Leslie Across the USA

Road Trip Part Deux...New Orleans!

So, welcome back to my blog! It's been nearly a year since I started this one, and I kind of abandoned it when I got home from my last big road trip. I thought I'd continue this blog with my latest trip in JUDSMNI. This time, I'm with my cousin Melissa, and we headed down to New Orleans for Spring Break to do relief work for Hurricane Katrina. Yes, there is still a lot of work to be done down here on the Gulf Coast, even though the hurricane hit over seven months ago.
Not too long ago, Melissa decided to sign up with Habitat for Humanity to come to New Orleans and volunteer. She invited me to join her, and I accepted! We decided to drive down to New Orleans after school on Friday, April 7. We made it as far as Dublin, VA, which is in southwest Virginia. I was pretty surprised to discover just how big Virginia is. It's huge. It was gorgeous driving through the rest of Virginia and Tennessee the next day. It reminded me of England's or Ireland's countryside. Plus, it had rained buckets the day before, and everything was so lush and green. There were these intensely beautiful purplish-pinkish trees that lined the road. They are called redbuds (thanks, Juppy!), and they are so striking. I just love spring. We stopped for lunch in Knoxville, Tennessee, just in time to attend their annual Rossini Opera Festival! It was fun to walk around and see the booths and eat some food. We had "curly chips" which were not quite Italian, but they were yummy. There were lots of very hip people at the festival, so it left me with a nice impression of Knoxville. I hadn't really known much before about Tennessee besides Elvis, Country Music, and my friend Tafanie.
The next day as we headed to Birmingham, Alabama, we stopped in Scottsboro, Alabama, to see if we could find a marker or memorial referencing the famous trials of the Scottsboro Boys. After initially being disappointed that we didn't see anything about the trial, we finally found it. I decided we should check behind the courthouse, and sure enough, the historical marker was around back. As we headed out of town, we stumbled upon a store called Unclaimed Baggage. We were so curious that we checked it out. Melissa thought it was a store where you purchase suitcases that were never claimed, and what you get is whatever is in the bag. I thought it had something to do with unclaimed baggage (duh), but I thought this was kind of creepy, so then I thought it was just a clever name. But, we were both sort of right. The greeter inside the store told us that it is a company that bids on the contents of unclaimed baggage and cargo from airports and then sells it. They had everything from clothes to books to jewelry to large things like couches and TVs. There was even a little cafe in there. Clearly people make a day of going to Unclaimed Baggage. It was weird. I decided my mom would like this store, but the prices at Goodwill/Salvation Army are way better. Anyway, you can learn more about it here: www.unclaimedbaggage.com. As we headed down to Birmingham, we were cruising along at a good pace (I was driving) and in the distance, I saw another car. We were on a back road in Alabama, and I could not tell what kind of car it was. Sure enough, its blue lights on the roof lit right up, and I was like, "Shoot! Not again!" I have already gotten TWO tickets in the Mini this year. I slammed on the brakes. But, surprisingly, the police officer did not pull me over. He apparently was just giving me a friendly heads-up that 75 miles per hour was too fast for a back road (hey, it was kind of deserted...). I love southern hospitality!
We stayed the night with Melissa's friend Mary in Birmingham, Alabama. She is quite a world-traveler, and they met on Melissa's trip to Egypt last summer. She was super gracious, and she had a lovely Basset Hound named Millie. It was fun to sit around and listen to stories about their time in Egypt and all the other places Mary had traveled. We got up early the next day to make the drive to Camp Premier in St. Bernards Parish, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans. We had gained an hour by switching to Central time, so that helped. We got to drive through Alabama and Mississippi, and while it was not as picturesque as Virginia and Tennessee, I was excited to check those states off my list.
Once we came within 20 miles or so of New Orleans, we started to see the effects of the hurricane. Trees lining the road were bent and broken. As we got closer and closer to the city, we saw more effects. Lots of stores were closed; even Six Flags was closed. There were lots of billboards and advertisements for building materials or services. There were also lots of billboards that referenced the hurricane. We found the camp very easily, and it was as we were driving to camp that we saw the most visibly graphic signs of a disaster. Very few stores and restaurants were open, and most of them didn't look like they were anywhere near opening soon. As soon as we arrived at the camp, a guard asked me about the Mini. IT was just another example of the friendliness we have experienced so much on our trip so far. It seems the the farther south we go, the friendlier people are. So far, living at Camp Premier is interesting to say the least. It is very similar to being in the military (as far as I know!), and as I write this, I am sitting on my FEMA-issued cot in my climate-controlled FEMA-issued tent. We had our first day of work today after a long orientation session yesterday. I'm too pooped to write about it now, but I will tomorrow, I promise. I will just say this: The damage is much worse than you can imagine. It feels unreal. It feels like an apocalypse has occurred. I have taken lots of photos, but they won't do it justice. Volunteers AND tourists are still needed, so you just may have to come and see for yourself.
(The photos are of our camp's entrance and the house we are currently working on clearning. The house has been untouched since the flood. More on that tomorrow!)

posted by Leslie @ 9:17 PM