A Sad Loss

This morning I learned that Brian (one of my guests) passed away. I do not think that the obituary in the paper gave his life justice. The picture provided is handsome and he was a proud alumni of Jesuit High so he would have liked that is high school picture was shown but it was unfortunately unrecognizable for those who knew him more recently. This by no means is an obituary but I do have some nice memories to share about him because he was apart of our life here at the Center and will always be remembered.

Brian was a character to say the least and full of facts about New Orleans, Jesuit High, people in the city, the gossip of the city, the weather, vacations to take, or really just anything and everything. He could talk for hours if you let him which was normally ill timed (beginning in the early morning when the most people wanted to talk) but when he caught you at a good time to chat he was a wonderful conversationalist and always had a compliment in his back pocket. He kept me up to date on the happenings of the city, the concerts to go to, the free food events, the best restaurants and who to talk to. He especially liked to talk about California and how much he liked it, but the conversation always ended with how much better New Orleans is. Brian was also very proud of his background. He enjoyed telling me all about his time at Jesuit High and what the alumni from him class were up to. One of his peers is now a judge in New Orleans and got Brian out of a few sticky situations. His friendly personality was wonderful and he was very generous with anything he had. He asked me to be his date to the Jesuit High reunion a few months ago, insisting that if I say yes then he would buy me a dress and be a wonderful date. I politely said no thank you but that I appreciated the offer; although this did not deter him so I told him that he had to ask Don's permission to take me. Don explained to him that that was not going to happen and he needed to stop asking me. Brian was not insulted and we still had lots of talks about California which I appreciated. It makes me sad to think that Brian is gone but I am happy to say that I knew him and that he made an impact on my life.

Lots of Love

It has been a while since I have sat down to write anything. I apologize! Its been a little busy, really hot, and I have found a nice routine here. But these past few weeks have been great!

On Friday at work I was asked to head down to the church to receive a large package that was to heavy for  Sister Vera to carry. I was a little nervous but luckily I had a dashing young man, who is strong and very helpful, with me to carry the very heavy box. Michael came to New Orleans along with Aunt Susie for an absolutely wonderful visit! They came to work with me on Friday and were big helps at the showers then came to clean up in the afternoon. Michael carried the box for me back to the center and we opened it to see what was weighing it down. It was a box FULL of personal toothpastes! And when I say FULL I mean it. Dr. Rick sent yet another awesome package full of toothpaste. It also looked like some of his other Dentist friends had pitched in to send more. We were able to put personal toothpastes in every hygiene kit this week, and then some! We have some happy smiles this week :)

Aunt Susie and Michael kept me on my toes last weekend. I had a blast taking them around the city! They were great at being flexible when we got caught in a rain storm on a daquari/walking adventure, on Aunt Susie's birthday. We ate more delicious food than I thought possible and some fancy food too! The bananas foster at Brennans melted in my mouth and made me a very happy camper. Drank Mimosas at Aunt Susie's BDay breakfast. They stayed in a beautiful little hotel close enough to the French Quarter that they were able to walk all over the place but far enough that they did not hear too much of the downtown noise. We walked a few blocks of Bourbon St., during the day (still lots of light out!), caught some beads, saw some bars (from the outside), just to say they did it. They went on a haunted tour of the French Quarter. We explored the 9th ward and saw Lake Ponchartrain. They were put to work at the Center and met so many of the wonderful people I work with. And I had a great time with them! I am so glad they spent their vacation time with me!

This past weekend the JV's went on a retreat in Texas: a retreat site right in between Dallas and Houston. We left Wednesday after work, stayed with the Houston JV's that night, then went to the retreat on Thursday. It was a beautiful site and brand new! The land was very flat and open which made for wonderful sun sets, lots of sun during the day, way less humidity than New Orleans, and you could see storms literally rolling in. We had delicious food and a lot of reflection time which we all needed. It has been a wonderful year but a lot to think about and process. The speaker created a space to share our thoughts and feelings with the group and then we were given time by ourselves to internally think about what we had gone through. About a month ago Stephanie and Anne decided it would be a brilliant idea to have Prom at our last retreat all together. There are about 60 JV's in the southern region of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. We have a lot of fun as a big group together. The talent show was Saturday night and was great. For those of you who know what this is: I did the broom trick and it was a big hit! Then after the talent show we had Prom! There was a big open room that we decorated and a speaker system to blast music. It was raining like crazy outside with huge lighting and thunder. It was a little scary but we were all inside having a great time. In the middle of the Cupid Shuffle everyone was on the dance floor when all of a sudden there was a deafening SNAP, 100 times louder than the snap you hear with a whip. We all hit the floor, the music went out, the lights flashed, and bits of plaster fell from the ceiling. The building we were in had been hit by lightning. No one was hurt, nothing caught on fire, the building had been built to withstand this type of weather, the only damage done was a crack in the plaster on the ceiling where the roof had pushed down because of the lightnings impact. It was a bit shocking, to say the least. The fire department came to check the building and make sure it was safe to be in, which it is but the internet cords were hit pretty hard. Now we all have a pretty cool JV Prom story, haha. And I can say that I have been hit by lightning!

Today's quote is, "Julie, if you could bottle your beauty up it would put coke-a-cola out of business." -Benjamin 8:15am

Lots of Love!

Appreciate

The word appreciate has taken on a different meaning for me this year. Well, actually, it has taken on more meaning. I used to use the word 'appreciate' to describe a past event or act of kindness someone had showed me. "I appreciated the help with dinner last night." Now I see it used in New Orleans as a word to replace 'Thank You.' One of my favorite New Orleans phrases is, " A'hh appreciate ya!" At first I did not really understand what that meant or why people didn't just say 'Thank you.' "I appreciate you," sounded odd and almost overly grateful. But after hearing it enough, and in context, I realized how significant it is. I appreciate you. I appreciate what you have done for me. I appreciate your generosity. It is more than just a 'thank you for what you have given me,' but rather it is an appreciation for your help, your life, you. I think it sounds a bit too New Orleanian for me to go around saying, " A'hh appreciate yahh," (I can imitate the accent but I cannot pull off the true New Orleans drawl) so I have found myself saying, "I appreciate it," after someone helps me. An offer to do the dishes: "I appreciate it." Helpful advice: "I appreciate it." A generous gift: "I really appreciate it." I feel as though it holds more meaning. Pleases and thank yous are important and imperative to a polite interaction (thanks Nana and Baba for helping me to see their value) but an appreciation for someone is invaluable.

A'hh appreciate Ya'll!

Seeing Faith

JVC is founded on four main pillars that are suppose to help shape your experience during your JV year. The pillars are Community, Social Justice, Simplicity, and Spirituality. Living in Community is pretty self explanatory in that everything in shared and the group must discuss decisions together, but it is an experience you cannot really understand unless you have lived in Community.  Social Justice is the work we are doing at our placements. Simplicity is a life style that we as a community have chosen to live: to become more aware of our impact on the earth and conscious of what value we place on material things. Spirituality is a harder pillar to define because it takes form in many different personal ways. But basically it is creating a safe place for the community to come together to pray, meditate, discuss religion, or just be solidarity together. Two weeks ago was another retreat that JVC sent us on. This retreat was based around spirituality and that meant it was a silent retreat. It was a 5 days long and just outside of Atlanta GA on a beautiful Jesuit retreat site in the woods. The silence lasted about 3 days and was probably the most relaxing time to myself i have had in a long time. We had individual rooms and bathrooms which allowed for plenty of separate space. We also had free rain of the entire property which was covered with wonderful trails and benches. The quiet gave me the time to relax that i needed. And time to think about my year so far. Also i loved being out in nature! Green trees, grass, a river, some streems, it smelled wonderful and was unimaginbly refreshing.

I do not nessesarly have to leave the city to see faith, however. My guests remind me every day that God is watching out for us. Their faith is some of the strongest i have ever witnessed. Michael for example reads the Bible (out loud) every day and always has something to say about God. One day Don got a call from Father Tom at the church next door about one of our guests who was up on the alter preaching. Don walked over to the church and found Michael passionately speaking the word, reading from the Bible, and walking up and down the alter. It was luckily not during a service so there was not harm done but he wasn't really allowed to be up there. Don got Michael to come back to the center and showed him a different place he could preach. Michael now stands on the small porch outside Dons office, at the back of the center, and preaches to who ever wants to listen. Mostly its the parking lot and big hospital buildings who listen but Michael is not worried about his audience, he just loves to talk about God. You can hear him for the inside of the office for about 2 hours everyday. He also has lots of jokes, loves word searches, calls eyelashes 'lid-hairs' (because the word 'lash' is a negative term in the Bible), plastic bags are 'carry-sacks,' he wears polo shirts buttoned all the way up, and thinks he is the funniest person alive: he is constantly cracking himself up.

Sandra is another amazing example of Gods work. It has taken Anne, Emily, and I a long time to earn her trust. Clearly a lot has happened to her which has contributed to her mental illness. She is always talking or yelling to herself, or to God, dancing around (she has a very high, high kick), gesturing with her arms, and generally expressing herself with no mind to the people around her. But she is a very sweet woman once you take the time to listen to her and get to know her. Sometimes she will pause look up to the sky, point to someone, nod, and then start talking again. That is the way she talks to God, its her prayers. Her favorite color is purple. And when i say her favorite that is an understatement. She owns nothing but purple cloths: head to toe, socks, undies, t-shirts, everything. Anne, Emily, and I knew we had gained her trust when one day she brought us each a purple shirt to keep. She gets a shy but happy smile on her face every time she sees us wearing our purple shirts. I asked her one day why she loves purple so much and she said it is Gods color, that children of God should wear purple, always.

I have talked about Morris before but he is another guest who is constantly reminding me to have faith. He gives great high fives but not just one at a time, he does three in a row. He explained that you have to give three high fives every time for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In New Orleans when someone wants to give you a big thanks they say 'God Bless.' I have heard that before but in New Orleans it just seems to mean more. They also say, 'Im'a gon'a dance at yur weddin!' which I also like. Anne and I are going to have a lot of dancing happening at our weddings :)

God Bless!

Gifts from the Heart

When given the opportunity some people love to show their affection or thankfulness in lots of different ways.  Anne and I are given weekly Sprites and Snickers from Glenn who likes to show his gratitude by bringing us things he can buy with his food stamps. Sometimes we will be sneakily handed a 5 dollar bill or some change which we try to not accept but if that is how someone wants to say thank you than we do not want to insult them. The tips normally go into the "After Work Margarita!" jar :) Sandra (the lady who loves the color purple) went out and bought Anne, Emily and I our very own purple shirts. The shirts are a bit small but we wear them under our work shirts some times so when she comes we can show her we have them on. For Valentines Day, Lane gave us Christmas cards with the 'Christmas' crossed out and replaced with 'Valentines Day.' Billy gives out necklaces to everyone (except Don) who works at the Harry Tompson center. These necklaces are very special to him and have come from the, "depths of the bayou, while i was out alligator hunting (says Billy)." Herbert and Taushiem made me flowers out of toilet paper. We are given books in all shapes sizes and conditions. Beads beads and more beads, all year round. And today Roxanne came up to me right before lunch started and handed me a large plastic bag with a painting in it. I was not sure what it was at first but thanked her and told her how it was not necessarily but she insisted that i deserve it. She wanted to do something special for me after everything i have done for her. I pulled the painting out of the bag later and discovered this gem of a painting! Its a rather large replica of a Jesus painting that you can find in just about every GoodWill, Salvation Army, thrift store, back yard, garage, grandmothers basement, convent (Sister Mags said they have one in her house), and now the JV's house in New Orleans. 

If not the best gift from this year, at least the most memorable!

The Weather

The weather in New Orleans is very odd, but i think i am getting the hang of it. The winter was not too bad this year which made it easy for Anne and i to continue riding our bikes to work most days. It is now starting to get much warmer. Normally the afternoons will be up in the 80's with a little humidity. This California type weather will continue for about three days then all of a sudden it will get very humid and sticky. It builds and builds until all of a sudden the wind comes, the clouds break, and it poors! Last weekend it was beautiful and so was the weekend before that, but the week in between there was a big storm. This is a picture of what the weather report said when i woke up early last week.

That big green spot just stopped right above New Orleans and did not leave until all of the rain was emptied out of the clouds. The 3 red warnings on the bottom were for severe thunder storms, severe lightening, and flash floods. At night the lightning was so bad it looked like a strobe light was flashing at our window. I have never heard thunder crack right outside my house before. Its a scary sound, like a gigantic whip or belt snapping angrily. The sound that sheet metal makes when you are trying to imitate a thunder sound was not even close to what i heard last week. Normally after the storm clears the sun comes out and its back to being beautiful. The change can happen all of a sudden, in the same day sometimes. The morning will be gross and wet then after lunch the sun will have dried all of the benches and wish i had worn flip slops, not my rain boots.

I talk about California a lot here. People ask me all sorts of questions about it. But i think i will really really miss the California weather when June July and August come around and i melt into a puddle of sweat :)

The Food List

Upon request i am writing a blog about our grocery routine on the JVC budget. Just a reminder we are given 90 dollars each month to pool together for the community groceries. We shop once a week, normally Sundays. For the first 4 months we took the number 16 bus to the nearest grocery store. Now that Lily has brought her car to NOLA the shopping has become a little easier and we are going to a different food store (better produce section). Two or three of us go together normally and we try not to make just one person go. We bring reusable bags and come with an exact list of what we are going to buy (it is very very rare that we buy something spur of the moment). This week the line up of cooks goes like this:

Sunday: HAPPY EASTER! Ordering in Chinese food! (about 5 out of the 11 are with family here in New Orleans or back home and some extra money has been saved so that the meal is bought with the community card)
Monday: Becca's family will be cooking for us. Most weeks there is at least one dinner when we are invited to someones house, we are volunteering at an event with free food, or someone comes over to cook for us.
Tuesday: Portobella Mushroom burgers (Chef Stephanie)
Wednesday: Baba Alice's lentil soup (I am cooking)
Thursday: Lentil Curry (Chef Lily)... Normally we do not do lentils two times in a week--don't want to over kill--but Lily and i both had favorites that we wanted to make, so we went for it.

Here is the receipt for this week and approximate prices:

Flour 2.19
6 yogurts 3.30 total
Chocolate Chips 2.29
2 bags Lentils 3.00 total
1% gl Milk 4.29
Hunny Nut O's 2.99
Shredded wheat 3.15
Parmigiana cheese 2.99
Pasta sauce 1.82
Sugar 2.49
Romaine Lettuce 1.79
2 yellow onions .82 total
4 Bananas 1.02 total (normally we buy at least 10 but this week we got some for free)
4 loaves of bread 6.00ish
2 hamburger bun packs 2.40ish
Green onions .75
Carrots 1.19
4 apples 3.72 total (normally we by at least 12 but this week we got some for free)
Curry powder 3.39
2 red onions 2.31 total
Spinich bag 2.59
1 tomato 1.40
Folgers coffee 8.00ish

Total: 67.00 ish

This will last us for dinners and lunches for the week. Left overs are the usual lunches but we have eggs, butter, tuna, pb&j, pasta, more yogurt, oatmeal, dressings, spices, and other basics around that go on the list every now and then.  Weekends normally you are on your own for meals but there is usually a big batch of pancakes or eggs made on Saturday or Sunday mornings. Not every week is the same and this week was defiantly on the low end. We have a pretty good routine down that makes the food shopping and preparing process pretty easy.

We also LOVE our community dinner time. Its a time for all of us to be together no matter what type of day we had. Sometimes they are long dinners with lots of chatting and sometimes we are eating and running, but either way we are almost always together 5 out of the 7 nights a week. Dinner time is an important and enjoyable time for my community!

Its movie time!

On the topic of movies I recently saw "The Hunger Games" and loved it! Well written. Fallows the books story line. Strong leading female character. Great action. Romance. Sisterly love. I cried 3 times. Midnight premiere made it even better!

This past Saturday evening was the Harry Tompson Center's big fundraising gala! It was a really fun time. We were all dressed up which is diffidently not our norm. Dresses, makeup, heals, and hair done is the complete opposite of how the Harry Tompson Center usually sees us. The board member, families, volunteers, people in the community, and friends all came together to raise money for the HTC. Over all i think it was a very successful event! Annes parents were in town this past weekend (shout out to them!) which made the night even more fun. There were so many people at the gala that they got to chat with, so many people to meet, they were celebs at the gala! I also ate my first raw oyster... well i think it was my first one. I took it like a shot (of water...), which was odd because it was just a slimy hunk that slipped down my throat. Not something i think i will do again, but had to try it once!

Back to the movie theme. A while ago Father Jeff came around the center to film clips of the guests, interviews, and interactions for a short film to advertise the HTC. Anne and i were not so keen on the individual interviews and were super nervous about whether or not we did a good job. I will let you all be the judges of that. The clip premiered at the gala in front ALL the guests! I turned red, what a surprise. But seriously, the clip captures the HTC in an amazing way. The images are well set up and show a very small window to the beautiful people I have come to know and love. I hope you enjoy it!

http://vimeo.com/39631070

(If that link does not work then you can go onto my facebook page and the clip should be on my wall.)

Weekend Adventures

I realized this weekend that I have not been updating on my weekend advntures.  These past few weekends have been very busy!  Mostly becasue New Orleans always has something going on.

A few weeks ago Mom and Dad came to visit! It was probebly one of my favorite weekends in this city so far. We went ALL over! I tryed asking my guests and friends in the city which places to take my parents while they were visiting and instead of getting a few famous places that a lot of people recomended i got a lot of different recomendations (infact almost no one suggested the same places).  So i figured where ever we went would be good and it was! I think my favorite night spent with them was Saturday night becasue we were out to see the night life.  It started off with littereally running into a parade that was marching through the French Quarter. Dad got us each a Hurricain drink (basically a really fruity, very alchoholic drink, famous in New Orleans) to enjoy while the parade went by.  Mom picked up the hang of bead catching really fast and walked away with lots of flowers.  We then walked through the Quarter to get to a bar/music venue.  This place had been recomended to be by one of my roommates and was a great success! The live music was amazing. I knew Mom and Dad had to hear the live music in New Orleans becasue it just has a different level of heart.  I think they both loved it, especially Dad. The second round of drinks probebly helped with the enjoyment.

After the concert we went to a famous burger place and each finished our own gigantic hamberger and backed potato! Both delicious! Upon Mom and Dad's request we walked down Bouben St. on our way back to the hotel. Definetly something you should expereince once but only once, haha. 

Mom and Dad came to work with me on Monday, starting bright and early at 7:00am, with donuts and coffee.  I was on shower duting that week and put mom and dad to work cleaning the showers.  They worked very hard and met so many people!  It was probebly a little overwhelming but they made it and everyone they met loved them. I think my favorite response when i introduced my parents to my guests was how shocked the guys were to hear my mom was my mom and not my sister.  They showered her with wonderful compliments and kept looking at me to say, "Oh i see where you get your good looks from now!"  Dad may not have recived as many good looking coments but he did get the MVV (Most Valuble Volunteer) award! He fixed at least three of the broken showers with his engineering/MacGyver skills.   

The week after Mom and Dad left was a long one. Most of the student volunteers who come to help with showers were on spring break. I went from all the wonderful help in the world on Monday to no help the rest of the week. I was on my feet a lot. But the week led into a really fun weekend. In New Orleans St. Patricks Day has a big parade! What a surprise, New Orleans having a parade for a holiday?! We were at a friends house for most of the parade because he lives on the parade route. He has a balcony/roof that overlooks the street. So we all crowded on and had the best view ever! Being that it was a parade there were of course lots of beads being thrown. We all caught tons of green beads, not that we need ANY more beads in the house. Along with the green beads we were catching Irish Spring soap, Lucky Charms cereal, onions, potatos, large cabbage heads, and basically anything that had any reference to the Irish.   

(Anne and i become pro Cabbage catchers!)

Sunday was the third Sunday of March which is also known as Super Sunday (around the same time as St. Josephs day). This is a day when all of the Mardi Gras Indians come out together to parade in their costumes. You can get right up close to them and take pictures or watch the performances.  The Indians are apart of each of the 'Krewes' (the 'Krewes' in each parade during Mardi Gras). The tradition of dressing up and creating these elaborate costumes was started to thank the Native Americans who had helped free slaves. "The Mardi Gras Indians named themselves after native Indians to pay them respect for their assistance in escaping the tyranny of slavery. It was often local Indians who accepted slaves into their society when they made a break for freedom. They have never forgotten this support." (http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mardigrasindians.html)

(This was one of my favorite Indians because his outfit was incredible. All of the costumes had an amazing amount of detail but this one in particular caught my eye. The man wearing the costume looked like he was taking his job/role very seriously.) 

The week after was another long week. It rained a lot! But that did not stop the guests from coming with more needs, questions, concerns, and general comments. Anne, Emily and I each had a moment or two during the week when we really just needed a minute to sit in a quiet corner and breath. It was a week that reminded me how wonderful the people i work with really are! I would not have been able to survive without Anne's great humor and ability to help me step back to understand the bigger picture. The long week did lead into another fun weekend though! Stephanie and Emma were asked to help out at a Beer Garden, to represent St. Arnold beer and they brought me with them. Niki (one of the FJVs works for St. Arnolds) was on a trip this weekend and asked if we could got to the beer fest in her place. St. Arnold is a beer that is based in Houston, is available all over Texas, and has made its way to Louisiana. The Beer Garden was a big beer tasting event right outside the Superdome.  We had a lot of fun working it! I am pretty good at poring from a tap into a 2oz tasting cup, I can describe 5 different St. Arnolds beer in fancy beer lingo, and bs my way through just about an question regarding the St. Arnold beer company. Of course we also were able to do some tasting of our own. Stephanie, Becca, and I walked around with our little tasting cups and tried lots of different beers from all over the world. I came to the conclusion that i really am not a huge beer fan although it was fun tasting so many different types. I enjoy beer somethings but i really don't like the taste of hops...which is very distinct taste in most beers. 

Over all it was a very fun day that ended with a surprise. Emma told us that the vendors at the Beer Garden were given a hotel room at the Hyatt to stay for free Saturday night. She said we could have it if we wanted! Which of course all 5 members of my community were down for. The Hyatt is near the French Quarter so it would have been super easy for us to enjoy the hotel treats and be able to go out to our favorite bars without having the long commute home. Of course by the time we all got to the hotel, turned the TV on, laid out on the big cozy bed, there was no chance we were going to get up for anything but snacks. All 5 of us lounged in the hotel room until about noon the next day.  It was brilliant! 

Later on Sunday we all went to a Crawfish boil. It was the first for us this year and my first one ever (I think)! I loved it! The food was so good and fun to eat. The Crawfish were as fresh as could be and our hosts had a ton. We all ate until we were stuffed. In the pot with the Crawfish were potatoes, half ears of corn, big cloves of garlic, and lots of Cajun spices. 

I learned how to get the meat out pretty fast but i never mastered how to not make a mess. I had Crawfish juice all over me. I do not think the vegetarian of the group was ready for the ripping off of the heads but she did enjoy the meat.  Everything was so good! Even the tables were set up for Crawfish eating. Big round ledges were attached to the top of heavy trash cans, so you could lay the Crawfish out, break them up, throw away the shell, eat the meat, and continue the process over and over, all while standing in a circle chatting and enjoying the company.  

It has been a very very busy couple of weeks! Some hard days at work and long nights. But my weekends always seem to come to the rescue. Although not very relaxing, my weekends have been full of adventures which is exactly what i have needed. Maybe i will sleep a little this weekend...maybe, haha.

I hope all is well with you! 

p.s. A Santa Clara Immersion trip is here this week and it has been fun seeing some familiar faces :)

How to describe Mardi Gras?

Mardi Gras is.... Mardi Gras is crazy fun.  Mardi Gras is mass chaos.  Mardi Gras is costumes.  Mardi Gras is friends, family's, students, co-workers, clients, bosses, and strangers all coming together to celebrate.  Mardi Gras is sitting in your lawn chair, a beer in one hand and the other up in the air catching beads.  Mardi Gras celebrations start the Wednesday before Mardi Gras with full out celebration and parades until Mardi Gras Tuesday!

Most people had work the week before Mardi Gras but that does not stop the city from starting the parades.  Every night, starting Wednesday, there were at least three parades that rolled down St. Charles and through the Qurater (the parade route that most of the floats fallow).  After work on Wednesday we grabbed a beer and walked down to the parade route to see our first Krewes.  Each Krewe in New Orleans is like a club or adult version of Greek life.  Each Krewe has a parade duing Mardi Gras--hence why there were so many parades.  There were about 20 floats pur parade with school marching bands and dance groups in between the floats.  Wednesday after work we grabbed our beers and biked down to St. Charles to watch the first parades.  We caught some beads and funny stuffed animals, saw some school bands that really impressed us, then biked home.  Thursday we all went to work and again after work put on some fun costumes, grabbed some beers, found a spot on the parade route and watched the Krewes go by.  Thursday one of the Krewes we saw was Muses, which is a famous all female Krewe known for throwing fancy decorated shoes.  You are luckey if you catch one of these shoes because the women throwing them are hard to convince. 

The way to get the good throws is to make eye contact with the people throwing.  Each float has a bunch of people holding long strands of beads, stuffed animals, cups, funny nick nacks, and what ever else they are throwing.  If you want something you have to catch the throwers eye.  They will point at you and you better be ready to catch what ever they are throwing and make sure no one snatches it out of the air before you!

Friday was when our visitors came into town! I came home after work to a very full house.  We had about 25 JV's from other cities visiting for Mardi Gras last weekend.  We had almost enough couch/bed space for all of them but luckily our upstairs is all carpeted so we had room.  It was fun having so many people in the house but made the weekend even crazier. We all went out to watch the parades together on Friday.  Saturday was a little different because the big parade that we all wanted to see what on a different street a little farther away.  Everyone was dressed and ready to catch the 3:15 bus when all of a sudden it started to poor. We were all crowded around under the tiny cover of the bus stop waiting for the bus.  IT was a little too much for some people so most of the group went back to the house to dry off and celebrate at the house.  Me and about 5 others got on the bus and made it to the parade route.  It rained all afternoon and night so when everyone else decided to make it to the parade it was to late to care about getting wet because everyone was going to be soaked.  Because of the rain not as many people came out to see the parade which meant more throws for us! It was a different adventure watching a parade in the poring rain but we had fun.

(This was right before the parade started and before the rain came. You have to love a giant Shrek!)

Sunday those with bikes rode to the parade rout in the evening and watched some of the more famous parades pass by.  Then my roommates and i went to a Trombone Shorty concert! We had bought the tickets weeks in advance and were so excited.  Trombone Shorty is a famous musician in New Orleans because of his amazing talent with a trombone and trumpet, but also because he is really good looking! We were in the front row all night.  The concert went until about 3:00am.  We rode our bikes home after which must have been hilarious for anyone watching us because we were singing Shorty songs, dressed in fun Mardi Gras outfits, and riding our bikes at 3:30am.  I would have laughed if i saw us!

(Here is a youtube video of him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBgMGuEf87Y )

Monday was more parades after we slept in until at least noon.  Most of our guests had left by Monday which was nice becasue the house was a little quieter.  But we left the pull out couch in the living room out so that we all could lounge while watching 'Friends' and eating take-out before that nights parades.  Tuesday was Mardi Gras day and it started with a wake up call at 6:00am for mimosas and costumes.  We made it to the parade and lasted until about 10:00am when we all decided that Mardi Gras had beet us and that it was time to go home.  But that was not before i caught a coconut! The 8:00am Mardi Gras parade is called Zulu and is known for its painted coconuts that the float riders will throw to the crowds.  I was getting a little tired of being pushed around by all the people fighting to make eye contact with the throwers so i stood back on the side walk and watched from a bit farther away.  As i watched one of the floats go by i noticed one of the riders pointing at me. I put my hands up just in time to catch the coconut that he had launched at me.  I caught a coconut! I think it was the big yellow tool bow i had in my hair and my Mardi Gras colored tu-tu that caught his eye :)

We never made it down to the Quarter or the Bourbon St. area because none of us really wanted to see that side of Mardi Gras.  We had a ton of fun in the areas that we were in, caught more than enough beads and random stuff for a life time, and basically knew exactly what we would see if we ended up in the Frenchquarter. Overall i think we did our first Mardi Gras right.  We had a great time, saw a ton of parades, and caught more random stuff than we will ever need!

If I am here next year I hope you all come visit :)

Another Story

It is THE big week in New Orleans! Starting yesterday and continuing on until Tuesday next week we will be celebrating MARDI GRAS! I cannot wait for this week end.  IT has been so hyped up by everyone we know and now its finally here.  I will fill you all in on as much as i can next week :)

We do get Monday and Tuesday off next week because the city basically shuts down but this week was still a full work week.  The parades started last weekend and we have been able to catch a few but the bigs ones start tonight!

Almost everyone i know is super excited, but there are a few New Orleans old timers who have a 'been there, done that' attitude. They are the best ones to ask about where to go and what parades to see.  It has been a pretty busy week at work as well.  A lot of rain makes for a lot of laundry and warm showers.  Also a lot of clothing requests and sock needs.

I met James today.  Well i had talked with him briefly yesterday but i got a chance to sit down and really talk with him today.  James has been in prison for the past 10 years and was released about 3 days ago.  When i chatted with him yesterday he was very polite but a little stand-off-ish.  Today was the same and i figured out why.  Emily asked me if i could go in the back to find James some cloths and toiletries (to help him out a little).  I walked up next to him to ask him his size and immediately his body language changed.  He turned his shoulder so that he was looking at me square but slightly farther away and he wouldn't look me in the eye for very long.  He told me he had just been let out of jail and was overwhelmed with everything going on... I wasn't sure what 'everything' meant until he started talking about lunch yesterday.  He said that the Sisters had offered him seconds of the ham sandwiches that were yesterdays lunch.  He said he was shocked that there were so many lady's at the center, stunned that there was HAM sandwiches, and unable to handle the fact that there were seconds: no one had offered him seconds in 10 years, let alone seconds of ham.  I realized his stand-off-ish presence was because he was not used to talking to a lady or being helped by anyone.  He even told me so.  He said that there were some women who worked in the jail sometimes but he had not spoken to a lady in a long time.  There was so much in the past three days that was overwhelming him because he was not used to being back in society... He was having to re-learn or remember a lot of the social norms and feelings.  After a while he relaxed a bit but i had to change my body language and eye contact to make him more comfortable.  Instead of leaning in to have a conversation with him i straightened up and kept a bit more distance. I tyred to make as much eye contact as possible when i was talking but did not hold the eye contact for too long.  I brought him into the office so that we could do some research on programs that he might join to help him find a job, a place to live, and such.  When we were inside he was overcome with emotions which made him teary eyed.

In the end he relaxed enough to smile and have a nice conversation with me about where he was from, his family, his education, his past jobs, and such.  We found a program for him to look into.  And he was really thankful for the help that the HTC gave him.  I am sure we will see him again.  My hope is that he is able to calm down before something bad happens and he ends up back in jail... It made me think a lot about our prison system and whether or not it really is rehabilitating people?  If James comes out from being in prison for 10 years and is completely overwhelmed by society then is society really helping him by putting him in jail?  I have a lot of questions. Not too many answers.  I am not making any judgments about the system we have.  It's just that Jame's situation has made me question a system that i have never questioned before.

With Love

Inspiring Spelling

Today i sat down with Morris for about an hour to help him with his disability registration.  The disability registration application is a long one... and Morris is not the worlds fastest talker so i knew i was going to be in this for a while.  But every minute of the boring application was made worth it because i was chatting with Morris the whole time.

When i help with any type of application i tend to leave my computer open to a word document or the Internet so that i can quickly look up words.  I would hate to miss spell something on one of the many applications that i help with.  Most of the time the people i am filling out the application for did not get very far in school so other people automatically judge them.  Having me miss spell simple words on their job related applications would not help the judgement that they already face.  It was slow starting with Morris's application but he got the hang of it eventually (most of the questions are very repetitive).  All the while i would write something down, check my spelling, write something else, check some more spelling, and so on.  He figured out what i was doing eventually.  Most of the time when one of the guests figures out that i am checking my spelling they tease me, or sarcastically ask me about all my years in college and weather i learned how to spell or not.  I normally come back with a snappy remark about how I am the one filling out their application, not them, and we laugh.  But when Morris saw that i was checking my spelling he sat back in his chair and said, "Thats encouraging..." I asked him what was?  He said that it was real real encouraging that i went through school, college, and now have a good job, even though i am a weak speller.  That i worked hard in school, that I didn't let my spelling stop me from doing anything, and still don't let it discourage me from going for good jobs.  He kept saying over and over, "I appreciate you." (but it sounds more like "Ah pre-shiate cha") Which is another NOLA lingo way of saying thank you or thank you very much.  I have never had anyone thank me for being dyslexic... It was encouraging :)

There was a section on the application that asked Morris how much he has to carry or lift when he is working.  It gave options like 'less then 25lb,' '50lb,' and 'more then 100lb.'  He looked confused so i reworded the question and asked, "Do you lift me? Or something as heavy as me when you go to work?"  He looked at me and said, "Don't talk yourself down like that!"  He was really disappointed and i had to take it back before he answered the question.  It was a sweet, honest, and heartfelt concern that he felt for me. 

At one point during the application he told me that i was hard headed.  I said i liked to call it confidence.  But he was not convinced and i still don't think i am hard headed, haha. 

Morris also talked a lot about Hebrews 11.  I looked it up later and the words repeated over and over in the verses are, "By faith..."  By faith so and so did that and by faith so and so did this.  Morris has such a strong faith.  He reminded me how much we all just need to trust in God.  Also that we need to remember to give God credit for all of the things He gives to us in life. 

Love you all and i hope you love Morris too :)

Making Friends

Last week I did not have very much help from volunteers.  Since most of the schools are still on break we have been low on students looking for class credit and since the holidays are over there are not too many people looking to do volunteer work.  So last week i was on my own with shower duty.  Although Friday morning i had a nice break when Arnold (one of the guests) came in, picked up the shower spray, and told me to put him to work.  He was feeling antsy that morning and just needed something to do.  I was grateful for the help!  It also gave me some time to chat with him.  He has been coming around the center for a while but i have not had a chance to talk with him yet.  While he helped me with showers I asked him about where he is from, his family, work, and such.  He has 14 kids, grand kids, and great grand kids--most of them all over the country.  We talked about how much he likes visiting them.  I asked him why he did not live with any of them and he said that he did not want to have to change his life, he is an independent man and is proud of it, living with family would mean he would have to change the way he lives.  He said he has been in New Orleans all his life, including during Katrina.  I asked him where he was in the city during the storm and he said he was in jail.  He told me about how they were up to their necks in filthy water, locked in their cells, until the guards finally let them up to the second floor.  Then a boat came to take them to the bridge where most of the people left in the city where headed.  He talked about how a lot of the stories we heard on the news about how horribly people were treated when they got to the bridge were true, especially the inmates.  I was so grateful that he wanted to answer my questions and tell me about his experiences.  At first glance Arnold is very intimidating man but i saw a different side to him on Friday.

Today Arnold came up to me to say goodbye... He told Anne and i that he was turning himself in tomorrow for parole violation which will mean he would probably be in jail for about 3 years.  I think outside the Harry Tompson Center Arnold has a hard life and is involved in way more than i will ever know, but at the center he is my friend.  He trusts me and it felt good to know that Anne and I were two people he wanted to say goodbye to before he went back to jail.

Sometimes you don't know who values your friend ship and how much you mean to them :)

Guests

Yesterday a video camera team came into the Harry Tomson Center to film the day to day activities for an advertising campaign.  They were mostly filming the guests chatting, shaving, and asking Anne and i for socks and such, but a few of the guests were also interviewed.  Later in the day the camera crew cornered Anne and i for individual interviews as well. For those of you who know how red my ears can get sometimes, it was a good thing i had my hair down that day! I am not a huge fan of being in front of a camera like that, but i didn't know that until the camera man turned on the camera and i had to start answering questions. I stumbled a lot and could not get my thoughts out.  I love to chat but not when the camera/person doesn't say anything back! But there was one question that i really liked.  He asked me why we call the guests a the Harry Tompson Center 'guests' and not 'clients.'  I thought for a minute, then decided that guests are people you want to bring into your home and clients are people you work for; we see the Harry Tompson Center as a home or safe place for people who may not have anywhere else to go. I thought that was a pretty good answer!  Then the camera man told me to say it again.... but start with, "I use the word guests instead of clients because..." and of course when i said it again it didn't come out the same way, haha.  Anne and i both decided that in front of the camera is not where we want to be but that we hope there was something said at some point in the interview that will work for the movie. The questions that we were asked made for good conversation between the two of us after, though.  Maybe if there had been a hidden camera in the laundry room when we were talking about our interviews afterwards there would have been some usable stuff said :)

Either way, if we made it in the movie or not, ill put the link up on my blog to let you all see someone of my clients and learn a little more about this place and the people i have come to love so much!

Week in Texas and so much more

This past week all of the JV's in the south were sent to a retreat site in Leakey TX. My community drove about 9 hours on Tuesday to get to San Antonio where we stayed the night at one of the JV houses along with a bunch of other JVs who had traveled a long ways.  Then in the morning we explored San Antonio for a bit and headed to Leakey TX in the afternoon.  Leakey is out in the middle of no where Texas and the camp site is at the bottom of this ravine.  The only way to get to the camp site is to drive through a river.... Yes through the river. The water was not too deep but rather like a hug puddle, but it was still pretty funny cruising through the river.  The retreat site was beautiful.  There were some nice hiking trails, a perfect sunrise watching spot, the stars were brighter than i have seen them in a long time, and the weather stayed relatively nice.

The retreat was centered around Social Justice: the history of, the meaning of, and the ways we work towards it.   It was a three day long lecture which was a little on the long side, especially for students who have not sat in on a classroom lecture in at least 7 months.  But the information that the Jesuit speaker was presenting was fascinating.

During the second day we broke into small groups to discuss the structural problems that cause the issues we deal with every day at our jobs.  First we identified the issues that our clients face.  My group decided that the major issues we see our homeless clients facing are mental illness and addiction problems.  At the time, i went along with it, but after taking some time to think about what i have seen over these past few months i realized that, yes, mental illness and addiction problems are major issues that my clients face but more so they are outcomes to bigger problems in our society and the American culture.  From what i have seen most of the mental illness that my guests struggle with has been a result of PTSD, from wars, natural disasters, family problems, or a range of other intense situations.  Jerome, for example, sits everyday and picks at his hands because they are pealing in an unhealthy way.  He does not always make much sense when he talks but if you listen close you can pick up a word or two here and there that describes the water he sat in and the disease on his skill after the storm: the storm being Katrina and the water he sat in being the place he must have been stuck (for who knows how long) waiting to be rescued.  Christopher is in his own world 24/7.  You can talk to him and have a conversation just fine but when he is alone and talking to himself you can see a scene play over and over in his head.  He talks, yells, and gestures as he plays the scene in his mind then all of a sudden his goes still, holds his hand in a fake gun position to his head, yells 'BANG' and then the scene starts over again.  There are clearly very specific traumas effecting Jerome, Christopher, and other guests.

Addiction struggles are also a major issue that i see on a daily basis.  A lot of people use drugs and alcohol to 'get out of the world' that they are in, or to have a little fun, or what have you.  But from what i have seen most of the addiction problems have become a result of other problems with our society.  Maybe a lack of family values or strong role models. No good examples to fallow. Or way out of poverty when you grew up in it.  A lot of my guests do not understand the idea of saving or having a savings.  When their SSI checks come in at the first of the month we tend to not see them until the end of the month, when the check has run out.  Why do they not think to the future? I understand the feeling of buying something for oneself, to treat yourself to something special, but there is always a thought in the back of my mind that tells me to save some of what i earn.  That idea of saving does not occur to  a lot of my guests and i think it is a result of the way they were raised.

The other structural problems that i see stem from American society/culture. The dehumanizing way that society treats homeless people.  We like to help others but only when it is convenient. Donations are given but only during holidays.  Family support is there but family has its limits.  Job training is available but no one wants to hire a homeless person.  City's are kept 'clean' by a sweeping out of cape sites where large populations of homeless people have gathered.  Natural disasters destroy homes and lives because we do not always act fast enough. And so much more.

The third day of the retreat was all about how working for social justice effects us, as the people working for change. Father Fred described the feelings of anger verses guilt when working for people who have nothing or are struggling.  For example there have been many times when i give someone a pair of socks because they ask me and seem to genuinely need them.  Then i find out the next day, when i do their laundry, that they actually have plenty of socks. It makes me angry that someone would be so selfish and that anger is expressed when the next person asks me for sock and i say no.  There is no reason to take that anger out on the next person but its hard not to when you feel betrayed.  Then there is the guilt that hits the bottom of your stomach when you see someone sitting on the side of the road with a cardboard sign.  You think, "Do i give them money? or not? And what will they do with it?"  It is anger turned into guilt.  To help find a balance with these feelings Fr. Fred gave us three steps to think about.  One: I am Loved as I am!  Two: you should always give yourself time for morning and grieving.  And three: Love everyone Freely (not driven by guilt or anger).  Its not the end of the world if i give out too many socks, it just means there are more happy feet, but remember to keep in mind all of the people who go without.  If i do not have money to give the person on the side of the road then there are other things i can give them, simple things, like a smile, friendly greeting or kind words. 

One cannot solve the in-justice by charity alone or advocacy alone but rather a partnership of both.  This year i am doing charity work, band aid relief, short term solution finding, or basic needs help.  I am meeting fascinating people, listening to stories, learning names, and seeing faces.  These faces are who i will remember when i work for social justice and advocacy later in life.  There is a balance of both charity and advocacy that goes into the work that i want to do for the rest of my life.  It can really be applied to any population i work with in the future or any person i meet. 

Well i think that was enough thought for the moment haha.  Clearly i am motivated by and slightly crazy with all that is in my head. And i love it all!

Love you!

Birthday(s)!

I have never celebrated my birthday so many times!  When you have so many homes you end up having multiple birthdays so that you can celebrate with everyone.  At home i kicked some butt at bowling with the family (but not really, im not that good, more like the family kicked my butt).  We all went out for the traditional family dinner and when i got home there was a delicious 4 layer chocolate cake waiting for me :)  Props to Jenny and Dad. 

I figured i would do something with my community when i got back to Nola, so i planned that we all go out to dinner on Sunday.  Little did i know that they had something different in mind.  Thursday morning i woke up to a house full of Happy Birthday signs! They were strategically placed in every part of the house that i pass by in the morning.  From the bathroom mirror, to the coffee pot, and oatmeal container.  No one else is awake when i am in the morning because i leave the earliest, so i was just giggling to myself all morning, as i found the notes and signs haha.  I was so distracted that morning that as Anne and i walked to the bus stop i remembered that i was still in my slippers! It was to late to turn back home so i ended up 'slipper day' by accident. 

Anne and i raced to the bus stop this morning to just make the 6:50am bus.  She was a bit behind me but i figured she would catch up, i didn't think much of it at the time.  We got to work and i opened the door to the shower supplies and was met with a bunch of balloons and streamers which Emily had set up in the morning! Anne came up behind me and put a very funny bday hat on my head, which, of course, i was instructed to wear all day.  I got lots of bday wishes and nice complements along with some beautiful cards and poems.  During lunch Sister Vera led a Happy Birthday Julie song, which made me turn a ridiculous shade of bright red.  At the end of the day Don and Emily ushered me into the laundry room where Anne and Sister Mags were waiting with cup cakes to sing me happy birthday (again).  Anne had put together a wonderful bday sign that had notes from a bunch of the guests all over it :)  She told me later that the poster had fallen out of her backpack in the morning when we were racing to the bus.  Stephanie found it later in someones front yard, picked it up and drove it to the center in the middle of the day.  I saw Stephanie briefly leaving the center and was confused as to why she did not stop to say hello.  But it all made sense later, Stephanie at the center and Anne almost missing the bus, makes for a perfect birthday surprise!

These past few weeks i have felt so loved and cared for! My birthday(s) were amazing and all thanks to the wonderful people around me :)

Lots of Love!

Home was Wonderful

Home was wonderful.  I was spoild rotten, stuffed with food (lots of meat), and reminded how lucky i am to have such amazing freinds and family.  I did a lot of things that i have not done for a while.  Shopping for instance was an adventure that i had not expereinced in NOLA, or at least not very much and not to the same degree that was shopping with mom, dad, and jenny.  Starbucks was another luxury that i enjoyed.  Having my own room.  Not having to cook or clean.  Watching TV.  Having my computer.  Playing with a dog.  Riding my beach cruiser (which now has a wonderful cushy, wide, beach cruiser seat).  Seeing the Pacific ocean.  And such.  I have missed these things (and others).  Also i have learned to appriciate them so much more.  I may not need or crave material objects as much any more but i sure did miss the beach.  Man oh Man! It was wonderful being home and it helped me see that i am where i am this year for a reason.  I am exactly where i need to be.