Day 8, March 22

Today was sad. We are leaving today. We got up, packed, and had breakfast. We hung around the compound and took our last pictures. Im now on the plane and getting ready to takeoff. Everything went quickly, with no lines at the airport. Got to go. This is my last post bye

By the way.....

In case I forgot to mention, on day 6 in the French Quarter I got the most AMAZING pralines. They are supposedly the best in the city

Day 7, March 21

Today is our last day here in the beautiful city of New Orleans, Louisiana. This morning we had grits for breakfast. They are kinda like oatmeal, but different. You mix different things like cheese, bacon, seasoning, and it tastes good. After breakfast, we went to a community garden, and worked there for the day. We did a lot of weeding, and a bit of planting. We came back to the base, and people showered, and we had a small water balloon fight. It was really warm, but not too many people wanted to do it. It was still fun though. After hanging out, a bunch of people and I went driving around in the van to take pictures. We drove through the ninth ward where there is a lot of destruction from Katrina. We walked around for a little while, and took a ton of pictures. We met a man named Claude, who has lived in New Orleans since 1966, right after hurricane Betsy, the last huge hurricane to hit New Orleans. He has moved back into his house, and has done almost all of his rebuilding. He was really nice, and said that if we were walking through there tomorrow, then we would have been invited to a crawfish boil. The people here are sooooooo friendly, and love to socialize. Dinner tonight was fajitas. Chicken, and peppers Mom, I'm still alive after eating veggies! They were pretty good. After dinner, we jus hung out, and mom, there is a little surprise for you when I see you......don't hate me. We are having a lot of fun, and I think later tonight we are having a dance party. Sadly tomorrow, I have to return back to cold Boston weather. I will post tomorrow before takeoff. Nite!

Day 6, March 20

Today was fantastic. This morning, I got up a bit earlier, and went for a nice run through city park with Jessie and Matt. Matt did like 8.5 miles, Jessie did like 7 and I did around 3.5. It was kind of intense. After that, we went to the French quarter, which was awesome. We first went through the French Market, which is basically a flea market. I got some Mardi Gras beads, and a Mardi Gras mask. After shopping, we went to grab some lunch at a little café. I had a Muffalatta, which was some different hams and cheeses. Everyone else ordered a combined appetizer of alligator. They were like chicken nuggets. They also tasted like chicken. After lunch, we went to Café du Monde, where we had beignets. Beignets are the most amazing thing on the planet. They are almost like donuts, but its like a little thing of fried dough, with a mound of powdered sugar on top of it. You take a bite, and it just melts in your mouth. Those of you who have been to New Orleans, you should know how amazing these are. Those of you who haven't been, I believe it is almost worth the trip just for a beignet. After the delicious beignets, we went back to the base for the afternoon community service. The group split up, and most people went to East Elementary school and did some digging through concrete so future groups can plant some flowers and make a garden to brighten up the school I stayed back at the base with 3 other people and we cleaned out one of the neighbor's basements, and did a lot of heavy lifting. We got ice cream from an ice cream truck, which was delicious. This evening, I did a meditation with these people through the Louisiana Himalaya Association. It was really cool. Very peaceful and calming. For dinner, we had baked potatoes filled with all sorts of stuff. It was my first ever baked potato, and I loved it. Well, my first one that I didn't hate. Then, to cap the night off, we went out to something called rock n bowl. It is a cajun dance party at a bowling alley. We did some real zydeco dancing, and it was a real party. We met some kids from outside DC who invited me to bowl with them. It was all girls and one guy. They were really cool. We bowled for a while, and then went back to dancing. I also got like ambushed by a really drunk lady. It was really funny. She was like 35 or 40 and all over me. That's all for tonight. See ya. Ben

P.S. I found out that you can not drink and drive here, just can walk around in the streets drunk, haha.

Day 5, March 19

So today, we were up really early, like 6:15. We had a really quick breakfast, and then headed out to Habitat For Humanity. We worked at a nice white house with purple trim. The houses built here by Habitat are really cool. They all are white with brightly colored trim like blues, greens, purple, everything. Here, Habitat is a bit different than in Worcester. Instead of working on one project at once, there are multiple houses, like 20 or more. Our group was just Rustic Pathways kids, and the supervisor, Sam. We installed siding on the house, installed a door, put on some more trim, and some other things. It was a lot of fun, and it's amazing what the work of average everyday people with no construction experience can accomplish under the leadership and direction of someone who does know what they are doing. The house we worked on is for a 23 year old woman named Imani. She has a 4 year old son, and she is happy to be able to show her son that hard work pays off. For lunch, we had Po-Boys. Po-Boys are basically a sandwich like a sub(hoagie/hero/etc.) Mine was a roast beef Po-Boy. They come dressed(meaning it has veggies, mayo, or condiments etc.) or undressed/naked(plain, just meat) Of course, mine was naked. After we finished work for the day, we came back to the base. On the wa back to the base, we went to SONIC!!!!! We always see commercials for sonic back home, but they are impossible to find. I got a popcorn chicken, and a chocolate malt(which was AMAZING) The way Sonic works is that you pull into a parking spot or up to the drivethru, and if you are in a space, you order into a speaker and pay by credit card, and then they bring your order out to you on roller skates. At the drivethru, they still bring your stuff out to you. Then, we were back at the base relaxing and showering. Dinner was Jambalaya, which was pretty good. No seafood in it, just chicken. After dinner, we drove to the french quarter, where we went to preservation hall for a Jazz performance which was amazing. The musicians were fantastic. The clarinet player was truly outstanding. I really love New Orleans. People here love music, and it's great. After the music, we went back to the base for a good night sleep, and we will sleeep in a bit tomorrow. Nite y'all

Day 4, March 18

Hey guys. So today, we went to a food bank called Second Harvest. At the food bank, we worked on an assembly line, sorting the food that came out and we put it into boxes. We did a good amount of work today. One funny thing was that during the afternoon, there was a ramen rush, where about 1000 packs of ramen (individual) came out and we had to sort them. It was a huge overload of food. I met some girls from a Catholic school in the area, named Lindsey and Fallon. We had some good conversations about the differences between life here in Louisiana, and back home in Massachusetts. They were very surprised that there are strict laws about alcohol, and especially that people are not as friendly as down here. It was a real shock to her that life in MA is so rushed, and that if someone has to wait, or if people don't know what's going on, it's a big deal and people get worried. The thought of seeing someone when walking down the street and not talking to them was completely foreign to the girls. They told me that life down here is a lot of fun, and that on the weekends and during the week, people just go out and hang out and go chill on Bourbon st. After going to the food bank, we went to Magazine st., which is a small shopping district. We did a bit of shopping, and then we went to Trinity Church, and we experienced the organ and the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is a sort of maze, with only one path, and no tricks. You follow the path from the outside to the middle, and it is supposed to clear the mind, and can provide inspiration. We then returned back to the base, where we just had dinner, and are now about to watch the Spike Lee documentary of Huricane Katrina After this, we are going to just hang out, and then we will go to sleep. See ya later

Day 3, March 17

Hey. So today was fun. We got up, and this morning, we went to the Barataria-terebonne national estuary program at a National Park. We were clearing out brush and stuff. We got to use machetes, and it was a lot of fun. The wildlife was really cool, as there were a lot of snakes and alligators. I was doing some work in the wetlands, and my foot slipped, and fell in the water, just the one leg, and an alligator bit it off........just kidding. We had lunch at the park, and then came back to the base for some well deserved showers. After that, we relaxed for a while, and then got back in the van to drive to a big park near the Audabon Zoo, and we were under a huge tree. We then had a traditional New Orleans meal of crawfish. Normally, people get live crawfish, and boil them in backyards on any occasion. Although I'm not a fan of seafood, I tried it. I didn't like it, but maybe over time, I will. We then came back, and just are hanging out at base. Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody. By the way, the whole group loves these two songs that we sing/dance to in the car. They are 'check yo bucket' and 'clap ya hands' more tomorrow, Ben

Continued post, day 2

Hey, sorry. Last night was a late night, and I wrote it as I was going to bed, and I was really tired. I did cover the major points of the day though. Basically, we were introduced to the culture of New Orleans, but not on the same scale as Mardi Gras. Super Sunday is a party, and a parade, and Mardi Gras is ten times as good and crazy. Yesterday was still fun though. Parades are done a bit differently here than back home. Not only is there the crazy party part of the parade with music, and entertainment, with people dancing, and having a great time, but after the main part, they have what is called a second line. The second line is behind the main parade, and is pretty much a big party, with music, and even more dancing and partying. It is like a post-parade party and parade combined. People here are so nice and just very very friendly. If someone is just walking down the street, and a person is sittng on their front steps or porches, they just say hi to each other, whether they know each other or not. The man who lives next to the base named London, I had never met him before, and he helped me give directions to someone over the phone(i found a cell phone on the sidewalk during the parade, and wanted to give it back, but had no idea where I was). After I got off the phone, I ended up talking to him for like an hour. It was actually really nice. People also are much more relaxed here, like laid back in a good way. A big tradition here is eating crawfish. They are like little lobsters, (i didn't try one yet, but I will) and what you do is break the shell by the tail, and the saying goes......''suck the head, pinch the tail.'' People basically eat crawfish, and drink beer (during the parades and stuff). Its also not out of the ordinary to be walking down the street, and see someone waking or sitting on a porch, and drinking a beer. Got to go, talk to you later. Ben

Day 2, March 16

So today was fun. We got up, had breakfast, and then left for a small tour of New Orleans. We saw the post Katrina destruction sections like the 7th and 9th wards. Then, we came back and had lunch After lunch, we went to the parade for super sunday in honor of saint Joseph. The culture here is very different from home. There are no laws against drinking in the streets and in public, or drinking while driving. People here love to party. The pace of life is very relaxed though. Everyone is so nice and friendly, and most people say hi and make conversation with you. Once we got back to the base, I had a very nice discussion with a man named London, who is one of the neighbors for the base. He lived in New Ooal his life, and for 35 years before Katrina, in the same house, then was homeless for 2 years, and then was relocated to a brother I believe in Tennessee for the past 2.5 yrs since the storm, and just returned here at the beginning of March 2008. He has been on all different sides of life, homeless, flood victim, employed, everything. We talked about everything from culture, to travel, to Boston weather. Then, I went and had dinner, and after dinner(pasta), we had a campfire with s'mores. By the way, last night we had a bbq with burgers and chicken. Its pretty late and we are up early tomorrow, so goodnight! Ben

Day 1: Sat. 3-15

Hey guys, Ben here. So today is the first day of my travels to New Orleans, LA. So today, the flight left 2 hours late because of ugly boston weather. Finally, we landed in the big easy and it was 80 degrees. We arrived at the organization base, a small house next to a field. We played football with the kids from the neighborhood. The destruction still present from Katrina is astounding. Many houses still have their markings on them from when the govt went through after the flood. There are also a bunch of FEMA trailers around. So there are also a lot of really cool kids here, from all over, like Toronto, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, Texas, and Massachusetts. So we chilled in the common area, we danced to a bunch of music, and we went and played football with kids from the neighborhood. We are near the Bayou-St. John area, and its fun. I learned some new phrases like who dat, where yat, alright alright, leses le bonton roulet (pardon my terrible french spelling). I'll post more tomorrow, see ya!