Despite calls from friends questioning their decision to take a trip to the city, which they figured was still suffering from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, they made their reservations, hopped on a plane and never looked back.

They were pleasantly surprised with what they found.

 ”New Orleans is a great city,” Gopi said, sitting in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street. “There are a lot of misconceptions about it.”

For four days they sampled the local attractions: a meal at ACME Oyster House; trips to the Saint Louis Cathedral and a historic cemetery; strolls down Bourbon Street and a carriage ride through the French Quarter. 

“You can capture 70 percent of New Orleans by just being in the French Quarter,” Gopi said.

While many would disagree with Gopi’s assessment of the New Orleans experience, the perceptions and misconceptions of those who visit New Orleans some four years after Hurricane Katrina are as varied as recipes for the perfect gumbo or étouffée. 

 ”It depends on whether you look at the glass as half empty or half full and depends on which half of the glass you’re in,” said Rob Olshansky, a professor of urban planning at the University of Illinois who follows the recovery progress in New Orleans.

Olshansky said that it also depends on how much of the “glass” one sees. Many tourists come to New Orleans specifically for the French Quarter attractions, and rarely venture into the neighborhoods where much of the recovery work still needs to be done. Home occupancy is at 74 percent of what it was before Katrina and school enrollment has barely exceeded half of what it once was.

New Orleans is a dynamic city, long seen by outsiders as a place rich in history, uniquely diverse and boasting exceptional cuisine. But the hurricane gave the world a different vision of the city, one of poverty and ruin. 

“We still have to continue to prove that we are recovered,” said Mary Beth Romig, a spokeswoman for the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau. “A lot of people wonder how many hotel rooms are even available and how many restaurants have reopened.” While Romig is confident the city can accommodate visitors, jobs in the hospitality industry have fallen 22 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 Those who visit New Orleans become unofficial spokespeople for the city and the progress it’s making. 

Adrienne Voorhees, a Minneapolis native who takes frequent trips to New Orleans to visit her boyfriend, said that friends constantly inquire about the state of the city.

 ”I tell them a part of the city is missing,” Voorhees said, adding that she defines New Orleans as being much more than the French Quarter. Her perspective has been shaped over the past six years from her many trips.

Another repeat visitor who is familiar with the city before and after the hurricane said that there was still something askew about the city’s soul.

Cora Monroe has made the five-hour journey from Shreveport, La., to the Superdome each year for nearly two decades to attend the Bayou Classic football game between Grambling State University and Southern University. Before Katrina, the trip was as much about socializing with friends and enjoying the wonders of New Orleans as it was about the football game, Monroe said.

But after the storm, things were different.

 ”I didn’t find it to have the same atmosphere that it has previously had,” she said. “You can see there is an effort to make things look like the way there were. But I still see years out before New Orleans is New Orleans again.”

While Monroe said she has missed only one Bayou Classic in the last 20 years and refuses to miss another, she said the things that drew her to the city beyond the game have faded. And if not for the major annual events she doubts that she would return.

 ”It’s the most important city – spiritually, intellectually, culturally – in America,” said Tommy Stevenson, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who has made the trek to the city every year since 1976 to attend the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Music is his religion, Stevenson said, and nothing will keep him from going to Jazz Fest.

 He has watched the city gradually improve since the 2006 festival, the first after the hurricane, when cardboard was still being used for street signs.

 ”The health system wasn’t working, the criminal system wasn’t working – nothing was working,” said Stevenson, recalling the early days after the storm. “It was all the infrastructure, not just the brick-and-mortar infrastructure, but the social infrastructure.”

Four years later, with the worst of times behind the city, Stevenson said he is seeing a new stage in the city’s recovery – with a caveat.

“This year it felt like the old New Orleans for the first time, but there was an irony to that because of the recession.”

Much of the work to rebuild the city has been done by relief workers, many from out of town. By working side by side with residents to restore their neighborhoods, these volunteers are able to gain a perspective that other visitors miss.

Frank Janzow, the pastor of the Ascension Lutheran Church in Waukesha, Wis., came to New Orleans for the first time in 2007, working with people in need. The experience opened his eyes to the poverty in New Orleans.

“I think in some ways Katrina ended up turning the attention of many to face the fact that the city of New Orleans is needing our help,” Janzow said.

He has returned to New Orleans every January since his first trip, each time bringing with him a group of volunteers.

“As an outsider looking in, it seems to me that there is progress, but it’s fairly slow,” Janzow said in a recent phone interview.

 ”The rest of the country seems to be now moving on and saying that, ‘That’s history,’ and that ‘New Orleans is back,’ he said.’ ” The church people know it’s not back.”

Gopi and his wife, the tourists from Atlanta, said that every day in New Orleans there was something new to experience and that they were looking forward to getting back home to “ruin the misconceptions.”  

But there was one moment when they realized they had a misconception of their own.

The couple took a tour of the city and saw white crosses planted in lots left vacant by floodwaters, and “little x’s” spray painted on houses, something that they thought marked the flood line. 

When told the four quadrants of  the x’s  were used by rescuers to indicate that a house had been searched and in some cases how many bodies were found inside and when, they fell silent.

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Tory McPhail , executive chef at Commander’s Palace, had no idea he would compete in a cook-off Saturday until four days beforehand, but he walked away as the newly crowned king of Louisiana seafood.

McPhail, who also competed last year, will represent Louisiana in the Great American Seafood Cook-Off at the Morial Convention Center July 18 and 19, and will compete with chefs from other states.

McPhail said his public relations manager mentioned the contest, the Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off, as an aside. It wasn’t until the day before the cook-off, in the Superdome, that the chef created and submitted the winning recipe for Louisiana Seafood Grill.

The cook-off, held to call attention to the Louisiana seafood industry, was part of the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience.

The last-minute preparation did not shake McPhail’s confidence.

“I’m an innately competitive person, so to stand out in that sort of crowd is awesome,” McPhail said.

McPhail’s winning recipe-  grilled black drum, wild-caught shrimp and crabmeat with fresh Creole tomatoes and grilled corn with basil oil – won out over dishes created by chefs Chris Lusk and Tom Wolfe of New Orleans; Jack Jennings and Nathan Gresham of Baton Rouge; Matthew Beaudin of Lake Charles; John Salmon of Bossier City; and Minh Le of Houma.

McPhail not only made prize-winning food, but also managed to keep wine-sipping onlookers entertained.

“I love watching the Food Network, but actually being able to see  it taking place
— it is amazing,”  said one attendee, Johnette Drago from Baton Rogue.

McPhail credits his abilities to slice tomatoes at rapid speed and toss flaming corn in a skillet without batting an eye or wincing to one thing - practice.

“Working at our restaurant is kind of like practicing every day,” McPhail said.  Located in the Garden District, Commander’s Palace is known for its award-wining food and is where chef Emeril Lagasse spent the beginning of his career.

McPhail said he and his sous chef had a tight game plan, which they executed in the hour they were given to prepare, cook and present their dish to the table of six judges.

“For us it’s like a family reunion,” McPhail said. Many of the chefs know one another and were able to recognize the deep talent pool.

The 2008 Seafood King, Brian Landry, said “The spirit of it is a bunch of chefs getting together to promote local fisheries.” Last year Landry’s sautéed cobia, similar to swordfish, with Louisiana blue crab butter won him the title. He said his cobia was caught specifically for his use the day before the competition.

“I can’t cook those dishes without the people who are out there catching the fish or harvesting the oysters,” Landry said. “It’s a very symbiotic relationship.”

But with these trying economic times, another relationship dynamic has been introduced to the formula: the one between the chefs and the people who eat their food.

“You can really tell the chefs who are tuned in to what is happening with our economy,” said Tommy Simmons, contest judge and food editor at the Advocate in Baton Rogue.

McPhail said he chose to do a seafood grill with accessible products because grilling season is near and he wanted cooks to be able to replicate the dish at home with ease and without breaking the bank. But the fact that the dish was “value-oriented” did not subtract from the impression it left at the judges’ table.

“It was real Louisiana seafood – it screamed Louisiana,” said Judge Charley Goodson, owner of Charley G’s in Lafayette, La.

Goodson said he likes to spend time with each dish to pay respect to the chef.

The eight dishes presented to the judges represented cuisine from around the world: paella and gazpacho from Spain, foams used in France and hand rolls from Japan, among other worldly components. As each dish was presented, the judges spent a few moments letting the aromas waft from their food as they examined various elements on their plates.

Simmons said the caliber of cooking talent at the cook-off was impressive.

In addition to Goodson and Simmons, other judges were Lorin Gaudin, food editor at www.neworleans.com; Kendall Gensler, editor of Culinary Concierge; Anne Parr, assistant professor at the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University; and David Slater, chef at Emeril’s Restaurant in New Orleans.

In an effort to make students more aware of cultural diversity, their teachers organized a virtual tour of France, Africa and Mexico – the FAM Tour ­-  with help from the Ponchartrain chapter of The Links, an organization of successful, service-minded African-American women,  and the Louisiana International School.

Students got their FAM Tour passports stamped as they entered their classrooms, which had been transformed into France, South Africa and Mexico. The students traveled from country to country, learning phrases in other languages and gathering information about each culture along the way.

“It brings a sense of realism,” said fourth-grade teacher Lynell McKnight, who organized most of the event. She said the interactive setting is more intriguing for her students than simply reading about other cultures.

To add another level of interest to the tour, third-grade students from the International School, a New Orleans charter school that immerses children in foreign language by teaching subjects in French or Spanish, presented information and sang songs from each country.

Having children teach other children is beneficial because it shows the Schaumberg students that it’s possible to be fluent in another language and knowledgeable about other cultures, said Claudia H. Clark of The Links.

Organizers tailored the presentations to help the children recognize similarities between New Orleans culture and the culture of the foreign countries.

Ariel Baham, 10, said she noticed similarities between New Orleans and South Africa.

“They like spicy foods, and New Orleans is all about spicy foods,” she said. Ariel said their trip to Africa was by far her classmates’ favorite stop on the tour. They learned that the familiar red beans and rice dish has African roots.

In the South Africa room, Links member Currita Waddy taught the children a South African welcoming dance and invited the girls to wear the utility cloths used by women to carry children and groceries.

Students were greeted in French as they entered France, and taught how to introduce themselves in the language. Later, hands shot up as they vied to demonstrate their new knowledge of the colors of the country’s flag in French.

In Mexico, International School students sang “La Cucaracha,” a song many members of their audience recognized. They also taught the class a few Spanish words.

“I know my numbers up to 10, and I know two colors. Well, I forgot one,” said Jeremiah Edwards, 10. “I know their salsa’s real hot, though.”

Claudia Tozzatto, a teacher at the International School,  said that her students understood the difference between the terms “Mexican” and “Spanish” so they could explain it to the other students.

“Mexican is a person from Mexico, and Spanish is the language they speak,” Tozzatto told the class.

The event was not only a learning opportunity for Schaumberg students, but also an outlet for International School students who sometimes feel that their hard work is for naught, said Tozzatto.

“It’s important for them to see why it’s important,” Tozzatto said. “When they come and do these kinds of things, they feel special. They see that it’s not something that makes you better, but it sets you apart.”

McKnight said her main goal was to cultivate curiosity about other countries’ cultures and values. The entire fourth grade at the school is black, leaving little opportunity for the students to learn about other cultures.

The International School students, a more racially diverse group, were able to share some of their experiences of different cultures.

“There are lots of different people from around the world who come here,” said Ella Aiges, 8. She said that knowing Spanish allows her to meet and become friends with people from Spanish-speaking countries.

McKnight said it was also important to include The Links, because they provided positive professional role models for the children.

Raymond Tyler, a recent graduate of North Carolina Central University and a participant in The New York Times Student Journalism Institute at Dillard University in New Orleans, looks through a previous issue of the institute newspaper on Monday, May 18. The student journalists publish a newspaper online and a final printed version at the end of the two-week program. (Dale W. Clarke II/The New York Times Student Journalism Institute)

I’ve dreamt of attending the New York Times Student Journalism Institute since I found out about it as a freshman two and a half years ago.

Wait, scratch that. Dreams are hopeful bits of the future we accept as possible. I wasn’t hopeful – I knew it was going to happen. I’ve envisioned myself at this institute since I knew it existed.

I’m here now – well I’m in my room (Dillard has the sweetest student apartments, by the way) – and I have a sneaking suspicion that these few moments I’m spending to write this blog are going to be the only conscious ones I have of this room. Apparently, I’m in for a doozie.

Upperclassmen on the Howard newspaper staff, or “Hilltop old-heads,” as I prefer to call them, were the first to relay the horror stories of late nights and early mornings with interviews, blogs, audio clips and pounds of fast food to fuel the chaos sprinkled in between. Those stories revved my engines.

How exhilarating is it to be in New Orleans, show off and gain new journalistic skills and work with REAL-LIFE editors of The New York Times?

I couldn’t paint a better picture of Heaven if I tried.

My initial desire, of course, was to come here to show everyone how good I was. Now, that’s not important. What intrigues me most is finding out how good everyone else is.

My hours here don’t even make up a day yet, but there is no doubt that this institute, and the people participating in it especially, show special promise. It makes journalism seem a little more human to see everyday young people whom I can identify with (in ways more than journalistic) exude passion and confidence in their journalistic ventures. Journalism isn’t something done by the big scaries of the world; I do it. These 21 people I’m here with do it . . . and I can’t wait to see what they’re going to bring.

Oh, and the staff – AMAZING! They are young and/or young-hearted, full of experience and insight and ready to help us in any way possible. They aren’t old, stuffy or bland (how I imagined them to be), but full of personality. They make me feel like I could be in their shoes one day, maybe.