New Orleans Relief Trip
How do I even begin to describe the past few days? It was just this morning that I boarded a plane out of New Orleans, it was just a few hours ago that I was still trudging in Denver, tired and sleep-deprived but thankful and glad. So thankful and glad that I made this trip, so happy about the experience I had.
The destruction is unable to be described with words. When I landed in New Orleans on Sunday, I did not know what to expect really. Coming down from the air, everything was a sea of blue. Blue roof tops, tarp that was used to cover up damaged roofs of houses and buildings. The roads were bumpy, everything just seemed dark and gloomy. Not quite a ghost town, but it wasn't Mardi Gras either. I was picked up by a huge van of Coke Scholars from all over the years, and we made the one hour trip from downtown to Slidell, Louisiana, where the hurricane hit the hardest. The best thing about the trip was the people I was with. It was like re-living Atlanta all over again, except this time the people weren't all my age but ranged from 18 (a 2005 scholar) to 34 (a 1990 scholar). We lived in a church near the Pearl River, and drove to our Habitat site everyday in a caravan of 6 trucks and SUV's.
How do I even describe the days?? I don't even know where to start. The 30 of us did so much in so little time yet it was nothing to even put the tiniest of dents to the reconstruction effort. The devastation was just terrible. Slidell is not going to be recovered for another 5-7 years, New Orleans maybe a little less.
I really could write a 20 page paper about what I learned and experienced there, but I just don't have the time. Maybe later today I'll give it a try.
But I'll sum it up in an outline:
-Building houses with Habitat
-Visiting a neighborhood where all the houses looked perfectly fine on the outside, but are all inhabitable because of the 6 feet of flooding.
-In 2 days of work, we completely cleaned out a single family home. We knocked down all the dry-walls using sledge hammers and crowbars, moved all the furniture out, knocked the tiles out, cleaned out the bathrooms and kitchen, and made the house ready to be re-furnished by a contractor. That was great.
-On my last day there, we went to Rat's Nest, near Slidell, right by Lake Pontchartrain. It was the hardest hit area because all the houses were on or by the water. We took an entire day to clean out one single lot, meaning it took 30 of us to move the bits and pieces of a house from its foundation/the canal to the road that was maybe 30 yards away.
-6 am wake up time, 7 am - 4 pm work days. Cold showers, 20 people sleeping in one room on the floor, just general bonding.
-Playing cards with Kate, Lorraine, and Justin until 2 or 3 am, just having general conversations about everything.
-Driving around with Kevin, a local from Slidell and a sophomore at LSU, and Whitney, a senior at Tulane. Seeing the world through their eyes, listening to their stories.
-Being treated to dinner by the local Coke scholar families, jambalaya, gumbo, grilled sausages
-Dinner at Jacque-mo's, and the craziness that ensued on Bourbon street.
Snapshots of Rat's Nest
Us standing on what used to be a house
Somebody's sailboat and a large deck.
Things I found to be funny
Pile of garbage we made by noon
Jacque-mo's and his truck. Funny stories later.
Dinner with some coke scholars
Flame on top of a fountain at Pat O'Brien's bar
Eyes are always closed.
THis is all the pictures I have... cuz I hate taking pictures. Anyway, I need to unpack and stuff now.
In conclusion:
1) I love the South.
2) I get along really well with people from the South, especially Texas.
3) I would like to do this again sometime, maybe for as long as 2 years after college (Maybe not Habitat, maybe another humanitarian organization)
4) I like chill people (another story)
5) I had such an amazing time.
7) I logged 6,000 miles in air travel this winter break, and have been to Denver, Houston, San Jose, Oakland, New Orleans, Slidell, and home.
8) On the way to Denver, I had 5 amazing dreams. Each one was important and reflected a lesson I learned. I realized that I know exactly what I want out of life, I know what I am looking for and I know how I am going to get what it. Now, I just have to do it.
9) There are many issues, including race and religion, that were prevalent in my trip.
10) I felt real and happy with life, simplifying, minimalizing, and just being really chill.
i dont even know what to say. i am so mellow about it that i dont know what to do with myself. i could tell you so many stories. a story about some guy named parker. a story abotu a girl named jack. a story about a baton rouge and kevin with the red hair. jacque at jacque-mo's and his bushmill and champagne. or about zara and tulane. it's surreal. so many memories, of so many SPECTACULAR people. the future leaders of america, a med school student, a lawyer, a carpenter and musician. i have so much respect for these coke scholars, i.. am in awe at what they have done.
parker. starving artist appeal. shaggy facial hair, long hair, a hat. his roommate david. the conversation we had from slidell to new orleans was perhaps the single most insignificant yet important conversation. beck and surfjan stevens to working at a coffee shop, it was just a normal talk, yet it was so captivating. some people have such ability to influence, not by what they say, but by what they do. living for the day and the night, for that afternoon beer, for that drive down st. charles. i dont even know waht to say.
i miss it