New Orleans 2015 – lowernine.org

Despite the fact that it is now over 10 years since Katrina caused such devastation in New Orleans, there is still work to be done in certain areas of the city.

New Orleans 2015 – Tourist Time Part 1

The last time I was in the Crescent City, I was there for three months & didn’t really do any of the touristy things I should have done – I kept thinking I’d have time to do it later…then it was too late. So, this time, I was determined to fit as much into my two weeks as possible.

Long time, no post!

Hey lovely people…it’s been a while! Remember that first post of mine, way back when, which mentioned how bad I was at keeping in touch? Yep – this is a perfect example of that!

A few things happened at the beginning of the year which, not so much stopped me from posting, but definitely distracted me enough to prevent it.

Happy New Year x

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas & New Year, or any other holiday you celebrate 😀

If you haven’t been celebrating, I hope you’ve had a good few days off 🙂

If you didn’t get any days off, I hope work’s been good

Happy Thanksgiving x

My one and only Thanksgiving was spent with the volunteers of lowernine.org and Common Ground Relief at the Common Ground volunteer house on Deslonde in the Ninth Ward.

The were only a few of us left in the lowernine house, the Europeans had already left, some of the group had gone on a road-trip up to Chicago (can’t remember why) and the rest had headed home for the holiday weekend. The few of us left were invited to join the Common Ground crew to celebrate, so that’s where I headed for my first, and only, ever Thanksgiving.

Lamanche St Community Farm

Just a few blocks walk from the bayou, this was the first site that I was assigned to during my 3 month stint with lowernine.org.

There are still very few grocery stores in the Lower Ninth Ward, so community gardens & farmers markets are a  great way of providing the neighbourhood with fresh vegetables for low cost. And with so many vacant lots still in the Lower Ninth – space is not an issue.

I did wondered what I’d done to deserve ‘hard- labour’ in 30+ degree heat (Celsius, not Fahrenheit), but the other two volunteers I was teamed with made it worthwhile.

Lowernine.org – My second family :)

Heads up: Thursday posts will all be about my favourite city, the love of my life – location-wise anyhow.

I didn’t go to New Orleans for a holiday – I didn’t enjoy my job back then (anyone else sensing a pattern here?), so I quit & started looking for volunteer posts I could sign up for.

Well.. maybe not just ‘I quit’…

RIP Chivalry?

I’m afraid it looks as though the ‘chivalrous man’ is on the endangered list. There are still a few in existence, but you have to look extremely carefully.

That said, I am privileged to say that I know some of that rare species – you know, the ones who will move you to the inside of the pavement/sidewalk so you aren’t next to traffic, the ones who will give up their seat for you in a bar and, on a very good day, the few who will open a door for you.

They exist, both sides of the pond, but it does seem as though they are more common in the epitome of southern hospitality that is New Orleans than they are back here in the UK.

Today, unfortunately, was not a good day for chivalry back home. Today’s example was so extreme, I was laughing by the end of it.

Part of my (current) job is to check that everything is in place and ready for events in a school, so I popped in to the auditorium to check that the stage had been cleared only to find that someone had left a grand piano smack dab in centre stage! Rather than chase around and disturb someone else, I started moving the piano off stage (it’s on wheels – I’m good, but not that good!), aiming for the room it’s usually in. Now, picture this: me – average female office worker in less that sensible heels – struggling to move your average sized grand piano (they’re heavy) when one of our lovely male teachers wanders past. ‘Perfect’ I think, as he smiles….and keeps walking. Out of the room. Not a word!!

Over the course of the next half hour I moved tables (up stairs), chairs and dropped the theatre curtains (which weigh a tonne), and all the while male members of staff walked past, stood chatting to each other, one even decided to start a conversation with me, which was nice, although I was slightly out of breath from carrying the table that was still in my hands!!

Now, I’m not anti-feminist and these staff members could just as easily have been women. Also,  I chose to do all of this rather than calling in help, but, if you happen to see someone (male or female) struggling to move furniture, or a piano even, it doesn’t hurt to ask if they’d like some help. Who knows, they might say yes!

Here endeth today’s lesson. Sorry I’m off to make some Brigadieros, so tomorrow’s post should be a little more light-hearted & chocolately 😀 xx

Do you believe in signs?

I wasn’t going to post anything tonight, then I saw this photo of the New Orleans cityscape. Do you think the universe is trying to tell me something!? Or is it just a gorgeous piece of artwork floating down the Mississippi in honour of the Prospect 3. biennial (by Tavares Strachan, there’s a whole article here)?

Either way, it’s made me very homesick, all while I sit in my little house, in the town I’ve lived in since I was 7. How does that happen?! How do you get homesick for somewhere you lived for 3 months, 4 years ago?!

And that, my friends, is the power of NOLA 🙂 The city has such a welcoming feel to it, it feels more like home than your own hometown. So, my challenge for this week, in the attempt to bring the feeling of NOLA back with me, is to fall in love with my hometown again. To get to the stage where I will miss this little place whenever I leave it, regardless of how long I’m away, or how amazing the destination is.

This won’t be easy

Wish me luck x

Sunday, Sunday

I was in NOLA for NFL season, so Sundays usually entailed heading to our local to watch back-to-back games, play a little shuffleboard and hopefully remembering to get some takeout.

I’m a rugby-girl at heart, so the first few weeks usually ended up with some ‘light-hearted’ banter (it’s difficult to have a serious debate with a bar full of Saints fans) about how the NFL is basically rugby with time-outs and a helluva lot of padding!! Safe to say, this did not go down well with the locals… but they were patient, and they converted me. As I write this, all cwtched up under my fleece in freezing-cold mid-wales, I have the Jets v Chiefs game on in the background (waiting for the Patriots to come on). So, chalk that one up as a success – I have brought a little of the Big Easy back with me 🙂 Granted, my living room isn’t quite Marky’s in the Bywater, and I definitely wasn’t drinking hot chocolate while I was there!

However, I can’t say that spending 12 hours of my Sunday watching Football was my ideal – although I did love it while I was there. I’m a bit of a ‘traditionalist’ so, for me, Sunday is usually a nice long lie-in, pancake breakfast then head out for a few games of pool before sitting down to a home-cooked Sunday Lunch with the family. Roast lamb today – with mint sauce & roast potatoes, nothing compares!

So, today’s been pretty much the perfect combo of NOLA & home, and will only get better cos the Beignet dough that I made first thing this morning should be just about ready to fry now. If this recipe works, I’ll definitely post it, promise. Fingers crossed, I’ll be watching the game while eating fresh cooked Beignets in no time – good times x