Time Flies

Wow, I can't believe I have been down in New Orleans for a month already, the time has flown by. I have been keeping myself busy and enjoying both the city and people of New Orleans; I am feeling really at home. One of the hardest parts of being down here, besides the obvious physical and mental toll of witnessing devastated people and homes daily, is the coming and going of volunteers; while it is amazing to make friends from all reaches of the United States and even the world, most are not staying more than a couple weeks so there are frequent good-byes. Even with the challenges down here, I have had so many amazing experiences both working and playing in and around New Orleans.
A few weeks ago some friends and I got an opportunity to leave New Orleans and travel down to Houma which is a small, primarily Native American, community an hour south of the city. It was great to be able to see the bayou and rural areas of the state which are very different from the city. Houma is a relatively big town compared to those surrounding it. The aspect of the town which first struck me was that all of the houses were on stilts off the ground. Apparently there is yearly flooding and if homes are less than eight feet off the ground there is a good chance that they will be flooded on a regular basis. It is such a different way of life and I wish I had gotten more time to talk to the locals about their experiences but we were busy with all of the work to be done down there. It was a fun town and although I did not get to see an alligator which are rumored to be all over the town, we did get to go to a drive-thru daquari place which I thought was a ridiculous idea but apparently they are all over the state. We lucked out and it was two-for-one daquari night, we pulled right up to the window and they handed the daiquiris into the car; I thought this was an interesting concept and I could never imagine it even being legal up north (they were very tasty though).
Houma was a nice break from the city but it was also good to be back and return to the distribution center. I am now co-running the operation which is a lot of work but it is great to be an organizer and feel part of the important workings of Common Ground. I am beginning to get to know some of the community members that come in regularly and it is great to be able to chat with them and also meet other residents who are just returning home. I have even made friends with a voodoo priest named Larry who comes in almost daily and tells me about his beliefs and about different spirits that are hanging around; he is fascinating to chat with. The things people share are just amazing and I have met numerous people who tell heartbreaking stories about surviving the flooding, deaths in their family or the utter devastation of their homes and communities. It is so hard to hear stories of suffering daily and it makes me feel as if the world is working in slow motion to relieve their pain; it's been six months!
The six month anniversary of Katrina has also been accompanied by an influx of reporters. In the past week the distribution center has been bombarded by reporters from all over the world. I have been interviewed by over dozen different people; everyone from the BBC to Polish radio. Nightline even stopped by the distribution center and although I didn't make it, they did a fantastic piece about Common Ground with a few of my friends and the co-founder of the organization; I encourage everybody to check out the video clip (it's really good and gives a little peak into New Orleans and Common Ground). If you go to the nightline page it should be under video clips or if you go to abc news and search for 'New Orleans clean-up Common Ground'.
I have been working hard to keep the distribution center in order but have also found time to enjoy the mardi gras parades and New Orleans entertainment as well. I went to a Zydeco band and I think there were more washboards than instruments; it was really fun and I loved the local flavor. A group of us went to the first mardi gras parade which is through the French quarter. It is the most political and out-there of them all and the streets were packed. A few days later we went to the muses parade which is one with all women on the floats. A local took us to a spot he knew of so we were in the front row for that one which was fantastic. I only went to one parade on the actual day of mardi gras which was the Zulu parade in the morning. A few of us walked into town early to get spots and it was a beautiful day to watch a parade with African dancing and the thousands of crazy, costumed, drunken people lining the streets. Most of the city is closed off to cars, everybody is adorned in ridiculous outfits and there are continuous spur-of-the-moment parades/dancing/singing down all the streets in town.
While not everyday is a party in New Orleans I have been having a wonderful time and I climb into my tent every night feeling that I have accomplished something and improved at least one person's life besides my own which is enriched by each day I spend here.