Back from the Big Easy

So I imagine it's about time to let you know how the trip to New Orleans went. It was awesome, and we are already talking about doing it again next year. Let me give you a quick intro to the cast of characters, then I'll share some impressions and stories from the week.

The chaperones
Me
Emily--organized just about everything for the trip/fundraising/etc (and did most of the worrying while I was like, meh, it'll be okay...:-p) She's amazing.
John--is excellent. Though he regularly makes me cover my ears in response to his language or descriptions...:-p

The students
Boy Who Speaks in Noises--shy, somewhat socially awkward 9th grader who's getting better at using words, but often just makes noises when you ask him questions. Affectionate, sweet kid.
Hometown Supremacist--our token white boy who wants to be a gangster. And is convinced that his city is better than everywhere; New Orleans has nothing on us.
School Laureate--poetry writer, drama queen, personable--and until this trip thought I was a mean teacher!
Say Anything--Earlier in my blog I think I called her Miss Quiet-but-funny. She actually isn't that quiet. Nothing embarasses her.
Clean Freak City Boy--wore long sleeves, pants, latex gloves and work gloves, and a shower cap/hair net so he wouldn't get anything in his hair while we worked. Amusing kid.

Because of our plane delay fiasco, we didn't get to NO until Tuesday afternoon, so we actually only worked for about two and half days (Wed-Fri morning), which was enough, I think--it made the trip half work trip/half family vacation--nice because most of the kids had never been on an airplane let alone on a vacation like this. (Clean Freak had only been out of the city once before this. He's 18.)

Our days were spent in the neighborhood of Hollygrove, within sight of Xavier University, if that means anything to you. It's a little surprising how many businesses are still boarded up--but many are operating as if nothing happened. The neighborhood was a mix of houses that had been fixed up, houses that still had a FEMA trailer sitting out front, and houses that were overgrown and looked as if they should be condemned. According to one of the Americorps guys we worked with, for many people it's less about saving the frame of the house for financial reasons and more about saving it because their great-grandfather built it with his own hands.

We spent most of our time wearing awesome face masks with pink filters and wielding crowbars--tearing down moldy drywall and insulation, pulling out nails, sweeping the debris out to the curb, cleaning out any leftover family possessions (Easter baskets, photos, books...), as well as clearing garbage from around some houses and weed whacking. The kids worked really hard, and we got a lot done. It was a bit of a shock for them at first, I think. Lessened because the family's possessions had already been removed for the most part, but Clean Freak's first reaction when we walked in was still, "Man...it makes me want to cry."

I'll be back with more stories and pictures tomorrow. But it's the best Office episode ever ("sorry you grilled your foot, Michael") and I have to go finish it...