All my life I have lived in Louisiana. I have visited many other states and countries, but Louisiana will always be the place I can call home. I recently moved from Gretna to Mandeville. I now know that Mandeville is the place for me to grow up.
When I lived in Gretna, I attended Arden Cahill Academy. During our seventh grade year we went on a tour of Louisiana. This experience taught me so much more about Louisiana than I ever knew before. For example in the eighteen hundreds people used to live in large plantation homes. When guests were to visit they would arrive in a horse drawn-carriage and would stay from three weeks to two months, or longer, at a time, due to the length of travel time and poor traveling conditions. Therefore, when the guests would arrive they would find a pineapple in their guest quarters to welcome them. They would receive a fresh pineapple daily, until the host decided it was time for the guests to leave, and the guests would not receive a pineapple on that day, it was a subtle hint that they were no longer welcomed in the home. My school was the only reason I enjoyed living in Gretna.
Where I used to live, I was scared to walk home from school, play outside, or say the wrong thing to the wrong person. It was just a different way of life there.
In Mandeville things are different. I live in Meadowbrook Subdivision; I think it is one of the nicest subdivisions in Mandeville. I just recently moved here yet I already feel as though I've lived here all of my life. People here wave, smile, and are extremely friendly. Our block has parties, barbeques, and just small, weekly "get togethers". My family and I really enjoy the outdoors, and living here gives us the opportunity to spend more time outside doing the types of things we enjoy as a family (bike riding, walking by the lake, and playing sports). I can now go for thirty-minute walks, alone, and my mom does not have to worry.
