Today was our biggest day, with all 15 people volunteering! We spent the day moving frames with Crazy Paul and by lunch time a lot of us were ready to ask for another task because we felt there were too many "cooks in the kitchen" and it ended up that some of us just felt in the way instead of useful.
When the lunch break hit, a girl named Tanya came out of her house and walked around serving volunteers watermellon. It was very sweet of her, but then she asked us to visit with her in her house!! How amazing! So a bunch of us visited with her and her friends that were visiting from out of town. We got to see the inside of her house, one of the finished Habitat for Humanity houses and it was beautiful, efficient and huge (by NYC standards at least.) Tanya is a street performing musician who actually was written about in a book called "Street Saints" (or something like that.) I will never look at a street performer the same way again after being treated so generously by such a kind one.
Before we had a chance to ask for a new assignment, the rain started and cancelled our afternoon. At first we didn't know what to do with our extra time but then Lindsay and I headed to the voodoo priestess place (which turned out to be closed) and then down to the market (also closed) but explored many shops on the way and ran into Rin-On and Warren. We went back to the hotel to eat our leftovers for dinner and then headed back out with Russell to meet Emily and Brie for the ghost tour.
I thought the ghost tour was fascinating but the guide was very cynical and academic with a very particular dry sense of humor that not everyone enjoys so Emily, Lindsay and Brie bailed before it was over. Russell stayed behind to finish the tour with me. We were supposed to go to some jazz place Lindsay wanted to check out after and meet everyone else there but then it seemed like plans kept changing and then when the tour finally ended and we went over to where Linds, Rin-On & Warren were to hitch a cab with them to the jazz place, they had left without us! I just felt bad cuz the plans kept changing and I had to relay them to the rest of the people since I was the only one that everyone had the contact information but at the same time, I wasn't the one changing the plans. Sigh. I think it was a lot of drunken miscommunication but I came away really pissed and just wanting to go home. But I wasn't going to abandon Russell since he stuck it out with me on the tour so I walked up and down Bourbon with him. We ran saw Vanilla Ice on a balcony! And we also ended up popping in to 2 strip clubs, ugh! I had never been to one before but I owed Russell for sticking with me so I went. Luckily we basically walked in and out so I can now say I've been to one and never have to go back again haha...
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Day 5: Wednesday, July 15th
Today went pretty quickly. Day two of working on the site went well. Lindsay, Emily and Brie joined our group. Instead of hammering, we were moving the wall frames we had hammered the day before onto the house sites via a flatbed truck. It was hard work but had more down time and waiting than hammering. For instance, at one point Brie and I were sitting in an airconditioned truck blocking the street that the team was unloading at the other end of. (Luckily, only one vehicle stopped to talk to us, the people that needed to cut the grass where our team was unloading the frames. But that group scared me a bit, I felt like a small army was trying to puncture our barrier, complete with camouflage pants on the one man!)
The highlight of the day was probably the driver of the flatbed, who we eventually nick named "Crazy Paul". He was pretty rushed in getting us to do things and in a pretty rude way he kicked out some people that were working on the floor at one of the sites we were unloading at. Also, he liked Emily and kept having her go everywhere with him. This eventually led to him insisting on teaching her to drive a bobcat and her driving that back to the main site, which is really illegal. He also later pretending to bite a cable. Man I wish I had had my camera ready for that!!
On our way to dinner, we ran into Rin-On and Warren: they had arrived this morning and that means everyone has arrived! For dinner, we went to a creole/italian restaurant called "Mandina's" and I got a huge stuffed pepper with macaroni and lima beans. Afterwards, Cassie, Adam, Kim & I headed to Walmart to pick up more food for the rest of the week. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at "Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro" and picked up some cake to go. After unpacking the groceries and making dents in the huge pieces of cake we got, we made the lunches and headed to sleep, exhausted!
The highlight of the day was probably the driver of the flatbed, who we eventually nick named "Crazy Paul". He was pretty rushed in getting us to do things and in a pretty rude way he kicked out some people that were working on the floor at one of the sites we were unloading at. Also, he liked Emily and kept having her go everywhere with him. This eventually led to him insisting on teaching her to drive a bobcat and her driving that back to the main site, which is really illegal. He also later pretending to bite a cable. Man I wish I had had my camera ready for that!!
On our way to dinner, we ran into Rin-On and Warren: they had arrived this morning and that means everyone has arrived! For dinner, we went to a creole/italian restaurant called "Mandina's" and I got a huge stuffed pepper with macaroni and lima beans. Afterwards, Cassie, Adam, Kim & I headed to Walmart to pick up more food for the rest of the week. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at "Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro" and picked up some cake to go. After unpacking the groceries and making dents in the huge pieces of cake we got, we made the lunches and headed to sleep, exhausted!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Day 4: Tuesday, July 14th
Our first day on the site volunteering for Habitat for Humanity! I was so nervous the night before that I kept waking up every few minutes for the last few hours with nightmares about sleeping through my alarm and then with nightmares about things that could go wrong. So silly. We got out reasonably on time but luckily we had left plenty of extra time to get there because we got a bit lost on the way there.
Once we arrived, we met up with April and Tiffany and signed in, armed ourselves with bug spray and sun tan lotion and, after a brief introduction, got working hammering together frames of walls for future houses. It was a lot of hard work in direct sun light but it was really neat actually creating something.
Everyone on the site was pretty nice. There was this huge group all wearing matching shirts from a church with over 10,000 members in Cincinatti, OH named "Crossroads". They said they have 7 buses coming down this week and another 7 buses coming down next week!! Incredible! They had so much matching stuff. They were really nice. We met two people that used to be from New York, Jesse and Esther (we think they might be married.) Turns out Esther actually works as a financial analyst for Macy's in our headquarters in Cincinnatti! What a small world! Jesse was very friendly and soulful. As he would say, "lots of positive energy, all around."
I held up pretty well in the heat, (I've been very nervous about being in the sun this much since I have had bad reactions to the sun in the past.) So far so good though. I got a little red on my forehead and I have a bit of a Rudolph nose, but besides that I escaped unburned. I do have minor rashing on my arms but hopefully that won't get worst. And I got a huge blister on my finger. But besides that, I survived day one unscathed!
The day was over before we knew it and we headed back to the hotel, in dire need of showers and rest. After freshening up and starting a load of laundry, we went to a restaurant Kim had seen recommended on a blog called "Port of Call". It was only 4 blocks away from our apartment and was known for its burgers. It looked like such a dive from the outside but man what great burgers and baked potatoes! And we got to keep our plastic cups. :-)
Emily and Brie arrived today and Lindsay just landed. Our group is growing quickly! Excited for day two tomorrow.
Once we arrived, we met up with April and Tiffany and signed in, armed ourselves with bug spray and sun tan lotion and, after a brief introduction, got working hammering together frames of walls for future houses. It was a lot of hard work in direct sun light but it was really neat actually creating something.
Everyone on the site was pretty nice. There was this huge group all wearing matching shirts from a church with over 10,000 members in Cincinatti, OH named "Crossroads". They said they have 7 buses coming down this week and another 7 buses coming down next week!! Incredible! They had so much matching stuff. They were really nice. We met two people that used to be from New York, Jesse and Esther (we think they might be married.) Turns out Esther actually works as a financial analyst for Macy's in our headquarters in Cincinnatti! What a small world! Jesse was very friendly and soulful. As he would say, "lots of positive energy, all around."
I held up pretty well in the heat, (I've been very nervous about being in the sun this much since I have had bad reactions to the sun in the past.) So far so good though. I got a little red on my forehead and I have a bit of a Rudolph nose, but besides that I escaped unburned. I do have minor rashing on my arms but hopefully that won't get worst. And I got a huge blister on my finger. But besides that, I survived day one unscathed!
The day was over before we knew it and we headed back to the hotel, in dire need of showers and rest. After freshening up and starting a load of laundry, we went to a restaurant Kim had seen recommended on a blog called "Port of Call". It was only 4 blocks away from our apartment and was known for its burgers. It looked like such a dive from the outside but man what great burgers and baked potatoes! And we got to keep our plastic cups. :-)
Emily and Brie arrived today and Lindsay just landed. Our group is growing quickly! Excited for day two tomorrow.
Day 3: Monday, July 13th
We've definitely gotten in the swing of things around here and I even feel like I'm starting to adjust to the heat! This morning was very productive, we went out to Walmart and got things for lunches, among other things.
The afternoon was really exciting: we drove out to a swamp and went on a tour on an airboat! It's this boat with a big fan-like thing in the back. To be honest, I was expecting the swamp to be very booney, like on Waterboy but it was nothing like that. Well the actual foliage was very similar but the houses out there were gorgeous!! Anyway, the tour was a blast. The guide would drive fast and skip over little corners of land and when we went slow we saw 16 alligators! We even got to hold his little pet baby alligator that he had brought with him on the boat. It was a great time.
Once we got back to the hotel, we decided to just stay in and order in dinner because we still had to pack lunches and we were all pretty tired and wanted to get a good night's sleep. I can't believe we start at the site tomorrow! I'm so nervous!
The afternoon was really exciting: we drove out to a swamp and went on a tour on an airboat! It's this boat with a big fan-like thing in the back. To be honest, I was expecting the swamp to be very booney, like on Waterboy but it was nothing like that. Well the actual foliage was very similar but the houses out there were gorgeous!! Anyway, the tour was a blast. The guide would drive fast and skip over little corners of land and when we went slow we saw 16 alligators! We even got to hold his little pet baby alligator that he had brought with him on the boat. It was a great time.
Once we got back to the hotel, we decided to just stay in and order in dinner because we still had to pack lunches and we were all pretty tired and wanted to get a good night's sleep. I can't believe we start at the site tomorrow! I'm so nervous!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Day 2: Sunday, July 12th
We started off the day with the continental breakfast provided by the hotel and then Russell and I headed over to the Voodoo Museum. We opted for the tour and learned a ton about voodoo, the city of New Orleans, music, well just about everything! The tour guide walked us around to the oldest cemetery in the city and then we ended the tour at a voodoo priestess's spiritual house. We learned so many interesting things!
We got back to the hotel just in time to meet up with everyone else for a tour of the city. There were two major highlights for me. The first was in the Garden District when we got to see the house that the Manning brothers grew up in. (Gorgeous house by the way.) The second was seeing the areas hit hardest by Katrina, especially the 9th Ward. It was still so devestated. But then he started talking about Habitat for Humanity and the good things they were doing and we came to the Musician's Village where we are going to volunteer in a few days! Tears seriously came to my eyes. Both guides that day had such amazing, positive things to say about HH and to see the place and the progress was just so inspirational! We all got really pumped for our volunteering to begin.
Once back at the hotel, we headed out to Acme Oyster House, which had been highly recommended to us by many people. It was so good and we had crawfish, oysters, catfish, jumbalaya, gumbo, sausage, geeze just about anything you could imagine! It was quite a feast and so fresh. Then we headed back to the hotel by way of Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street was seriously the craziest place I have ever seen. There were so many cabarets that were quite vivid in what they were selling. And so many bars with live music. And just tons of people walking around, many with drinks in hand. (The street was closed off to cars.) I even had beads thrown to me from a woman up in a balcony! (And no I didn't have to do anything to earn them.) We ran into a bar we had wanted to go to to try their famous "hurricane" drinks, Pat O'Briens. The drinks were tall. I had a sip for a photo opp but everyone else enjoyed their drinks and mine and Cassie's. We continued walking back to the hotel and only made one other quick stop: a "handgranade" drink to go booth. It was such a fun night. Lots of good laughter. Once we got back to the hotel, we sang happy birthday to Barbie and ate a delicious cake that Kim's family had picked up earlier: strawberry shortcake and white chocolate!! It was so good with a unique flavor and taste to match.
This vacation has seriously already been so much fun. Today I even think I might have started to adapt to the heat a little. I'm so excited for tomorrow. :-)
We got back to the hotel just in time to meet up with everyone else for a tour of the city. There were two major highlights for me. The first was in the Garden District when we got to see the house that the Manning brothers grew up in. (Gorgeous house by the way.) The second was seeing the areas hit hardest by Katrina, especially the 9th Ward. It was still so devestated. But then he started talking about Habitat for Humanity and the good things they were doing and we came to the Musician's Village where we are going to volunteer in a few days! Tears seriously came to my eyes. Both guides that day had such amazing, positive things to say about HH and to see the place and the progress was just so inspirational! We all got really pumped for our volunteering to begin.
Once back at the hotel, we headed out to Acme Oyster House, which had been highly recommended to us by many people. It was so good and we had crawfish, oysters, catfish, jumbalaya, gumbo, sausage, geeze just about anything you could imagine! It was quite a feast and so fresh. Then we headed back to the hotel by way of Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street was seriously the craziest place I have ever seen. There were so many cabarets that were quite vivid in what they were selling. And so many bars with live music. And just tons of people walking around, many with drinks in hand. (The street was closed off to cars.) I even had beads thrown to me from a woman up in a balcony! (And no I didn't have to do anything to earn them.) We ran into a bar we had wanted to go to to try their famous "hurricane" drinks, Pat O'Briens. The drinks were tall. I had a sip for a photo opp but everyone else enjoyed their drinks and mine and Cassie's. We continued walking back to the hotel and only made one other quick stop: a "handgranade" drink to go booth. It was such a fun night. Lots of good laughter. Once we got back to the hotel, we sang happy birthday to Barbie and ate a delicious cake that Kim's family had picked up earlier: strawberry shortcake and white chocolate!! It was so good with a unique flavor and taste to match.
This vacation has seriously already been so much fun. Today I even think I might have started to adapt to the heat a little. I'm so excited for tomorrow. :-)
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Day 1: Saturday, July 11th
I was so appreciative to get a ride to JFK this morning from Adam! My flight was reletively smooth and I got to watch some interesting things on board, like Professor Pausch's famous lecture and Obama's speech to Ghana's Parliament. It took one step off the airplane for me to remember what heat and humidity feels like, (I didn't realize until then that I had really forgotten since it hasn't been that hot in NYC yet.) I took my time getting to the baggage, taking pictures and buying a tourist NOLA book (due to work and personal stuff, I was too busy to plan much outside of the logistics of the volunteering so I've never felt this unprepared for siteseeing!) By the time I looked for my bag, it had already been removed from the carousel and taken up to ticketing!
Once in New Orleans, I met up with Kim, her parents Maggi & Randy, her brother Adam & his fiance Cassie, Maggi's sister Barbie and my friend Russell. (The rest of our group will arrive sporadically through the week and we will all head home next Sunday.) We got our bags and rental cars and headed to the hotel.
I will admit that I didn't know exactly what to expect in New Orleans, but just the short drive from the airport to our hotel in the French Quarter was quite revealing. So many houses were in such beautiful, exotic, "New Orleans" style, but unfortunately in such a sad state of disrepair. The thing that caught my eye the most was an unbelievable cemetery we passed on the way. I really hope I get to tour it while we are here. On our way to the hotel, one of the streets was blocked off by what looked to be a parade of some sort (based on our sighting of a tuba in the distance.) We later found out that we had correctly guessed that the "parade" was actually a traditional "New Orleans" style funeral. That would have been amazing to see.
The people here are so friendly and warm. Our hotel has great character and a local flair and they hooked us up since we're volunteering for HH with a great rate and free upgrade to an "apartment style" room, complete with a full kitchen that will come in handy as we prepare our lunches to take with us once we start volunteering on Tuesday.
We headed out to explore the French Quarter and ended up in the Bourbon Street/Flea Market/Farmer's Market area and had some wonderful local fair at Magnolia's Grill. I experienced a muffaletta for the first time, (a sandwhich with meats, cheeses & an olive mix). It was good but I don't really like olives so I probably won't get it again but I always enjoy trying the local fair so I'm glad I tried it. We walked around the market and stopped at Margharittaville before heading back to the hotel.
Day one went great, the city is definitely much more interesting than I had even envisioned. And while I am still worried about the heat, I am less nervous now that I'm actually here and more excited to see everything and start volunteering and helping this place out!
Once in New Orleans, I met up with Kim, her parents Maggi & Randy, her brother Adam & his fiance Cassie, Maggi's sister Barbie and my friend Russell. (The rest of our group will arrive sporadically through the week and we will all head home next Sunday.) We got our bags and rental cars and headed to the hotel.
I will admit that I didn't know exactly what to expect in New Orleans, but just the short drive from the airport to our hotel in the French Quarter was quite revealing. So many houses were in such beautiful, exotic, "New Orleans" style, but unfortunately in such a sad state of disrepair. The thing that caught my eye the most was an unbelievable cemetery we passed on the way. I really hope I get to tour it while we are here. On our way to the hotel, one of the streets was blocked off by what looked to be a parade of some sort (based on our sighting of a tuba in the distance.) We later found out that we had correctly guessed that the "parade" was actually a traditional "New Orleans" style funeral. That would have been amazing to see.
The people here are so friendly and warm. Our hotel has great character and a local flair and they hooked us up since we're volunteering for HH with a great rate and free upgrade to an "apartment style" room, complete with a full kitchen that will come in handy as we prepare our lunches to take with us once we start volunteering on Tuesday.
We headed out to explore the French Quarter and ended up in the Bourbon Street/Flea Market/Farmer's Market area and had some wonderful local fair at Magnolia's Grill. I experienced a muffaletta for the first time, (a sandwhich with meats, cheeses & an olive mix). It was good but I don't really like olives so I probably won't get it again but I always enjoy trying the local fair so I'm glad I tried it. We walked around the market and stopped at Margharittaville before heading back to the hotel.
Day one went great, the city is definitely much more interesting than I had even envisioned. And while I am still worried about the heat, I am less nervous now that I'm actually here and more excited to see everything and start volunteering and helping this place out!
The Backstory
A few months ago I sent out an email asking if any of my friends would want to do a "trip for a cause" this year and was really happy to get a great response. We decided to journey down to New Orleans and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. There are 15 of us total and this is my story of our trip. I can't believe it's already here and I am very nervous and excited!
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