October in N'Awlins
I have finally gotten settled, so now I can write and tell you all about it. I got a real job! In an office, with a desk and a computer and my own telephone extension! Whoopee! I did it, I graduated and got a job! I am a legitimate adult! WOW!
so the other great part about my life is that my job is in New Orleans! uh, huh! oh so nice! so now i am a southen belle! and it is really fun! New Orleans is everything and more, than I had expected. The job I got is with the American Red Cross. I work in the Emergency Services/ Disaster Relief Department. And I just happened to move here just in time for Hurricane season which has made things pretty hectic. I got to evacuate last week! It wasn?t nearly as much fun as I had hoped it would be. Sleeping in a shelter really sucks! And sitting on the Lake Ponchatrain bridge going 5mph for 30 miles was really boring (The boats on the lake were getting across faster than we were!) But because they get so many natural disasters down here the Red Cross helps a lot of people and in return gets a lot of respect from the community So I guess I do feel pretty good about doing work to help the community, even though I totally took the job for my own selfish reasons. I got this job because I became a VISTA volunteer which is basically the domestic Peace Corps. So I signed up, and VISTA pays me but I work full on with the Red Cross. It?s working well for me. And now our dear Ms. Lydia is thinking of doing the same. It really is a pretty good deal. At the end of a year I get $5,000 to pay off student loans aka pay for Malta. And then I am free to go on and do what ever I want, become a rocket scientist, be a cowgirl, whatever sounds good. And so in the mean time I get to kick it here in the Big Easy. Nice, nice nice! It is so great! I take the street car to work every morning. (How classic!) And the people are really wonderful here. I swear they just have music flowing in the blood, I see people dancing all the time. I love waiting for the streetcar and seeing the school kids dancing around while they wait. It tends to be the boys, if they hear a beat they like from passing cars they just dance!. It is wonderful.
But as a whole New Orleans is a rough, gritty place. It?s not all wrought iron and hibiscus plants. Working for the Red Cross I have gone to all sorts of places. And it just can?t be lumped into ?bad neighborhoods? and ?good neighborhoods?. It is street by street. The poverty rate in Louisiana is nearly double what the national average is, making it number one in the USA. This year almost 900,000 people are living below the poverty line in Louisiana. As well as being the Big Easy, New Orleans is know as being The City that Care Forgot. Sad huh. I also read part of a report by the Children's Rights Council in Washington, D.C., that rated Louisiana as the worst state in which to raise a child, based on health care, abuse/neglect and education. I really don?t think that most people really realize just what reality is like in this city. The crime rate is out of this world and corruption is a historic problem. But through it all the people here are so nice and friendly. Everyone is willing to take the time to talk or answer questions. And doors are held open for me. And everyone calls each other ?my baby? ?how ya doin today mah baby?? The pace of life is nice and slow. And people don?t get stressed out if things don?t happen on time. It is really just a great place to be living for a year! I?ve been here a full month and it just keeps getting better. I am really happy! So I just have to say it. Of course, of course, any islander who can get the airfare together has a welcome place to stay in New Orleans! I would love to see you guys again.
I hope you all are doing well,
rika