(Dis)Orientation

Sorry it has taken so long for me to post, but I’ve been pretty busy and worn out this last week.

After the Saints game during the day last Sunday, my week-long orientation began Sunday night at the Marriott hotel in downtown New Orleans. Just so all of you have a better understanding of the organization; there are 25 of us volunteering with Rebuilding Together New Orleans. There are 20 people that are on one grant, and me and four others on another grant. The five of us on the grant together are part of national Rebuilding Together, which had its orientation for the five of us, and 35 other new volunteers. It’s kind of confusing, if you really care, I can explain in more detail if you would like. The first night of orientation was pretty standard. We were introduced to everyone and served dinner. A few of the higher-ups at Rebuilding Together spoke to us and gave some pretty inspiring speeches. To see how passionate these people were definitely left a little impression on me and had me thinking I made a good decision in coming down here. The impact Rebuilding Together makes all over the country was even greater than I had thought. One woman told us a few stories about the home owners she encountered and to hear what they had to go through put the whole program in perspective. We really are helping people who can’t afford to live in a safe and healthy home.

Anyways, Monday was a pretty boring day of orientation because we pretty much just went over the policies and procedures we’ll need to follow for the year. I went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for lunch, which was delicious and a cool experience. Since I love Forrest Gump, I liked the trivia questions the waitress was throwing at us (though I surprisingly didn’t know all of them). At night, we had a scavenger hunt around the French Quarter that seemed pretty stupid. So the people in my group made a horrible attempt at it and instead went to The Coco Club which had a house band that was really good. They were a family band covering a lot of good songs of all genres and added their own funk to it. One of the guys in the band rapped a little in some of the songs and then busted out the trumpet on the other. It was pretty cool. I have to say (and I know I’ve bragged to Matt Pais too much) that the music down here is so good. There are so many places to see music and if you are open to it, it’s so nice going out and seeing different kinds of music.

Tuesday was more of the same from Monday. I found a lot of the icebreaker and activities that they had planned and a lot of the discussions pretty interesting. We had a pretty deep discussion about poverty on Wednesday and who is considered to be in poverty, the reason why poverty exists, and what we can do to fix it. The discussion definitely got me going and I was pretty into it and offered a lot of my opinions on the matter. If you are interested in discussing with me, I’d be glad to. I just don’t feel like rehashing the entire discussion in this post but I will say that I found it to be a great discussion. For the afternoon, we were split into three groups and went out to different worksites. The five of us from New Orleans went to a site together which was nice, and two of the other volunteers in the New Orleans program were there too. We learned how to insulate a house which I can say first hand is not fun. That stuff is hard to cut and there are little pieces of fiber glass that get into your skin and are very itchy. It was great seeing how much work we got done in a half day Wednesday and a full day Thursday. One of the things I really like about this process is that, at the end of the day, I can look around the house and see what the team got done for the day. It’s nice being able to physically see what you have accomplished in a day. After our workday on Wednesday, we took a drive around the Ninth Ward (the part of New Orleans most devastated by Hurricane Katrina) and spoke with a few of the community leaders. There are so many empty lots where houses used to be that you really can’t believe it until you see it. We didn’t see that much of the Ninth Ward so I’m hoping to take another tour of it. Another volunteer in the program, Dave, who has spent some time in New Orleans before this, offered to take me around again whenever I want. I’m hoping to do that soon.

We had a good day of orientation on Friday and then everyone went out to bars on Frenchman Street afterwards. The first bar we went to had a seven piece band that was a mix of a jazz and folk band (very hard to explain). After a few hours there, we went to another place where a reggae band was playing. They were sooooo good. The bar was half full (not half empty) when we first got there but was packed by the middle of their set. Everyone from orientation (except for the five of us staying in New Orleans) departed back their home cities on Saturday afternoon. I took a well deserved nap and watched the OSU-USC with some friends and had a pretty relaxed night out.

Sunday, I went to a bar called Cooter Brown’s to watch the Bears game by myself. The bar had all of the noon games on and was packed with all different kind of fans. People would yell but I’d have no idea what TV it was coming from. For the second half, I ended up sitting next to a couple of girls in Bears’ jerseys who were pretty nice. The end of the game sucked so I went home disappointed and got myself ready for my first real week of work.

Orientation was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I got to know some pretty cool people from all over the country who have a passion to help others. I enjoyed listening to others explain why they chose to do this program and explaining my reasons as well. If you don’t know already, or want to talk about those reasons more, again, I’d be happy to. After the week of orientation, I really feel good about being down here and know that even though it may be tough at times, I’m ready for this experience and the challenge that comes with it. This last month (almost) has been so crazy but has felt great about my ability to adjust to this new life and things that have come up (though I do miss all of you, ha). That’s it for now. I’ll update again soon. Sorry it has taken so long. I’ll be better. Also, I’m still working on a slideshow of pictures but it’s not working out for me yet so I’m trying to get that figured out. If you want me to send you a CD of pictures when I have a bunch, let me know.