I am excited to be back in New Orleans again. As many people know, this is one of my favorite cities and it is always more exciting for me to be able to show it to new visitors. We have a really large group here this year, which is great because of the amount of work we are going to be able to get done.
The drive down was long but the laughs and good conversations made it go by quick. When we arrived we got moving right away. The group went to the French Quarter to do a scavenger hunt to get to know the city and encourage students to talk to some of the locals. As many have mentioned, there were more than just locals here this weekend! Many, many, many football fans and lots of spontaneous cheers in the streets.
Saturday we were lucky to have some great weather for our driving tour of New Orleans. We drove out to Chalmette first to see some of the devastated parts of Saint Bernard Parish. Then we came back into New Orleans and visited the Lower Ninth Ward (where we walked up to the Bayou and the Levee), the Upper Ninth Ward, went to lunch at one of my favorite barbeque spots in New Orleans (the Joint), and continued uptown to the Garden District to see some of the old, beautiful houses.
Sunday was another very nice day and we all went out to explore the city a little more in the daytime. Many people got some souvenirs to bring home and enjoyed the local food! At night we came back together and did an activity to test how well each van got to know each other. Lots of laughs and fun!
Yesterday was out first day of work and it was great to get working after a fun weekend. We split into 5 groups to work on projects with the Saint Bernard Project (great organization, check them out! www.stbernardproject.org). The group I was in had 15 people total (Nick D, LeighAnn D, Adam P, Tiff, Chelsea S, Regina Z, Tim O, Chad B, Daria W, Billy L, Danielle C, Ryan G, Nicole G, Jamie, and me). We went out to a house that was between the lake and a bayou. There was not much out there. Of the few homes that were there, there weren’t many with people back. On our ride in, we passed an abandoned Six Flags. A very eerie site to see the attractions still standing.
At the house we met our two project leaders, Lisel and Megan, who led us to completed the insulation in the house. Everyone worked really hard but Jamie, Nick D, Adam, and LeighAnn took on, and completed, a very hard project in the ceiling. You guys are awesome! Overall it was a great first day of work and I really enjoyed working with the Bonners on the team!
Today is a rainy day here; so United Saints found other volunteer projects for us for the day. The group is volunteering at the Mission, the Food Bank, and the Arc. It will be interesting to see the similarities and differences between the organizations here and the ones at home.
I look forward to meeting homeowners this week and seeing my favorite homeowner from my first time here and really hope she will come speak to the group this week!
Stay tuned for pictures and videos (hopefully)!
No comments:
Post a Comment