Sunday

Greetings from Day 2!

We all enjoyed our first full day in NOLA. After breakfast, we all headed off to our home Church here in town, St. Augustine Catholic Church in Treme (Truh- MAY), the area of New Orleans famous for being the birthplace of Jazz music. Fr. Moody, the pastor, welcomed us back for our fourth year going to Mass there, and gave a powerful sermon that led many of us to thoughtful discussion. Almost all of us were moved by the power of singing Bach's beautiful version of the Lord's Prayer in unison. And the St. Augustine Soulful Voices Choir is amazing -- it was like being at a concert within the Mass! While we didn't record them, you can hear a bit below, and find more on YouTube:



After Mass we returned to the Village for lunch and spent some time making chore charts and cleaning up our space before heading out on a tour of some of the local devastation and renewal that has happened in the last seven years. We are staying just two blocks away from a home we painted two years ago, so we stopped to see it, as well as the Flood Memorial, the area of the levee in the Lower Ninth where the most serious breach occurred, the "Brad Pitt houses" of the Make it Right foundation, and the Musician's Village. At several points, despite the threat of thunderstorms, we stopped to get a closer look at our surroundings and Matt, Tomas, Beth, and some of our veterans, were able to give some insight into what we were seeing.

Our six-vehicle caravan was quite a challenge to maintain, and must have been a sight for other drivers on the road! We did get separated at one point, as some vehicles stopped to take more pictures than others, but while waiting we found a cool digital-age playground and spent a little time goofing off, kid style.

After the tour, we headed out to Parkway Bakery for an authentic "Nawlins" po'boy dinner. Now, stuffed to the gills with fried catfish, shrimp, or roast beef po'boys, we are home enjoying some downtime before the real work begins tomorrow.


On a side note, my last two posts have been written from the computer lab here at the village, but unfortunately, I can't seem to attach photos to the blog from these computers. However, the village is equipped with wi-fi, and once we get connected to the network, I hope to be able to upload some pictures via one of our chaperons' iPads.  Stay tuned for that and for our update tomorrow on our first day of work!

Ellen and Brad Visit New Orleans

Ellen DeGeneres visited Brad Pitt in New Orleans to talk about the progress that has been made and the work still needing to be done. We visit this neighborhood each year to see the new and funky houses that sprout up each year, though we've sadly never seen Brad Pitt there in person. It's close to what was probably the worst levee breach, both in terms of physical damage done and in terms of devastating one of the most economically depressed areas of the city. It's amazing to see how many experts have come together to help bring this area back from destruction. Enjoy!

NOLA Video Break

Brad Pitt's Make it Right Foundation has built some of the most distinctive houses in the course of New Orleans disaster recovery. Last week, after plugging his new film out on DVD, he talked about it with John Stewart on The Daily Show.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Also, check out this gorgeous short film, "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." Nominated this year for the Best Animated Short Film Academy Award, it is set in New Orleans and draws influence from Hurricane Katrina, as well as "The Wizard of Oz" and Buster Keaton films, all blended together with the magic of books.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.