So I have found it extremely difficult to talk to my family about everything we’ve learned. I was hoping that they would share my anger and frustration when I described my experiences and the impact they’ve had on me. Unfortunately they just don’t seem to understand the way I wish they did. Their responses and opinions are similar to mine before the trip; they don’t seem to fully grasp the gravity of the situation in Southern LA and I’m still getting the response, “why bother rebuilding?” It’s difficult to convey my thoughts and personal experience with anyone who was not on the trip with us and I am fairly frustrated with trying to explain myself to them. Like we discussed in our last meeting, perhaps it is something everyone needs to experience for themselves.

I thought that at least some of my friends and family would be highly interested in what I learned (considering this was an actual course), especially after meeting Jane on the trip home. This woman sat next to me on our flight from Charlotte to Albany and was fully open into hearing what I had to say. She did not butt in or desperately try to fight my opinion. She asked several questions and ended up agreeing with my thoughts. It disappointed me to discover that my friends and family did not share this interest. So although I feel I should relay what I’ve learned to everyone I know, I find my response to “how was your trip?” being shortened to “incredible,” “fun,” “educational,” etc., or I simply talk about the fun aspects of the trip.

Although I am unable to share my true thoughts with my friends and family, I am thankful that I have personally experienced what this mini-term had to offer. I am also thankful that I have 19 people who have had similar experiences that I can talk to about what I’ve learned.

Like I mentioned previously, I have had the pleasure of working on Ms. Barbara’s house with Paul, Kenny, and Graham in Dulac. She is by far one of the nicest and sweetest people I have ever met and I have really enjoyed working on her home. Not only did we finish her living room on Saturday, today we completed her kitchen and the hallway (just for the record, we trimmed the whole kitchen before lunch). The bathroom still needs more work and the bedrooms just needs to be trimmed but overall the house is, in Ms. Barbara’s word, really starting to look like a house again.

Today we got a chance to listen to some of her stories about her experience during the hurricanes. Even though her home is raised four feet off the ground, during this year’s flooding there was about 16 inches of water in her house.
She also allowed us to take the rest of her MRE’s (Meals, ready-to-eat) from the military. Kenny is actually eating some of them as I type. It’s pretty awful and I can’t believe that people had to live off this after the storm. In each package there is “everything” you need to make a meal including a bag to heat up the meal. It uses a chemical reaction that releases heat and can heat up meats or drinks. It is kind of a neat concept but, according to Kenny et al, it’s pretty awful tasting.

She also gave us a bunch of Mardi Gras beads and one of those huge holiday tins of popcorn. She actually bought the popcorn for us which I feel is so sweet of her. She continuously offered us food throughout the day including dried shrimp, fried pig skins and chocolate covered strawberries. Her hospitality and appreciation for our work is incredible and I really wish that we could go back tomorrow and put in another day’s work for her.

Dulac truly is a whole other world. I really cannot get over how widespread the devastation is here. It’s not just the houses. Debris is piled everywhere. Huge trees have been uprooted. Boats are demolished or beached and overgrown. The first day here I saw someone’s trampoline up in a tree.

The sights are just overwhelming and seems completely unreal. I’ve never seen anything like this before. the pictures and articles and video of hurricane damage does not even compare to how overwhelming and frustrating actually witnessing this is. I really don’t know how to describe it and get my point across. It’s just completely unreal.

 On a more positive note, last night we went to the Jolly Inn for dinner. I would like to start off by saying that we were there for three hours. It was just so much fun. The first hour was spent eating and getting to know some of the locals. The second hour was spent socializing and eating some of Allie “Gator”‘s birthday cake (he also made all of us honorary Cajuns which was pretty awesome). The last hour we learned several Cajun dances like the Cajun stomp and the Darrel and danced to the live music. It was great to be immersed in part of the culture and really get to know some of the people who live here and continuously thank us for our efforts.

Working in Dulac I feel has been more rewarding to me than in New Orleaans. It’s kind of funny that I’m pretty much doing the same type of thing here as in NO but the environment and the people I’ve encountered have made all the difference. At Mr. Ashley’s house in NO I worked on installing the baseboard and trim in all the rooms in his house. Here in Ms. Barbara’s house, I’m doing the same. There are several differences I’ve noted. First off, I feel more like I know what I’m doing. I don’t always feel as if I have to check in with Paul to make sure I’m making the right cut. And I sound like I know what I’m talking about.
Secondly, actually knowing what we’re doing has moved things along quickly. Not having to stand around waiting for instruction or having to move stuff around or trying desperately get organized in a disorganized situation has allowed us to get a good amount of work done. So I really feel like we’re making a difference.
Thirdly, having Ms. Barbara around all the time really makes a difference. Although we got to meet Mr. Ashley, he was never really around for long. Ms. Barbara stays all day and talks to us, slips us snacks, and lets us watch The Price is Right with her when we take a break. She has told us so much about her children and grandchildren and today we got to meet a few of them. The impact her presence provides is irreplacable. Today we finished her living room. We 100% finished it and I heard Ms. Barbara say “it’s really starting to look like a house again” and it became very clear how much she appreciates our hard work (and trust me, we work hard). I really hope that we can finish her kitchen and make a dent in finishing other parts of the house before we leave.

I was extremely excited when we learned we would be building a playground. It was probably the one of the activities I was looking forward to the most as well. What really surprised me the most was becoming immersed in the community. We have heard from several of our readings and past participants of the program that the sense of togetherness and community that New Orleans has is extremely unique. It has been proposed to us that this companionship between the people of New Orleans is part of the reason many people stayed and why people are so eager to rebuild in such a dangerous area. And I never really understood. I could easily recite that the sense of community played a major role in this city but I never really got. Until we built the playground. I still don’t fully understand what it really means to be a party of the New Orleans community, seeing as I don’t actually live here. But on Saturday I finally started to get it. I met so many people from all walks of life that had some sort of connection to the school and were more than happy to give up their Saturday to participate in this amazing project. Not only was I surprised at the 200 plus volunteers that showed up, I was even more impressed by the hospitality and sincerity that the people I met had. I met this woman Shelley who not only asked me where I was from and why I was down here, but she was sincerly interested in me, my family, my school, the program. It wasn’t a simple formality of “hey how are you” or her just being nice. And she was completely open to telling me her story as well and talking about her 14 year old daughter who doesn’t like to wash the dishes. And it wasn’t just her. It was every person I talked to. It was almost overwhelming how caring these people were to a complete stranger and how appreciative they were that so many people cared about their community. After the playground was built, although I only contributed a small part to putting everything together, I really felt like we as a group helped accomplish a really great thing. And I loved being able to see what six straight hours of work could do.

Yesterday Jim gave us a tour of NOLA. The part of the tour that I think had the biggest impact on me was visiting the lower ninth ward. When we stood in front of the levee and just looked out at the complete devastation in front of us, the reality of what happened really started to hit me. I feel like I am pretty informed about the situation and the problems NOLA faces due to my own interest and this course, but it finally became real to me when I stood with the levee towering behind me and I tried to picture it toppling over and pouring millions of gallons of water on top of the houses that used to be there. It was just very eerie. And quiet. A real ghost town. And I think I’m really starting to get it.

So far the information I had prior to this course topped with what we have learned and discussed as a group has continuously frustrated. I feel that several of the problems that combined into the catastrophe of Katrina were, individually, simple problems that seem easily remedied with common-sense solutions. Obviously each problem has its own set of complications and political interference that prevents any kind of simple solution. It just makes me very angry that the world can look at the problems New Orleans faces and very little is being done. I hope to go on this trip with an open mind and gain a personal insight to the reality of the situation that the people of New Orleans face everyday. I am very anxious to get down there and bring my experiences back to my family and friends.