Dance Party This Day!

I am blogging...at the airport...on my MacBook. Wow. I am nerdy. and i LOVE it.

It has been a very very long time since i blogged (bad blogger, bad!), but my lovely dear friend Sarah Walker Cleaveland reminded me that I should be blogging. Thank you Cleaker, I think i will.
So let me recap the last few months (!):

We have been living in NOLA and having a wonderful time, but most of the time has been spent trying to figure out how to be roommates and live as a house. Work is great - i am working in Advocacy for our office and it is going really well. But i find that I am still drawn to  figuring out what i want to do next year. I am still thinking about PhD work, and then i am drawn to theatre and then of course i am drawn to the non profit world. So currently i am struggling with those issues.

I spent one weekend not too long ago to go to atlanta and see the Dalai Lama speak for FREE in the park downtown. He was incredible. I remembered as I was sitting there with fellow YAVs Tony and Adam how lucky I am to live in a time and place where I can see a spiritual leader in the middle of a beautiful park. It was thrilling.

Our organization also had a booth at Voodoo fest here in NOLA. It was such a good time. But other than being fun and hanging out with each other, we had a chance to tell the people of the area that we are doing here. We are rebuilding and we are going out every day trying to get more people back into their homes. We raised some money and got some volunteers. It was great exposure for us. We also had a chance to hear some incredible bands. I became a convert to Mute Math for life. Check them out, they are amazing. Their live show was crazy; the best part is that they are such talented musicians that they could each play any instrument on stage - they ran around and each of them played everything. It was so tight. They are SO good. We also saw Common. That man is so good. So politically astute and he is not afraid to speak his mind. It was great.

My friends Kevin and Harris and I have formed a Photography Club. We are good, I am not going to lie. Possibly evidence of our outings will end up on here.

Our house has been adopted by the Sell family - they are so lovely to us i can't even tell you.

We go to many a church dinner during the week, we spend much time bonding as a house. And over all we are enjoying our time in New Orleans. This town gets under your skin and you just can't get away from the culture, the beauty, the people, and how devastated the city is right now. We are going to continue to do our part, but it is a long road ahead.

There are eight of us in the YAV house. Eight. And with all of us here together we are a tad cramped. Did i mention we are living in a shotgun house? So yes, we are in tight quarters, but it is a good time. Today was our first day of orientation, it begins a two week stint of orienting ourselves to our work and each other. AND there are some very cool Delta Corps (a part of the Americorps program) people that we will be seeing on a regular basis. That is exciting. Truly.
I am most likely working with the Presbytery of Southern Louisiana. I am advocating for the work they are doing down here. I have to say that while the crime rate is rising, our neighborhood is growing - we hear the sounds of nail guns and vigorous hammering all day long. It is actually music to my ears. Rebuilding means neighborhood growth which means that our neighborhood has a lot of life in it.
I can't wait to do construction...but for now we are just orienting and living together. Eight of us, did i mention that?