NEW ORLEANS

New Orleans is a city in Lousiana and Lousiana is a US state. New Orleans lies on the river Mississippi.
River Mississippi is approximately 2,320 miles long. A lot of carp live in the Mississippi River. People
also call New Orleans Crescent City or the Big Easy. The city is famous for jazz music and creole and
cajun styles of cooking. In August 2005, a big hurricane destroyed homes and flooded the city. Eighty
percent of the city was flooded. In both creole and cajun styles of cooking people use a lot of
vegetables and in both gumbo is a specialty. The difference is that in Creole style gumbo is a soup
and in Cajun is a stew. A big part of New Orleans is music. They like listening to Cajun and zydeco
music. Cajun music is their traditional music played on fiddles, accordion, and the triangle. Zydeco
music was created so people could express themselves through music. Today you can hear zydeco on
radios and festivals. Mardi Gras is a festival before Lent. Krewes are a group of people who organize
Mardi Gras. Colors on the Mardi Gras flag represent justice, faith, and power. There are parades and
people wear costumes and masks. New Orleans is an interesting city.