Bourbon St. Shenanigans

So tonight I headed out with various R.C.er's to Bourbon St. and you wouldn't even believe it! I saw the same exact band that Carla and I saw the night before the marathon. Rooster & Co.- Still kind of cool, but kind of lame. Then after that I lead a pub crawl down Bourbon, but of course it could not top the night of the 'Spinner Watch!' That woman was unstoppable. OK, tomorrow is definitely going to be a challenge, but today the Buckeyes pulled off a ridiculous victory so there was celebration in my forecast. As far as a comparison, Bourbon St. felt about the same, but just less people. Don't fret- the people there were just as corny and just as hopeful to receive those stupid plastic beads. I wish my marathoners were here. Now, those people knew how to get it going!

Million Meal Mania

So I feel it is remiss of me not to do a full report of any injury sustained by myself, the clutz, throughout this trip... And I am happy to say they are minimal- let me find the nearest piece of wood to knock on... Ok, so here goes:

• Large chunk of wood behind pointer fingernail- healed with peroxide and a band aid
  
• Assorted broken fingernails to be treated with mani ASAP
• Fat lip (had the jab of a case of water connect with upper lip as a result of not paying attention in dark warehouse)
• Many paper cuts from opening all sizes of boxes

Considering I have been using box cutters and jumping from tall trucks for a week, I would have to call this SUCCESS- not one concussion or contusion- phew! And one would note that I spend my day travelling around town in an ambulance. Not a safer place around to transport a graceful gazelle such as myself. I mean within 10 seconds of an injury, I can be strapped to a backboard with sirens whaling. I might consider trading in the Buick since I have seen how well this whole rig works out. But I should not count the ole chicks before they hatch; I have 3 more days here. Debating wearing floaties, a helmet and flippers more the duration of the trip...

Oh and I have met Mattei 25 yrs from now. This guy was looking for someone to tell about his time on the road and I happened to be near... Super dooper nice guy, but now all the sudden this guy has 900 stories to tell me about his day, every day. Why does this constantly happen to me? He now seeks me out and I tend to dive into even a port-a-pottie if I am looking vulnerable to a conversation.

Another humorous thing I noticed today is that I am a vegetarian slopping out Grade Q meat to people daily. This stuff cannot even possibly start out as an animal. It glows, has weird tail looking parts, smells wrong... so gross. This experience has only kept me further away from going to the carnivorous side and grabbing a hot dog than I ever was. Between this gig and dishing out dogs at stadiums, I am straight on ever consuming one.

Oh and today was so great because our kitchen served our 1,000,000 meal. Which is an all time Red Cross kitchen high. Now that is a ton of food and many runs around New Orleans, but it was pretty special to take part in!!

Buicks Love Hurricanes

I had another really long, cool day yesterday. I am using my Spanish all the time here and have been proposed to on quite a few occassions by contractors gutting houses. I'm going to keep my options open for now, though. :)

I have to mention that I have seen some sharp looking 1998 Champagne Buick Regals in these parts. Real resilient American vehicles built to whether a storm. Some cars didn't have such an easy time of it. My Dad would cringe if he saw what I saw today. We went into St. Bernard- Orleans Parish where the 17th St. levee broke. Real affluent neighborhood full of some mansion type homes all wrecked. Some of those home owners had nice old car collections... I saw more than one 57 Chevy up a tree and a whole lot of old VW bugs floating in muck. Boats from the marinas are lodged in the side of homes. Huge yachts are in piles sinking at the end of docks at the Yacht Club.

It is SO insane how powerful water is and it is very humbling. This neighborhood is right off Lake Pontchartrain. It has been ~ 80 days since Katrina and I can't even imagine how horrendous it must have looked in the first few weeks. The water level on buildings is at 10ft. at the minimum and nothing and no one is in their place. One lone cat walked the street looking scared and hungry. Just as I saw spray painted on a house- 'Katrina, what a bitch!' Other houses were spray-painted 'XXXX, where are you?' by people looking for loved ones. That is the scariest thing to witness.

The best line I heard all day when asking if a man would like a case of water... "Honey, I ain't turnin' down nothing but my shirt collar these days." Absolutely perfect. There are SO many characters down here and it amazes me that they are still funny even when the hurricane picked their house up and put it three blocks over in a pile. One guy I was talking with said, "Ahh, I'll be good, once I find my damn boat- that was my escape vehicle from my wife."

Food greatly improved today. We had those peas that remind me of elementary school; the ones that have been cooking so long they are somewhat brown. So gross, but for some reason SO good. Again, I took a pass on lunch, but I felt better about handing out this meal.

We covered some areas today where the water line was at my shoulders. It is like a ghost town around those neighborhoods, but the people you do find are the ones most in need. Elderly shut ins are the ones that get me the most. Some do not even seem to have the strength to hold up the styrofoam food box. We walk them to their houses and put a few meals and a case of water there. Dust and water damage cover everything and the smell is not healthy.

When things were wrapping up tonight a new group of volunteers came to the shelter. One of the new arrivals was an OC woman and this is her first time outside of her Newport comfort zone. She seems super nice but literally admitted that she was used to hanging around people with tons of money and thought this was a war zone; she half-wished her plane would have never taken off. I didn't want to give her a rough first night and let her know that the shelter is in an area that had not been hit too badly. She will have an interesting time adjusting to sleeping on a cot in the middle of 200 in a bleachy smelling gymnasium, taking showers in a hazmat trailer outside and tossing around 30lb. boxes. This could be the best experience of her entire life and I think she is brave as hell for giving this a go.

I just grabbed a glass of 'Mawr- lette' (Merlot) from Baby's bar and am going to crash- the glass was $2.50. I might dye some eggs in the wine later. Tonight was not the night for the crab etouffee. I promised Baby that I would return when hungry.

KB has made me a food snob :)

It's true; I have been corrupted by my best friends religious following of the burgundy bible. Lets just say that the meals we are dishing out are not Zagat rated. The hot dogs were glowing and the black-eyed peas were not releasing any top dance hits. My sweatshirt reeeeeeeks. I am seriously concerned about the nutritional value of anything that is being delivered. The best thing going is the bottled water and you can bet that most likely comes from a tap about a block from the 9th ward. People with special dietary needs are screwed. One thing that should be taken into consideration is diabetic friendly meals. Many of the people we serve are elderly people stuck in their homes and a hot dog with some potato chips are not something that will help them out.

No matter how cold it was, today was filled with really great memories. We drove out into one of the most affected areas and passed out meals to people truly in need. They are all gutting their houses due to the black mold and damage that has taken over. With faulty or no electricity and no appliances, they rely on this service to provide food for their families. The day was 14.5 hours in duration- but it reasserts how worthwhile these efforts are. I feel badly even being tired right now; I daydreamed about Papalote burritos and seasonal latte-ing my dollars away today. My reality is that those things are not too far in my future. And the reality here for many is very different.

I did make it to a local bar last night and got an earful on the scene around here. It was amazing to start as a fly on the wall and then join in. I splurged on a Coors Light- $1.50!!- from the bartender, who calls everyone 'Buhh-aaayybeeee.' She was a stitch. And the bar owner was explaining how the city worked when Katrina first hit. He 'caww-mandeeer'd a generator from the good ole' boys' to get his place going. I believe that is how he found a frig, cooler, etc. He is a long time citizen who has lived through many a flood and he takes no sh!t from anyone. He also whips up all the fixins at his bar. I promised to come back to try his Crab Ettouffe- yikes. Better 'caww-mandeeer' myself some Tums.

Everyone here thinks I am 18. It is hilarious and sad all in one. I have been picked up by a few of the Americorps whipper snappers and then I tell them that I was out of college before they finished high school. They still think anything over 25 is geriatric. Ahhh, life is twisted.

Humidity is swell

Today the temp got up around 88 and it was super humid. At about 6:45am we took off for the Kitchen to meet up with all the ERVs, get assignments and get on the way. It is about a 40 minute drive in an Econoline van full of very outgoing individuals who think they all know the quickest way. I sat there and surveyed the area as we drove by- I still can't get over the damage.

Once the teams get organized there is a long row of ERVs in front of the Baptist kitchen. They get loaded up with meals and head out on the route. Over 20,000 meals are delivered daily and all the food is prepared by the Southern Baptist organization. They are amazing and have to be up and cooking way before we even get there. The site looks like a bag of M&Ms that exploded. Yellow hats (Southern Baptists) run between Red shirts (us) and Blue hats (bosses) until everything falls into place. I imagine it is a bit like the military.

I got the low-down from Wisconsin Pete on how things all work around here. He is in charge of the network at UW Green Bay and works with Kelly B's mom- small world. Anyhoo, he showed me the ropes around the site and intro'd me to all the site people. Let me know what never to do and what to make sure to always do. Pete is also a huge blood donator and also gives platelets every three days or so- geeesh. I think he is one his way to sainthood. Meanwhile, I ask him whether he has had a chance to get to Bourbon St. D'oh! He informed me that he is not here to party. Yup, got it.

There are FEMA trailers in front yards all over while folks repair their homes. It is rumored that unethical trailer park landlords are shutting off the utilities on their land in an effort to push tenants off. That would allow for them to cement the land and earn money from FEMA to host FEMA trailers. So sad to see the families and you wonder how people can sleep at night. There is so much garbage everywhere. Recycling is not even an option around here.

I also met a girl from N.C. who had never been on a plane before coming down to help out with Katrina. She is so nice and hopes to get hired on to do blood work. She on the other hand loves to party and I had to push a few Hand Grenade yard glasses off the seat to get a ride in her van, haha!

Some volunteers have no home to go to since things were wrecked by the hurricane. It is eerie since you naturally loop everyone into your own situation until you know differently. It is wrong to do, but I think it is just human nature. They are truly giving their all and will be down here for the long haul delivering meals and organizing relief efforts. Katrina/Rita has completely altered their lives and their careers have changed abruptly. Their lives have a whole new larger purpose. I really respect their strength and ability to focus on helping others when they are left with nothing.

Long day, super exhausted, need a run and a beer.

So the rest of today I spent getting oriented with the Red Cross. Within one afternoon here, I have filled out more paperwork than I have in two years at my present job. The motto seems to be 'Hurry up to wait.' It can be a little frustrating and it would be so helpful if all these forms were logically organized online. But you just have to follow the flow.

Everyone is so giving around here, naturally. First, I met Dave who is a 50 yr old arborist, nurse, ex-marine, certified driver, budding musician, and has the appearance of a rugged biker until he opens his mouth and reveals that he is a super kind soul. He has been here for 22 days and prepared me in a way for what I would see.

Everything looks like a sea of blue tarps from the road. Signs are blown away, roofs are absent, and some areas are completely deserted. The houses and buildings are uninhabitable due to black mold and water damage. People are getting 'Katrina Cough.' Not many shops are open for business and the ones who are have hiring signs in their windows but cannot find people to take the work. There is a$6K signing bonus to start at McD's.

My job starts tomorrow first thing (6:30am) on an ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle, I believe). These vehicles drive out into the devastated areas providing food and supplies to local residents. I am eager to just get out there and start trying to help. I am by far the youngest person that I have seen so far, but maybe once out in the field I will find others that grew up watching Reading Rainbow and had NKOTB buttons in sixth grade. :)

Other than celebrating the birth of Rev. Run and Prince Chuck, today I am en route to New Orleans currently for Red Cross deployment and have decided I must be a travel genius. 'Hey E, how 'bout flying through a connecting flight all night and then spending the next day trying to sort out your mission for the next two weeks.' I answer, 'Yup- sounds about right.' I clearly need a sitter; Lindsay was right on with that idea, better post that ad;

Wanted adult baby sitter in charge of keeping important paper work, making logical decisions in social scenes, paying bills, reminding me of important dates, keeping iPod/ cell phone/ laptop charged. I think $4/hr is a fair rate.

And airlines, why the peanuts? a) they are super salty, b) they are never enough. Airlines should give out baggies of gummy bears. I am even open to the idea of gummy worms. Eating a bag of those babies would take longer, be more satisfying and not hardly as dehydrating.