge difference, though, and we had a lot of fun.

When PJ’s closed at nine, which seems unreasonably early to me, we all went to my very favorite restaurant in the whole world, Lebanon’s Cafe. Seriously. This is my favorite restaurant. Mona’s in Shreveport was a cheap knock-off, though for some reason, Mona’s usually beats Lebanon’s in the Greek/Lebanese section of the Gambit‘s annual Best of New Orleans feature. I had a falafel appetizer and a gyro sandwich, like I usually do when I go there. Oh God, it was tasty. And after the carnage:

That was my Friday. Oh, it was so lovely. Every time I go to New Orleans, I want to figure out how to move back down there. Maybe I’ll get lucky, and in SEVEN YEARS I’ll get a job teaching at Tulane or Loyola. That’s a long time.

The drive here was…interesting. I didn’t leave Shreveport until 5:45 or so, so most of my drive was in the dark. I. hate. driving. in. the. dark. Especially when it’s raining, which it was for at least half the trip. At one point, all I could see was the backside of the 18-wheeler in front of me. I was surrounded by thunderstorms. I took a video, hoping to show the CONSTANT lightning, but was unsuccessful. So here’s another one:

I made it to Sneha’s, in one piece, around 10:30. We goofed off for a long time. I slept better than I have in months.

So much for Thursday.

Yesterday was awesome. Sneha’s parents are out of town for a wedding, and we’re staying in their house. Before they left, her mom cooked. I had this lovely uppittu, which I think might be my new favorite food, for breakfast yesterday. I’m going to try making it when I get home. (Sneha suggested this site for southern Indian recipes.)

After this lovely breakfast, we went on a field trip to the New Orleans DMV. I tweeted that I was sure we’d die there. It seemed half the city was there – we stood in a line for over a half-hour just to get to the desk where they give you the ticket. Here’s what Sneha thought about that.

We were there for almost two hours. There were plenty of interesting people to watch, or we probably would’ve gotten bored. In the end, of course, Sneha was victorious:

After that, we had a tasty, tasty lunch at la Madeleine. It’s the only chain I really like. Shreveport was supposed to get one at some point, but it fell through. I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be in the strip with Dick’s and DSW. Anyway, I had my first Napoleon in a couple years – except it was strawberry. The bakery woman said they don’t sell regular Napoleons anymore, which made me incredibly sad. Here’s the Napoleon mid-massacre. It was so tasty.

Then we went to Lakeside Mall. Since I moved away, they’ve added two parking garages and a Macy’s. I get disoriented every time I go there. But we went. Because there’s now an Apple store. Mind you, every time I go into an Apple store expecting the religious experience I should have, I’m disappointed. This one, specifically, appears to be the afternoon Catholic schoolgirl hangout. As Sneha said, the stools are just the right size to do each other’s hair. I made it out of the Apple store (and the mall) with only the things I “needed:” a new cover for my iPhone (which looks exactly like the old one) and a car charger. Yay!