I MADE IT TO NEW ORLEANS!!
I have been here since Monday and every day has been a new experience! My fellow YAV's, Lauren Rampy (Dallas Texas), Evan Ponder(Iowa), Emma Wood( North Carolina), Tasha Nickles(ohio), and Katie Turpen( Alabama) arrived Tuesday!!
We had our first house dinner ! we also met Ben who was a YAV here last year and Ellen who lives in NOLA and is going to be a YAV in Kenya! They took us for Snowballs(shaved ice snowcones)
Wednesday we began our tour of the city and our placement sites. Katie is placed at First Presbyterian and Faith Presbyterian churches. Bright and early we began our day at FPC with worship,feeding and serving with the homeless. I had never experienced anything like
it before. after the short worship service a few of us were put to work sorting clothes that the church received as donations. Each person that came to the Church would receive one full outfit (undergarments, socks shoes tops and bottoms) a sack lunch and a buss token. After we were done sorting clothes we took a tour of the Church. I was excited to see that they offer TANGO lessons every Tuesday! I will defiantly have to go at least once while I am here. After we finished sorting clothes we met Sue who would be our tour guide later that afternoon. It was now lunch time so as a 
group we went to Cafe Reconcile. It is an amazing place! The Cafe takes at risk youth off the street and gives them a job and teaches them skills that they need to know in the real world. After an amazing lunch we now began our tour with the lower 9th ward. This was an experience. I did not know the amount of destruction that still existed five years after Katrina. The ward was fill with empty overgrown lots that had once been filled with a house and family. People abandoned their homes and never came back . 
The 9th ward is slowly returning but it will take many many years for it to be even a tenth of what is was before Katrina. After spending an hour in the ward we toured the rest of the city seeing things such as the Super dome, Garden District and many other amazing places
Wednesday we began our tour of the city and our placement sites. Katie is placed at First Presbyterian and Faith Presbyterian churches. Bright and early we began our day at FPC with worship,feeding and serving with the homeless. I had never experienced anything like
it before. after the short worship service a few of us were put to work sorting clothes that the church received as donations. Each person that came to the Church would receive one full outfit (undergarments, socks shoes tops and bottoms) a sack lunch and a buss token. After we were done sorting clothes we took a tour of the Church. I was excited to see that they offer TANGO lessons every Tuesday! I will defiantly have to go at least once while I am here. After we finished sorting clothes we met Sue who would be our tour guide later that afternoon. It was now lunch time so as a 
group we went to Cafe Reconcile. It is an amazing place! The Cafe takes at risk youth off the street and gives them a job and teaches them skills that they need to know in the real world. After an amazing lunch we now began our tour with the lower 9th ward. This was an experience. I did not know the amount of destruction that still existed five years after Katrina. The ward was fill with empty overgrown lots that had once been filled with a house and family. People abandoned their homes and never came back . The 9th ward is slowly returning but it will take many many years for it to be even a tenth of what is was before Katrina. After spending an hour in the ward we toured the rest of the city seeing things such as the Super dome, Garden District and many other amazing placesThursday!
We toured Oshner which is the group of hospitals where I will be working.The hospital is marvelous. It has an escalator ! I don't know about you but I have never seen one in a hospital before. It also has a hotel attached to is so that the friends and family of the people there can stay close by. I met the wonderful people that I will be working with. I am super Excited.
Thursday afternoon we took Kathy to the Airport because she had a meeting for a GA comm in New Mexico.. Kathy is the site leader for New Orleans Louisiana (NOLA!) leaving the 6 of us to explore the city on our own . We went and looked around the french quarter and of course went to Cafe Du Monde!
Friday
Friday was fun! we woke up and went to try and get library cards. We did not know that to get a library card you had to have a utility bill . We don't have one yet so we have to wait till the middle of the month when our bills start coming. We also made a stop at Target to get some household items. Ellen who is going to Kenya invited us to a going away dinner that her father was throwing in the Garden District. Who are we to turn down free food! It was also a way for us to begin to meet people that have lived in Nola longer than 4 days
Saturday
Saturday was a low key day
We toured the cemeteries and the Katrina memorial. in the evening we had a YAV family dinner ( as we did Wednesday and Thursday night) and then watched Sister Act
Tomorrow (Sunday)
We will be attending Chinese Presbyterian Church!
Monday we leave at 7 am for orientation in New York !
This was my first week in NOLA! It has already been a life changing experience.
I can't wait to see what the next 51 weeks will bring my way!
1 Peter 4: 7 -11 (from The Message:11Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
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