We are finalllyy in the city of New Orleans. The trip was long because of all the delays, but I woke up this morning anxious and excited to find out what exactly we were going to be doing on this trip. When we arrived at PNOLA I was met with a bunch of people that genuinely care about the great city of New Orleans, whether or not they had lived there… The people all were very knowledgable and inspiring, sharing both their skills and stories with us.
When we arrived at our site it was both sad and amazing to see both what has been done to rebuild and what still needs to be done… Large X’s still marked many of the houses along the street (located in the upper Ninth Ward), showing that many people had not came back to their old homes even four years after the storm. We spent the day painting the interior of a house, which was a new experience for me. At the end of the day, our first job showed me to the reality of the situation in this amazing city and the vast amount of things that still need to be done.

After finally arriving to New Orleans last night – I was so over tired and excited to start the week! Today I went to Miss Cowards house in the 5th ward. I was so excited to help out – I hope we get to meet the house owner at some point, so I can really feel great about all the hard work I put in. I started the morning out by sweeping dust and debris from the floor. I then moved on to touching up the yellow paint throughout the interior of the house. For those who know me, this was a perfect job for me. Considering the fact I am somewhat OCD, I couldn’t help but search for every scratch in the paint. I then primed a cabinet, which I will hopefully get to paint tomorrow!

All in all, it was a great day. I really enjoyed the house I’m working on, and our group really accomplished a lot today. I am already starting to see a bigger picture. On a side note, I’m writing my research paper on the animals left behind after hurricane Katrina. The house next door still had spray paint “cats” on the outside. I took a picture to include in my paper.

New Orleans.  What can I say?  First of all, it is a place I have never been.  A place that today is recognized by their undefeated Saints.  A place that can morph into a city by the help of it’s inhabitants.  All in all, a place that has been defined by a the tramatic event.  Hurricane Katrina!How do you change that definition?  How can you change it back to the BIG EASY with Jazz music and southern charm?  I think that the work that we are doing down here gives them a jump start, but ultimately, it is the past inhabitants that can bring back that southern charm.  Sure we can hang some drywall and paint trim, but this alone is not a way to face the change that should be made. Today was different.  I never really done construction in a location that is not familiar.  Sure I have gutted a kitchen and finished a basement, but it was my home and the fine craftmanship of my family.  Taking a stroll around the house in which I was working on was a great way to see the life after Katrina in the 5th ward.  Taking a stroll around my house would be boring, “to me”.  I ran into homes that were vacant and homes that were rebuilt.  Homes thatA few hours ago, I went food shopping with a group of people.  I was the GPS of the crew and was able to take in the views of the 2.7 mile drive.  The drive was my favorite part of the trip so far.  Of course I had an enjoyable time fixing up an old lady’s home, but the architecture and sights that were seen from the front of this huge, white, 15 person van was amazing.  House after house, were beautiful porches and trim work and Christmas lights.  A very classic design that felt timeless.  This area seemed to not be defined by that one event, but were defined on it’s own.  Maybe just the definition of survival; racial standing and economic standing that explain the location of these homes.  St. Charles Ave.  PERIOD.

Today was our first day after a long day of delays. We worked in the fifth ward on delmaine st. I sanded and put up taping mud. Then painted a few doors and put primer on the brick porch outside. The people who lived on the street were very friendly. They would stop by and have conversations and one woman even offered us chicken and crawfish. Its interesting to see the culture and how friendly everyone is. Everyone seems to really appreciate our effortsm

Today was our first day in New Orleans. We arrived last night after two missed connections and a five hour delay, but we got here safe and sound, though exhausted. This morning we were up bright and early for orientation at PNOLA, and it was really interesting to learn about the history and the mission of the organization. My group was working on a house with Luke. We were mostly painting and priming, and a lot of the work was tedious, to be honest. It took a long time and sometimes when we were done it looked exactly the same as it had before. However, at the end of the day the house looked much better and it was definitely rewarding. After work my group made dinner which was actually pretty good thanks to Dolev, who taught us how to make chili. There was a minor crisis when it was all gone by the time Janet arrived back from Rite Aid to eat, but all in all we managed. Overall it was a pretty good first day, and I’m definitely looking forward to going to bed tonight.

-Ali Littlefield

Rachel Feingold – December 7, 2009:  So, today I woke up in a grumpy mood (as usual) but in a half hour I felt as good as new after I put on my tool belt and ate a bit of cheerios and coffee. After breakfast all eighteen of us set out to the PNOLA headquarters, where Christi spoke to us. She was so cute and happy- her energetic was really contagious! After Christi gave her little “Schpeal” we separated into two groups and headed out to two different worksites. When I arrived at my worksite I was ready to set my teeth into a project. I went with Chris’s (a project manager) group, to a house shared by two sisters. The house however, with two front doors, was really two separate houses that shared a wall. Interestingly however, each side of the house was inhabited by sister. I thought it was interesting how the sisters lived together, and still lived together as adults. I think that down in New Orleans family tends to live together, and although I dare say that family in New Orleans is considered more important than in the rest of the country, I think that I can say that families proximity to one another is more important. Anyway, I started working, but I quickly left to go on a journey to pick up and drop off supplies from a KABOOM playground build, with Meredith and Greg, another PNOLA worker. I must admit, I was a little skeptical to go with Greg, because although I trusted he was from PNOLA, he was still a scruffy looking man who pulled up in a beat down white truck. However, my initial impressions of Greg could not have been more off. After the first five minutes of the ride I could tell that Greg was a genuinely sweet soul. He welcomed both Meredith and I to his city, the city where he was born and raised. Greg pointed out his favorite spots and told us about Po-Boys and Gumbo (delicious!!) . Interestingly, as we were driving, I forgot about Katrina and started to think about New Orleans as an actual city: A place not characterized by a single event but steeped in years and years of rich culture. This was the place where Greg and his parents had grown up. I was actually experiencing New Orleans. I wasn’t just reading statistics. I wasn’t just reading about deaths and facts. Riding around with Greg I was able to take a glimpse at the lives of these people. I saw them on the street corners laughing and talking. I saw the couch under the highway, where Greg told me people sat and drank. As Greg said in his endearing southern accent “Dings are chill in New Orleans, we are a slow paced in New Orleans.” There is a really interesting story to tell everyone about Greg’s mom but I am being told I am writing too much so I will refrain for now…but if you want to here it just ask me or Meredith! Love, Rachel

[posted by Jan due to the reluctant laptop’s poor internet connection…]

I enjoyed todays discussion, it was very insightful. True the doctors at the Saint Memorial Hospital did have a hard choice to make yet I think we need to hold our doctors, mayor, govenors, federal government officals and military personel accountble for the decisions they make. In order to do that we must first exmaine how we view race, class, age etc. I think its one thing to give a patient an overdose of morphine to ease their suffering or to put them to death if they are in a continual state of pain. But in the case of Emmette Everett, who accordinng to one of the other doctors Pou placed a towel over his head and suffocated him after the morphine did not kill him, that was murder. I don’t care what the situation is no one has the right to murder another person. We have to hold our doctors responsible for there actions by first revaluating our social and racial outlooks as a society. We all need to be held to higher standards. Extreme situation or not our doctors, and elected officals need to be held accountable.

We woke up at 430 am this morning to find out our flight had been delayed 5 hours. Back to bed, but we are finally leaving union for the airport at 1030… I am excited to finally get to the south and start working!

Finally finished packing my stuff for our trip down to NOLA. It will be a very exciting trip as we will get to use our skills that we learned from the Schenectady land trust. Well its off to bed for me as I finish gearing up for an awesome two weeks.

It’s dark and snowing here in Schenectady which is only adding to my anticipation to leave here and arrive in the Big Easy tomorrow afternoon. Over the course of these past few days I have certainly learned a lot from our group discussions about Hurricane Katrina and its impact on society. The readings and discussions have really encouraged me to go and help with the recovery process and I’m sure that witnessing the damaged areas and meeting the victims firsthand will provide me with an even better picture of current conditions. In addition to the discussions, the workshop about using power tools was certainly very helpful. Having no prior experience using utility knives and saws, I feel much more confident now about my ability to go and rebuild houses and other structures. I think our group has really begun to bond and work as a team over the last few days. The most evident example of teamwork can be seen in the daily preparation of dinner because each member contributes to the meal by doing his part. Each night, the groups have all communicated well and divided up the work equally and the dinners have thus been successful. These group skills will certainly be useful next week when we are all working together on construction projects. On a final note, I can’t wait to go down to NOLA and begin helping out! I can already tell that this will be an important and rewarding experience and look forward to doing my part.