Stanley: Introduction

Hey everybody!

I'm Pearl and will be your teacher's assistant this fall.  I'm from New York City but this is my fourth year in New Orleans and at Loyola so I can answer any questions you might have about the city, Loyola, the class or being an English major!

I know a few of you are from here, but to the rest I recommend exploring the city as much as you can. Don't just stay on or around campus! I especially recommend trying food from all over the city. There are countless expensive restaurants that will probably have to be saved for a special occasion or a parent's visit, but there is tons of incredible and inexpensive food to try. Every low brow "seafood" restaurant on the side of the road probably has incredible po boys. Parkway Tavern is a must for the roast beef (or the surf and turf if you're adventurous!). Definitely try alligator if you aren't a vegetarian-- it's delicious! Felix's in the quarter has it for a pretty good deal and you can get it either blackened or fried (my preference). Check out John Besh's restaurants during happy hour (3-6). They are classy restaurants but have amazing deals during this time! All drinks are half off (for those of you who are over 21) and there are food specials at each of them. At Luke, my favorite, raw oysters are 50 cents! This is a steal. Remember to go during a month with an "R" in it of course! At Domenica all pizza is half off. If you are a cracklin fan (cracklins, also known as gratons, are not your typical plastic bagged pork rinds! They are delicious succulent hunks of meat that have a layer of crispy fat with the skin still attached, served hot and in a brown paper bag.) you won't be able to find very good ones inside New Orleans. Most are around Lafayette or New Iberia (so some of you know more about this than I do!). But I found a place on Algiers Point that I believe is called Johnny's Seafood that has incredible cracklins. It's also cool to visit Algiers Point in general, you just go to the river down in the quarter and take the ferry out. The architecture is very similar to the French Quarter's which is interesting. If you have a friend with a car, definitely go out to the West Bank. You can get the most incredible Vietnamese food and for so much cheaper than you could in New Orleans. Tan Dinh is my favorite. Also, if you love Asian food, a trip to Hong Kong Market for groceries is a great idea.

I love horror films if anyone ever wants to swap favorites or maybe even watch one.

I'm also an avid television consumer. My "shows" include (or have included) Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Twin Peaks, Six Feet Under, True Blood, American Horror Story, Big Love, Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Dollhouse, Seinfeld, Arrested Development, Summerheights High, Law and Order: SVU, Monk, House, Weeds, The L Word, I Love Lucy, Green Acres, The Andy Griffith Show, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents-- the list could go on and on! I love obsessively devouring new shows, so if you have any recommendations, please tell me! Some shows that people have told me to watch include Dexter, Madmen, Downton Abbey, The Sopranos, Lost, and Boardwalk Empire. Have any of you seen these shows and would you urge me to as well?

Don't be scared of me or my mug-shot looking photo (it was a passport photo!). Feel free to contact me about any questions or concerns you might have.

Looking forward to getting to know you all and I hope you have a great first year!

-Pearl