New Orleans: A collection of photos Tuesday, Aug 16 2011

I’ve been back to New Orleans now 3 times since my first trip down in 2009, with one more visit planned for the end of the month. I still can’t explain what it is about the city that gets under your skin and refuses to leave your head, but it has to be something about the character and personality of New Orleans, the spirit and resilience of its inhabitants. As a volunteer, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to meet people from all over the world who are just as baffled as me. How can this place seem so much like home? How can spending any amount of time here change your life so completely? In all honesty, if I could, I would pack up and move there for good.

I last spent months at a time living in the Lower Ninth Ward, but with every visit, no matter the length, I am still as completely captivated by the neighbourhood as I was the first time I stayed there. There is a quiet, eerie beauty. With every intersection, another empty lot. Around every corner, another house sitting abandoned. But the pace of change surprises me. A year after my first visit, a small community has popped up with more houses than empty lots at one intersection. Granted, the recovery is soon entering it’s 7th year, and with the anniversary of Katrina looming around the corner most residents of the city should be home. This isn’t the case, so I try to see every individual homecoming as a small victory. People haven’t given up trying to come home yet, and I can’t help but feel optimistic.

This is a series of photos taken since 2009, mostly in or around the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish.
© Amanda Fotes 

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Mississippi Is Falling Sunday, Aug 7 2011

Throughout April and May one of my favourite local expressions “my house is only a couple blocks from the Mississippi” became one of fear. The Mississippi River was rising. New Orleans was expected to flood if the government didn’t authorize the opening of Bonnet Carre, and in particular, Morganza spillways. Luckily both were open and New Orleans experience high water in a few areas but no real flooding. At least, down here. The diversion pushed water into other areas of Louisiana, and the high water generally caused flooding in many places along the Mississippi.

I wanted to gauge the rising of the water and took some photos at the end of my street. Yesterday was the first time I went back to see how much the water had dropped. It was very stunning visually.

Height of water - Mid May 2011

 

Aug 6 2011 - same spot

Similarly….

Water along the levee at the foot of my street - mid May 2011

 

View along the levee - Aug 6th 2011

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August Reader’s Digest Thursday, Jul 21 2011

Hey folks

For those of you in Canada please pick up a copy of the August Reader’s Digest – its the one with a green cover and Colm Feore on the front. There is a story I wrote about the St. Bernard Project, St. Bernard Parish and the course at Ryerson that I teach with Pascal. It includes a photo of some of this year’s students and quotes from students from all of the years so far.

Tanya

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Taste of a Hurricane Wednesday, Jun 29 2011

Taste of a Hurricane

 The sky is believe blue

and I am running

the taste of a hurricane

lots and lots of vacant lots

and glowing cat eyes dawn

through city streets gone wild

tall grass and empty space

cut short.

 

Sweating in Cynthia’s house

masked, air close, like a tomb

we scale ladders, balance the beams

Up, down, and side to side

circle, circle, cut the pie

scraping away the dead

skin of this place

attic, kitchen, closet,

leaving our hearts behind.

 

Running in the night

street-corner celebration

urine, vomit, beads, dance

to the jazz parade playing,

trombones long.

Band in a van

drum beat pounding

the taste of a hurricane.

 

Miss Josephine feeds us

jambalaya, bread pudding,

sweet and thick.

Thirty-six months to get back

to her kitchen

but she made it all

with thanks for her life, and us

and in one lunch she gives more

than we could ever return.

 

Juan carries pirate

in his blood, struggling.

His disappearing land: water, palmetto, silt.

Fish and oil, scarce and spilled

with recklessness.

He will work on the rig

once the shrimp and crabs are caught

running tours and calling:

Viens ici, cher bayou,

Viens ici!

 

We are running on the beach

like in Baywatch

diving in water and sand

after a lopsided ball

we will get sunburned

and see stars

bring home the Gulf shore, in our shoes

and sleep sound, through the snoring.

 

Mississippi rising

behind the sugar plant, too close to home.

and Tanya worries

the taste of a hurricane.

Sorting boards in the lumberyard,

muddy smell of cypress in the heat

No pools to cool kids in summer

and Joby has the car packed, just in case

he would swim, if he had to

because this is home.

 

May Day rain at Magnolia, students blooming

playing Duck, Duck Goose with Justin

and the beanbag toss, the dunk-tank.

Robert paints teeth, asks us to write

while Adam flips the bird, grins.

After the talent show we pick

out art to pack in our suitcases

learning like we never learned

at school before:

how the most valuable things

are packed up on the inside.

 

We are running along the levee

to the shore of the industrial canal

to see the ships, the shore

lifting with the bridge

climbing concrete in the sun.

If we could keep running

away from home

we would run to here

to find out what it means,

New Orleans, already missing

the taste of a hurricane.

 

-Daphne Paszterko, June 2011.

I wrote this poem as a series of flashes of our experience in NOLA – the different places we worked and some of the amazing people that we met during the trip.  I also wanted to capture how I think we were captivated by New Orleans, and how so many of us want to go back.

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Ola’s on the way! Thursday, May 12 2011

The day is nearing and there’s so much to do still! Well what needs to be done here is nothing in comparison to the work we have coming up. I can’t wait to get my hands dirty and work with everyone. I hope that what we do makes a great difference in someone’s life and that it inspires others to help those suffering, even if the suffering is not close to home. Although the reasons for this trip are due to the serious nature of disasters that struck the city and state, I know we are all seriously determined to make the biggest impact that we can as well. And maybe the impact we have as well that of past and future volunteers will someday outshine the disaster itself.

We will find many ways to make this trip as successful, life-changing and fun as possible. With the amazing group of students that are coming along we are definitely on the right track to making this a memorable two weeks. From demolition to dry-wall and flooring, the possibilities are truly endless. Maybe I should practice some demo before I leave.. just kidding. Although maybe some weight training would have prepared me for the coming days.

The next two weeks are going to go by in a blur and my goal is to soak in as much as possible and not let any opportunity pass by. This trip is a wonderful opportunity I am so grateful that Pascal and Tanya allowed me the opportunity to be a part of it. All of the anticipation and day dreaming will come to an end in 2 days and then a new journey begins. I cannot wait and see you all there!

P.S-My pre-NOLA departure planning so far has included finding all the places close to us that “Diners Drive-in’s and Dives” has visited and attempting to prepare my iPod for the amount of energy and motivation it will be providing us for the next two weeks.

See you in the Big Easy !

-Ola

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One year ago… Thursday, Apr 28 2011

A year ago today I woke up in Birmingham, Alabama and went to sleep in New Orleans; I had officially moved.

Today, several tornadoes have ripped through Alabama.   Several group two NOLA students (those arriving on May 14th) were planning to go on a Civil Rights field trip to Alabama. Some of the areas hit today were amongst those I planned for us to visit, or at least pass through.

I was going to post today about my experiences over the past year, but instead, my mind is caught up with the images and news coming out across the south. This has been a bad year for storms; a bad year for tornadoes. We have had several hit the Greater New Orleans area, including in St. Bernard Parish where I live.

A few weeks ago, this was my phone weather alert system going crazy:

The more I study disasters, the more news like this hits me hard. It is part of my PTSD for sure; it’s part of knowing more about the impact. And sometimes it is personal. My friends Jess and Fred are from Alabama. Their hometowns have been hard tonight. Jess has heard from all her family; Fred hasn’t. I was just talking with him today because he is arranging a sound system for the van I will be using for tours with the students. Statistically speaking, it is likely that Fred’s family is fine. But, dozens of people have been killed and thousands more affected. Regardless, my thoughts are with Jess and Fred tonight, and with all those who are waiting to hear from those whom they love.

I have never lost someone close to a disaster, but the suddenness with which they occur reminds me of the loss of my brother Tyler. That unpredictability, that instant loss; the way life changes within minutes.

I’m really just feeling quite sad tonight.

TMG

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Pics in my life… Wednesday, Mar 30 2011

Just some random pictures from the last couple weeks….

A sunset on the Domino sugar factory near my house

Speaking of sugar, the cake my friend Sam made for a party…

So, we had a little storm…with several tornados and lots of power outages and flooding. There was thunder and lightning solidly from 7pm til midnight or so, and then again at about 5am.

House markings on the second floor of an apartment complex (quad) on the street next to mine. The number at the top is the date (September 10th) that the building was searched after Hurricane Katrina. The writing on the left is the code for the search team that went through this unit. The number on the bottom is the number of dead bodies inside the the building. Yes, that is an 8. An 8.

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Support the NOLA students Wednesday, Mar 23 2011

Interested in what my students are doing? Want to help out? Ryerson issues charitable receipts for amounts over $20.

(Americans who wish to donate should support the St. Bernard Project directly).

To make an online donation to the entire group please see the following steps:

1. Go To
http://www.ryerson.ca/supporting/onlinegiving

2. Go down the section that states

Step 1: Gift Information
Your gift may be designated for use in multiple areas. Choose the designations for your gift by clicking on the link below.

Choose Gift Designation

Click here to choose the designation(s) for your gift
(Click the bolded line above that takes you into a fund destination tree)

3. This brings you to the Fund Selection Page
You will see that New Orleans Community Services Trip has been added as a direct link to select to make a gift.

Click New Orleans …. and make the gift. Help us rebuild!!

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Parks Canada Tuesday, Mar 22 2011

Recently, I worked with Parks Canada to promote their speaker’s bureau and work that they are doing. Several members of Parks Canada were in New Orleans last week to attend the George Wright Society biennial conference.

 

 

 

 

While we weren’t able to garner as much publicity as we would have liked, one of the speakers bureau members – Denyse Lajeunesse – spoke at Tom Sherry’s Conservation Biology class in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University about Canada’s parks, bio-diversity and species at risk.  (They have a Dr. Darwin there even!!)

 

 

I learned a lot I didn’t know about Canada’s parks including that camping is on the decline, in part, because many new Canadians come from backgrounds where living in tents may have been part of an unhappy experience, rather than the fun experience it was for me as a child. We used to camp across the country when younger, and then set up a tent in my parents backyard for fun.

I also learned a lot about species at risk, and the success Canada is having rebuilding populations of endangered animals.

There was also a Parks Canada booth set-up to provide information about the work that is being done.

2011 is the 100th anniversary of Parks Canada. So there was also cake presented by the President of the George Wright Society board. Parks Canada is the oldest national park service in the world!! Go team Canada!!

The CEO of Parks Canada and the US National Parks Service spoke at a plenary on the future of parks. Both spoke about some amazingly innovative programs that are taking place across both countries to draw attention to both the wildlife aspects of parks and historic sites (which fall under the purview of parks). In New Orleans for example, Jean Lafitte park includes the Wildlife Preserve in Lafitte, the French Quarter and the Chalmette Battlefield, site of the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, where for some reason the US thinks it won  the War of 1812.

I also took Parks Canada folks on tours of the areas hardest hit by Katrina. They were able to see firsthand some of the devastation that continues here, as well as the impact of environmental degradation in Bayou Bienvenue.

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It’s the small stuff… Saturday, Mar 19 2011

I gave 5 Katrina tours this week; 4 for Parks Canada staff and one for guests of the Creole Inn. In three days. Basically the same tour each time. It allowed me to really take a look at New Orleans through fresh eyes.

I think New Orleans is really coming back as a tourism destination. The French Quarter and the CBD are back to “normal”; whatever normal is in this crazy-ass town. But just outside the Vieux Carre is the devastation of the Lower Ninth that too many tourists never take the time to see. Even most of the tour companies no longer run Katrina tours, they just incorporate them into their city tour.

So I took folks through the Upper and Lower Ninth, out to Arabi and Chalmette, and up Esplanade to City Park to show them what was and wasn’t here. They were mostly shocked. Stunned. At least one was in tears.

But I saw the small stuff. Lots of groups of youth out working; building, cutting grass, digging, creating a path along Bayou Bienvenue. I saw a house being worked on that wasn’t started a few weeks ago. A house finished. A family moving in furniture from Rooms to Go.

I went to my branch of Whitney Bank in Chalmette between tours on Thursday and it had moved from a trailer into a real building. Lots of digging is happening at the site of the new St. Bernard Parish Hospital.

There were stores open. People on the streets. A couple old guys fishing and crabbing in the bayou.

And my tour guests got the message that New Orleans is back, and it isn’t back, at the same time. A message I trust they will carry home.

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