This past week I went on a missions trip to New Orleans, Louisiana (aka NOLA). It was truly one of the best weeks of my life. I made so many amazing memories and grew closer to some awesome people. There were so many laughs, inside jokes, and tears (both happy and spiritual) shed.
Funny story, one day, out of know where, I had an the idea to get people on the trip to get crocs to wear on the plane, as a joke and just a funny thing to look back on. I mean crocs are the greatest things ever, right?
A couple things took me by surprise when I arrived to the worksite for the first time. One, the school didn't seem like it was in bad shape. In fact, to me it looked pretty nice from the outside. Two, the school was entirely made out of trailers. The trailers were connected so that it felt like a normal school once you entered the building. There were a few trailers connected, like in a bunch, and there were walkways with metal overhangs to connect each bunch.
We saw a few alligators, some other wildlife, and a bunch of pretty trees and plants. We also saw a set from the show NCIS which was right on the water!
Each day on the trip there was time to be with friends, explore New Orleans and the culture that they have there, grow in your faith, and serve the community. I was assigned to KIPP School for my worksite. There my work group and I repaired and painted walls, picnic tables, and we also helped organize and get things ready for the upcoming school year.
We stayed at a church and slept of the floor. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, haha, but hey we were there to serve other people, not to be living in nice quarters.
An organization called Son Servants put on the trip so they planned fun activities for us and gave a bunch of amazing, eye opening talks.
Ok lets backtrack a second... on Sunday morning I arrived at the airport at 5:30 am and met up with the other people going on the trip with my youth group. Whew it sure was early, but it was a blast being able to travel with them.
In addition to crocs, my friend and I whore fanny packs. They are so convenient and added to our already trendy outfits. ;)
In the end about eight people whore crocs. I went out on a limb and bought a random pack of 50 jibbitz to hand out to people and customize our crocs. It was so fun to have a group of us walk around the airport and rep our goofy looking shoes. We didn't care one bit about how ridiculous we looked.
Fast forward to the next day when we began our work in the community of NOLA to help restore some of the places that are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Most of the work groups worked at schools, just like my group did. I worked at KIPP school and helped repaint benches, picnic tables, trashcans, hallways, and any other place that needed to be spruced up. We also helped clean and repair some things around the school.
A couple things took me by surprise when I arrived to the worksite for the first time. One, the school didn't seem like it was in bad shape. In fact, to me it looked pretty nice from the outside. Two, the school was entirely made out of trailers. The trailers were connected so that it felt like a normal school once you entered the building. There were a few trailers connected, like in a bunch, and there were walkways with metal overhangs to connect each bunch.
Even though some of the tasks that we did for the school seemed unimportant, I was amazed by the reactions we got from the teachers and the principal at the school. They were so thankful for all of the work that we did. The principal made us feel special by giving us t-shirts, water bottles, and other school merchandise. They also gave us snacks and drinks as we worked. I could really see the impact that we were making on them. We may not have completed a huge task (like building a school or something), but I feel like God worked through us and made the faculty and staff feel special and loved, which was evident by their reactions towards our work.
A couple of the days, my friend and I whore overalls to work. It's funny because the paint colors that we used were green, purple, yellow, and white. As you can see I got all of those colors on my overalls... so they looked mardi gras themed... perfect for NOLA right?
On Wednesday we had a day off so my youth group and I did a bunch of really fun things around New Orleans.
Fist we went on a swamp tour, which was a ton of fun! And I held a cute little baby alligator!
We saw a few alligators, some other wildlife, and a bunch of pretty trees and plants. We also saw a set from the show NCIS which was right on the water!
Later that day we went to the Lower Ninth Ward Museum. It was cool because it was in a house that was just transformed into a museum on the inside. When I first got there I thought it was strange because I was expecting a normally looking museum, but after spending time there I really enjoyed it. Despite my first impression, I liked that the museum was in a house because I felt more connected to the Lower Ninth Ward community that was affected due to the fact that I was in the heart of it while there. It was unique and the stories and videos that were there was super moving. It made me so sad to read some about some of the tragic things that happened during and after the hurricane, especially to the structures and people in the Lower Ninth Ward.
After the museum, we walked along the levee that broke during the storm. I was surprised by how short it was!
On Wednesday night we went into the French Quarter. There we ate at a restaurant called Napoleon House. I got a sandwich called a Muffalatta, which is famous in NOLA. We also walked around the square and saw a really pretty sunset, went shopping, and ate beignets from a famous place called "Cafe du Monde."
On Thursday night after work we went to a place called Rock n' Bowl. There we went bowling and danced to live Cajun music, it was a blast!
And I whore a pug shirt that night, haha. Just adding to all of the beautiful fashions statements made last week. ;)
On the last day before we left to come home we went back into the French Quarter to get Po Boys for lunch and do some more shopping. We went to this market called the French Market which was really cool, and I tried alligator there!
This past week was filled with so much fun and amazing experiences that I will never forget. I already miss it so much! Thank you so much to everyone I went with, you made this past week one of the best of my life.
