Overall, I’m not really sure what to expect in New Orleans. I know that there are a lot of depressing neighborhoods and some more lively ones. There will be a lot of poor people there, which isn’t especially new for me given some of the neighborhoods that I have lived in. I’m looking forward to seeing the French Quarter and listening to Jazz, and just experiencing the culture in general. I’m pretty curious about what it’s like to go out in New Orleans—and if there are a lot of young people there or not. I’ve also never been in a majority African American city, so I’m looking forward to having that new experience. My impression is that restaurants aren’t as vegetarian friendly as they are in the north, so I’m a bit nervous about the food situation. I’m more excited to go to Dulac and also to see the urban farm than I am to work with PNOLA, because I’m more of an outdoorsy than a city person (although I do like cities). More specifically, I’m eager to know what projects we will be doing in Dulac. I think that it would be cool to be a peer listener and hear some stories from Louisianans firsthand. I’m also looking forward to the wetlands tour. From what I’ve seen in pictures/film they are very beautiful.

As my extremely creative title expresses, I am really looking forward to heading down to Louisiana on Sunday. Thinking about “what is on my mind as we are about to head south” (something we were supposed to address in our first blog entry) is a bit of a struggle because I can’t really pin down any one topic/idea/feeling that is going on in my mind right now. In other words, it is quite difficult to digest and make sense of the great amount of alarming information we have learned about Katrina over the last term, and especially in the last few days.

If I were to summarize my feelings however, I would have to say that I am perplexed. The general message that we have been learning: that Katrina was not a “natural disaster,” but something that could have been prevented, is really unnerving. I almost feel like the whole situation would be so much easier to deal with if this had just been a natural disaster. But knowing that it could have been prevented, and that response could have been dealt with in a way that didn’t leave so many people in shambles, really makes me question things. I guess it’s hard not to have someone or something concrete to ‘blame’ for such a terrible disaster.

I am really happy to be going at this point (so many years after the event) because I am really curious to learn how such an event would be dealt with. So, in going down to New Orleans, I guess what I will be looking for is answers. What were the main forces that caused this to happen? Five years after the hurricane, which issues are the worst? What strategies have worked best to aid and bring relief to the survivors and to the city as a whole?

On another note, from what I have experienced so far, I think the group we have is awesome, and that we have been working really well together. I am so excited to put in some hard work on reconstruction, and experience the food, history, and culture of New Orleans for the first time with all of you!

As my frozen hands type my first blog in my frigid room on campus, it makes me that much more eager to get on the plane to New Orleans sooner rather than later. For the past 20 years, I have lived in Massachusetts and ended up not going very far for college. With that said, I am very anxious to immerse myself in a new culture away from the North, as well as seeing the area first hand. It is quite difficult to look past all of the media’s viewpoints on New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina, so I am very curious to see the city through my own eyes and judge for myself.

After learning about ‘voluntourism’, I am somewhat worried about being looked down upon by the New Orleans residents. My hope is that they do not think we are there for personal praise, but rather to help the community in every way we can.
Furthermore, I am not particularly close with anybody in the group. So aside from working diligently all day, I am very excited to get close to this small group of Union students because we will not only be working hard together for two weeks on and off the construction sites, but we will hopefully be making a difference in people’s lives. We are all going down with the same determination, which reduces any anxiety I have been feeling. My nervousness has slowly shifted to excitement, because we will all be in this together and I plan on making my first (and hopefully not last) trip to New Orleans a great one.

During the past couple days, preparing for this trip, I have had a mixture of feelings. I am anxious to experience life in a new culture and to try and better understand the situation of the residents of New Orleans face from day to day. I believe it will be invaluable to gain a first hand perspective of this “man-made” disaster rather then rely on what the media portrays. I really want to know how people are coping with the way Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill has affected their lives and as an econ major it will be especially important for me to learn about the economic situation of New Orleans. This trip is directly relevant to my thesis, “What is the Effect of Macro Economic Conditions on Happiness,” which deals with changing unemployment rates and the effect it has on a person’s satifaction of life. I believe that it is important to keep in mind that the “Growth Machine” can have real long-term negative effects on individual citizens not just economically, but in terms happiness or health status. These non-economic “costs” are not so easily quantifiable and may be underestimated or even neglected when public projects are constructed. I hope to gain a better understanding of both the economic and social issues facing New Orleans. My hope, is that after my trip, I will leave knowing I made an impact on this community, share my experience with others, present an accurate portrayal of what life is really like for those affected by Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil and be able to purpose furture actions that can be taken to further aid the victims.

Since I started the process of signing up for this mini term I was excited to have the opportunity to contribute positively to the victims of Hurricane; this feeling has not changed, but has grown in the past couple days as we have discussed the various issues that effect New Orleanians’ daily lives. Not only am I excited to help rebuild structures and contribute to the urban farming, but I also want to interact with the residents of New Orleans and really listen to their story if they are willing to share with me. There is no way in which I can relate to what many of them have gone through, but by listening, hopefully I can have some positive impact.

My other feeling before we leave is nervousness. In all of my excitement, I know I will have to be careful to show sensitivity and to display empathy when conversing with residents of New Orleans.

Even though we all are going to be approaching this trip from different prespectives and backgrounds; I am happy to know that we all share a strong desire to volunteer. I am very proud to call myself a part of the Louisiana Mini Term 2010 group. I can’t wait to get to work!

~James

Union College is located about 25 minutes from the house that I grew up in and 15 minutes from the high school that I went to. When I came to Union my radius of experience outside of my hometown only grew by a few miles, while to many students Union is their home away from home. My entire life I have been confined to this small section of Upstate New York and have only traveled out of its limits on infrequent occasions so I am most excited to get out of here an immerse myself in a new culture. One of my biggest, yet least explored passion is that for travelling to places where I can experience living situations not as ideal as my own. Through this I want to gain awareness for the destituteness that plagues populations everywhere, but from which I have been shielded because my perspective has never been relocated. With this awareness I feel that I will no longer take for granted all of the luxuries that I dismiss as common amenities that people go without on a daily basis. This humanitarian excursion is the first step I will be taking towards exploring my passion and my first dabble with globalizing my perspective and the community to which I am serving.
One thing that I am particularly anxious about is actually getting to leave behind my ignorance about the actual condition of New Orleans. Because it has been hard to untangle the truth from the media about the present state of Louisiana, I think that I will not truly understand the extent to which all of these catastrophes have devastated not only the land but the social and economic constructs of New Orleans until I am living in it, which is an argument bolstered by W.E.B Dubois who implied that the only way to truly learn about and know a culture is to live in it.
I am also particularly excited about our night out on Frenchman Street listening to real New Orleans Jazz. Even though I am not a huge jazz fan, it is definitely a style of music I can appreciate especially in a place where it is such an embodiment of the culture!

I am so grateful for this opportunity to go down to Louisiana and help out. This trip means a lot to me. Initially, my feelings towards this trip regarded my family roots in Louisiana, however, these past few days have broadened my feelings in a sense that I am an individual of this Earth, and the people affected by various acts of both nature and mankind, are human. The films we have viewed in class have really touched me, especially “Trouble in Water.” Visuals have such a deep impact on me, and although your own imagination can speculate, the closest thing to the truth behind what has happened down there, are the individuals who went and are going through it. I am excited to interact with these people, however with this excitement comes some anxiety and nerves. I have had a fortunate life and can never imagine the difficulties these people have faced. Connection is extremely important when it comes to human interaction, and this is what will be challenging, especially when the human interaction is based on the content of suffrage and loss, however hope and empathy are what can be shared.

I feel so privileged to be a part of this group. Already, I feel a great connection between all of us. It is so nice to be surrounded by caring and willing individuals, and I’m excited to share what we have to offer, as not only individuals, but as a group down south. Never did I think a random group of Union College students would be gathering in my Aunt and Uncle’s place in the French Quarter, and I am beyond excited to share their wonderful southern personalities with everyone. This random group of Union College students doesn’t seem so random anymore.

Heading to the south usually means that I am heading home to Dallas, TX and about to enjoy the relaxation that only comes when one sleeps in his or her own bed. This journey is different not only because I will be landing about 520 miles east of home but because I am going home with the agenda to benefit the lives of others that I have never met before. I am a person that can handle all sorts of situations and people and I am starting to feel, uncharacteristically, nervous. I have had both the pleasure and regret of interacting with citizens from New Orleans both before and after the hurricane struck. Reflecting upon these past experiences only adds to the jitters that I feel as I toss and turn around at night thinking about the next two weeks. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel because I am excited about absorbing the unique culture that New Orleans contains. I am curious to see how all of the groups type “A” personalities interact when we leave the familiar grounds of Union and head to the big easy/bayous. One of the things I am relieved about is the fact that I will be able to scout out grad schools while in the NO and will have music to help me “wade through the water.”

This marks the beginning of the new class’ adventure doing community service in Louisiana.  We fly out on Sunday morning, hopefully with good weather and on-time flights.  Everyone will be adding their first thoughts tonight and tomorrow as we anticipate these next two weeks.  Let’s do it!!!

[The banner photo is sunset on the bayou at Dulac, LA. Such beauty!]

We are heading out of dulac today… It was a long week of a lot of work and determination. I was amazed at how completely different the wetlands were from new orleans. It seemed like a different country, but the people needed help just as much. When we went down to port forchoun to help the wetlands, I was especially struck at how little the citizens of our country know about the situation that is happening, despite how important it really is. My experience in dulac and the wetlands really opened my eyes to a different type of living style and a problem that definately needs more attention. The problems may not be as immediate, but they are definately equally important to louisiana and the united states as a whole

We’ve had an interesting week so far in Dulac/Houma.

For one, it has rained more than I’ve ever thought was possible. There was even one day that we didn’t go in to work on the houses until the afternoon due to flooding.

 We arrived at the Dulac Community Center on Friday night after a rainy drive from New Orleans. We got settled in and in the morning we went over to the warehouse in Houma to meet Jim, our supervisor. We were divided into two groups and my group went to a house nearby which still needed a lot of work done. I worked on insulation with a few others, while the rest of the group started to hang dry wall on the ceiling. We were glad to have the opportunity, right from the first day, to meet the couple who would be moving back into the house. They are both part of the Houma tribe, and it was nice to finally meet a couple of Houma’s, since we had read about them. They were a very nice couple, and we felt their need to move in before Christmas, and I think that motivated us to work as efficiently as possible.

On our second day working on the house, we found out that all of the insulation that we had done so far (which covered most of the house) was done incorrectly, although it had already been approved. We were worried that the improper insulation would cause problems in terms of heating/cooling but Jim claimed that it would be fine.

Today we got a lot of work done and only have a few more rooms to cover with dry wall so we are hoping to get as much done tomorrow (our last day in the house) as possible. Friday we will be heading back to New Orleans for a few more days before heading home.

 This past Sunday, we took a break from working on houses, and drove two hours to Port Fourchon, where we worked with BTNEP. As we got closer to our destination, we were struck by the landscape around us. There was so much water, fog, and grayness on both sides of the road we were driving on, and as we drove over bridges we saw roads once in use that simple ended in the middle of no where. It seemed like something you would see in a fantasy movie, and even the pictures that we took don’t capture what is there in its entirety.

After signing a waiver, learning a little more about coastal erosion, and covering our selves with bug spray, we all jumped on the boats and headed out to the mile long piece of land on which we spent the day planting. While it was exhausting and tedious, it made us think about how much work it requires to save land like that. What strikes me most is that in that area, a football field of land is lost every 38 minutes. Also, as exhausted as we were at the end of that day, I had to remind my self that the guys we were working with have dedicated themselves to this cause and they go out and plant like that quite often. It was interesting to meet people who are directly affected by the land loss. Inspite of all of the bug bites, it was worth going out there and seeing an area VERY different from anything I have ever seen, and learning more about coastal erosion and land loss in this area.

This evening we met Jamie, the director of the Dulac Community Center, and she talked to us about the Houma tribe and a little bit about her life. Her baby was adorable and her talk was interesting as well. It was painful to see that she was so dedicated to giving to her community, and yet it was so hard to get funding and to make sure that everyone was getting what they need. We were all frustrated by the fact that we were not working directly in Dulac but rather in Houma and in Golden Meadow (an hour and a half away).

In our time here, we have learned a lot about some of the frustrations and obstacles a volunteer might encounter. Back in New Orleans, one morning before going to work we were informed that someone had broken into the PNOLA warehouse and stolen a lot of the tools and resources. This set us back as well but we eventually went into work, later on in the day. Here in Dulac, we had the issues with the insulation, as well as a delay due to flooding. We’ve been doing our best to continue keeping a positive attitude as a group and reinforcing eachother in order to make sure that we can keep giving our all while we are here volunteering.

I hope our last day and a half in Dulac will be fun and rain-free! I’m also looking forward to going back to New Orleans for our last project and enjoying our last few days together!