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« Getting What I Want. | Main | Home. »
NOLA
November 26, 2005
I've been left alone in a house with a computer, so here I am.
In my attempts to recruit people to come to New Orleans with me this weekend, the most common response was "OK...why?" & I didn't really know the answer. I knew there was stuff going on, and I knew I had a friend in New Orleans who I never thought I was ever going to be able to visit again - a friend who, historically, I have found way too many reasons to NOT come and visit - to the point where I'm sure any time I would say "I'm going to try to come visit you" there was an eyeroll response on the other end & I was certain, while driving here yesterday, that she really thought I just wasn't going to show at all.
But I didn't know WHY in the larger sense. I don't think there was a larger WHY. I think it was just one of those "because it's there" things. Because it's there. Because I have time. Because I'm missing my kiddos like crazy.
So here I am.
I feel like I can totally justify the trip on the basis of coming to visit a friend, but I also am glad that I was able to transport some cots and camping gear to the Common Ground house, as well as driving an Austin friend here to scope things out. He's from this area originally, and is trying to move back.
This morning, after dropping off the camping stuff from Austin, we went over to the other Common Ground site. There isn't much going on, but I didn't feel like I was necessarily suited for gutting a house today, so I did the dishes...which sounds simple, but was complicated by the fact that there was no hot water and no real sink. After that, there wasn't anything going on at all, so Carl and I drove around the French Quarter. My kids wanted me to bring them home a Cafe Du Monde mug (a fact which, I've noticed, makes all of the locals cringe) so we tried to stand in line there, but it was taking too long...so we walked back to the car.
Carl's been pointing out all sorts of interesting New Orleans facts to me, and it's been good to have a companion. I had it in my head that I was going to take this trip alone, but I am glad that I have a travel partner who is so well-versed in local history & offers a perspective that I would not necessarily have considered. I was worried that I would alienate him with my car-silence (I really don't like to talk while I'm driving) but he seemed to take it very well. The drive took almost exactly 8 hours, in spite of the fact that the google map said it would take over 11.
So, anyway, tonight we will have dinner & a show with friends, and tomorrow we head back. It's been a bit more vacation-y than I expected (I found out too late that the food not bombs folks were in a different area than the common ground folks & I could have been helping them cook today maybe) but that's OK. I really didn't have any expectations coming down here. Just another road trip.
I don't have a camera, but I think everyone has seen the flattened houses. Coleen, my lovely hostess, has taken some lovely photos of the beautiful things that I've seen here, and maybe I'll link up to those pictures sometime later. There are some bizarre scenes, some fairly depressing things...but the air is not laden with mold and "crap" and I did not instantly fall deathly ill upon entering the city, in spite of what I have been told would happen. Right now, there's a puppy barking outside, and someone is watching maybe a football game next door, and it all seems fairly normal.
Between Coleen and Carl, I have heard a great deal of cross-talk about the importance/motivation of the activism here. I'm kind of feeling like I need to piece things together in my head and figure out what people are trying to accomplish. Maybe, though, it's not for me to define or decide...so I don't think I will write about it until I have thought about it a bit more.
BTW - Coleen and her children are every bit as adorable as I thought they would be. I played a rousing game of go fish last night with her little one, and missed my boys all the more. I lost, thankyouverymuch...but I think L was cheating.
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