  The Streetcar Named Desire Is Now A Bus I don't remember if I've ever mentioned this before (you don't think I read this blog, do you? ), but for the past couple of years I've been a part of the urlLink VaxGen AIDS vaccine study . It's not all that noble really, I'm just a big, cute guinea pig, but I wanted to complete the study and, fortunately, there's an injection site here in my new city, so I got transferred. Yesterday was my first visit with the office at urlLink LSU Medical Center . When I called to confirm my appointment, I was given elaborate directions to get there by bus. I didn't really pay too much attention and, looking at a map, I figured I'd walk. I'm a walker. I mentioned my plan to a couple of people who were horrified that I'd (a) walk and (b) walk there. Didn't deter me. So I walked, got to see places I'll probably never walk through again (really, there'll be no need) and wound up at the VaxGen office at 11:45 for a 1:30 appointment. What to do, what to do...I secretly consulted my guidebook (so as not to be pegged a tourist) and realized I wasn't so far from the urlLink St. Charles streetcar .
No one here really knows me yet, I can travel by that conveyance and never get caught...what the hell. I counted my change (it's $1.25) and marched my sweaty self over to Canal Street. Turns out it's not just a tourist thing, residents still actually ride the streetcar. I rode out all the way to Riverbend, watching the big, old houses glide by. It was only marred by the older couple behind me, who were Sign Readers. I'd hear behind me as we passed things, "Rite-Aid," "Randee's House of Beauty," "Liberry. " I mean, what's that about?
Are the old people trying to sound things out as a tether to reality? Are they just stupid? But in my new, simpler life, things just don't get to me the way they once did, so I chose to find it amusing. I rode back, past the Audobon Zoo, past the Belfort Mansion, home to MTV's The Real World New Orleans, past Lee Circle with General Lee facing north so his back will never be to the Enemy. I see an old city, very set in it's ways, but with a lot of new energy that respects and knows how to work with that. I hopped off at Canal Street to get to my appointment. After my appointment, I decided to walk back through the Quarter, which is beginning to fill up with revellers for Halloween.
The tourists haven't begun to annoy me yet, at least not the way they did in New York. This city exists on two levels also, but the residents seem to move through and around the tourists like the many ghosts that must inhabit the French Quarter. The two cities touch when they must, but they seem very separate. Crossing into the Marigny, I slowed my pace even more.
The houses here are quirky, the people have texture...I enjoy my strolls home. And, yes, the #86 Crosstown Bus Named Desire, passes right in front of the house and I smile every time I see it. I've got a little Blanche going at the moment, not the least of which is my dependance on the kindness of strangers who are becoming friends. But unlike Blanche, I'm no longer a tragic heroine, no longer losing my grip on reality. I'm coming back to myself more every day, liking myself, letting myself like other people. If I stay here long enough, I just might become human again. 
