Lucy visits, we beautify the Lower Ninth Ward, and Son Servants takes a bow

Some graffiti I found in the French Quarter

Currently eating salt water taffy. You can take the girl out of Boston. . .

One of my best friends from school, Lucy, visited at the beginning of this week. As much as I love New Orleans, it felt amazing to see someone from home (well, second home, tied with NOLA). Some shots from the visit:

















Lucy in front of the skyline.


















View from Lucy's hotel. Hot damn.

















Walking the Mississip'.

It was a busy week with Son Servants. They tackled a bunch of grass cutting as well as a week-long drywalling project with amazing enthusiasm and efficiency. One ill-fated group unloaded an ungodly amount of mulch into the church across the street to store it for this week's Lower 9th Ward Beautification Project. We were entertained by a few excellent recorder-players while they did so:


































We started the Lower 9th Ward Beautification Campaign this weekend, which involves NENA partnering with the Salvation Army to landscape a bunch of homeowners' yards with small trees and flowers. It turns out there's an enormous Lutheran conference in town-- as in, 37,000 Lutherans are currently in New Orleans-- so we got 40 of them to help us out. Along with Son Servants, that meant we had 80 volunteers for two days, which was absolutely insane. However, largely due to the awesomeness of both groups, we got a LOT done.

I'm still having serious you-can't-stay-in-New-Orleans-forever talks with myself almost daily. I absolutely can't believe that I only have two weeks left here.

A weekend with my favorite people, Son Servants, and more

A subtle message in the French Quarter.

Another crazy week, and very little time to write about it. My folks came last weekend! Unfortunately, I was doing homework while they did the typical riding the street cars and museum visiting, so I don't really have any new exciting things to report. However, we had a great time eating, relaxing, eating, relaxing, eating, and eating.

Saying hi to Faulkner. "Caddy smelled like trees. . ."

Dad becomes introspective in the alley.

Hanging out by the Mississippi.

Giggling in front of heart graffiti. Awww.

With great effort and concentration, Mom destroys a pound of crawfish. Seriously, it was amazing.

How I spent Sunday afternoon: doing homework at a coffee shop on Royal Street. Note the silver people outside, who I can only assume are the Tin Man's grandchildren. I had a good time talking to them while pretending not to notice that they were silver.

This week was fairly crazy, given that my coworker Clifford was on his much-deserved honeymoon. In order to deal with the 30-volunteers-a-day week, I drew up a detailed schedule of clients last Friday, which helped a lot.

Just as with the week before, this group of Son Servants was incredible. I felt so lucky to be able to work with such kind, engaged, and motivated people. At the end of the week, they had cleared about 11 yards, painted at two houses, installed a faucet at one house, drywalled half a basement, and grouted an entire kitchen. Aside from that, they were so much fun to hang out with.

One of our clients whose yard they cut needed her fence painted, but didn't have the funds to buy the paint. One of the Son Servants groups (they were in three groups of ten) went by Home Depot and bought it for her. Tears came to my eyes when they put the paint can on my desk. Every change in New Orleans now is so incremental, so individual. In a place that has been largely forgotten by its government and its country, the compassion and thoughtfulness that it takes to pick up a can of paint means so much. The client was thrilled, and the group returned to paint her fence the next day.

Son Servants fence-painters goofing off. Love these folks.

Two Son Servants guys and a mysterious mustached man in the middle.

As for other work projects, the Lower Ninth Ward Beautification Campaign is going pretty well. We've set up dates on which we'll be servicing most of the residents; the only problem is getting in contact with the last five or so. The newsletter is undergoing some major changes, but I think I can get it out (or at least a template for it) by the time I leave.

NENA had a party to say goodbye to Lubaina and Jessica (two Architectural Design interns who are students at Berkeley). I thought it would be a tiny little thing, but the team really joined together to get pizzas, wings, drinks, salad, and a big, decorated cake. It was a really nice party; I think everyone really needed to have a little fun. Later that night I went out with coworkers Burke, Ken (both in Architectural Design), and Wanda (Economic Development) to say a final goodbye to Lubaina and Jess. I'll miss them a lot. At the same time, I'm really happy to be getting to know the rest of the NENA staff so well. In part, I came to New Orleans because I thought I was lucky: I have a healthy, happy family, a great education, and I've obviously never suffered a disaster like Hurricane Katrina. But I realize now that my luck hasn't run out: I get to work with some of the most amazing people I've ever met every day.


































A sad goodbye to Jess and Lubaina, two of the most hardworking people I've ever met. You two will be so missed. Here's to hoping we meet again.

And now, for your weekend update!

Enormous Morgan and tiny Petra heading into Lake Ponchartrain

Dear readers (BOTH of you), sorry for being MIA the last week. It was a particularly exhausting one due to multiple groups of volunteers and my coworker being out with a family emergency. There was nothing particularly poignant that happened that comes to my decidedly not-fresh mind, so I'll just start with the weekend activities.

I had Friday off from work, so Zoe, another girl from my program, and I joined in on an expedition run by the Broadmoor Improvement Association (http://broadmoorimprovement.com/) to bring seventy "at-risk youth" to the aquarium. I'm not sure what qualified the kids (who were between four and seventeen) as "at-risk;" they all seemed like normal kids to me. The aquarium was beautiful and lots of fun. Animal imitations were aplenty. Note this terrifying shark impersonator:
As well as an eel enthusiast:
That night we headed to Tipitina's, an old bar and music venue on Magazine Street. That night was Latin music night, which spawned decidedly great music. The highlight of the night was running into Lina, a friend from high school who is in the city teaching high-acheiving sixth-graders science. The not-highlight of the night was backhanding a cigarette while attempting to high five someone. I have a huge burn on my hand. So much for positive energy.

On Saturday we went swimming in the (possibly very polluted) Lake Pontchartrain. Given that I'm from Massachusetts, I was shocked when the water was as warm as your average bathtub. Needless to say, it was a wonderful day.
Petra, Balint and I wading in.

Esther, Petra, Balint, and Zoe's stomach enjoying the sun.

"If you see a need, meet it."

Me on the job! Bangs temporarily eliminated due to outside work in the morning.

It's been quite a week: Physically and emotionally exhausting, but well worth it. I'm really enjoying my new volunteers-in-the-morning, newsletter-in-the-afternoon schedule. The exercise (both mental and physical) is good for me. I sleep well at night.

On Thursday, my Colorado Springs volunteers and I headed to clear a resident's yard. When showing us where her property lines were and what grass she wanted cut, she mentioned as an afterthought that she would like it if we could level her back yard. It was clear why: her contractor had left the soil in huge, solidified mounds, making the entire backyard a series of hard, lumpy hills. We made quick work of the grass cutting and had about two-thirds of the yard leveled by the first day. The group was only going to be there for two hours the next day, so I hoped that with a little luck we could finish the rest. I arrived late to the site Friday due to our weekly staff meeting. I couldn't believe my eyes. The yard was leveled.

We spent the last hour clearing the back yard of debris and leveling it even more precisely. When the resident came out, she was stunned, saying that she had already thought it was beautiful the day before and that this was more than she had ever expected. She cried as she hugged each and every one of us. I was previously unaware that, due to physical limitations, she had been entirely unable to walk in her backyard in the state it was in before. Now she can. It's so easy to underestimate the impact that fifteen people with a couple of shovels can do, and yet. . .There it was.

The resident repeated the phrase, "you can't know" over and over. Finally she explained, "you can't know unless you've lived through it," she told me. "But those with heart will try to imagine. Those like you all." I can't even explain what that moment did to me.

That afternoon I went out with my coworkers Burke, Ken, Lubaina, and Jessica (all in the Architectural Design studio) to The Bywater Restaurant and had my first catfish of the trip. $5.95 for perfectly fried and seasoned catfish, fries, and 'slaw can't be beat.

The Colorado Springs volunteers were kind enough to invite me to a cookout they were having at the church they were staying at. It was a wonderful, warm event and reminded me bittersweetly (bitter because I miss them; sweet because they're awesome) of my own church and youth group. It was hard to say goodbye to such an incredible group of volunteers, but I feel certain that they'll all be returning to New Orleans some day, and that helps a lot. The title of this entry is something that one of the youth group leaders, Julie, told me as we reflected on our week. It's a simple, pure philosophy that I will certainly take with me.

Later that night I hung out with Morgan, Petra, Alex, and Megan at our friend Matt's, who goes to Xavier, place. It was a nice, relaxing end to the week.

I did squat for most of Saturday, and that needed to happen. That night Petra, Balint, and I had a picnic in Audubon Park (across from Tulane and Loyola universities) with our program leaders, Stephen and Yoni, and their respective girlfriends and dogs.
Yoni and Bunny, the dog from hell (in a good way).

Later Balint, Petra, and I splashed (illegally?) around in the park's fountain and just walked around in the warm summer night. My favorite kind of weekend, really. I woke up covered in bugbites. Worth it.

Balint and Petra on the fountain's edge.

Weekending!

Above is one of my favorite architectural characteristics of New Orleans: Plants spilling over beautiful balconies that are attached to pastel houses. Mmmm, the Big Easy.

This weekend was great! Friday at work was pretty typical: I met with my boss, worked on my Excel manual, caught up on our 9th Ward Beautification Project (the free plants and trees initiative I mentioned a few entries ago), and entered some volunteer data into the system. I found out that I'll be assigned to creating the first ever NENA newsletter. NENA feels that part of the problem with rebuilding the Lower Ninth is the lack of distribution of information, so this seems like the obvious next step. I'm thinking I'd like to interview as many Lower Ninth Ward residents for the publication as possible; doing so would service both my interests and the integrity of the newsletter itself.

On Friday, some group members and I were invited to a Shabbat dinner by a friend of a friend. The group of people at the dinner represented a wide swath of America; there was literally no region that was not represented. Strangely enough, it was still quite a small world in that house-- I ran into one of my coworkers and met two people from my (fairly small) hometown! The unebelievable connections between people in New Orleans are one of my favorite things about the city. Unfortunately, while the dinner was supposed to be a potluck, almost everyone brought beer. Needless to say, it was unlike most Shabbat dinners I have been to.

Before hitting the city on Saturday, I decided to check my mail on a whim. Inside my mailbox, I found a package from Bryna:



(Jenna-
The murder rate is only high in New Orleans because of the gators.

Look out.
Love, B)





















A friendly warning and gator socks. I have the best friends.

We left for the French Quarter in order to attend the combination seafood, tomato, and Zydeco festival that was happening that day. The streets were bustling with good food, good music, and sweaty, stinky humanity. It was wonderful. We ate at The Gumbo Shop (I forget the street name, but it's right near the Cathedral near the French Market). My roast beef poboy was indescribable. A few pictures from the day:



Morgan (sideways!) enjoying some spicy crawfish rice. . .














Tents with delicious, delicious seafood beneath them. . .




















The Zydeco band, complete with voluntary dancers. . .



















And Alex and Oleg (stubbornly sideways) with a new friend.

Getting back on the wagon!

I fell off the blogging wagon for a few days, but I have returned! It's hard to keep up with it Friday and Saturday nights because my group members and I usually go out, so I'll probably be skipping those days in general. Not incidentally, above is the view from my dorm.

Friday at work was strenuous. I learned that the Microsoft Word manual I was writing was meant to be for ten forty-five minute sessions for residents who had rarely or never used a computer. I spent almost the entire day writing the manual. It certainly wasn't interesting work, but it felt good to know that it would be useful for those who will learn from it. That night we headed out to the French Quarter and then back to the dorms just to hang out and chat.

We were outside of the dorm at 9:45 on Saturday for our six-hour tour of the city with Professor Rich Campanella. It was really a gift to experience such an in-depth look at the city. Though we went to many places that I've already spent time in, such as the Ninth Ward, St. Bernard's Parish, and the French Quarter, we also visited several places I had only heard of or didn't know existed. It was fascinating to see the vibrant Vietnamese areas of the city, several areas undergoing extreme gentrification, and the little-known truck highway. Here is Professor Campanella with his mic:


Some parts of the tour were emotionally draining. Though I've been in the Ninth Ward several times, the unparalleled destruction in the area never ceases to shock me. All of us also grappeled with the fact that we were sitting in a comfortable, air-conditioned, twelve-passenger van to view one of the worst tragedies in American history. It's a good question to ask oneself: is the awareness gained from viewing the devastated areas of New Orleans worth the embarassment or anger of those citizens who are being watched?

That night we headed to the Central Business District in order to see the art gallery openings along the famous Julia Street. The art ranged from the extremely realist to the staunchly abstract; the forms included paintings, installations, sculptures, jewelry, collages, and more. Seeing all the art was wonderful, but I was particularly interested in the responses to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, of which there were many. One particularly interesting piece involved separate pages of a woman's journal post-Hurricane Betsy, all dyed variants of pink and red, neatly hung on the wall in ascending order.

Today was much more relaxed. I read a little of my book (The Autobiography of Malcolm X) before starting on my homework. I then watched the first disc (there are two dvds) of Spike Lee's documentary When the Levee Broke. The film is certainly emotionally draining, but I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in an intellectual, historical, and humanistic approach to Hurricane Katrina's origins, duration, and aftermath.

A Mixed Bag

Above is a picture of a house that I took from the car driving into the Ninth Ward.


Work today was different than usual because my boss, Nivan, wasn't there. As a result, I was assigned some busy work, namely calling a bunch of small business owners to ask if they'd like to come to a free seminar we're holding on how to increase their business. It took a long time, but it was nice to hear the excitement of some of the business owners.

I also typed up a list of instructions on how to use Microsoft Word for the business across the street. It was a strange experience; I certainly don't consider myself someone who is technically proficient. Still, my time here has taught me that it's a blessing even to have these small skills.

Work ended on a sour note when I spoke to a woman who was very upset with NENA's service. She was frustrated about all the documents she had to collect in order to get service. It's true, there are about fifteen things to be scanned, photographed, or retrieved in order to gain service from NENA, but most of them are reasonable. Even so, it was awful to hear the anguish in this person's voice. I spent much of the day trying to reconcile how I, as a low-level employee at a non-profit, could provide humanitarian assistance despite (necessary) bureaucracy. It's certainly going to be the subject for my first photo project for class. Below: My desk!



Tonight was fun. My friends and I hung out at the house of a few Xavier folks who were friends with someone in our program. Later, we went to the French Quarter. It was a typical French Quarter night: beautiful architecture, balmy weather, and scantily clad women practically throwing jello shots at us. Oh, New Orleans. Below is a beautiful alley in the French Quarter. My friend Petra took the picture for her photo project.