Last Day in NOLA :(

Our last day of service was very sad for all of us. We went about business as usual with the kids, playing with them and having a good time. I finished up my last two Dr. Seuss drawings for the classes, and then went back to the kids. We helped with lunch and put the kids down for a nap. Olivia and I tried to say good bye to the kids without them really knowing what was going on. It was very sad because we had become attached to them over the week. We had lunch and unfortunately had to say our goodbyes. All of our teachers were so grateful to have us and were sad to see us go. They all gave us huge hugs and warm wishes, and told us all to come back sometime in the future! They gave us all a thank you card, and I even got my own special card for all the drawings I did. The teachers also made us some pecan pies, which we were all so excited for!

Olivia and I with Ms. P, Ms. Scott, and Nadia.

The whole group!

After we said our goodbyes, we headed back to the church to make sure we could say goodbye to Pastor Randy. He helped us out the whole week and worked tirelessly to make sure that all of the volunteers had a great stay at the fellowship. He also enlightened us with his stories and really made us realize how far the city has come from where it was. We said our goodbyes, and headed into the city!

The group with Pastor Randy

After we all got ready and said our goodbyes, we headed off to a long day in the city! We started off by taking a carriage tour through the French Quarter and surrounding area. It was awesome and we learned so much about the history of New Orleans! There is still so much to learn about! After our carriage ride, we took to exploring more of the city, and saw many people decked out in green for St. Patty's day! I got some free green beads, which I was happy for. Of course it became a joke for the rest of the day haha. We went to a shop where a woman makes organic home made ice pops. They were absolutely delicious!

The group on our carriage ride!

My green St. Patty's Day beads!

The group with our home made ice pops!!!

  We went searching for a good restaurant to eat at after we were done walking around. Unfortunately, we picked the worst time to go to dinner, because it seemed that everyone else had the same idea! We went through a couple different places until we made it to the Gumbo Shop for dinner. We had a bit of a wait, but it was worth it. The restaurant was absolutely gorgeous, and we even got seated in their courtyard. I got gumbo for dinner along with Maggie and Joy, Olivia and Matt both got Po Boys, and Brea had blackened chicken. The food was fantastic!

At the Gumbo Shop enjoying a fabulous dinner!

After dinner we decided to walk to Cafe Du Monde (which we found out on our carriage tour means "Coffee of the World") to get more delicious beignets! We walked around for a little bit longer, then headed back to the car. We decided since we had some extra money from our group fund that we would buy a gift for the church. We figured that they could use some plates and cups, toilet paper, paper towels, and some garbage bags. We were happy to make a final donation to the church in a way of saying "thanks" for having us all week! By the end of the day, we were completely exhausted! We all packed our bags and headed to bed for the night. We were all terribly sad that the week had come to an end, but we were all excited to be coming home!

Our last group photo behind Cafe Du Monde!

Our thank you package for the church!

 This has been one of the most, if not the most, amazing experiences of my life. I have learned so much about the beautiful city of New Orleans, and the trauma that it has been through. But it is a testament to the fact that the phoenix rises from the ashes, and that it is always possible to rebuild, no matter how long it takes. I hope that some day I will be able to come back to the city and help out again, or just visit and see the sights and sounds again!!

Busy Day Number Four!!

Today we had a very busy day! We all woke up and got ready to go for school. The kids were absolutely wild today! Maybe it was the awesome weather. It's actually crazy that it was so nice out today because this morning it was so foggy out, it was like driving in the clouds! In the morning we played with the children and helped the teachers serve lunch. Lunch was fried catfish, potato salad, and green beans. It was absolutely delicious. With all of this great food we've had this week, I wouldn't be surprised if we all weigh more when we get back! After lunch, I did more coloring along with Olivia. We also got to take the children outside which was awesome. They all had fun marching around the playground. When we were done at the school, we were off to go do kitchen duty!

Exhausted from all of the drawing and coloring!!

We helped serve dinner tonight, which was roast beef po boys! Po boys are basically like hot sub sandwiches. We had to set everything up, serve dinner, then clean up. It was nice because so many people thanked us for serving them! Pastor Randy helped us out a lot, and was happy that we all came to help tonight. Once we were done with kitchen duty, we went to the city again. We really wanted to walk Bourbon Street! We headed in and once we reached Bourbon Street, the night began. Even if you can't see the signs, you can immediately tell which street is Bourbon Street. There are thousands of people, loud music, street performers, but most noticeable of all, neon signs everywhere. There are bars; hotels; strip clubs; stores; you name it, it can be found on Bourbon Street. The dose of culture you feel is amazing. There are live bands and performers everywhere, and so many interesting sights and sounds. I have to admit, I was a little bit sad that I couldn't partake in the alcohol consumption that was going on, but c'est la vie.

Bourbon Street!

After we got past the chaos of Bourbon Street, we walked down Canal Street for quite a ways, and then to Magazine Street, where there are many different restaurants. We made our way back to the van, happy that we got the crazy experience of Bourbon Street, and excited to see more fun things tomorrow! We plan on taking a carriage ride through the city to get some more knowledge about the history of this beautiful city!!!

The group in the city :)

Day Number Three :)

On the third day, we were all tired again, and really didn't want to wake up as early as we had to. We were all excited to go back to the school though, because we knew we were going on a field trip! Olivia and I had to leave our class, which made us sad, but we were happy to go with the other classes and spend some time with them. We went to Lagniappe Academy, which is a private charter school in the city. The school was beautiful, and we got to see a sample lesson. The purpose of the trip was to show the future kinder gardeners the school. The Academy is focused on positive learning. We immediately recognized how structured the children's learning is and how much individual attention every student is given. It was nice to see a budding school that really takes education seriously in hopes of keeping the children of New Orleans educated. We had a lot of fun and met some more wonderful people. 

The group at Lagniappe Academy with Mr. Brown, the Dean of Students.

 

When we got back to the school, we were just in time for lunch and nap time! Of course, they put me to work again, drawing some more pictures from the Dr. Seuss books. I also had to draw a get well soon card for a girl who broke her leg. It was a Hello Kitty card :) The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, and we all came back to the church and ate dinner.

The get well soon card I made.

After dinner, we headed out to the actual city of New Orleans for the first time. We were all so excited to see the city and the French Quarter! We walked through Louis Armstrong Park, and headed toward Cafe Du Monde, for some famous french Beignets! We saw some pretty interesting sights on the way. When we drove through Bourbon Street, we saw a tranny dressed like Tina Turner, with their butt hanging out! Quite funny. We walked through the quarter and observed all of the sights and sounds. Our main goal for the night was to get some beignets (bin-yays) from Cafe Du Monde, the original coffee shop. The beignets were AMAZING! Very similar to the Italian zeppole. We walked around for a bit longer, then headed home. We were all exhausted from the events of the day!

In Cafe Du Monde!

With my delicious beignet!!!

Second Day of Service!

On our second day, we had a rough time waking up. We were all sooo exhausted from the day before. But we were all ready to spend the day with our kids! As soon as we got to the classrooms, we started working with the children. They recognized us, and even gave us hugs in the morning. That meant a lot because I really felt like they knew me and being able to gain their trust is wonderful. Of course I did more drawing during the day for the teachers, and I recruited my group members to help me color them in!

Hard at work coloring the Dr. Seuss pictures!

In the afternoon Olivia and I danced with the kids. They have a song called "Community Worker," and it was stuck in our heads for the rest of the day. Dancing with them was so much fun though, and even though their parents were walking in to pick them up and staring at us, we kept on dancing anyway. The kids loved it! 

After school, we drove out along the lake, and went on a little hiking detour to go see the water. It was absolutely beautiful. Lake Pontchartrain is located on the outskirts of NOLA, and is the second largest inland saltwater body of water in the US behind the Great Salt Lake! Unfortunately, the lake is a large reason why the area flooded so badly during Hurricane Katrina.

Lake Pontchartrain!

When we hiked back up, I had a little trouble getting back up the retaining wall because of my lack of height, but my group helped me up haha. We were off to go get us some real Louisiana crawfish!! We went to a place called "Cast Net" on the recommendation of our teachers. It was FANTASTIC! We walked over and were a bit confused because there were three separate doors you could go in. A woman who worked there, Chantel, helped us. She first asked us what we wanted, and we just told her CRAWFISH!! So she asked boiled or fried, but when she said boiled, it sounded like bold because of her accent, so we were all so confused. It was an ordeal. But eventually she helped us to make our order. It was kind of like ordering from the deli counter at shoprite, just a lot more crowded. You pick a ticket number, and when they call it, they weigh your order out. Maggie and I got to try some fried catfish, while the rest of our group waited inside. Chantel brought them all some tasty shrimp and crab to try while they waited though! Once we got our two pounds of boiled crawfish, she taught us how to eat them! You rip their heads off, then peel the tail armor off and take out the meat. It was delicious! Very similar to crab and shrimp, and it was super spicy! We all enjoyed it very much, and we were so happy about our Southern Hospitality that we were receiving. Olivia went to wash her hands, and to her surprise, a live crawfish was on the ground by the bathroom. He must have escaped while in transport! Of course we played with him a little, then brought it back to the owner. We had such a fantastic time! 

Us with our delicious crawfish!

Me with our live crawfish buddy.

We came back to the fellowship and ate some dinner, (jumbalaya). I had some, but had to eat my sandwich that I had made earlier because the Cajun spices that are on everything down here were starting to get to my stomach! We were all exhausted from the long day, and had a short reflection, then everyone hit the hay. Working with kids all day is definitely draining, and I give credit to anyone that can do it every day!

First day of Service!

Our first day was exhausting! We woke up by 6:30 so that we could eat breakfast, pack our lunches, and get to our site on time. We are at the James Singleton Head Start center for the week. As we drove on our way to the site, we noticed more of the decrepit buildings all around us. It's hard to imagine how much damage was done, and how we would be underwater if we were driving on the roads back when the storm hit. Before we left for the site, I had to call to make sure that they knew we were coming. Apparently I talk too fast because the woman on the phone told me to sloooowww down!! I apologized and explained that I'm from NJ and we all talk fast haha. Once we reached the center, we were assigned rooms to stay in. Olivia and I took the "baby" room, and the rest of the group went to other classrooms with kids between the ages of 3 and 5.



Our group in front of the head start.

 At first, Olivia and I were wary of the situation, unsure of what to do, but soon we were learning the children's names and playing with them. The point of us being here this week is to help the teachers out, and make sure they have a smoothly running classroom. The whole point of the Head Start program in NOLA is to promote learning in young children before they enter the school systems. Amanda mentioned to us that the program speeds up learning in the classrooms, and children who do not participate in Head Start definitely slow the rest of the class down because they don't know their shapes, colors, or letters. This program is vital to the school systems in NOLA, and in their improvement.

The kids thankfully went down for a nap so we could eat lunch. The weather was beautiful (between thunder showers), so we sat outside after eating. After the kids woke up, Olivia and I went back into the classroom and continued to work with the children. The aides asked us if either of us could draw, and I let them know I could, unaware of what I was getting myself into! For the rest of the day, I was drawing Dr. Seuss characters from the book "Hop on Pop." The school is doing a "literacy alive" Read Across Amaerica activity at the end of the month, where they are focusing on "Hop on Pop" and "The Lorax." Since my teachers liked my drawings, of course they showed them to the other teachers, who subsequently asked me to draw pictures for them as well!! I drew for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to leave!

Hard at work drawing Hop on Pop!

We had cleaning duty when we got back to the fellowship, which just meant to clean the bathrooms and make sure everything was stocked for everyone. We had rice and beans for dinner , which were cooked by a local. It is a NOLA tradition to have rice with beans on Mondays. The tradition started because NOLA women used to do laundry on Mondays, so they would let the beans cook for hours while they did their laundry. To this day, many families still eat rice and beans on Monday nights for dinner.

Later, we had a nice conversation with Pastor Randy about his experiences with the hurricane. He is a fantastic humanitarian, and he is always full of energy! After our conversation, our group reflected about our experiences for the day. We were only planning a short recap, but we all wound up talking for an hour! This trip truly has had a profound effect on us all, and we are learning so much about our own character, as well as each other's!

On our way to New Orleans!!!

Day one was an intense day. We started out at Rowan at 6 AM, which was really 5 AM because of daylight savings time. After flying from Philly to Atlanta, then Atlanta to New Orleans (which from now on will be referred to as NOLA), we finally arrived at our destination. Time switched back to normal for us because of the time zone switch. We were all excited to finally be in NOLA!



Excited to be leaving the airport for our flight to NOLA!

Traveling through the surrounding area on the way to our housing site was very sobering however. Even seven years after Hurricane Katrina, the area is still slowly recovering. There are still thousands of dilapidated, abandoned homes and buildings, as well as cement plots where homes used to be. We passed an abandoned elementary school, and I was overwhelmed with disbelief and sadness. As we came closer to the Ninth Ward, more and more damaged areas could be seen.

In the lower Ninth Ward.

We arrived in Arabi, LA, where we are staying at the Adullam Christian Fellowship. Our group was in shock at how run down the building is. There are boarded up windows and the surrounding area is very run down. The people however were immediately welcoming. Amanda and Dave, two of the Community Collaborations volunteer coordinators, showed us around the building and brought us to our living quarters. Because there are so many volunteers here this week (about 130 from different schools all across the country), beds are limited. We are staying in a tiny room with three triple bunk beds! Since Rowan arrived a little bit later than the other groups we are rooming with, we got stuck with the top bunks. Joy, Maggie and I are in bunks about 12 feet above the ground!



Climbing like a monkey up to my bunk!

After we settled in and had dinner, Amanda introduced us to Pastor Randy. He is a lovely man born and raised in NOLA. He gave us a back story about the church and the surrounding area. He explained that NOLA is a vital part not only of Louisiana, but of America as well. It has four major facets that make it so vital: Tourism, Oil, Fishing, and Trade. All of them have been affected in some way by Katrina. The fellowship, along with the rest of St. Bernard's Parish, were devastated by the storm. Parishes are like counties, and St. Bernard was the only "county" in US history to have 100% of its housing deemed unliveable after a natural disaster. There were 128 deaths from the storm alone, and many more caused by Katrina-related illnesses. Over 40 square miles of the country were flooded with between 10 and 28 feet of water, and the entire place had to be gutted and rebuilt. Even today, much work remains to be done.



The church we are staying at for the week.



Pastor Randy explained his own personal story about how he went from a man with everything, to a man that was living out of a van. He set up a tent for people without homes and fed them, clothed them, and prayed for them during the aftermath to the best of his ability. He said that the storm made him realize that we take the simplest things for granted. He said instead of him going to the third world, the third world came to him. 



St. Bernard's Parish after Hurricane Katrina



 Being here has made me realize how lucky I really have it at home. We initially complained about our housing situation, but after listening to the stories being told and the heartbreak felt by the people affected by the storm, we were thankful to have beds to sleep in. The whole experience so far has been sobering. I'm so happy that I am able to be here and make a difference in the lives of these people, my fellow Americans.