Contrasts in New Orleans

Just sitting here waiting for Stu to return from a visit with our concierge, a nice young Jewish man, Michael, and thinking.
We have decided to leave New Orleans one day earlier than planned.  We are done with the city, have seen and experienced what we wanted to and what New Orleans offered us--perhaps very different than what someone else might have gotten from the city.  Perhaps different than we might have experienced had we been here earlier in our 9 week journey.  We are getting ready to be home, with our friends and family, our routine, even the troubles we have to face.
We learned that New Orleans was a Catholic city.  You couldn't even own land in New Orleans prior to 1803 unless you were Catholic.  And Catholic slave owners, and non Catholic slave owners had to baptize their slaves Catholic, allow/encourage them to marry, not permit unmarried slaves to cohabit.  Thus at Laura's plantation there are many slave quarters, each built according to the Catholic code of conduct re slaves.  In some ways, it was much more humane than the American code that later came to be which permitted the breeding of slaves, inhuman living conditions, and worse.  Here the church protected its slaves, provided 16 x16 homes, meals brought from the main house, Sundays without work for 24 hours.
At the same time there was a thriving red-light district in New Orleans where every woman was named Jezibel.  The blacks who played music in those night establishments, those who played for the Jezibels and their clients, became Jazz musicians and the music became known as Jazz.
New Orleans is a city of contrasts.  There is a thriving Jewish community with long established roots, Kosher markets, Jewish artifacts on Royal street.  The hospital is named after a Jewish philanthropist, Touro and the community college after DelGado, a Sephardic Jew.  The Jews contribute to the education and health care of this community, but poverty continues to exist in high numbers.  Taxes are high but not put, at least not visibly, put to good use--is it the long-standing acceptance of corruption among its officials?  I haven't spent the time to learn more deeply so can go by what I see and experience and what I hear in casual conversation.
It is time for us to go home.  So we will complete some "musts" in New Orleans, including lunch at Antoine's, a visit to the museum to see where the Louisiana Purchase was signed, a stop at the National Jazz museum along the water front in the Latin Quarter.
This has been a wonderful journey for us, for me.  Stu and I bonded even closer, I looked into myself more.  I don't have more answers, however, but do have more questions, and perhaps some acceptance.
I am thankful for my friends and family.