New Orleans...

I have been back from New Orleans for about a week and a half now and I miss it. What was I doing in New Orleans? Volunteering with the rebuilding efforts still so badly needed in the Greater NOLA area. Each summer I organize a trip for people to go down and volunteer. Usually I take about 20 people with me.

But the trip isn't just all about working hard and volunteering...I make sure that everyone experiences the culture....sights, sounds, tastes and smells of New Orleans. It's all about interacting with the people we are helping. And what a week it was this year. Wow! This is the first year to bring a group of adults (last year it was a mix group of adults and youth) and it allowed a little more freedom, so to speak. It was also a new experience for me as last year I was one of the Youth Leaders.

We arrived in New Orleans Saturday night and had a quiet evening at the hotel, perhaps one of the last sane moments of the trip! Bekah and I sat up on our computers at the hotel and chatted until we were both exhausted enough to sleep!

Sunday: Check out of Laquinta Hotel (New Orleans East) and load up the Vans, then it was off to church in the 9th Ward at Noah's Ark Missionary Baptist Church. This church recently received a brand new building compliments of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. We were given a tour by Pastor Willie before the service. It was god to see Pastor Willie again and celebrate the beautiful new building. Last year when we attended services, it was in a borrowed building as their previous building had been completely destroyed. My Pastor, Todd, was again invited to sit up on the stage with Willie and be a part of the service. I think that is so cool. After the service and a few team photos it was back into the Vans (and Volvo) and then off to Sonic Drive-In out in the Chalmette area, for lunch. Sonic is one of those things you just have to do in New Orleans...well, one of many things! After everyone ordered, ate, changed and played with waterguns, we were off to our Airboat Tour.
I wasn't so sold on the idea of Airboats, but I'll take any opportunity to hold a baby Alligator! Awww. But I have to admit, the Airboats were fun and the scenery was fantastic....and let's keep in mind that scenery doesn't generally impress me, unless we're talking concrete, city lights and bridges. But all that swampy stuff was kinda cool! But really the big highlight was feeding marshmallows (swamp crack) to the Gators! Then after the Airboats it was over to St Bernard Parish (via ferry, no thanks to Belinda, the crazy GPS system). We basically crawled out of the Vans, checked into Camp Hope and then got back in the Vans without unpacking. Then it was back into New Orleans, via the 9th Ward to meet Willie at his church to go for dinner. We went to a restaurant of his choice, Deanie's Seafood, on his recommendation that we should all enjoy some spectacular New Orleans Seafood. There were 23 of us and we were divided up into 2 groups. Jen, Todd and I sat with Willie and had a great time listening to his account of Post Katrina New Orleans and our fabulous waiter Chris had stories of his own. The other group sat with friends of Willie's, 3 guys that ended up in New Orleans thanks to Sean Penn and a plea for volunteers to help at Willie's church. That was 2 months ago in May and a few of the 150 respondents had remained in New Orleans and had become part of Willie's congregation. Very cool. After a fabulous dinner, we said good-night to Willie, with promises of seeing him again before we left. Then it was back out to Camp Hope and this time we brought in our luggage, rather noisily, disturbing our poor room mate Patty, who actually turned out to be really cool and lots of fun!
Monday we checked in at the St Bernard Project in St Bernard Parish for our assignments for the week and our volunteer orientation. Emily, the Vol Coordinator is great and we really enjoyed the stories and demographics that Zack shared with us. Zack and Liz are fabulous. Then it was off to work. While I was desperately hoping for a gutting project....no such luck. It was to be a week filled with mold remediation. Wire brushing....would you rather....
That first work day was the only work day we encountered one of those NOLA storms, complete with crazy lightening. And oh yeah, in grand NOLA, tradition-I injured myself. This time legitimately...not in some vain attempt to look cute. It was tough work adjusting to the heat and I commend those who took on wire brushing the attic. Trying to keep hydrated was a huge chore. We did a run for coolers, water, gatorade and POPSICLES (as well as some basic medical supplies). At the end of the day we headed back to Camp Hope for dinner where rumor had it that Salt of Salt and Peppa fame was staying at Camp Hope with her church from Brooklynn, NY. Ok, so how cool is that?
Then after dinner-and showers, we were off to Target back in Jefferson to buy Towels for the New Orleans Mission, School Supplies for kids in the 9th Ward and some work site supplies (ipod speakers, awards, etc...). Then it was off to bed for a very tired crew for some much needed and appreciated sleep.
Tuesday we motored through our work site in record time and got our part done ahead of schedule. Tuesday night was kind of a chill night after one of the Service Projects kind of fell apart. The food at Camp Hope wasn't really workin for me, so we went off in search of real food and I had Alligator Sausage and Sweet Potatoe Fries for dinner-yummy. This is also the night we discovered the Drive-Thru Daiquiri Stand. Sweet. I had that 190 Antifreeze that our waiter had gone on about, luckily I didn't order the extra shot, that would've sent me right off the deep end. wow! Back to Camp Hope. I was heading off to bed when things got a little crazy...Vince was ill and it only took a few minutes to realize we needed to get him to the hospital and get him looked at. Thanks to Belinda, our GPS system with attitude, we were able to search for a hopsital quickly. Even though there were 27,000 homes in st Bernard Parish and people had begun moving home....there wasn't enough people living there yet to re-open a grocery store, never mind a Hospital. Things we totally take for granted in our everyday lives here are a luxury in SBP. WE had to drive 35 minutes back into New Orleans to the Tulane Medical Centre. Vince was very well taken care of. Due to his dehydration and needing to take care of him right away, they sent him in the back to the Paediatric Emerg. 3 pouches of liquid later through an IV and we could take Vince back to Camp Hope....then the 6 of us went to bed (for the day) at 6am. Jen, Todd and I surfaced around Noon and headed for lunch, but our boys from Bethel were still sleeping soundly.
Then it was off for a night of Fun to celebrate Brittany's birthday, so were off to Lakeside Mall...and unbeknownst to them....BUILD-A-BEAR-WORKSHOP!!! That was very cool! But more about that tomorrow, I need to get some sleep1